Welcome back! We start off this part with badly wounded Swiss knight escorting a settler and following the "->" mountains near Bormla, with the Russian army nearby. Not sure where this is going to go- a Swiss city anywhere nearby can't be a good idea.

In the southeast we see Azerbaijan take Nijmegen and Utrecht is probably not going to be retaken for long, assuming that swordsman survives.

The Romanian Vanator is a machine gun replacement, but for some reason I always think it's an infantry or a cavalry unit. Nearby you can see the very strong Croatian and Russian militaries.

Sweden unlocks the Royal Academy, which adds a Great Writer and Great Artist slot onto the University. We haven't seen much of Sweden recently, and here it's clear that Jon Lundvik has opted to stay inoffensive and to mind his own business.

A concept unheard of farther south, where Jonida Maliqi decides to join the Dutch-Azerbaijani war, hoping to take Breda.

But Breda falls to Azerbaijan and... The City-State of HAMBURG takes Utrecht. Duncan Laurence is playing a losing game.

Michela snatches her little piece of Dutch soil before Luca Hänni has any chance to do so.

Azerbaijan will host the next World's Congress. CORRUPTION

Sparks fly in the north as Norway and Ireland have a go at each other. Ireland looks as unprepared as they seemed in the live performance.

Bormla has just been narrowly spared from Russian incorporation.

Ireland is now getting penetrated from three sides.

In a blind panic, Sarah throws Cork at the Norwegians, hoping to save herself. They burn it down.

A coalition pops up against Russia, but really only Romania is much of a threat. Switzerland has Thun to lose and not much to gain. Braila, Omsk, and Thun are probably going to flip.

In a shocking twist, the Norwegian navy appears and attacks Omsk. Braila falls, and Thun will do so as well.

The Swiss take Yerevan and march on Gyumri.

Croatia and Moldova have snagged the first ideologies, and Moldova's managed a whole 50 happiness thanks to the free policies. Somehow, Latvia leads the tourism output ranking.

To the shock of none, Omsk and Thun fall. But what's that? Over by Braila, the Croatians commence their attack! And near Kernave, the first NMacedonian troops arrive. Russia, where is your voting bloc???

Anna Odobescu tries to gain an upper hand in the culture game by commissioning the Eiffel Tower. The Norwegians march toward Russia.

As if by a miracle, Russia not only beats back the Croatians and the Romanians, but also manages to recapture Omsk! Moldova could take it, but Russia will probably manage a recapture.

Azerbaijan brings Eindhoven to the red.

The war on Ireland has quieted down, with the loss of Derry to Denmark being the only change. Is it Copenhagenderry now?

Croatia attacks Switzerland. While the Croatians have open borders through North Macedonia, the terrain isn't favorable for Tetovo's return to a Slavic nation.

Peace is made, and Eindhoven stays Dutch!

It's turn 200 and we see Croatia ahead in population by quite a margin. Switzerland and Albania trail behind.

The same 3 nations lead in production.

Norway replaces Albania in military numbers.

Croatia's neighbors North Macedonia and Moldova appear atop the tech list. Croatia is really leading these stats, huh?

At the cost of crashing in the tourism game, where Latvia, Switzerland, and Moldova prevail. I suppose splitting yourself in half isn't the worst way of winning a cultural victory.... right?

The Albanians negotiate open borders through Azerbaijan and thus threaten Amsterdam. AAA+ work.

HAMBURG! The city-state that overachieves once again conquers a city, this time Yerevan from the Swiss.

North Macedonia surrounds Kernave. Could Russia lose a city after all?

Suddenly, Albania declares war on Malta. A questionable choice. Press F for that great general near Groningen.

On a positive note for Albania, Amsterdam has fallen and The Hague stands vulnerable.

In a bit of a shock, Malta's army evaporates and Albania razes Triest. The Moldovan army at Tighina is threatening.

The Albanians take Groningen and soon, L-Isla too.

Malta has lost half its cities.

Meanwhile, Albania peaces out with the Netherlands.

In the span of about 5 turns of my inattention, Moldova has declared war on Switzerland, conquered Budapest and turns toward Lucerne. Best to not let a good military build-up go to waste, I suppose.

The Swiss core consists primarily of archaeologists. I love you, Luca, but you need soldiers too.

Finally, something interesting happens to Sweden! Azerbaijan and.. the Netherlands??! declare war and attack the sparsely defended coastline. In the background, Armagh hits the red.

Sweden is the new piñata of the game as North Latvia invades, and the Netherlands fail at attacking Uppsala. Meanwhile, the power of Melfest has dissipated the Azerbaijani threat.

Somehow, Russia has managed to keep Kernave and only skirmishes occasionally on the border with Romania and Switzerland. Omsk has been razed away, though.

In all of the fun, I missed the bit where Yerevan became Moldovan for some time. It's Swiss once again.

