Part of the campaign:

At long last, Groundhog Day is FUCKING BACK!!! Getting the ball rolling on Mk. 11 took a while because I had to make balance changes after fully filming two rounds, plus I was finishing up my last couple months before graduating from university. But now I can finally sit down and hammer out an episode or two for y'all.



Anyway, this is the map. Now let's meet the civs!

In the southwest we have the Zunbils under Jimofuta in Zamindawar, the Achaemenids under Cyrus in Pasargadae, the US under Lincoln in Washington, the Philippines under Emilion Aguinaldo in Malolos, and the Comanche under Quanah Parker in Húpenúú.

Moving east, we have Megara under Theagenes in Megara, Bulgaria under Vasil Levski in Sofia, Kongo under Nzinga in Mbanza-Kongo, Australia under Billy Hughes in Mebourne, the Garamantes under Djalla in Garama, Rome under Julius Caesar in Rome, and Punjab under Ranjit Singh in Lahore.

In the southeast, near the great expanse of snow, we have Wuyue under Qian Liu in Xifu, Mexico under Porfirio Díaz in Mexico City, Canada under William Lyon Mackenzie King in Ottawa, Namibia under Jacob Morenga in Windhoek, and the Nuraghians under Sardis in Su-Nuraxi.

And lastly, on the east coast, we have the Republic of the Rif under Abd el-Krim in Ajdir, North Kyushu under Kato Kiyomasa in Kumamoto, Kosovo under Ibrahim Rugova in Prishtinë, and the Anglo-Norse under Canute in Roskilde.



Without further ado, let the games begin!

Seconds cities roll out! Most of them are pretty reasonable, except for the Nuraghians, who have settled Losa in between Kosovo and Punjab. Australia is still wandering around with its settler to the west of Kongo.

The first war begins when Mexico declares war on Canada! Canada is one of five civs that now has three cities, and Porfirio Díaz simply won't put up with that.

Mexico easily takes the poorly defended outpost of Toronto. I also just wanted to say, I love this strip of tundra along the coast with snow inland.

Another major war breaks out when the Achaemenids attack the United States! Cyrus already has his spearman UU, and New York looks awfully squishy.

Rome invades its neighbour as well, attacking Punjab and immediately damaging Gujranwala.

New York falls, but Cyrus has a much bigger problem now: a massive Zunbil attack from the south! Susa and Pasargadae are both partially surrounded on the first turn of the war!

The Zunbils take Susa as Cyrus desperately negotiates peace with the USA.

Meanwhile, Rome has finished of Gujranwala and is moving on Lahore. In the background, Kosovo and Punjab team up against the Nuraghians.

Rif declares war on Canada, and with major combat bonuses when fighting near mountains, it might be tough for Mackenze King to hold on to Montreal.

And at turn 60 we have our first elimination! Rome has captured Lahore, eliminating Ranjit Singh of Punjab in 21st place! But Sikh fans, do not despair: Punjab actually won an early test round.

As expected, Rif captures Montreal, reducing Canada to one city.

Kosovo easily captures the defenseless Nuraghian city of Losa.

Cyrus sues for peace with Jimofuta, giving away New York in the process!

The Comanche declare war on the Philippines with their fancy new composite bowmen! Aguinaldo might be in serious trouble due to the technological gap alone.

Ah yes, here we see the famous Kosovo bug. Kosovo's UA drags its declared friends into all of its wars. Problem is, if Kosovo and its declared friend go to war with each other, it will give a notification saying that the other civ (in this case the Anglo Norse) has declared war on itself. It doesn't effect the game; the bug is purely in the notification.

After a period of peace, the Zunbils attack the Achaemenids again, and this time it seems certain that Cyrus will be completely and utterly fucked.

The Comanche capture Cavite el Viejo, but they appear to have suffered significant losses in the process, and as a result four civs attack them, including Megara and the Zunbils.

As though fighting the Comanche wasn't enough, Megara also declares war on Bulgaria, which seems to have a somewhat bigger land army than them.

Time for the first round of stats of Mk. 11! Wuyue leads in soldiers with Bulgaria close behind. My eyes did not deceive when I though Vasil levsky had a bigger army than Megara!

