Part of the campaign:

Welcome back my dudes and dudettes, round eight is finally here! With Switzerland in the lead, only three chances remain for someone else to step up and fight for the title, and this is one of them. Will someone do it? Let's find out!

The second cities are founded, and some civs appear to have gone for some new spots. Mt. Pearl and Cabo San Lucas especially are unorthodox choices.

As usual, the first war is a coalition against Beowulf. The Geats are unfortunately turning into the worst repeat failure since Burma in mark 1.

Maurya easily takes Lödöse, locking Sonora out of the fight.

Meanwhile, the Numidians declare war on Albania and India attacks the Aleuts.

Maurya takes Skara on turn 43, by far the earliest elimination in round 10, and possibly the earliest elimination since mark 7! As so often seams to happen, Beowulf of the Geats is eliminated in 21st place.

The Aleuts make peace with India and give away Adamagan.

And a war I didn't even screenshot turns deadly as Vietnam topples Sonora's capital! Thayae Khittaya has also declared war on Sonora, ensuring that William Walker's days are numbered.

Ezo makes peace with the Central African Empire and gives away Asahikawa.

And Thayae Khittaya takes Cabo San Lucas, eliminating William Walker of Sonora in 20th place. With the second elimination happening on turn 57, this is hands down the bloodiest early game of any round so far this mark.

De ja vu much????????? Yeah, it's happened again.

War breaks out on the western subcontinent as the Inca declare war on Navarre!

Another war, another city given up: Ezo gives the CAE Sapporo in a peace treaty this time.

Uzbekistan attacks the Central African Empire, while the the Numidians wave a flag in the background and loudly proclaim "We're helping!!"

Vietnam moves on to a new target: Newfoundland! However, I would recommend that the Trung Sisters research composite bowmen before trying any further conquest at this point, since archers are becoming pretty useless.

Albania joins the war against the CAE just in time to bail out Uzbekistan's depleted military.

Nevertheless, Uzbekistn is able to take Mbaiki with what units remain.

After many turns of war, the Inca finally take San Sebastian from Navarre!

And now it's time for the turn 100 stats. Maurya has an early lead in military manpower, followed by Vietnam and the Blackfoot.

Maurya also leads in crop yield, and once again Vietnam is second.

However, Newfoundland slightly edges out Maurya in production.

That stat probably just changed, however, because Newfoundland has given away Mount Pearl to Vietnam in a peace treaty. What a disaster.

Navarre makes peace with the Inca and gives away Bilbao! For once, it seems that the balance of power in this region is shifting in Pachacuti's favour.

Papua and Vietnam declare war on Maurya, but Rajapapua is going to have to do the heavy lifting because the Trung Sisters can't really get at the enemy. Maurya is also at war with Thayae Khittaya, but they made peace soon after this picture was taken.

After a long siege, Albania finally captures Bangui.

And then Uzbekistan takes Asahikawa, leaving the CAE with one more city.

The Inca declare war on Navarre again, and this time Sancho will be fighting for his very existence.

Switzerland and Uzbekistan soon decide to finish off the CAE.

The Numidians and Albania declare war on Ukraine! It's now a race to see who can take Kyiv first.

Meanwhile, Thayae Khittaya has declared war on Vietnam and is already surrounding La Paz!

And back in the west, the Inca capture Pamplona, eliminating Sancho III of Navarre in 18th place.

Two turns later, Albania takes Kyiv, eliminating Yulya Tymoshenko of Ukraine in 17th place.

Thayae Khittaya manages to take La Paz, uniting Beikthano with the rest of the empire.

Suddenly, India swoops in and takes Kyiv from Albania! Skanderberg did not see this coming!

As Maurya turns the tide against Papua, Vanuatu decides to jump in and take advantage of the situation, joining the war.

Finally, after a very long and frustrating siege, Switzerland takes Sapporo, eliminating Jean-Bedel Bokassa of the Central African Empire in 16th place. Dufour immediately declares war on Ezo, all but ensuring that he'll rpomptly lose Sapporo again.

Maurya storms south into Papuan territory, taking their capital of Hanuabada.

Sure enough, Ezo retakes Sapporo, and Switzerland seems to be running low on troops.

Vietnam declares war on Newfoundland again. Maybe they'll get another city in the peace treaty.

Oh, look, they actually captured Corner Brook through legitimate means. I guess I spoke too soon.

The turn 200 stats arrive, revealing that Maurya has a pretty significant lead in military manpower. India and the Inca are virtually tied for second.

Vietnam and Maurya jointly hold the lead in technologies.

And the Inca have a narrow lead over Maurya in production. After that it's a long drop to anyone else.

Thayae Khittaya and India both declare war on Vietnam! It's not clear that the Trung Sisters can hold this off.

