Please see the nominations for CO of the year 2021.

Evan Yearling – USS Hiroshima      

Colm is one of the most longstanding COs in the entire fleet, one of the fibers that connects our history to our present. He’s made himself the archivist, able to reach back into the past and pull up references to just about any matter the Fleet has seen. Colm is a constant, quiet, faithful presence. He is also a longtime to friend to his entire crew, supporting them literally over decades. While the pace of the Hiroshima is generally light, the content is weighty! This year saw Colm commit Captain Yearling to a very twisty personal plot that will certainly play out in interesting ways in 2022. His plots are varied and provide rich scenarios for the crew to contribute to and he almost always thinks big. Very big. The Hiroshima is a slow burn experience, but there’s nothing mild about it, and that’s largely all on account of Colm’s leadership.

Corvus DeHavilland – Obsidian Command      

Sep doesn’t just preach leading by example. He demonstrates it. The quality of his storytelling and characterizations drives others to stretch themselves in the craft and provides the kind of nuance that draws readers into the world they are given. It makes the sim first rate in readability. He collaborates with his team as they are able and always follows through. He’s also driven to make very clean, organized, graphically pleasing, and legible website design and to maintain his extensive list of npcs which he uses to really fill out the world around the PCs. Having had other commands in the past, he draws on resources he’s developed in those sims which provides a richly realized backdrop tapestry in the writing itself. As the CO of the fleet’s namesake station, he does it a great justice with his dedication and quality.

Rueben Gregnol – SS Mary Rose

Becca has built on an already unique Civilian game with lots of it’s own history, having inherited it and taken the effort to infuse it with her own visions, playing in many of the margins of the Star trek universe, both new Trek and old, by establishing multiple npc crews in tandem plot lines within Rosie’s mailing list, but also using those to also occasionally reach out and interconnect threads between other sims as well, in a kind of ongoing ST: Obsidianverse. This year has challenged Rosie but the sim has certainly risen above the complications with much energy, largely in part to the play style, commitment, and invigoration Becca has directed with.

Jacob Kane – USS Athena

• Paul has managed the USS Athena like a circle of family, carefully including and involving the crew members and crafting stories with both structure and creative space to foster their participation while also carrying out larger vision with payoffs in the long run. His mission arc planning is an excellent example of the balance between giving direction and providing creative opportunity for the players. He has been honest with himself and his crew about his real life demands and not allowed it to prevent them moving ahead as a sim. Instead he has been wise about seeking out the assistance he needs on his leadership team and making sure they understand the culture of inclusion that he wants to foster. Paul has a great deal of learned maturity as a GM and it shows as he has put both kindness and discernment into practice shepherding the Athena in 2021.
  
• Capt Kane/Paul  He goes above and beyond in getting the crew engaged.  He consistently comes up with intriguing plot points and actively asks for crew participation and ideas for upcoming missions or posts.  He balances a fine line between leading everyone while making sure everyone’s voice is heard and ideas and incorporated into the story line.  In addition, he is a fantastic writer and provides delightful personalities for each of his characters!  100% deserving of this award, all around.
  I love his no nonsense style, shoot first, ask questions later. No one messes with him and he takes zero prisoners.
  

Phoenix Lalor – USS Elysium         

What can I say that hasn’t already been said about this amazing character and the person behind it?  Jill brings a depth of reality to Phoenix, when she hurts, we hurt. When she is happy, we’re happy. Phoenix is real! Not some cardboard cutout. There are layers of depth and personality to the character of Phoenix. All woven in and we can see how each layer defines the character. In addition, Jill does so much for the sim, Planning missions, involving everyone in the sim and the direction to take. She is fair but hard in dealing with those who feel they are above posting requirements. She is most deserving of this award.

Toron Pax – USS Potemkin

2021 has been a very big year for Matt, as he took on *two* unique challenges as a GM in Obsidian Fleet. He reorganized and revived the Eagle by constructing a new leadership team, successfully recruiting new membership, and hearing out the sim structure needs of his crew for storytelling and giving each player needed attention and encouragement. Simultaneously, Matt also managed the experimental launch of tabletop gaming/ podcasting on the USS Potemkin. The diverse and unique challenges of each game demanded constant adjustments big and small, almost weekly matters of feedback from both fleet leadership as well as to two crews worth of players with individual needs and concerns. Although he might try to give all the credit to his support teams on both games, Matt has successfully charted the waters and set both simulations up to look forward to much fun for 2022!