The Zunbils and the Garamantes lead in food production for now.

And the Comanche lead on production, followed by North Kyushu, whose UA gives them extra hammers in exchange for extra unhappiness.

Bulgaria makes this a triangular war by declaring war on the Comanche without making peace with Megara.

Kosovo declares war on the Anglo-Norse and drags Rome into it for funsies.

Kongo somehow manages to break through and captures Kúhtsútúúka. Also, why does every U in every Comanche city name have an accent over it!?

Kosovo builds the great wall to keep out the Serbians—wait, wrong universe.

A Kosovar naval and amphibious detachment captures the Anglo-Norse tundra city of Lundenburgh.

Excuse me what the fuck



The Philippines manage to snipe Pasargadae from the Zunbils, who surrounded it with too many ranged units. Cyrus of the Achaemenids is eliminated in 20th place.

Eight turns later, Rif captures Ottawa, eliminating William Lyon Mackenzie King of Canada in 19th place.

Namibia decides it's time to assimilate the Nuraghian rump state.

Meanwhile, Megara declares war on the Comanche a second time. Two armies are closing in on Húpenúú.

Kosovo captures Roskilde! The Anglo-Norse are exiled to Ribe!

Another capital falls on the very next turn as Megara rolls into Húpenúú!

And three turns after that, North Kyushu takes Su Nuraxi, eliminating Sardis of the Nuraghians in 18th place.

Mexico declares war on Namibia, sending a wall of units toward the desert stronghold of Windhoek. Also of note: it's turn 141 and Namibia hasn't researched Calendar. I know it's historic speed, but that's still batshit.

The Comanche, despite having lost their capital, are still able to capture New York from the Zunbils.

I apparently missed the treaty, but Namibia made peace with Mexico and gave away Kactchanas, even though their capital wasn't in any danger.

Canute forestalls his annihilation by giving the island city of Wintanceastre to Kosovo.

The Zunbils decide it's finally time to deal with that pesky Filipino snipe from earlier...

...And Pasargadae quickly falls into Jimofuta's hands.

Another mind-numbingly stupid peace treaty is signed in the east as North Kyushu gives away Shimabara to Kosovo.

Out of nowhere, Rif swoops in and captures Windhoek, eliminating Jacob Morenga of Namibia in 17th place.

Bulgaria declares war on Kongo, but Vasil Levsky had better watch out because Nzinga is sporting her UU.

The war with Bulgaria does not stop Kongo from capturing Kwaarú Núú from the Comanche.

However, Bulgaria immediately takes the city. Nzing'as ownership of it was short-lived.

Kongo responds by capturing Varna, in a massive blow for Vasil Levsky.

But then the Garamantes interven on Bulgaria's side! This could easily turn the tide of the war...

...Or not, as Kongo takes Zinchecra while holding on to Varna.

Bulgaria was also at war with the Garamantes apparently, because they made peace at some point and Vasil Levsky gave away Plovdiv. At the moment, Bulgaria appears to be pretty much screwed.

Turn 200 rolls around with some more stats. Kosovo now has the largest army, followed closely by Megara and the extremely reclusive Wuyue.

Wuyue, the Garamantes, and Kosovo are all tied for the lead in technologies.

And Kosovo has a pretty significant lead in production, followed by Rif, which again has a pretty good lead over third place Rome.

Australia has spent so long building up its detached colony that it's able to use it as a platform to invade the Philippines. Aguinaldo's capital is already taking damage!

With some help from Megara, Bulgaria breaks back out and takes Kúhtsútúúka!

Kactchanas changes hands in a peace treaty a second time as Mexico gives it away to Kosovo without a fight.

Sure enough, Australia captures Malolos, eliminating Emilio Aguinaldo of the Philippines in 16th place.

Australia then attacks Kongo, only to receive declarations of war from Kosovo and Mexico.

Hughes manages to capture Zinchecra, but his attack on Kabasa and Mbanza Kongo looks seriously disjointed.

Rif declares war on Mexico! In terms of the sheer size of the two armies, this might be the biggest war so far this round.

