Part of the campaign:

Hey everyone, it's round 8 already! I mean, holy shit, Mk. VII only just started, right? Nope... we're actually nearing the end, and at the moment it's a close race between the Coast Salish (2 points) and Great Qing (2.5 points). Theoretically, anyone can still win, but it's probably going to be one of these two. So let's see what this round has in store, shall we?

The second cities roll out, and Montenegro goes with a ridiculous choice that completely blocks Algeria. The Mughals have also chosen a spot they've never settled before.

The first war is between Ethiopia and Liège which seems to be happening a lot recently. Erard de la Marck barely has an army, but geography at least is on his side.

Another war breaks out, this time between Bosnia and the Ilkhanate. I dare say, Vhrbosna is utterly screwed.

In fact, Ghazan not only captures Vhrbosna but razes it too. RIP.

As if Bosnia wasn't hurting enough already, Samoa declares war! But without boats, cracking Bobovac might be difficult.

A fourth war begins as Calusa declares war on the Mughals. However, I can't help but feel that this is a mistake, since it seems Akbar's army is considerably larger.

In fact, that army manages to take Muspa, although both sides are significantly depleted in the process.

But Calusa recaptures Muspa and makes peace with the Mughals. Thought something would come of this war? Think again!

Now, it's time for the turn 100 stats! Guess who has the largest army? That's right, it's Great Qing!

Guess who also has the most technologies...

And the most production... though, granted, they only have one more hammer than Samoa and Great Britain.

Speaking of Samoa, they just gained a bunch more hammers by capturing Bobovac! Tbrvgrtftdko I of Bosnia is eliminated in 21st place.

But then France and the Ilkhanate attack Samoa! It looks like Salamasina's dominance could be pretty short-lived.

Denmark builds the Great Wall, most likely ensuring that Harald Bluetooth lasts until the end like usual.

The Ilkhanate takes Pago Pago and begins to surround Bobovac! Salamasina is definitely in big trouble!

But wait—there's more! France teams up with the Kalinago to betray the Ilkhanate, and the two civs immediately attack Ghazan from the north!

The Kalinago quickly take Shiraz. Ghazan's inferior technology and continued focus on Samoa seem to be doing him in.

Kairouane continues his rampage, capturing Tabriz! The question now, I suppose, is whether someone will take advantage of this and continue the chain of defeats up even higher.

Well, it looks like Calusa and Great Britain will try, but their odds of success seem low.

...Escpecially considering that Great Qing has declared war on them.

Another insane war soon breaks out between France and the Coast Salish! The Salish have the bigger navy, but it seems like land armies will be the decisive factor here, in which case France definitely has an advantage.

Oh hey, remember this war? Well, Liège is actually winning, as they've taken Shire.

Then, to make matters worse for Amda Seyon, South Korea attacks with a huge army from the east!

France suddenly makes major gains, taking Spahbahdeed from the Salish and receiving Pago Pago in a peace treaty with the Ilkhanate.

However, France is still at war with Samoa, so Salamasina takes the opportunity to recover Pago Pago.

As Cixi closes in on a decisive victory over the Calusa, the Mughals join the war, threatening to take Muspa before Great Qing can get its hands on it.

But this distraction allows the Kalinago to sneak from the south and take Escampaha! This is a major blow for Great Qing, who had seemed all but certain to get the city.

And then France takes Old-Man House, eliminating Seattle of the Coast Salish in 20th place.

Moments later, Great Qing takes Muspa, exiling Calusa to a one tile island.

And just three turns after the death of Seattle, South Korea takes Tegulet, eliminating Amda Seyon of Ethiopia in 19th place.

The Ilkhanate decide to make up with their former enemies, the Kalinago, by attacking Samoa. Salamasina is already not doing so hot, since it seems France has brought their capital down to yellow HP.

Meanwhile, in a war I failed to mention, Denmark takes Wolleka from Semien.

As a side venture, France decides to finish off the Calusa.

And just like that, Mayaimi is captured, eliminating Caalus of the Calusa in 18th place.

Now, time for the turn 200 stats. Great Britain and South Korea have unseated Great Qing in the top spot in military, although all three civs are very close to one another in this category.

Great Qing still maintains a narrow lead of one technology.

And the Kalinago and France now dominate the production stats with 121 and 120 hammers respectively. Great Qing has fallen all the way to eighth.

Anyway, we return to the action in time to see two wars begin. On screen, Samoa declares war on its larger and more dangerous neighbour, France; while off screen, Liège attacks Denmark.