Malta makes peace with NMac but faces invasion by the Danish navy. Yes, the Danish navy hailing from the actual opposite side of the world.

Albania and Croatia dominate the World's Fair.

Switzerland manages to wrangle Siret before signing a peace deal with Moldova. Moldova is now very certainly split into two, like Latvia.

The Swiss unfortunately have lost Yerevan in this war, however.

The ISS is completed and no one is shocked at the top 3.

Having made peace with Ireland, Norway and Denmark decide to continue fighting on Irish soil by fighting each other! Brilliant!

Latvia joining in against Denmark was probably not a good idea, though.

A fresh new wave of Albanian recruits joins a swarm of Moldovans on the path to conquer Valletta. If you look really closely you can see Anna Odobescu and Jonida Maliqi glaring at one another as they attack the city.

Anna of Moldova wins the staring contest and turns around to take Bormla. South Moldova is growing quite large at this rate.

North Macedonia's spaceship part lead is getting worrying

On the bright side, perhaps we won't see nuclear annihilation this game! Thank you, Chingiz. Also note the two embargoes against city states

In the culture view we see Moldova topping the tourism game, but Latvia has the edge on actual civs influenced!

And here we see the elimination of Malta. Despite all of the money they put into promoting "Chameleon", Michela couldn't be saved from being spotted by the Albanians and the Moldovans.

Latvia, of all civs, takes a Russian city.

Switzerland is really losing the most from this war against Russia, huh?

Croatia follows Denmark's lead and launches a navy to the opposite side of the world.

Ireland joins Norway's side and attacks Denmark.

Zurich falls and peace is made at last.

Sweden snatches Enschede before Latvia can manage it.

Meanwhile in "Things That Will Backfire", Norway leaves an empty front for the Swiss to pour units through.

Azerbaijan comes in like a televote and kicks Sweden off Enschede.

Turn 300 arrives and Azerbaijan also kicks Switzerland from the top 3 most populous civs.

But the Swiss top the list for production. Croatia is a shocking third place.

Azerbaijan reappears on the military podium

Wasn't Croatia leading tech previously? North Macedonia leads now, and Norway appears at third place.

Moldova now leads tourism, with Latvia and Sweden not too far behind.

Moldova and Latvia are tied for civs influenced, Ireland being the only other competitor.

In a surprising twist, North Latvia captures Hjorring! In the background, an Irish army marches on Copenhagen.

A lightning fast Moldovan offensive is unleashed upon Switzerland, already taking Basel and Siret, with Bern soon to fall. Clearly the Swiss have been too focused on Norway, where Winterthur has been recaptured.

Only four turns pass, and Bern falls. Geneva falls. Winterthur is razed. Switzerland is now a city state, which is highly problematic for my boy Luca because... there is news

Moldova has ended the game with a science victory! Congratulations Anna Odobescu! North Macedonia is close behind.

In the culture view we see Latvia somehow maintaining an edge over Moldova for civs influenced despite a significant tourism disadvantage.

Fun fact: Moldova controls the most capitals.

Just for kicks, we look at religion. Albania's Islam has spread to the most cities, with long-dead Lithuania's Romuva not far behind.

Surrounded on the north, east, and south by Moldova, our next qualifier is North Macedonia and Tamara Todevska!

Albania's own Jonida Maliqi joins the qualifiers with a very strong core and a proven military record.

And next? Is it Sweden again??? Nope, it's our favorite split nation, Latvia! Somehow Carousel managed to pull through with a strong culture game despite being effectively 2 civs under a trenchcoat.



Meanwhile Azerbaijan somehow managed to conquer Kalmar from Sweden in the last 10 turns or so and is on the verge of taking Stockholm as well. Perhaps we'll see them again....

No one should be shocked to see Croatia qualify as well! Congrats Roko, let's see those tacky angel wings fly in the final!

The next civ to pull through is Ireland! Which managed to take Copenhagen just as the game ended, a huge congrats to Sarah McTernan for defying the odds.

Sergey Lazarev only has to "Scream" in joy as mother Russia has pulled through for a qualification! No "I Won't Break" madness here for 2019!

And finally we turn to Azerbaijan. Chingiz qualifies for contention into the final against Australia's Kate Miller-Heidke based on performance.



I could let everyone roast in suspense... but let's be real, Australia didn't do quite as much as Azerbaijan has done here. The last-second invasion of Sweden has really paid off, and tipped the scales in favor of Chingiz. Appearing twice instead of just once on the podium in the InfoAddict metrics also helped a bit. So congrats Chingiz! And commiserations to Kate.

An honorable mention goes to Norway. KEiiNO nearly made it, but alas, they couldn't quite measure up to the other qualifiers.



The Grand Final will be posted next week at the earliest, keep your eyes posted!