Part of the campaign:

Welcome back to Groundhog Day Mk. 9! Sorry about no part last weekend, my SO was visiting. Now I have several parts already filmed and ready to go, so here's the first of them!

The second cities roll out, and it seems everyone wants to settle the middle of the eastern subcontinent. The fertile river valley to the southwest of Warsaw is completely ignored.

Civs also seem reluctant to go for the center of the western subcontinent. Scotland and Japan both have some kind of grudge against the Tanguts, because those settles are ridiculous. Weiming Yuanhao can't be pleased.

The first war begins on turn 34 when Benin declares war on Songhai. Askia has made the questionable decision to settle Tombouctou up by Burundi.

Another war starts as Japan and Wallachia team up against Rapa Nui. Hotu Matua looks at the situation and says, "You could make a religion out of this!"

Poland declares war on America in an effort to unite their two disjointed cities.

Gao falls on turn 44! Too bad Benin can't get an extra early elimination due to Songhai's weird second city.

Japan captures and razes Hanga Piko, but it seems like Oda Nobunaga could have gotten off to a much better start if he kept it.

In response to Oda's genocidal tendencies, Leon and Scotland declare war on Japan!

Poland captures and razes New Orleans. Ouch. Casimir really should have kept it.

Leon takes Tokyo, while Scotland closes in on Kyoto. Japan looked okay for about 10 seconds, I swear!

Rapa Nui makes peace with Wallachia and gives away Mataveri, a city that Dracula can't hope to defend.

After a difficult fight in rough terrain, Benin finally captures Tombouctou, eliminating Askia of Songhai in 21st place.

Leon attacks Wallachia, taking advantage of what is essentially a free city on their doorstep.

James VI takes Kyoto! Scotland stronk!

Mataveri falls that same turn. Leon is off to a good start so far.

Sulu builds the great wall—a good idea when two of your neighbours are the Shoshone and Leon!

Surprise! The Vikings capture Washington on turn 100 exactly, eliminating Millard Fillmore of America in 20th place.

But since it's turn 100, it's time for a round of stats. Leon has the most military strength, followed by the civ-killer Benin.

Leon also has the most crop yield, and Benin is still second.

And guess who the top two in production are!

Anyway, returning to the action, Scotland has declared war on Japan again.

Wallachia makes peace with Leon and gives away Campulung. Maybe Alfonso will now discover what it's like to be given a city that he can't defend.

Alfonso turns on his next target: Bohemia! Leon is known for being aggressive and expansive in the early game, but it usually comes back to bite him. Should he worry about overextension? Maybe.

Poland makes peace with Benin and gives away Krakow. Fucking hell.

And Scotland captures Osaka, eliminating Oda Nobunaga of Japan in 19th place!

Prague falls! Leon is on a roll!

And Leon captures Plzen, eliminating Vaclav II of Bohemia in 18th place. Absolutely brutal.

Wallachia declares war on Poland, and I dare say, Casimir is in trouble. He's already at war with Massagetae, by the way.

Oh shit, I did not see this coming! Venezuela shoves units through the one tile passage into Valencia until they're able to overwhelm Edinburgh!

And Wallachia takes Warsaw surprisingly quickly, eliminating Casimir III of Poland in 17th place.

But suddenly, the Vikings attack Wallachia! Is Vlad ready for this? We'll just have to wait and see!

Scotland makes peace with Venezuela and gives away Glasgow, leaving James VI with only Japanese cities.

Venezuela's extremely long and narrow empire isn't stable, however. Leon declares war, and Hugo Chavez will have a hard time defending his new conquests.

The Vikings take Arges, almost splitting Wallachia in half.

And now it's time for the turn 200 stats! Leon and Benin still hold the top two spots in military.

In technologies, Leon and the Shoshone are the leaders, while Venezuela is also one tech ahead of the main pack.

And Leon is still on top in production with Benin still in second. Overall, no major changes.

The Vikings continue their rampage, taking Warsaw...

Venezuela makes peace with Leon and gives away Valencia. For fuck's sake! Seriously?



At least Leon makes the terrible decision to attack Wallachia.

And would you look at that, Wallachia has already retaken Campulung.

The Tanguts were apparently at war with Scotland, because they've just captured Osaka!

Whew, so many wars! The Vikings attack the Massagetae and Wallachia, and Scotland also attacks Wallachia. A couple of peace treaties are signed as well.

The Tanguts take Kyoto, eliminating James VI of Scotland in 16th place. At the same time, the Vikings capture Campulung.

