stnylan's Paradoxical Musings

Getting back on track

2005-04-25T18:18:00.000Z

Typically, you have an idea to start a new project, and then all sorts of "real life" comes around to play. In this case the "real life" is mostly concerned with events in Rome, but now that Benedict is installed hopefully things will begin to operate more as I had intended them to - though the UK General election might still interrupt. So crossing my fingers...

There is of course another project in AAR land that has recently gotten back on track, the wonders of the Free Company. Volume VII: The Free Company and the Spanish Road has been open for a few weeks now, and it's proving to be a hectic pace with already over 250 posts.

So what is the the Free Company? It is basically a collaborative work between a group of writers, and the stories evolves as we all interact. It is very similar to role-playing, in that we are all jostled along by Lord Durham who like a veteren sheepdog tries to keep us fluffy creatures heading in more or less the right direction. It is a great deal of fun, but it can get very time-consuming. Have a peruse, and you'll see for yourself. It is one of those things that is far easier to show than to explain.

The Free Company also has a history, and it has been going for some time. This is, after all, Book VII. I jumped on the bandwagon half-way through Book IV, but by the time we got to Book VI we were definitely needing a break. You can have too much of a great thing. But now we are all back at it again, with veterens crawling out of the word work and new writers entering the fray. All in all, good fun.

The New Jersualem: Moskva (update)

2005-03-18T20:26:00.000Z

Paranoid Tsar has updated his CK AAR The New Jerusalem: Moskva 1337. It is a great update, and I rather think the tale has just turned an important corner.

Lord Durham is back

2005-03-15T18:34:00.000Z

A rather momentous little event has been announced in AAR-land - Lord Durham's Return. There are many people on the forums who are deeply (and gratefully) indebted to Lord Durham and the constant support and encouragement he has given. His return is most welcome, and I am sure he will receive a very warm 'Welcome Back'!

Short update

2005-03-14T18:50:00.000Z

Storey has just updated his EU2 Mongol-scenario AAR Desert-Tides - a good update as always but about 1/3 size of his usual offerings. It felt a little incomplete as a result, despite the fact that the ending was brilliant. Indeed, the end of the update was a bit like a brick wall. Which may or may not have been a desired effect, since the main character had just gotten himself knocked out.

Update here.

Introduction

2005-03-13T22:45:00.000Z

I suppose I really should introduce myself. On the Paradox Boards I use the name stnylan - on the left you can see links to my profile there and my AARs. Although listed as abandoned, I consider MonAARsteries (my first) to be partially complete. Playing the Pope really was abandoned in the tumult of real life. All Alone in the Night may or may not be abandoned, but I haven't admitted that to myself yet if it is. A History of Lord Roger, my current AAR, is now through to 1084, and doing very well if I say so myself.

I first encountered Paradox by EU2 back in July 2002, and began to interact in the AAR boards in autumn that year unless my memory fails me. I have two periods of semi-lengthy absences meanwhile (that real life again) but now I have established a comfort level of interaction that hopefully will prove more durable.

I own EU2, Victoria, Crusader Kings, Hearts of Iron, and Chariots of War, and I have Hearts of Iron 2 on order from amazon.

New AAR writing

2005-03-13T22:20:00.000Z

There is something very enthusiastic and vivacious about new AAR writers that older hands simply are not. In the CK forum Fiftypence is just writing his first AAR Drunk on Burgundy, and he is going at it with gusto. It is very good, a humourous one with some very funny moments. Only started just over a week ago, and already it's filled with action.

Compare it to Elias Tarfarius latest offering, Chronicles of the Golden Horde over in the EU2 forum, which was started only this weekend. Fun and exciting, but not quite the same. It is almost as if there is a loss of innocence in AAR writing, one can never recapture that early spark. But since it is lost it is very hard to know what it was.

Anyway, I commend both AAR's to your attention.

What is Paradox? What is an AAR?

2005-03-13T21:50:00.000Z

Paradox Entertainment are a computer games company that make historical strategy games. On their forums (see link to the right) there is an active community of people who write about the games that they have played - After Action Reports or AARs for short. Some of these are little more than a list of game events, whilst others are basically novels in which the game very much serves as a background for the plot. The vast majority fall somewhere inbetween.

Paradox has done six main games to date - Europa Universalis I, Europa Universalis II, Hearts of Iron I, Victoria, Crusader Kings, and Hearts of Iron II. It is working on a Diplomacy game, and also supported Chariots of War. In addition it has done a number of smaller games - Two Thrones, Svea Rike III, and Crown of the North. As a warning, just about everything gets abbreviated.

The games are also highly moddable, and there are a lot of player made scenarios / improvements for each game.

OK, this was not the most articulate post ever, but I think its says some of the boring stuff. I may well end up editing this at a later date.

Getting Started

2005-03-13T19:01:00.000Z

Well it will take me a little while to get this sorted how I want it, but I might as well just do this post to see if what's done so far is working.

In brief, basically this is a place for me to think-aloud about various AARs I'm reading, or other stuff relating to AARs on Paradox Games or the games themselves. Hopefully this will become apparent, but I will get a more definite 'mission statement' out at some point. Or perhaps not. Depends how things go.