Part of the campaign:

Hello everyone, and welcome back to... yes, yes, Mk. 8 is still going. The first tiebreaker round made the tie worse, so now it's time to try again! If any one of Polynesia, Brazil, or the Aztecs wins this round—or even ties it—then the game will be over.

The second cities are founded, and we do have a few odd choices. Portugal and Serer have made the most notable deviations from the norm.

Milan has also bucked usual trends and founded a city in a place no one has ever settled before. Tunis, the Kulin, and the Dervishes also choose new locations.

The first war breaks out on turn 26 when the Papal States and Portugal team up on Polynesia. This seems like it's been the first war in quite a few rounds.

The Papal States start off with a strong attack, capturing Nuku Hiva.

Meanwhile, Madagascar attacks Bulgaria, hoping to prevent Krum from having another startlingly good performance.

Greece attacks Milan, as so often seems to happen early on. And we all know that Gian Galeazzo is shit at defense.

Madagascar captures and razes Tarnovo, ensuring that Bulgaria suffers its usual humiliation once more.

The Aztecs attack Portugal, seeking Porto, which is already under siege from Brazil.

But the Aztecs take the city, ridding the world of Pombal's ridiculous forward settle.

In a surprise move, the Netherlands give away Rotterdam to Poverty Point in a peace treaty that I somehow missed. A very intelligent move, obviously.

Polynesia joins the Aztecs in attacking Portugal. Kamehameha gambles on a naval attack comprised of exactly one ship.

Turn 100 arrives bearing stats. The Aztecs have the largest army, but the Almohads, Poverty Point, and the Buccaneers are not too far behind.

Poverty Point and Andorra are in the lead in technologies, though I really should have shown crop yield at this point like I usually do.

And Poverty Point has an enormous production lead. Like, seriously, what the fuck. Also Brazil is somehow in second.

The Aztecs join the war against Portugal, as Kamehameha whittles away at Lisbon, one ship at a time.

After a drawn out battle on the plains, Greece captures Milan.

Two turns later, the Aztecs take Lisbon, eliminating Pombal of Portugal in 21st place.

Madagascar gives away its second city to... the Almohads? Whatever, Ranavalona, it's not like I can talk any sense into you anyway.

Krum decides that giving away Sofia as a gift is too simple, so he declares war on Ranavalona so she can easily conquer it instead.

Táhera builds the great wall! Right now, Poverty Point is a very stronk turtle, but can they break out of their shell? It needs to happen sooner rather than later.

Unsurprisingly, Madagascar captures Sofia.

Poverty Point and the Aztecs declare war on the Netherlands. Looks like Táhera is going for a long shot bid at uniting her exclave with the rest of her empire.

After a protracted siege, Andorra captures Brescia, eliminating Gian Galeazzo of Milan in 20th place.

The Dervishes attack the Kulin, in what should prove to be an extremely bloody and fruitless struggle.

Ranavalona makes peace with Brazil, possibly saving her capital, by giving away Mahajanga. At least it will be pretty trivial to take it back later.

The Manx join the war against the Netherlands, which at the moment seems to be dominated by Serer, the product of a DOW I didn't even show.

The Buccaneers join the Dervishes in their attack on the Kulin, ensuring that William Barak's days are numbered.

But first, Serer takes Amsterdam, eliminating William of the Netherlands in 19th place.

The Buccaneers capture Coranderrk; one Kulin city remains.

Brazil and the Almohads declare war on Madagascar again. This might not end well for either side.

Ranavalona starts off by taking Mahajanga as a Brazilian fleet approaches her capital.

And the Dervishes capture Barere Barere Balug, eliminating William Barak of the Kulin in 18th place.

The turn 200 stats reveal that the Aztecs still have the largest army, now by a much larger margin.

However, Poverty Point already leads in science by three technologies.

And Poverty Point also has a small technological lead over the Aztecs,

Brazil sweeps in and takes Antananarivo. Note that the Aztecs have crossbowmen.