Indeed, India swiftly moves in and takes Corner Brook.

Meanwhile, Saigon falls to Thayae Khittaya.

None of this stops Vietnam from capturing Siksikáwa, the Blackfoot capital.

And Vanuatu finally captures Boera, eliminating Papua in 16th place.

Thayae Khittaya captures Hanoi! The number three civ is going down!

Newfoundland, Maurya, and Qin join the war against Vietnam.

Meanwhile, the Inca and India declare war on the Aleuts, who have done a good job expanding after being temporarily reduced to one city.

The Blackfoot re-declare their war against Vietnam in an effort to take their capital back.

It works! Crowfoot has recovered Siksikáwa!

And Newfoundland retakes Mount Pearl, eliminating the Trung Sisters of Vietnam in 15th place.

Switzerland decides to try its luck against Ezo again. Maybe Enomoto Takeaki will capture more cities this time too. Worth noting that Ezo is also at war with Uzbekistan, but they also have the great wall.

India takes Chaluka, although this appears not to be the first time it has flipped.

The great wall doesn't stop Islam Karimov, and Uzbekistan rolls right into Hakodate.

Switzerland retakes Sapporo...

...And Dufour takes Kushiro as well, eliminating Enomoto Takeaki of Ezo in 14th place.

At turn 300, the stats reveal that Maurya's military lead is not going anywhere. However, Thayae Khittaya's meteoric rise into second place could serve as a check on their expansion.

However, Maurya is beginning to pull ahead in technologies, and once again Thayae Khittaya is the only other civ within striking distance.

And—oh my goodness. The Inca steal lead in production, but only by one hammer, while Maurya and Thayae Khittaya are tied for second place. What we have here is a virtual three way tie in production at turn 300. Can you even have a game closer than this one?

Apparently Albania retook Kyiv from India when I wasn't looking.

Maurya flips Siksikáwa with a long distance naval attack. Crazy.

Switzerland declares war on Qin, and Xianyang is looking awfully squishy.

However, Dufour is now in big trouble as Uzbekistan, Maurya, and the Blackfoot all declare war on him!

Uzbekistan rolls through Switzerland like a knife through butter, taking Sapporo and knocking Bern down to red.

Momentary intermission: Thayae Khittaya has taken Corner Brook from India.

Back to scheduled programming: Uzbekistan has captured Bern!

Suddenly, Maurya declares war on Thayae Khittaya! Ashoka's tech lead is really showing here, with all of his units one or two levels more advanced than Duttabaung's. It's hard to see how Thayae Khittaya could get out of this without losing cities.

The Mauryan navy is still throwing its weight around on the other side of the world, taking Kushiro from Switzerland.

And then Qin captures Zurich, eliminating Henri Dufour of Switzerland in 13th place.

Maurya takes Beikthano as Thayae Khittaya scrambles to assemble a defensive line.

The Inca, now sporting enlightenment era units of their own, declare war on Albania.

India is on the advanced unit train as well, and uses them to attack the Numidians.

Fucking ouch! Maurya goes straight for the capital, taking Thayae Khittaya itself!

Uzbekistan joins the Inca in attacking Albania!

Hanlin falls! Thayae Khittaya is just getting destroyed!

Uzbekistan captures Bangui, as another civ is dismantled out west.

India has retaken Corner Brook from Thayae Khittaya.

The Aleuts join the war against Albania, all but guaranteeing that they'll nab Kyiv.

The Numidians join too, because why the fuck not.

The Aleuts capture Kyiv, as predicted.

Meanwhile, Vanuatu decides to throw its navy out toward a random nearby coast and manages to capture Xianyang.

Turn 400 stats! Maurya still leads in military, but the Inca are now second and Thayae Khittaya has dropped to fifth.

The reason for Maurya's dominance becomes clear as we see that they lead by nine techs of anyone else.

However, the Incas and Uzbekistan now have significantly more hammers than Maurya.

Albania gains something for once, as they take Kharkiv from the Numidians.

This doesn't last, however, as Uzbekistan takes Krujë and the Aleuts capture Kharkiv.

After a while we return to this front, where Thayae Khittaya has actually managed to recover and secure its capital.

The Aleuts snipe Tirana after Uzbekistan did most of the work. Nice.

Maurya offers peace to Thayae Khittaya in exchange for La Paz, and Duttabaung takes the deal. It's a hefty price, but Thayae Khittaya at least isn't totally crippled.

And at last, Uzbekistan captures Elbasan, eliminating Skanderbeg of Albania in 12th place.

Qin makes peace with Vanuatu and gives away Zurich.

Newfoundland, Thayae Khittaya, and the Aleuts form a coalition against India!

The Blackfoot will take what they can get. Somehow, their outdated little army has filtered down through Uzbek territory and captured Zurich.