Benin attacks Konbaung, using its special city vs. city ranged attack to damage Inwa!

And Ragnar captures Targoviste, eliminating Vlad III Dracula of Wallachia in 15th place.

The Massagetae were at war with Burundi??? Well, whatever was going on, Gitega is now a different shade of green.

But Benin is at war with the Massagetae, so now Gitega is purple.

And now it's red! What is this madness!

Benin doesn't retake Gitega, choosing to capture Inwa instead. Konbaung had moved its capital there, so we get a lost capital notification, even though the victory progress screen will tell us that Konbaung still controls its original capital.

Gitega also falls. Konbaung is in real trouble here.

Konbaung makes peace with Benin and gives away its huge island city of Amarapura. This is absolutely devastating.

Ewuare then turns his evil gaze upon the Massagetae! Can Tomyris hold out?

Nepal attacks Córdoba! This is a bit of a long shot attack, but I must have kept the screenshot for a reason.

The Vikings declare war on the Tanguts, kicking off a massive naval battle in the northern bay!

Well, that's one way to do it. Nepal turns a potential stalemate with Córdoba into a win by snagging Tulaytulah in the peace treaty.

In a surprise twist, the Vikings now have the largest army! Benin has also surpassed Leon.

But Leon leads in technologies, with the Shoshone one tech behind. No one else is even close.

And Leon still leads in production, but the Vikings have overtaken Benin.

This is a game-changer! Venezuela attacks Córdoba with advanced crossbowmen and cannons, all but ensuring that Abd-ar-Rahman will be facing elimination.

Mursiya quickly falls as Chavez advances on Córdoba.

Despite his ongoing war against the Massagetae, Ewuare declares war on Konbaung.

Despite Nepal joining (offscreen at the last second), Venezuela is able to quickly capture Córdoba, eliminating Abd-ar-Rahman III of Córdoba in 14th place.

Then Leon, already sporting Enlightenment Era units, attacks the Shoshone—the only civ anywhere near them technologically.

Benin captures Shwebo, eliminating Alaungpaya of Konbaung in 13th place.

But the Massagetae immediately take the city, because they have a navy nearby and Benin doesn't.

Leon attacks Venezuela again. The tech disparity is probably large enough that the war is already decided—not to mention that it will be difficult for Chavez to reinforce Edinburgh and Glasgow.

The Massagetae continue to turn their war with Benin against the the attacker, tkaing Gitega.

And the two sides make peace with no change in borders.

Unsurprisingly, Leon takes Edinburgh.

Benin is at war with Venezuela and takes Mursiya. That's unexpected.

And Venezuela takes it back and makes peace. So much for that.

After fighting for ages and ages, the Vikings finally manages to capture Kyoto from the Tanguts.

But you might have seen that background DOW: yes, Benin has declared war on Maurya! This will be a total slaughter.

The Tanguta make peace with the Vikings and give away Osaka. Ragnar now controls both shores of the northern bay, but not the Hanga Roa canal.

Benin captures both Sarnath and Mathura while using its UA to damage Pataliputra.

After a long, hard battle, Leon captures Moson Kahni from the Shoshone.

But Alfonso is still at war with Venezuela, and Hugo Chavez immediately takes the city! Offscreen, Pataliputra has fallen, eliminating Ashoka of Maurya in 12th place.

But Leon captures it back with overwhelming force a few turns later.

Benin attacks Burundi, immediately damaging Bujumbura.

And the city falls, eliminating Cambarantana of Burundi in 11th place.

Leon continues to push through Venezuela, taking Maracaibo.

Glasgow fell some time ago and I failed to notice.

Benin attacks the Vikings, but this won't be a steamroll like their previous conquests. It does help that Ragnar is at war with Tomyris though.

Leon also takes Córdoba. Alfonso is just unstoppable.

And Chavez makes peace, giving away Barquisimeto and Mursiya in the process.

Alfonso attacks his next target: Rapa Nui. A fleet of advanced ships is already headed for Hanga Roa.

Benin attacks Massagetae a second time, despite already being at war with the Vikings.

This doesn't stop Ewuare from capturing Warsaw, however.

But the Vikings strike back, capturing Bujumbura and retaking Warsaw!

And Hanga Roa falls, eliminating Hotu Matua of Rapa Nui in 10th place.

Now it's time for the turn 400 stats. Surprising no one, Leon has the largest military, followed by Benin and then the Vikings.

The Shoshone have actually overtaken Leon in technologies, despite not having their capital. Still, no one else is close to the top two.