Poverty Point and the Buccaneers team up on the Dervishes. Mohammed Hassan's army is not exactly small, but can he hold two fronts against two powerful civilizations?

Ranavalona retakes her capital, only to face a DOW from the well-armed Aztecs.

Montezuma launches a naval invasion of Madagascar and captures Mahajanga. Brazil seems to be utterly failing to retake Antananarivo.

The Buccaneers strike at the Dervishes, taking Buuhoodle. Mohammed Hassan's army looks considerably smaller.

Montezuma continues his rampage, taking Sofia.

Greece joins the war against the Dervishes, opening a third front at Las Anod!

And finally Brazil takes Antananarivo again, eliminating Ranavalona of Madagascar in 17th place.

Greece takes Las Anod, while Andorra seems to be marching on Barere Barere Balug.

Polynesia, after lying quietly for a long time, suddenly wakes up and attacks the Papal States!

Kamehameha's efforts bay off, and he recaptures Nuku Hiva!

Benevento also falls. Seems like he's going for the kill!

At the last moment, the Aztecs join the war. An enormous and technologically advanced army descends upon Rome.

And Montezuma captures Rome, eliminating Innocent III of the Papal States in 16th place.

The Manx attack Serer, which is either an okay move or a really bad one. Which one remains to be seen.

Greece attacks the Dervishes again, but now the nearest cities are both inland, making them much harder for a naval power like Greece to capture.

Illiam Dhone appears to have made the right decision, as he captures Kahone from Serer!

Poverty Point strikes a fatal blow against the Dervishes by capturing Taleh!

The turn 300 stats reveal that the Aztecs still have the largest army, but that lead has narrowed as the Buccaneers rise.

Poverty Point still leads in technologies, but now by two rather than three, as Andorra and Brazil also begin to pull ahead of the pack.

And the Aztecs have the most production, but somehow the Manx are only five hammers behind. As a comparison, Illiam Dhone has three cities; the Montezuma has 11.

In a rather dubious move, Serer gives away Amsterdam to Brazil in a peace treaty. I cannot overstate how bizarre this is.

Eleftherios Venizelos takes Beledweyne as both Greece and Poverty Point converge on Barere Barere Balug.

And Greece gets the city, eliminating Mohammed Hassan of the Dervishes in 15th place.

The Buccaneers attack Tunis, which honestly looks like a fair fight. Or, it would be, if Tunis had researched navigation yet.

Poverty Point declares war on Scotland and immediately damages Edinburgh. This should be quick.

The Buccaneers quickly crush the Tunisian navy and capture Kairouan.

Poverty Point takes Edinburgh, which is blocked from flipping by an inconveniently placed Manx trireme.

12 turns later, Poverty Point takes Glasgow, eliminating Robert the Bruce of Scotland in 14th place.

The Buccaneers capture Sfax. In the background,t he Aztecs attack the Almohads (yes, they do share a border somehow)

The Buccaneers declare war on Poverty Point, even though Táhera pretty clearly has the preponderance of firepower.

And Henry Morgan finally takes Tunis, eliminating Abu Zakariya of Tunis in 13th place.

Poverty Point and Turkey declare war on Greece, and Táhera begins harassing several Greek coastal cities with her navy.

Andorra joins the war against Greece, and it looks like Polynesia is sending an invasion force as well.

Surprise! Brazil captures Diakhao, eliminating Ama Joof of Serer in 12th place.

Poverty point captures Buuhoodle, but given its population this clearly isn't the first time.

The Buccaneers take it back and make peace, but the city is a shell of its former self.

Henry Morgan then turns on Roger Bernard, who is busy fighting Greece.

Out of nowhere, the Manx capture Athens!!! ALL HAIL DANK MEME LORD ILLIAM DHONE!

Athens flips back to Greece and then to Andorra. Who's next to take it? Polynesia?

In one painful strike, Poverty Point takes both Beledweyne and Las Anod.