However, Samoa has invented incredible land triremes that can move onto land tiles and kill land units! Unbelievable!

And we have another awful twist of fate for the Ilkhanate as Great Britain attacks. I don't see any good way out of this for Ghazan.

Aha, the partition of Samoa has begun. The Kalinago have captured Pago Pago while France damages Apia... again.

Pago Pago flips back to Samoa and then to France, although there's no way Napoleon will keep it.

However, France does manage to take Apia on the next turn.

As Samoa takes back Pago Pago in the background, the important thing is that Great Britain has captured Maragha. Ghazan of the Ilkhanate is eliminated in 17th place.

Oh shit, it's the showdown of giants! The Kalinago and Great Qing attack France—can Napoleon hold the line?

Even as the Kalinago flood his border cities, Napoleon still manages to take back Pago Pago.

...Only to lose it to the Kalinago. That was fast.

Um, alright then. The Mughals have given Gaur to the Faroe Islands in a peace treaty. Gaur is a terrible city, so this might actually hurt Faroe in the long run, however.

Oh shit, I should have done the stats 20 turns ago. Well, no matter, I'll do them now anyway. The Kalinago now have a significant military lead, while the civ they're fighting, France, holds on in second.

The Kalinago have also caught up with Great Qing in technologies. Cixi will definitely have to step up her game if she wants to win this.

However, France has a decent lead in production, suggesting that the Kalinago could have bitten off more than they can chew.

Holy shit, what's this? I didn't even photograph the war between South Korea and Denmark because I thought there was no way they'd do anything. But so many civs have been harassing COpenhagen with their ships (including South Korea, Hejaz, Liège, and Tuscany) that Park Chung-hee has actually managed to take the city, netting himself the Great Wall. It will almost certainly flip, but this is a major blow for Denmark. And on the same turn, Liège has taken Kaupang as well.

Liège continues to tear through the northern Danish cities, taking Ribe, while it seems South Korea has held on to Copenhagen.

South Korea then takes Aarhus leaving Denmark with just one city. Judging by Copenhagen's population, it only flipped once, too. This is unbelievable; I've never seen anything like it.

Meanwhile, Montenegro has managed to take Tahlequah, ending a massive drought of city-captures in this area of the world.

However, the Cherokee immediately take it back and the two sides make peace. Alright then.

After waiting for a while, another war breaks out between the Kalinago and France. Last time, Kairouane gained Pago Pago and then stalemated. This time, with a bigger and more advanced army, could he take more?

Great Britain attacks Montenegro! Finally another war in this area!

Ooh, things are looking bad for France! The Kalinago have taken Marseille!

While more civs attack France, we can see that Victoria's attack on Montenegro has completely backfired, as Petar II has taken Birmingham.

Great Qing begins to make some headway of its own against France, taking Mayaimi.

And the Kalinago also continue to make gains, capturing Apia.

But then France recaptures Apia, only to lose it to... South Korea? You know it, folks. That madman Park Chung-hee is going for victory at last.

Now, the turn 400 stats. Guess who has the largest military now? That's right, it's motherfucking South Korea.

Tuscany and Liège are now tied for the top spot in tech, with South Korea coming in just one tech behind them. It's a really close race all the way down though.

And guess what, South Korea has also overtaken the Kalinago in production. This game just got competitive, folks.

Anyway, the war between the Kalinago and France continues to go in Kairouane's favour as he takes Old-Man House.

Meanwhile, Park Chung-hee continues to pull off his insane shenanigans by taking Paris.

And Great Qing also gets in on the fun by capturing Lyon.

France retakes Paris, and South Korea doesn't immediately take it back, meaning the city is up for grabs again.

And so Great Qing takes it instead. France is left with only one city.

And out of nowhere, the Cherokee capture Wolleka, eliminating Harald Bluetooth of Denmark in 17th place. Wow.

Suddenly, the Kalinago and Liège attack Great Britain! Maragha is already in major trouble!

Sure enough, the Kalinago capture Maragha after just two turns of war.

Kairouane doesn't slow down, pushing even farther and taking Leeds.

Suddenly, South Korea attacks the Faroe Islands! It will be a bloody fight, but it's one that South Korea should win.

Meanwhile, Great Britain recaptures Leeds and makes peace with the Kalinago. Still, Kairouane at least gained a capital and a canal city.

However—get this—Great Britain is still at war with Liège, and Erard de la Marck is determined to finish what Kairouane started.

South Korea takes Torshavn, and both of the other remaining Faroese cities are taking damage!

