The Best AARs Ever

[Tommy4ever]

What are the best AARs ever made on this forum?

Post one or more that you think are amongst the best in this thread and we can start a little collection. A good place to go if you want to read a very, very good AAR.

 

[BigBadBob]

I'd say both of mine, but that would be just... wrong.

I'd say that [thread=416164]Explorations in Strategy: Italy at War[/thread] by Myth, is definitely one of the contenders for best. AAR. Ever.

 

[unmerged(96639)]

Master Plan of Fu Manchu and Empire of Fu Manchu. Over 1000 pages of PDF, all in all, and it's got everything: war, intrigue, assassinations, 'splosions, Indiana Jones, James Bond, hot Asian girls, kung-fu Nazis, Lovecraftian horrors from beyond, epic battles with giant spiders... A thing of beauty and sheer insane genius.

 

[TC Pilot]

There were a couple of threads posted here a few months ago with many of the best HoI and EU2 AARs listed and linked in them.

For HoI, my own preferences are: Mettermrck's 'Advantages without Obligations,' Prufrock451's 'To Stand Against the Night,' Allenby's as-yet incomplete 'British interests; British honour; British obligations,' and 2Coats' Pictoral Lesson in the Art of War, which is sadly lost because none of the pictures (the entire AAR) are still working.

As for EU2, I'd highly recommend Mettermrck's Eagles of Avalon, but he seems to have abandoned it halfway through.

 

[Milites]

RossN's Strange Shores is one of the best (and first) EU3 History Book AARs. Other than that FYROM's A Greater Netherlands and thrashing mad's History of the White Eagle come to mind of past grand works. There are of course a number of wonderful HB AARs currently on-going in the EU3 forum such as Gesta Danorum, the Sublime State and Porta Atlanticum. Regarding narratives canonized's venerable and honoured Timelines as well as TrezieV's "Je Maintiendrai" - William of Orange and the Wars of Coalition have inspired and entertained me beyond all others. In HoI2 Lord E's Enig og tro til Dovre faller, robw963's WIELKOPOLSKA - Rise of the White Eagle and Faelin's two great works; German Freedom and German Greatness: The Legacy of Gustav Stresemann and his National China AAR, the link to which escapes me atm.

 

[Enewald]

My list would have no end. The ideal would be to be able to read every AAR. Those that continue for long enough show how dedicated the authors are and how they have advance on becoming better writers.
The age of an AAR and the length are clear indications of excellent readings.

But every epic AAR starts with one page.

 

[Woody Man]

All of my gloriously unfinished works!

 

[TekcoR]

I think this can be quite a touchy subject, because everybody has different opinions which is considered "Best AAR" out there. There are a few writers and pieces of work that stand out there and are quite memorable. To me though, a "Best" AAR has to offer something that stands out against the fold. For example, you can only have so many good Germany after action reports.

 

[Alfredian]

There are lots of great AARs out there (hence I keep on having to add to my AARland choice awards vote), but A Special Providence (by Director) was the story that dragged me into AARland. It has a great mixture of politics and conflict, which is both detailed and accessible, and excellent characterisation. Also a grudge match between four characters who have drifted into our world.

 

[Lighthearter]

I wonder why no one's mentioned The Channel Pact yet . . . .

-L

 

[Rensslaer]

Tommy4Ever,

I agree that "best AAR" is subjective, but I have some recommendations I posted in my AAR a while back that I'll post here.

I'd also like to amplify some of the comments above -- agreeing on Explorations in Strategy, A Special Providence, Director's HistoryPark series, History of the White Eagle, Timelines, Advantages Without Obligations, Eagles of Avalon, the Fu Manchu series, etc. I'd probably agree on some of the others too, but since I haven't read them I would have trouble recommending them with confidence.

Here's my post:

To make a list of AARs that I could recommend, presuming you're looking for fiction writing, not gameplay, there are some that leap to mind, though I know there are also two or three others which I should recommend which I'm not going to remember. There are some magnificent writers here!

Here is a list of great AARs off the top of my head:

Stnylan's In Memory of France (not included first for no reason -- this is a GREAT work!)

Coz1's Into the West and For the Glory of Persia

Director's A Special Providence (I think I may even be missing Director's best work -- this is the only one I've extensively read)

RossN's The Patriot's Sword

FJ44's Dawn in the East

The Yogi's The Eagle and the Lion and Empire of Fu Manchu (TheYogi has lots of great writing -- pick any of them, because I'm not certain these are his best -- I also can't remember which ones, for sure, I've read)

Draco Rexus' For King and Country

Another I would add is CatKnight's Resurrection/Rebirth of USA (EU2). Many people really like TheYogi's Iron Crosses (HOI 1) too, and I'd agree (that's 4 TheYogi AARs I've recommended!).