At long last, Corner Brook is back in Newfie hands.

And the Blackfoot successfully take Xianyang, kicking Vanuatu out of its newly acquired western territories.

The Numidians join the war with India, probably striking the death blow against Indira.

However, India is apparently still intimidating enough that the Blackfoot are willing to give away Káínaa in a peace treaty with Indira.

Edward Morris wastes no time taking Káínaa for himself.

The Numidians successfully capture Bombay as Aleut and Newfoundlander armies close in from the east and west.

Qin declares war on the Blackfoot... this is an interesting one for sure.

The Aleuts finally retake Adamagan, although obviously it was Indian for about 15 times longer than it belonged to the Aleuts.

Vanuatu musters a large force and easily retakes Xianyang.

Newfoundland captures Bangalore as Delhi falls to red.

The Numidians take Delhi! India is getting carved up like pie here.

Vanuatu also recaptures Zurich.

Then Uzbekistan declares war on Vanuatu and takes Zurich again.

And the Aleuts recapture Chaluka, eliminating Indira Gandhi of India in 11th place.

Somehow, Ying Zheng manages to capture Siksikáwa, eliminating Crowfoot of the Blackfoot in 10th place.

Suddenly, the most significant coalition war of the round begins as the Inca and Maurya both declare war on Uzbekistan! This will be absolutely decisive.

Pachacuti makes a swift start, taking Elbasan.

However, he soon fucks himself over by trying to attack the Aleuts at the same time.

And Uzbekistan takes Kushiro, forcing Maurya off the western half of the continent. Maybe this war wasn't all it was cracked up to be.

Uzbekistan wins the international games by a decent margin. I'm surprised Maurya didn't contribute more.

It's taken a while, but the Inca are making progress, capturing Durres.

Maurya decides to remove Vanuatu because it is an obstacle preventing Ashoka from reaching Uzbekistan.

Meanwhile, Thayae Khittaya decides to beef itself up a bit by absorbing Newfoundland.

Uzbekistan agrees to peace with the Inca after retaking Durres. Pachacuti is now free to focus on the Aleuts.

Teouma falls as extremely advanced Mauryan troops descend upon Vanuatu.

Boera and Mangaas are soon captured as well.

The Numidians join the war against Newfoundland.

Maurya takes Mangaliliu. It's worth noting that Maurya has rocket artillery while no other civs even have regular artillery yet.

No longer fighting two enemies at once, Pachacuti manages to take Tirana from the Aleuts.

Kharkiv soon follows.

The turn 500 stats reveal that Maurya has nearly twice as many soldiers as anyone else.

Maurya also leads in science by an unprecedented 15 techs.

Uzbekistan still clings to the lead in production, but Maurya is now just five hammers behind.

And Maurya's hammer count is constantly going up as the absorb more ni-Vanuatu cities, including Tamate.

Thayae Khittaya captures and razes Bangalore.

Uzbekistan wins another international project. The fact that it's not closer says to me that Ashoka is focusing his production elsewhere, because he should be able to beat Islam Karimov.

The Mauryan war machine assimilates Falesa.

Newfoundland retakes Bangalore and... liberates India? What the fuck?

Shortly thereafter, Thayae Khittaya captures St. John's.

And with the fall of Napatau, Vanuatu is eliminated in 9th place.

Uzbekistan takes Káínaa. Slowly but surely, Newfoundland is being whittled down.

However, Thayae Khittaya stupidly makes peast just before finishing off Newfoundland and attacks India instead, along with the Aleuts.

And Duttabaung doesn't even get anything from it because the Aleuts capture Bangalore first, sending Indira back to the underworld from whence she came.

The Numidians, meanwhile, have managed to sneak in and take Jiangzhou from Qin.

Thayae Khittaya moves to finish them off.

Now at peace with the Aleuts, Pachacuti gives war with Uzbekistan another shot.

Maurya joins in soon after, not wanting to be left out of the coalition again.

Ashoka starts the invasion by taking Xianyang with one infantry, one destroyer, and a lot of planes.

Thayae Khittaya captures Siksikáwa, eliminating Ying Zheng of Qin in 8th place.

Maurya also captures Káínaa with one infantry and a lot of planes.

However, Uzbekistan is actually on the offensive against the Inca, capturing Kharkiv.

But Maurya keeps eating through Uzbekistan from the east, taking Zurich.

Kushiro also falls, going from full health to zero in one turn.

Duttabaung finally realizes that he should have finished off Newfoundland earlier—now that it's too late for anyone except the Numidians to actually take Morris's remaining cities.

Somehow though, Thayae Khattaya manages to take Corner Brook.

And the Numidians capture Mount Pearl, eliminating Edward Morris of Newfoundland in 7th place.

The Mauryan conquest of Uzbekistan continues as Sapporo and Bern both fall.