Mexico picks up a city through other means as North Kyushu gives away Su Nuraxi in a peace treaty.

Over here, Kongo has retaken Zinchecra and appears to have successfully held off Australia on all fronts.

Slowly but surely, Mexico is winning the war against Rif, as Porfirio Díaz manages to capture Windhoek.

Taking advantage of the disintegration of Australia's army, Vasil Levsky declares war on Billy Hughes!

Several more civs join in, including Wuyue and the Zunbils.

To start off, Kongo captures Sydney...

...However, Wuyue is also at war with Kongo, so Qian Liu takes Sydney anyway.

Then Megara manages to take Malolos, despite stiff competition from Bulgaria.

Kosovo takes Adelaide with a naval attack while Kongolese Pombos close in on Melbourne.

Mexico, having won the war against Rif, now declares war on Wuyue.

Sydney appears to be firmly back in Nzinga's hands with no Wuyue ships anywhere to be seen.

Rome declares war on the Garamantes! This will be a tough fight for both sides, but if Julius Caesar can thin out Djalla's army, all his trebuchets will make short work of Dedris and Garama.

Djalla faces more trouble as Kongo attacks from the other direction! Nzinga is also forced back into war with Wuyue due to her DOF with Ibrahim Rugova.

Bulgaria seizes the opportunity and also declares war on Kongo!

Vasil Levsky takes Sydney!

The Zunbils awaken and invade the helpless Comanche with an enormous army!

New York quickly falls...

...And Megara takes Cavite el Viejo, eliminating Quanah Parker of the Comanche in 15th place.

After an enormous battle that saw huge losses on both sides, Rome finally wins the war of attrition and takes Dedris.

Time for the turn 300 stats! Kosovo still leads in military power with Megara and the Zunbils not far behind.

Kosovo is also beginning to pull ahead in technologies, with two more than anyone else.

And Kosovo's production lead has only gotten larger, with almost 60% more hammers than the #2 Rif. Kosovo increasingly seems like the civ to beat here.

Stronk Kosovo wakes from its slumber and decides to finish off the Anglo-Norse, dragging several friends along in the process.

For some reason, the Garamantes declare war on Kongo in a move that seems totally suicidal.

Meanwhile, Kosovo has captured Ribe, eliminating Canute of the Anglo-Norse in 14th place.

One turn later, Kongo captures Garama, exiling the Garamantes to their random city by Megara.

Abd el-Krim decides that it's time to get revenge against Mexico for that earlier war! His forces look formidable, but will they be sufficient?

A complication is introduced as Kosovo joins the war on Mexico's side.

Bulgaria, which is looking much healthier than they did a little while ago, declares war on Kongo again!

Mbanza-Kongo falls! Vasil Levsky is back in the game!

Rif give Kosovo a bit of a bloody nose by taking Gjilani with like three ships.

Rome joins the war against an increasingly fucked Kongo.

Garama falls seven turns later, while Bulgaria appears to have largely secured Mbanza-Kongo.

Varna falls as Bulgaria continues to pump out advanced units.

Then Kabasa falls! Only Zinchecra remains!

I missed the treaty, but Rif gave away Annual to Kosovo in exchange for peace and Ibrahim Rugova razed the city.

Mexico finally makes headway against Wuyue with the capture of Yuezhou.

Kosovo declares war on Mexico, so Mexico... declares war on itself.

Without having quite even finished off Kongo, Bulgaria decides to finish off Australia too.

And Zinchecra falls, eliminating Nzinga of Kongo in 13th place.

Su Nuraxi quickly falls to Kosovo's massive invasion force.

Meanwhile, Megara decides it's finally time to finish off the Garamantes.

Rif takes advantage of Mexico's sudden incapacitation and captures Guadalajara.

And Megara takes Plovdiv, eliminating Djalla of the Garamantes in 12th place.

Rif also manages to take Windhoek before Kosovo can get to it.

Suddenly, Megara attacks Bulgaria! Vasil Levsky's are much more advanced but he has much fewer of them—can he hold the line?

Kwaarú Núú falls, but that was a foregone conclusion.

