The 2023 Narrative AAR of the Year is...

[coz1]

40 AARs were nominated for this category. 40!!!

And every one of them deserving! Our voters crossed over most of the games and in the end after a hard fought battle for first place, the 2023 Narrative AAR of the Year is:

The Wars of the Roses by @coz1 (EU4)​

I do not run these to win these but I certainly do appreciate the support. Especially because it is humbling considering so many other great works. Most especially our silver cup...

Omentide by @The Kingmaker (AoW4)​

An amazing return for Alexander Primus now known as @The Kingmaker. Many congratulations for a strong showing! And our third place was last year's winner with a new AAR...

Deeper Understanding by @Von Acturus (Stellaris)​

A unique work from a unique writAAR. Well done!

Of course, the riches remain with so many of these incredible AARs:

Mead and Blood by @The Kingmaker (CK3)

Lost Seasons of the Danes - A Viking AAR by @Chac1 (CK2)

Year of Hell - A Stellaris War Story by @Macavity116 (Stellaris)

Tomorrow Belongs To Me - A 'Democratic' Germany AAR by @TheButterflyComposer (HoI4)

Life2.0 - a Broken Shackles Narrative by @CBR JGWRR (Stellaris)

Talking Turkey: Alternate History from 1936 by @Bullfilter (HoI3)

Sundered Nation by @The Kingmaker (Vic3)

Italian Ambitions: A Florence AAR by @JerseyGiants88 (EU4)

Lingering Wounds by @JackGoose (Stellaris)

The Lions of Olomouc: a CKIII Ironman AAR (Duchy of Moravia, 867) by @Revan86 (CK3)

Machinations of the Medici by @jak7139 (EU4)

Nordica: The Birth of A New Society by @HistoryDude (Stellaris)

Dreams of an Honest World - a Mexico V3 AAR by @Chilango2 (Vic3)

Song of the Karlings: Karloman's Legacy by @LPDK 356 (CK2)

Echoes of A New Tomorrow: Life after Revolution in the Commonwealth of Britain by @DensleyBlair (Vic2)

Demon, Devil, Doll [Anbennar] by @Crushric (EU4)

The Breton Chronicles by @Werther (CK3)

This is where it ends by @filcat (EU4)

The Dragons Realm, A House Targaryen AAR by @streaker77 (CK2)

Confessing Their Apostasies (A Mildly Interactive AAR) by @HistoryDude (CK3)

Amenmeit the Sealbreaker by @starkwolf (AoW4)

The Fourth Age by @Uriel Blackwing (AoW4)

Song of the Solitaire by @Macavity116 (Stellaris)

Crowns of the Levant by @Werther (CK3)

Songs of the Saiiban - A Poetic AAR by @Chilango2 (Stellaris)

Die Wacht Im Raum - A Kaiserreich Stellaris AAR by @Side (Stellaris)

Grand Theft Stellaris by @Macavity116 (Stellaris)

"Frontline Fatherland" A German AAR by @5CHiZO (HoI3)

The Empire Strikes Back - Part 4 by @Idhrendur (HoI4 and Vickie)

The Butterfly Effect: A British AAR by @El Pip (HoI2)

A Coldwar Affair by @Macavity116 (Stellaris)

Born to Breed: House of the Prophets by @Peter Ebbesen (CK3)

Thousands are Sailing by @Von Acturus (Stellaris)

Children of Dacia by @IliciMan (EU4)

Tale of the Clubfoot (A House Strong AAR) CK2 AGOT Mod AAR by @LPDK 356 (CK2)

From Pendragon to Prominence by @Olden Weiss (CK3)

When Mountains Rumble: An Anbennar, Obrtrol AAR by @jentren (EU4)

The Leicesters: History of England under the House of Dudley-Tudor by @ageofadelina (EU4)​

I told you these lists get longer. There is no doubt that the narrative form is still going strong. Long time members and new are represented above. New games and old as well. It is truly a great honor to be listed with these other works. Many congratulations to both @The Kingmaker and @Von Acturus for an excellent year writing a number of AARs, especially these. And congratulations to each of you that found your work given nomination.

Thank you to the voters for taking their time and care recalling all of the AARs of 2023 and putting out a vote, no matter how small or large. Now the floor is open for your own congrats, thanks and discussion of the works if you so wish.

 

[Chac1]

Thanks @coz1 for running these awards and a hearty congratulations to you for taking the gold medal in this category.
Congrats to @The Kingmaker and @Von Acturus too. Congrats to all who were nominated.
Surprised that my work showed as high as it did on this list, especially as someone who is new here in the past year. Thanks to all who voted for me.

 

[Rensslaer]

Good Gosh this is a lot of talent on display! And I wish I had time to follow more of these. Alas it's hard for me to follow alot of narratives at a time due to time investment.

I'm VERY happy with the results here. These top results are some of my favorite authAARs!

Congratulations to everyone! Congratulations to @Von Acturus for great work.

Congratulations to @The Kingmaker not just for a 2nd Place finish, but also for taking 4th and 10th place. As someone who has written narrative in the past I appreciate the time commitment for just one such AAR. To do 3 at once (all of which I'm reading, slowly)... Surely that's equivalent to an honorary 1st place!

And @coz1 hearty congratulations to you for a well-earned First Place. I know you are putting your heart and soul into this, and it's probably your best work so far. Awesome to see it recognized.