The Aleuts launch a major invasion of the Numidians, but numbers are deceptive; much of Agugux's strength is tied up in his navy.

The Inca have retaken Kharkiv, but Uzbekistan has captured Tirana. I guess Islam Karimov is focusing his forces up here because defense against Maurya is a lost cause; many of his units can be killed in one hit by most of Ashoka's.

The Numidians actually make gains in the war with the Aleuts, capturing Bangalore.

Agugux decides to declare war on Uzbekistan at the same time.

Meanwhile, Mauryan tanks are making a speed run straight for Tashkent, taking Samarkand in the process.

Somehow, Uzbekistan has retaken Samarkand, but now Karimov has bigger things to worry about as The Inca recapture Kharkiv and Tirana and capture Durres and Bangui as well.

Pachacuti takes Krujë as both invaders close in on Tashkent.

The Inca take Mbaiki...

Maurya gets Tashkent and Samarkand!

Then Uzbekistan makes peace with the Inca and gives away Asahikawa, while briefly flipping Samarkand.

Maurya finishes the job on the next turn, taking both Hakodate and Samarkand and eliminating Islam Karimov of Uzbekistan in 6th place.

Also, Ashoka finally seems to have realized that he can easily dominate international projects.

Oh shit! The next big war of the game begins as Pachacuti declares war on the Aleuts!

Kyiv quickly falls, while Thayae Khittaya begins another war against the Numidians.

Mount Pearl falls as Maurya builds two wonders from consecutive techs on the same turn.

Duttabaung captures Bangalore...

The Inca capture Ounalashka...

...And Sanak and Idaliuk...

And Amaknak, and Anangula...

Adamagan falls, and only Chaluka remains, with no units to defend it.

And Chaluka is captured, eliminating Agugux of the Aleuts in 5th place.

The turn 600 stats show that Maurya's lead in soldiers is completely insurmountable, as they've completely carpeted their lands (and then some) with extremely advanced troops. They have more than three times as many soldiers as the #2 Incas.

Ashoka's science lead has expanded to a whopping 18 techs.

And Maurya has 80% more production than anyone else. I'd say this game is done and decided.

This won't stop the Inca from trying to build up as much land as they can, however, so Pachacuti declares war on the Numidians.

Bombay falls, but Mauryan units are starting to cause issues as they overflow into Numidian territory.

Somehow, the Inca still manage to take Delhi.

Bangalore falls as well, but the Numidians have retaken Bombay and Mauryan units are completely blocking the path forward.

Turn 700 arrives with no further progress. The military gap between Maurya and everyone else has decreased, but Ashoka still wield about 300,000 more troops than the remaining three civilizations put together.

Maurya finished the tech tree ages ago. 100 turns after being 18 techs behind, the Inca still have 12 more to go before they catch up.

The Inca have closed some of the production gap with Maurya as well, but the military difference is so large it's meaningless.

I waited until turn 750 before declaring war so the tech imbalance would even out a bit. Still, this forced war is going to be a doozy.

Maurya immediately captures Cirta, Jiangzhou, and Auzia. The only reason Bombay didn't also fall is because there was a Mauryan unit already inside the city, causing a bug. I had to delete this unit with IGE later.

On the next turn, Maurya takes Mbaiki, Asahikawa, and Bangui.

Three turns later, Krujë and Hanoi have fallen as well. Deleting the misplaced unit has also allowed Maurya to take Bombay, eliminating Massinissa of the Numidians in 4th place.

Late in the same turn as the previous picture, Maurya takes Siksikáwa, Mount Pearl, Saigon, Cabo San Lucas, and Thayae Khittaya in one fell swoop, absorbing almost all of the Duttabaung's major cities in the blink of an eye.

In the west it's slower going, but Ashoka has taken Durres and is landing XCOMs around Cusco.

One turn later, Maurya takes Tirana, Kyiv, Cusco, Tiwanaku, and San Sebastian.

Over here, Corner Brook has fallen but St. John's somehow holds out.

The Inca retake San Sebastian but lose Machu and Elbasan.

Maurya has also taken St. John's and Bangalore, eliminating Duttabaung of Thayae Khittaya in third place.

Bombay and Delhi are next to fall, while the Inca have momentarily retaken Kyiv.

Maurya captures San Sebastian, Huamanga, Corihuayrachina, Pamplona, and Kyiv.

Adamagan joins that list. Mauryan units surround Anangula, the last remaining capital.

And with the fall of Anangula, it's over. Ashoka of Maurya has won round 8!

The score now stands as follows:



Switzerland: 2

Maurya: 1

Vietnam: 1

Sonora: 1

Albania: 1

CAE: 1

Uzbekistan: 0.5

Vanuatu: 0.5



Thanks for reading, and I'll be back once I've filmed round 9!