[SS AAR] I am Skantarios! - Rebirth of the Eastern Roman Empire - **Complete**

[Grouchio]

What about the family tree after Stantarios' death? It'll give us the beginning characters in the sequel!

[dezikeizer]

Great job with the background story of what came before the aar began, and the timeline was great too. I'm very interested in seeing what the last bonus update is.

[Soulstrider]

Awesome timeline

[Gromovnik]

This AAR should be stickied.

[Dan the Man]

It should be stickied and blasted all over the front page! It should be the first thing people see when they log into the forum!

[the Commissar]

Glorious, just glorious.

[Skantarios]

Thanks to everyone for the positive feedback!

The timeline post took quite a bit more time than what I had originally planned. My fault, really. Going back through the AAR took a while to capture the important events (and I'm sure I missed a bunch). Then, I decided to add pictures (more time). Then,I decided to put in a moving map to show the whole period of the reconquest. Then, I had to deal with all the difficulties of getting the thing properly formatted (more difficult than it sounds). So, much more time than I had anticipated for a "bonus" post...

In any event, it looks like I still had some formatting problems so I've gone back and cleaned some of it up. Also, I've changed the moving map at the end to make it in five-year increments so that it looks a lot better as it shows the entire campaign.

If you would like, you can go back to the Timeline post and check it out again. It should look somewhat better.[Sorry for the load time - hope the pics all come through okay.]

I've got a couple more things I want to do with this before I close the book on this AAR for good. I am working on the written "historical account" of the Laskaris Restoration as though told from a history book. I am going to try to keep this somewhat concise but there is a lot to go over. Lastly, I am going to put up some statistics and throw in a few other things in a last post. I should have that up sometime this week or, at the latest, this weekend.

I think that orthodox church (I mean in this AAR, lol) should canonize Teodoros and Skantarios, and proclaim Skantarios to be equal to apostles. That would be a fitting tribute. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equal-to-apostles

I hadn't heard of this before. Hmmm... Maybe that can be incorporated in the sequel. Still, for a guy who killed so many, might be hard to justify (although I see Constantine made it - not exactly a saint, either).

Everything looks so believable like it actually happened. Great job, Skantarios! Also kudos to the game for giving you the possibility to do something like this.

I agree. One of the things I like about this game is that you can "see" things as though they really played out like history. I guess that is one of the things that keep me playing the game.

I love the animated map Skantarios. Now I can see how the Byzantines came from 2 provinces to controlling the world in a kind of movie.

Check it out again. As I said before, I've changed it to five-year increments to make it even more like a movie.

No thanks to CBUR that made these Roman units?

You are correct. Many, many thanks to those who made the different parts of the SS mods, including (and especially) the CBUR mod. Thank you!

Just a suggestion. Obviously you can't make the civil wars without modding but you could always write a non-picture story about the fall of the Empire based on the AAR. Food for thought.

That would be a great way to show the conclusion of the Empire. I may do something like that after the sequel. If I had any experience on how to do mods, I would love to do that and show a break-up similar to what happened at the end of the Roman Empire in the 300's and 400's AD. Though, that is most likely beyond me.

Great news:My TV Trope Article for this AAR got another sympathizer who has added quite a bit to it.

Fantastic! I've read the whole thing several times and I really enjoy it! Thanks so much again for doing that. What a great addition to the AAR. Though, I should say that reading all the tangent threads is a huge (but enjoyable) time killer!

What about the family tree after Stantarios' death? It'll give us the beginning characters in the sequel!

I probably won't post the family tree until I get ready to do the sequel (whenever that is). I can probably safely say that it will revolve around the same characters I brought up in the first bonus update with maybe one or two more. The family tree will be there, though.

This AAR should be stickied.

You are too kind; both you and @Dan. I am just glad that so many have found their way here and have read it. I have been contacted about it being added to the Scriptorium but haven't heard back in about a week. Maybe that's because I keep adding stuff to it.

@Beer Money - Welcome back! Thanks for the comments and I'm glad you are posting again.
@Thokran - Appreciate your feedback as well. Glad to see that your Warhammer AAR made it into the Scriptorium. Well-deserved!
@Karnage - Looks like your new AAR is taking off. Great work so far. One of these days, I will find my way over there to post. Keep it up!
@dezikeizer - thanks for the comments. See above for the description of what will come next.
@STL, @Exarch, @Soulstrider, @the Commissar, @StGene, @TaronQuinn, and @the Strategist.com (and those who I may have inadvertently missed) - Thanks for your feedback, as well. Glad to have your support.

As I said earlier, I am working on the historical account of the campaign. The maps are giving me some trouble but I should get that worked out (eventually).

For the last post, I will include something of a "blooper" reel. As the only new content I am adding for this post, here is a preview.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

FLYING CASTLES!! (or, what happens when your troops are campaigning in the land of opium poppies.)

[Croat Axeman (LOL)]

It should be stickied and blasted all over the front page! It should be the first thing people see when they log into the forum!

qft!