Mexico makes peace with Rif and gives away Toronto, ending a disastrous war with an ignominious defeat.

Despite being invaded by Megara, Bulgaria finds time to capture Melbourne, eliminating Billy Hughes of Australia in 11th place.

Kosovo wins the world's fair by a decent margin, followed by the Zunbils in second.

Megara continues to make progress against Bulgaria, taking Sydney.

The Zunbils awaken from their slumber in order to finish off the USA.

Bulgaria loses its capital! What a disaster for this newly resurgent civ!

Anyway, time for the turn 400 stats. Once again, Kosovo has the largest army, but now the Zunbils have risen to second.

Kosovo's tech lead has grown from two techs to five.

And Kosovo's lead in production remains very strong.

Megara continues to chew through Bulgaria, taking Kúhtsútúúka.

The Zunbils capture Washington, eliminating Abraham Lincoln of the USA in 10th place.

The Zunbils then make what might be the most critical move of the game: they declare war on Megara. This could very well stop Theagenes' progress in its tracks.

A wave of advanced Zunbil units quickly sweeps into Malolos.

With help from the Zunbils, Bulgaria begins a counteroffensive, retaking Sydney!

Vasil Levsky then retakes Kúhtsútúúka as well!

But then Megara takes it back and tries to raze it...

But the Zunbils swoop in and save it from destruction.

Jimofuta also takes Cavite el Viejo and advances on Kwaarú Núú.

Bulgaria agrees to peace with Megara and gives away Sydney, which Theagenes burns to the ground.

Theagenes also recaptured Kúhtsútúúka and razed it as well. I can't say I'll miss having to type the name of that city.

Kwaarú Núú falls to the Zunbils...

...But Theagenes recaptures and razes that city as well.

With some help from a few naval units, the Zunbils push on to Húpenúú.

I know what you're thinking: "Wait, wasn't it just turn 437?" That's right: literally nothing of note happened for 63 turns. And yes, Megara and the Zunbils are still at war.



As expected, Kosovo leads in military strength, but Rif is slightly closing the gap.

Kosovo's tech lead grows from 5 to 8.

And Kosovo's production lead has narrowed considerably thanks to a huge surge from the Zunbils.

27 turns later (yes, nothing happened for 90 turns), Bulgaria declares war on Megara again in an effort to regain its capital.

Indeed, Bulgaria manages to slip some units through the meatgrinder and retakes Sofia!

But then it flips back to Megara and then to the Zunbils.

...And back to Megara and back to Bulgaria. This could go on for a while.

In a surprise turn of events, Wuyue captures Toronto from Rif.

But Rif takes it back and secures the area.

Finally, after absolute ages, the Zunbils make more progress against Megara, taking Obzor.

Wuyue takes Toronto again, and this time there's no sign of any Rifian units.

Megara Hyblaea falls...

And then Megara itself! At last, Megara is collapsing!

On the Big Island, Heruclea falls..

Chalcedon is captured...

Selinunte falls...

Byzantium is captured...

Astacus falls..

And with the capture of Chersonesus, Theagenes of Megara is eliminated in 9th place. What a campaign!

Mexico declares war on Wuyue, which is not a great move since Porfirio Díaz has no way to reinforce Yuezhou.

Unsurprisingly, Wuyue retakes Yuezhou from Mexico.

Rif attacks Mexico! This should be short-lived, since Mexico City is already at 0 HP from Kosovar aerial bombardments.

Sure enough, Rif takes Mexico City with barely any units. Porfirio Díaz of Mexico is eliminated in 8th place.

Kosovo declares war on Bulgaria, and... oh christ is that a fucking rocket artillery

Kosovo effortlessly captures Melbourne.

Desperate to get some land before Kosovo eats it all, Jimofuta joins the war and attacks Bulgaria.

Sofia falls almost immediately.

Kosovo takes Zinchecra with a handful of highly advanced units as Bulgaria keeps trying to flip Melbourne.

The Zunbils roll into Mbanza-Kongo...

Kabasa falls...

...And the Zunbils take Varna, eliminating Vasil Levsky of Bulgaria in 7th place.