After Liège took Manchester, the Cherokee decide to jump in and take London.

And then Algeria, Hejaz, and Montenegro decide to pile on Great Britain as well.

Interestingly, Hejaz takes Birmingham by funneling units through Montenegrin territory.

But just when things seem to be going well for Hejaz, the Cherokee attack! Fortunately, John Ross has adopted Freedom, which is the AI equivalent of painting a giant red target on your face.

However, that doesn't stop him from capturing Birmingham.

Montenegro attacks Algeria, which is possible the only civ they can kill at this point. Also on this slide, Hejaz has retaken Birmingham.

And just like that, Montenegro takes Algiers, eliminating Abdelkader of Algeria in 15th place.

Haha, what do you know—Tuscany and Liège have declared war on the Cherokee, presumably for ideological reasons. Perhaps they're jealous of the Freedom Fries?

Hejaz also decides it's time for round two with John Ross and joins the war.

But first, it's turn 500, and that means stats. South Korea still has the most troops, but the Kalinago have almost closed the gap.

For the first time so far this game, someone leads by more than one tech. And for some reason, that leader is Liège. A further three civs are tied for second.

And finally, the Kalinago have retaken the lead in production.

Great Qing takes Wolleka, because apparently there are more civs at war with the Cherokee than I thought.

Montenegro joins, as Samoa somehow manages to take New Echota.

Hejaz captures Tahlequah as several civs compete for London.

But Hejaz gets London as well. Incredibly, this gives Hussein bin Ali a precarious land connection between Birmingham and his core.

Apparently the Kalinago are at war with Liège. Congrats Kairouane, you got a one tile island city.

And just like that, Hejaz takes Chota, eliminating John Ross of the Cherokee in 14th place. It's worth noting that Great Qing and Samoa also nearly took the city.

Speaking of Great Qing, Cixi has decided to invade the Faroe Islands. Really, she should have done that in the first 100 turns, like in all the rounds that she won.

The Kalinago attack what's left of France. This should be short.

Off screen, Spahbahdeed falls, eliminating Napoleon III of France in 13th place. But the real subject of this screenshot is the fact that Tuscany has declared war on Hejaz and they have fucking modern infantry.

Tuscany immediately takes Chota, and there isn't a whole lot that Hussein bin Ali can do against units that strong.

Great Qing takes Klaksvik and wisely ends the war with the Faroe Islands, who are now stuck in a 5-pop city jammed between South Korea, Montenegro, and the Mughals.

Tuscany, meanwhile, continues to eat through Hejaz, taking Tahlequah.

But suddenly, Montenegro declares war on Tuscany! This area just can't get a break, can it.

Well, would you lok at that. Great Britain is also at war with Hejaz, and they've actually managed to recover their capital.

But at the same time, Montenegro begins to eat into Tuscany, taking Tahlequah.

Great Britain also retakes Brimingham from Hejaz. Miracle comeback pls?

The Kalinago win the international games and South Korea comes in second, exactly as the stats would seem to predict.

Despite being invaded by Montenegro, Tuscany makes sure to take Medina because they can.

Hejaz then makes peace with Tuscany and gives away Jeddah.

Montenegro and Liège decide to finish off Great Britain again. Victoria has made peace with Hejaz and has for some reason given away Birmingham and Leeds in the peace treaty.

Great Qing finally attacks the Mughals, another civ Cixi should have killed ages ago if she had victory in mind.

Meanwhile, another civ ends up on the chopping block as South Korea attacks the Faroe Islands. Who are now landlocked, funnily enough.

Two turns later, Gaur falls, eliminating Tróndur í Gøtu of the Faroe Islands in 12th place.

One turn after that, Montenegro takes London, eliminating Victoria of Great Britain in 11th place.

Another international project finishes with the exact same first and second place civs.

Liège attacks Semien. Now normally this would seem irrelevant, but I took a screenshot because I had a hunch this might go somewhere.

And we have our third elimination in four turns. With the fall of Agra, Akbar of the Mughals is eliminated in 10th place.

The Kalinago attacks Samoa! Now this might mean another elimination soon, except Samoa still has New Echota and it would be hard for Kairouane to get there.

Montenegro (which is now at peace with Tuscany, by the way) attacks Hejaz and instantly takes Birmingham. It looks like Petar is going for Mecca as well.

But first, he quickly mops up any resistance around Leeds and takes the city.

The Kalinago take the megacity of Bobovac, killing 36 million people. Bobovac was actually so big before this that Samoa had the highest population on the demographics screen. And part of that is because Tafuna is only three sizes smaller.