Rensslaer

 

[Nikolai]

Well done on so many levels @coz1 ! And congrats to runner up and good friend, @The Kingmaker , and to the excellent @Von Acturus !

 

[Rensslaer]

I forgot to shout out for another of my favorites, @Macavity116, for FOUR AARs placing in 2023! I voted for at least one of them, I think two. And I'd like to catch up on all of them one day. But with his writing pace, he makes it hard.

Congratulations @Chac1 for 5th place as a newcomer! I'm also following that slowly...

Rensslaer

 

[coz1]

To do 3 at once (all of which I'm reading, slowly)... Surely that's equivalent to an honorary 1st place!

I quite agree!

I know you are putting your heart and soul into this, and it's probably your best work so far. Awesome to see it recognized.

As acceptance speech, I will simply repeat that I started the work when my best friend since we were 12 passed away. I really hit a stride this year when yet another of my long time best friends died. Apparently grief is a strong motivator.

I really do appreciate all of the votes for this now VERY long AAR. It was an idea that sat in my head for 13 or so years. Maybe longer as I knew the story even without the deep research. Finally I just had to tell it it, in my own way. I appreciate my readers. In truth, I have always depended on them. These last three years more than ever. So thank you again to those that give some comment on my story and certainly to those of you that gave it nomination here. As can be seen, the competition was extremely tough!

 

[jak7139]

Congratulations to our host @coz1 for both your hard work on Wars of the Roses and for tallying the final results! Congratulations @The Kingmaker and @Von Acturus for 2nd and 3rd place!

And thank you to those who voted for mine! I really enjoyed writing it and I'm glad people liked it enough to give it one of the limited spots on their ballot!

Every authAAR should feel proud of their accomplishments and hard work this past year! Well done everyone!

 

[Bullfilter]

So very well deserved @coz1 for your epic magnum opus. A model of the narrative craft. Well done too to the silver and bronze medallists @The Kingmaker (and the copper medal too for 4th!) and @Von Acturus for your top efforts in such a large and illustrious field. It was good to also see many of my favourite AARs in the list and highly placed too. Thanks to @coz1 for all the hard work and to those who voted for my AAR in this category - an unexpected but welcome pleasure!

 

[The Kingmaker]

Congratulations to @coz1 for a well-deserved win. The Wars of the Roses is a truly mammoth undertaking, and I'm glad to see coz1's hard work recognized. It's at the top of my reading list -- I just need to reserve several days to push through it all. As both a medieval history enthusiast and an MA-level historian, I feel drawn to check it out. It seems right up my alley, especially as someone calling himself The Kingmaker on a history gaming/writing forum, hah!

Congratulations also to @Von Acturus, also a well-deserved winAAR! I've heard great things about Deeper Understanding, and it is sitting pretty right next to The Wars of the Roses on my reading list.

Congratulations also to the other authAARs recognized above. There are not enough hours in the day to read all the great AARs on this forum, but that's truly a wonderful problem to have. I'll never run out of great content to follow!

Lastly, thanks very much to everyone who voted for Omentide, Mead and Blood, and Sundered Nation! Your friendship and support is what motivates me to keep writing. I love both creating and reading new stories on this forum, as the AARland community is one of the most supportive writing forums out there, and that is thanks in large part to all of you!

 

[Macavity116]

40 AARs!? What a showing. Congrats to @coz1 are owed, certainly. But I want to shower extra praise on @The Kingmaker and @Von Acturus. I was pulling so hard for these two and am greatly satisfied to see a podium finish from both.

I'd like to catch up on all of [Macavity116's stories] one day. But with his writing pace, he makes it hard.

Many apologies. Considering the way 2024 is shaping up, you may find catching up to be a little easier.

 

[TheButterflyComposer]

Wow. Lots and lots and lots of AARs on this one. Well done to everyone

 

[Idhrendur]

Congrats @coz1 and everyone else nominated!

 

[Midnite Duke]

Congratulations on your work, @coz1, @The Kingmaker, @Von Acturus and all authors. Thank you @coz1 for all your hard work and dedication to the forums.

 

[El Pip]

As has been said, a veritable cornucopia of talent on display and I for one would be hard pressed to pick a winner out of the top three so it is quite convenient the voters have done. It is also great to see such a range of works both in game and style, such variation even within a category is just as heartening as the number of nominated works.

Congratulations to all involved.

 

[Eurasia]

Congrats to the winners, voters, readers, and authors!

 

[HistoryDude]

Congrats @coz1, @The Kingmaker, @Von Acturus, and all of our other nominees!

I also appreciate everyone who voted for Nordica and Confessing Their Apostasies. I'll try to get them back on a regular schedule this year.

 

[Tom D.]

My congratulations to all the winAARs and nominees!

 

[DensleyBlair]

Well done all round. A fantastic podium and an incredibly strong and varied list of nominees.

I’m very happy as ever that Echoes got a nod in this category; it lives in my mind as a narrative-history book hybrid so it is gratifying to have some of that reflected back. Many thanks to all who gave it a nod in an exceptionally competitive field!

 

[Wraith11B]

Great job, folks!

 

[mad orc]

Congrats @coz1 and all other winners! Hip Hip Horray

I can't help but feel the urge to write something myself. I have lost that ability. I guess I need to start from the basics to get back into it