The slightly late turn 600 stats show that Kosovo has once again increased its military advantage.

Kosovo's tech lead is up to 13 techs.

But the Zunbils have far surpassed Kosovo in production, so this game is still not yet decided!

Next, the Zunbils declare war on Rome! This won't be as easy a fight as Bulgaria was, however.

Garama falls almost immediately. Flipfest incoming!

Out of nowhere, Rif captures Kumamoto, eliminating Kato Kiyomasa of North Kyushu in 6th place.

34 turns later, the Zunbils finally make some more progress when they flip Dedris.

After that, Rome makes peace and gives away Antium, Cumae, and Gujranwala.

A while after that, another war breaks out as Kosovo attacks Rif!

Turn 700 brings some major shakeups! The Zunbils have now surpassed Kosovo in military manpower by more than 300,000 troops!

Kosovo has increased its tech lead to 15 techs, but Ibrahim Rugova is about to hit the end of the tech tree.

And the Zunbils have 2.5 times the production of Kosovo.

Kosovo captures Kumamoto and flips Windhoek. Also, Ajdir appears to have been nuked.

Windhoek falls...

...But Rif strikes back, taking Gjilani and recapturing Windhoek.

Windhoek and Gjilani continue to flip, and Rif captures Adelaide.

But then Kosovo makes a big push and takes Windhoek and Guadalajara.

The Zunbils absolutely dominate the international games.

Things suddenly take a dark turn for Rif as the Zunbils join the war against them.

Tangier falls to the swift naval attack.

Kosovo takes Mexico City, which has been nuked.

The Zunbils take Chefchaouen.

Kosovo takes Ottawa.

And then Rif makes peace with Kosovo, giving away Montreal and Tamasint.

The Zunbils continue to take what they can, such as the snow island city of Jebala.

Eventually they manage to take Ajdir as well.

Jimofuta puts on another good performance in the international space station project.

After a while, Kosovo attacks Rif again.

Ottawa is captured by a giant death robot.

Toronto falls shortly thereafter.

And when Kosovo captures Monte Malmusi, Abd el-Krim of the Republic of the Rif is eliminated in 5th place.

11 turns after that, the Zunbils move to finish off Rome.

One turn later, the Zunbils capture both Rome and Lahore, eliminating Julius Caesar of Rome in 4th place.

Turn 800 arrives, and the Zunbils now have a military lead of over 450,000 troops.

The Zunbils have almost caught up to Kosovo in technologies.

And Jimofuta no longer has more than twice Kosovo's production, but the difference is still enormous.

Five turns later, Kosovo attacks Wuyue.

Yuezhou falls one turn later.

And Xifu is captured three turns after that, eliminating Qian Liu of Wuyue in third place.

On turn 850, I force war between the two remaining civilizations.

The Zunbils capture Zinchecra immediately.

Kosovo responds by taking Lahore.

The Zunbils launch a major naval offensive in the southeast, capturing Montreal and Tamasint.

Jimofuta also takes Melbourne and recaptures Lahore.

Mitrovicë and Wintanceastre fall...

Xifu is captured...

Meanwhile, Kosovo has counterattacked in the southeast and captured Montreal and Ajdir.

But the Zunbils continue to push with XCOM squads on the front lines, capturing Yuezhou.

Montreal and Adelaide are captured.

Losa falls... nukes appear to have been flying.

Toronto and Ajdir are captured.

Prizreni and Lundenburgh fall; Prishtinë has been nuked.

The Zunbils take Ottawa and Monte Malmusi.

Prishtinë and Pejë are captured!

Guadalajara falls...

Mexico City is captured...

Ribe falls...

Shimabara falls...

Kumamoto is captured...

Kosovo then makes peace and gives away everything except Su Nuraxi.

Obviously, this cannot stand, so I restart the war.

And of course the Zunbils take Su Nuraxi almost immediately, eliminating Kosovo and taking home the first victory point of Mk. 11!

Here's the classic aftermath pic. There's no need to show the score, since only one civ has any points so far. Thanks for reading, and I'll try to put out some more as soon as possible!