And Leon is just barely holding on to the top spot in production, with Benin just nine hammers behind. It could be tech that ends up making the difference here.

Benin retakes Bujumbura, the Vikings retake Warsaw, and the two sides make peace. That was utterly pointless.

Leon is apparently at war with the Massagetae, because Alfonso has captured Aral with a naval attack!

Benin takes Gitega as units from all three main powers close in on Jaxartes. Tomyris is truly done for.

And Leon gets Jaxartes, eliminating Tomyris of the Massagetae in 9th place.

Leon wins the world's fair, while the Vikings come in second.

Leon and Benin attack the Shoshone. Time to take down the number one in tech!

Agaidika eventually falls, but then the two sides make peace. The Shoshone shall live on!

But first: Benin attacks the Vikings again! Can Ewuare do better this time?

Well, for starters, he takes Warsaw again.

And he takes Aarhus...

But the Vikings flip both cities back and take Bujumbura. Bloody hell.

And then Benin retakes Bujumbura and makes peace. What a fucking waste of time.

29 turns later, here we go again! Will something happen this time?

Warsaw falls... just wait, it'll flip back, then they'll make peace...

Leon attacks Nepal, but Prithvi Narayan has artillery while Alfonso doesn't. Unfortunately, this probably won't save him.

Turn 500 stats! Benin has slightly surpassed Leon in military manpower, which is a first.

Leon continues to lead in technologies, will the empty shell of the Shoshone falls down towards third place Benin.

And Leon has about 350 more hammers than Benin, a decent margin but not yet decisive.

Oops, I got distracted and didn't look at the Nepal-Leon war. Alfonso has captured Tulaytulah and Pokhara while I wasn't watching.

And then Alfonso also captures Lalitpur and Kathmandu, eliminating Prithvi Narayan of Nepal in 8th place.

Benin captures Aarhus but loses Warsaw.

Leon declares war on the Tanguts and immediately captures Xinqing. Fucking ouch.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA OMG



Yeah, the Vikings retook Aarhus and made peace with Benin. Fuck.

And Leon takes Xiazhou, eliminating Weiming Yuanhao of the Tanguts in 7th place.

Suddenly, Leon attacks the Vikings! This is not going to go well for Ragnar!

Kyoto falls...

And Osaka...

And Stavanger...

And Campulung...

And then Benin attacks the Vikings, because Ewuare knows he might finally be able to capture and hold a city or two. Aarhus falls immediately.

Warsaw and Stockholm quickly follow...

Leon takes Targoviste...

Benin captures Oslo...

And Benin takes Arges, cutting off Leon from the rest of the Vikings.

Washington and Copenhagen are captured...

But then Ragnar makes peace with Leon and gives away Brika, Bergen, and Reykjavik. Because Ewuare doesn't have open borders with Leon, it will now be almost impossible for him to reach Trondheim.

Guess who won the international games!

And time for the turn 600 stats. Leon has almost twice as many soldiers as Benin.

And eight more technologies...

And 800 more hammers. Yeah, this game is over.

Alfonso decides to finish off the Shoshone, which he should have done in the previous war.

And Te Moak falls, eliminating Pocatello of the Shoshone in 6th place.

And then Alfonso declares war on Benin! Game over!

Ewuare doesn't quite understand that he's supposed to lose this war and starts off on the offensive, taking Targoviste and Birka.

But Leon strikes back, retaking Targoviste, along with Oxus and Shwebo.

Benin takes Reykjavik and recaptures Shwebo offscreen.

But Leon takes Stockholm...

And Arges...

And Warsaw...

And Birka and Washington...

And Shwebo and Mathura...

And Gitega...

And Aarhus and Reykjavik...

And Krakow...

And Inwa...

And Bujumbura...

And Abeokuta...

And Tombouctu...

And Akure...

And Edo itself!

But Leon's not done. Copenhagen, Oslo, and Ondo have fallen...

And Amarapura...

And Lagos...

And then Benin makes peace with Leon and gives away literally everything except Pataliputra. Whew.

When turn 700 arrives, I declare world war.

Leon immediately takes Caracas, eliminating Hugo Chavez of Venezuela in 5th place.

A single destroyer takes Bauang.

And then... oh. It's over. That was fast. In one turn, Leon takes Pataliputra, Trondheim, and Dungun, eliminating Sulu, Benin, and the Vikings and winning the game.

The score now stands as follows:



Sulu: 1

Leon: 1



Thanks for reading and I'll have round three ready next weekend!