If you're into politically-heavy storylines, there's also Estonianzulu's The Footsteps of Illustrious Men (Victoria) and Sir Humphrey's Sacred Grove of Brittania (HOI 2). Mettermrck's Advantages is also heavy on politics.

Two "sleepers" I want to mention -- The War Hero and the Presidential Election of 1948 (HOI 2), which is full of politics, espionage, intrigue, romance, etc. The Last Mission (HOI 2) has deep philosophy, politics and romance.

And even after all these posts, we've probably only mentioned 30-50% of the "truly great" AARs. There's more out there. Just look for the other "best ever" threads and you'll find a good proportion.

I'm sure I'm still missing a dozen or more that I would highly recommend.

Rensslaer

 

[Director]

You guys are listing some seriously fine works - mine excluded, if we're being honest here. I know there is no percentage in it, and I know this is a mark of being old - but still - there are some amazingly good works in the old EU2 library. Not better than modern day work, but at least equally good. Look up anything by Prufrock, Peter Ebbesen, Lord Durham, Ariel, MrT... I'll offend by leaving out someone obvious, but that's because I'm senile.

Look up the award winners for any game and you are likely to find some good reading. One of the great joys here is the tremendous variety and quality. Something, as they say, for everyone.

 

[Woody Man]

Two particular favourites of mine were grayghost's Manchurian Candidate and Hajji Giray's Guy Marlborough adventures, but Director gives some great advice, there are many many excellent works here!

 

[MadImmortalMan]

You guys are listing some seriously fine works - mine excluded, if we're being honest here. I know there is no percentage in it, and I know this is a mark of being old - but still - there are some amazingly good works in the old EU2 library. Not better than modern day work, but at least equally good. Look up anything by Prufrock, Peter Ebbesen, Lord Durham, Ariel, MrT... I'll offend by leaving out someone obvious, but that's because I'm senile.

Look up the award winners for any game and you are likely to find some good reading. One of the great joys here is the tremendous variety and quality. Something, as they say, for everyone.

These are the names that always come to mind for me. Storey as well. He had a lot. Nothing beats World Conquest for Dummies and the Timurid Scientists.

 

[Rensslaer]

Amric also had a story about Timur Link (Genghis Khan) as a Byzantine leader, or something bizarre like that. I didn't read the whole story -- I meant to -- but what I did read was MOST excellent!

Rensslaer

 

[Valdemar]

You guys are listing some seriously fine works - mine excluded, if we're being honest here. I know there is no percentage in it, and I know this is a mark of being old - but still - there are some amazingly good works in the old EU2 library. Not better than modern day work, but at least equally good. Look up anything by Prufrock, Peter Ebbesen, Lord Durham, Ariel, MrT... I'll offend by leaving out someone obvious, but that's because I'm senile.

Look up the award winners for any game and you are likely to find some good reading. One of the great joys here is the tremendous variety and quality. Something, as they say, for everyone.

Yes I feel very offended

Seriously though the issue isn't "Best AAR" but the subjective nature of chosing best. I for instanceKNOW that technicaly LD was one of the very best writers around, but frankly I found MrT, Joey, yourself and Ebbesen far more enjoyable to read even if technically they were more sloppily or "worser" written

So which one is best?

V

 

[unmerged(95506)]

I comment only on HoI II, though these AARs (the non-gameplay ones at least) provide entertainment also for non-HoI-players.

For gameplay: Remble's finished A Creek without a Paddle and the sadly abandoned The Setting Sun.

For drama: Feuersturm's and Cool's Democracy's Last Legs.

For humour: Le Ran's For a Few ReincAARnations More.

For narration: dag231's The Rise and Fall of Generaloberst Heinz Wilhelm Guderian.

 

[BootOnFace]

I would say check out Prawnstar's AARs. I loved all of them, and Audacity to Hope was a brilliant gameplay AAR. The AARs are what brought me into paradox games, and Audacity of Hope was the main one.

 

[General_BT]

Knud Knytling.

Not many AARs can say they started a genre--and its by far some of the funniest material I've read on the forums!

 

[Saithis]

Knud Knytling.

Not many AARs can say they started a genre--and its by far some of the funniest material I've read on the forums!

I second this man.