And look at that... Montenegro has captured Mecca, eliminating Hussein bin Ali of Hejaz in 9th place.

Montenegro then teams up with Great Qing to start another war against Tuscany. Something tells me that Petar won't be holding Mecca.

However, before Tuscany can take Mecca, Montenegro captures Jeddah and connects it to the rest of the country.

And then of course Tuscany takes it on the next turn anyway.

Montenegro somehow manages to take Medina, but I would hazard a guess that behind the scenes, Tuscany is actually winning.

In fact, Lorenzo has managed to retake both Jeddah and Medina, meaning he has in fact made a net gain so far.

Or, he had, until Montenegro captured Chota.

Chota flips back to Tuscany and the Great Qing, for... reasons.

But never fear; Chota (along with Jeddah) is now back in Montenegro's hands.

After taking Tafuna, the Kalinago make peace with Samoa and receive Vaitele and Nu'uuli in the peace treaty.

Suddenly, Montenegro appears to making a full sweep of the battlefield, not only holding Chota and Jeddah but retaking Mecca and Medina as well.

But apparently Great Qing declared war on Montenegro when I wasn't looking, because they just took both Algiers and Podgorica in a single turn.

OH SHIT WADDUP



The Kalinago are coming to Montenegro's rescue by declaring war on Great Qing! In two previous rounds, the Kalinago did well only to be destroyed late in the game by Great Qing. But this time, Kairouane will at last have his revenge!

Also, Samoa just took Mecca, which is a thing that has happened. Somehow.

Now, time for the turn 600 stats, just in time for the beginning of our massive war. South Korea actually still has the largest army, while the Kalinago come in at a close second. From there's it's a long drop to Liège in third and an even longer one to Great Qing in fourth.

Liège stills leads in tech, but only by one technology now instead of two. Remarkable.

The Kalinago have, to no one's great surprise, massively expanded their production lead.

Kairouane starts by sniping Algiers before Montenegro can take it back.

he then takes Lyon and begins building up for an assault on Paris.

Remember this? Yeah. Liège has captured Gondar, eliminating Gudit of Semien in 8th place.

Montenegro and Tuscany make peace with Jeddah and Chota in Petar's hands and Medina back in Lorenzo's control. Note that Montenegro has retaken Pdogrica from Great Qing as well.

However, Kairouane has suffered a major blow on his northern front as Great Qing flips Escampaha. Not a great sign at all.

Montenegro makes peace with Great Qing and gives back Podgorica. Classy.

The Kalinago capture Paris, though it has clearly flipped a few times, and Great Qing seems to have naval dominance in the area.

On the western front, the Kalinago capture Podgorica with one infantry.

In the meantime, Montenegro decides to take back Mecca from Samoa, which really shouldn't be too hard.

In fact, Petar pulls it off in just three turns.

And he also takes New Echota, eliminating Salamasina of Samoa in 7th place.

Montenegro then attacks Tuscany again, but just like last time, it's not clear who actually has an advantage.

And just like last time, Tuscany starts off by capturing Mecca.

And Montenegro responds by taking Medina.

But here is where it begins to diverge from the first war, as Montenegro retakes mecca and captures Pisa as well.

Meanwhile, the Kalinago-Qing war has turned into a massive grindfest. The Kalinago have managed to briefly take Muspa, but mostly Escampaha is just flipping back and forth endlessly.

And Montenegro captures Florence, eliminating Lorenzo de Medici of Tuscany in 6th place.

Great Qing inflicts another annoying wound on the Kalinago by taking the recently-founded city of Karukera. Muspa is recaptured as well.

The Kalinago respond by retaking Karukera, Muspa, and Escampaha.

They also manage to take Mayaimi, as the Qing navy seems to have been entirely destroyed.

The turn 700 stats reveal that South Korea has a massive lead in military power. Now if only Park Chung-hee would do something with it!

The Kalinago lead in technologies now, but most of the other civs remain very close behind. It's interesting that there has never been a clear tech leader in this round.

And the Kalinago have expanded their production lead slightly. But it's not by as much as you think; in fact, they led by 242 hammers before, and now they lead by 262. Definitely not insurmountable yet.

Anyway, we return to find that Kairouane appears to have finally broken Cixi's resistance, taking both Anqing and Agra.

Also, guess who just won the international space station! South Korea could have contributed more, but Park Chung-hee was busy filling Montenegro with paratroopers.

Peking falls! The end is near now for Great Qing!