[Croat Axeman (LOL)]

Timeline map is really great and important addition

I've got a couple more things I want to do with this before I close the book on this AAR for good. I am working on the written "historical account" of the Laskaris Restoration as though told from a history book.

You should write a history-fiction book (whole serial of them) and make some money!

Those things can be very popular and you obviously have a talent

Lastly, I am going to put up some statistics and throw in a few other things in a last post. I should have that up sometime this week or, at the latest, this weekend.

Yes! Statistics!

[Karnage]

Thanks for your kind word my friend, although my AAR is nowhere close to be as good as yours was, it is kind of you to say that. But no worries, I didnt intend to make the greatest AAR, I just wanted to do it for fun and so far, I am having a blast.

Also, I noticed how much time it takes to write these things, I salute you for taking such time to make this thing happen. I dont have the patience nor the skills to do all the editting you did.

Again, keep in touch and if ever you do another AAR, be sure to see me follow it.

[pattonrommel]

FLYING CASTLES!! (or, what happens when your troops are campaigning in the land of opium poppies.)

Obviously that must be the only way a city can protect itself from Skantarios

I have never seen anything quite like that, but of course I imagine you have played this game and mod far more than I ever dared. Nice find

[Julius Barca the Great]

In the interest of making myself heard before it becomes necroposting:
I recently stumbled across this AAR, and have been reading it when possible. It is truly incredible. I've read about half thus far, and enjoy every minute of it. It has a very realistic feel to it, and the storyline is incredibly interesting. The battles are well-played an well recorded. All-in-all, easily one of the best, if not the best AARs I've ever seen.

[Gastrilis]

My friend I can't believe that this AAR is over! I loved it! It is a story that i will not forget! Skantarios live in the dreams of all the Greeks like me! Your writting style is awesome! Bravo. Keep it up!

[Exarch]

mate
how many thank yous and congratulations can i write that can accurately express the gratitude and admiration for your art and work here? i fear, not enough

take a good rest, friend. skantarios has definitely left his mark and impressions on our minds and imaginations for sure

[Skantarios]

I've taken some time off from posting. Had quite a few things going on but I am still working on the last couple things for this AAR.

I've been sort of been pecking away at the last couple "bonus" posts. I am still planning on putting a "wrap up" post with statistics, memories, funny stuff, etc. However, for now, I am working on another, much longer, piece which is a full retelling of the conquests of Skantarios as told by a historian - third person, much less detail, and with more of a world perspective. Basically, it is a continuation of the prologue piece I wrote earlier. It won't have any genuinely new content but perhaps have a better perspective on how things happened and why. It will probably fit into one long post but I might split it in two (or more) to make it an easier read.

I am generally satisfied with the way it is progressing but, as seems to be my way, I keep expanding it (and expanding it, and expanding...). It has started to become rather large and I still haven't gotten to the maps and other illustrations I intend to use. Not sure if there is any interest in such a post now in this thread, but I also intend to use it as part of the beginning of the sequel AAR "The Legacy of Skantarios." Though the sequel is still some ways off, I thought I should write the retelling while the material is still somewhat fresh in my mind.

I am going on a trip this weekend so the earliest I will have it up is next week sometime but I am still working on it.

So, nothing really significant here. I just thought I should let you know that I still had a little more in the works.

[TaronQuinn]

Sounds excellent, Skantarios! You have utlizied all sorts of methods in a spectacular way so far, and this will no doubt serve to deepen the drama and enjoyment even more. I'm sure we all look forward to reading it. Have a safe trip, and Godspeed!

[Karnage]

Take your time my friend and enjoy the well deserved break

[Devildogxs]

Skantarios the only word I can use to describe this is EPIC! I started reading your AAR a few weeks ago after returning home and when I finished I had the wife read it and now she is hooked on playing MTW2 so a big thanks and REP to you good sir.

[DirtySmurf]

Skantarios,
Thank you for writing this masterpiece. It is the reason I made a forum account. I first started reading so I could procrastinate, but as I read more and more of it in the past week, it consumed my time. The content is at a level where I would gladly pay to view it. I cannot thank you enough for spending the time doing this.

And...I agree that it should be stickied and consolidated into one continuous post somewhere.

[Skantarios]

I have been away for some time taking a bit of a break and getting these next few posts together.

As promised, the following few posts will be the retelling of the AAR through the eyes and perspective of a historian. This approach will, hopefully, shed more light on the campaign and also add some details missing from the original AAR. Although there is little in the way of genuinely new content, it may also bring up some themes that might have been missed in the original serialized telling of the campaign.

The story will be text- and map-heavy with few, if any, battle pictures. Again, this is to be told from the perspective of a historian and not a traditional AAR.

I also intend to use these posts as the prologue to my planned sequel to this AAR titled: "The Legacy of Skantarios" which will pick up where this historical retelling leaves off.

I hope you like the re-packaging of the campaign and the side chapters I've written. I have broken it up into a couple different posts and will be putting them up in fairly rapid succession. I have it almost complete but it has started to get rather long and I don't want to make it unreadable due to length.

If you feel so inclined, let me know what you think about this new approach to the AAR and whether it adds any value to the story as a whole.