Klaksvik falls as well, leaving Cixi with only Wolleka. It might be some time before that city is taken, however.

In the meantime, it seems Kairouane has moved on to other targets—namely, Montenegro. This would be easy if not for the South Korean peacekeepers.

Still, those peacekeepers can't stop the Kalinago from capturing Leeds.

However, they do actually give Petar the cover he needs to recapture Algiers, however briefly.

Montenegro also manages to take Manchester. Incredible.

However, before long the Kalinago sweep back down and retake both Algiers and Manchester.

They then take London and Podgorica as well, but the farther they advance, the thicker the South Korean carpet becomes.

Kairouane manages to sneak into Birmingham, but as he does so, Petar II retakes London. Kairouane responds by nuking the city, of course.

Finally, the Kalinago manage to hold London and Birmingham at the same time. But now the way forward is almost completely blocked.

Nevertheless, after seven turns of carefully jockeying units, the Kalinago manage to break through and capture Cetinje.

But Petar II manages to retake not only Cetinje, but Birmingham as well.

Meanwhile, Liège decides that it's high time to finish off Great Qing.

Now, the turn 800 stats. South Korea has a massive lead in soldiers. Despite having relatively little land, Park Chung-hee is nevertheless able to field an astonishing 2.1 million soldiers.

The Kalinago have finished the tech tree, and South Korea is one tech away from doing the same.

But in production, the Kalinago are absolutely running away with it. It would be very difficult for South Korea to compete with that.

Anyway, a few turns later, Liège takes Wolleka, eliminating Cixi of Great Qing in 5th place.

Cetinje falls again, while it seems South Korea has been busily upgrading its paratroopers to XCOMs.

On turn 850 I declare world war, even though the Kalinago-Montenegro war is still ongoing (it was a stalemate though). Let the clusterfuck begin!

Before we begin, I have a few slides showing different areas of the map. Here, we can see that South Korea has a huge army and navy ready to descend on Liège.

The Kalinago core would be very tough to beat, as it's full of modern armour and rocket artillery.

And finally, here's the southern branch of South Korea's carpet. This thing is absolutely insane.

Anyway, on the first turn of fighting, it's instant chaos. South Korea immediately takes Jeddah and Tahlequah using the carpet already stationed on Montenegrin territory.

However, Park Chung-hee loses Apia, which was of course inevitable.

The XCOM apocalypse continues as South Korea takes Florence.

Another turn passes, and Park Chung-hee also captures Podgorica and Cetinje.

In Liège, Erard de la Marck is facing one of the largest embarked armies ever assembled. Already, this army has taken Kaupang.

Chota falls to South Korea; Montenegro has almost completely collapsed.

South Korea takes Gondar from Liège as Montenegro makes peace with the Kalinago. This war was immediately restarted, however.

Another two turns, and South Korea has almost completely consolidated the south, capturing Wolleka and Pisa.

In Liège, Maastricht and Ribe are captured.

However, the Kalinago are beginning to make major gains against South Korea, capturing Torshavn, Gaur, and Podgorica.

But that won't stop South Korea from taking Medina and kicking Montenegro off the mainland entirely.

And then there's a massive Kalinago wave! Kairouane storms forward, taking Seoul and Incheon!

Even as his core is ravaged, Park Chung-hee manages to take Shire from Liège.

In the south, the Kalinago take Cetinje and Tahlequah.

Liège itself falls! Park will eliminate Liège at any costs, it seems.

A few wars end and are immediately restarted as the Kalinago wave moves into Chota.

Seoul flips back and forth a couple times, while the Kalinago take Jeddah.

South Korea has finally taken Tongeren, eliminating Erard de la Marck of Liège in 4th place, but it's now clear that Park Chung-hee cannot hold the line.

Indeed, Medina falls. Although the huge South Korean air force is bombarding a dozen cities into the black, they don't have any units with which to capture them.

And so the Kalinago keep advancing, capturing Pisa, Mecca, Florence, and Busan.

Kairouane also takes New Echota, eliminating Petar II of Montenegro in third place.

Daejeon, Wolleka, and Daegu are all captured...

Tegulet falls...

Copenhagen and Shire are captured...

And just like that, it's over. With the fall of Liège, the Kalinago have won round 8!

The score now stands as follows:



Great Qing: 2.5

The Salish: 2

The Kalinago: 1

The Mughals: 1

Samoa: 1

Denmark: 0.5



We have now reached the point where it is only possible for civs that already have at least 0.5 victory points to win it all. Thanks for reading, and I'll be back with more next week!