This... uh... yep, this has happened.

And Táhera finishes her rampage through East Greece by taking Barere Barere Balug.

Athens flips back to Andorra again. This is just ridiculous.

The Aztecs make peace with the Almohads and receive Toliara in the peace treaty. I have to say, Montezuma's empire has a very odd shape.

Athens seems to be firmly back in Greek hands now. All those flips were for nothing!

Time for the turn 400 stats! Surprisingly, Brazil now has the largest army, while Polynesia is not far behind. The Aztecs have dropped to third and are behind their two biggest neighbours.

Brazil also leads in science by two technologies.

And Poverty Point is back on top in production, but the Aztecs are only 12 hammers behind. And Brazil is only 7 hammers behind the Aztecs. What the hell is going on here?

Poverty Point declares war on Greece again, and this time it looks like Táhera is intent on taking Milan.

Suddenly, Brazil and the Manx attack Poverty Point! At the very least, Rotterdam is in serious trouble.

Poverty Point takes Milan! Let the flip-fest begin!

Polynesia declares war on the Buccaneers and sends a scattered fleet to harass Sfax.

Illiam Dhone captures Rotterdam, denying Brazil another fruitful expansion.

Polynesia takes Sfax, but that doesn't stop Andorra from giving Escaldes to the Buccaneers in a peace treaty.

The Almohads attack Turkey, which they should have done ages ago. This might be a slaughter.

The useless snow city of Izmir is the first to fall.

Ankara soon follows...

And Istanbul is captured, eliminating Mustafa Kemal Ataturk of Turkey in 11th place.

Greece attacks Andorra again, though it's not clear that Eleftherios Venizelos has a large enough army to do any damage.

Meanwhile, Polynesia makes serious inroads against the Buccaneers, capturing Tunis and Kairouan.

Henry Morgan responds by attacking Poverty Point again.

But no matter, the Buccs have retaken all the cities they lost to Polynesia!

Poverty Point snipes Engordany from... I guess from Andorra?

But Poverty Point is at war with the Aztecs, and so Montezuma captures Engordany.

Greece attacks Poverty Point, because Eleftherios Venizelos has changed his mind about his decision to recapture Milan in the last war.

Unsurprisingly, Poverty Point captures Milan.

The Buccaneers make minor gains against Poverty Point, taking Barere Barere Balug.

And the Aztecs take Milan from Poverty Point!

Suddenly, the Manx and Brazil declare war on Poverty Point. At least Táhera still has the great wall.

Apparently Montezuma declared war on Greece too at some point, because now the Aztecs hold Athens.

The Manx capture Glasgow and move on Edinburgh!

Eleftherios Venizelos retakes Athens, just in time for Andorra to declare war on him again.

Roger Bernard sweeps in and takes Athens!

Meanwhile, the Manx, now armed with modern infantry, have captured Edinburgh.

The Almohads, among the first civs to field destroyers, use them to capture Heraklion.

Abd al-Mu'min takes Milan as well. Fascinating.

The Buccaneers and Aztecs team up on a weakened Andorra. Roger Bernard may be doomed at last.

But that won't stop him from retaking Athens and dropping Thessaloniki into the red!

And Andorra takes Thessaloniki, eliminating Elefthrios Venizelos in 10th place. Gotta get that kill in before it's too late!

Brazil makes its first gain against Poverty Point, taking Claiborne.

The Aztecs move in force against Andorra, capturing Athens.

The Manx also continue their advance into Poverty Point, taking Jaketown.

Brazil wins the world's fair with almost twice as many hammers as the #2 Almohads.

The turn 500 stats reveal that the Aztecs are once again on top in military manpower by a large margin.

But Brazil continues to lead in technologies. The Manx have risen to second.

And the Aztecs are also back in the lead in production, but Brazil still isn't far behind.

The Buccaneers take Brescia, as the hammer begins to fall on Andorra.

Henry Morgan decides to pre-emptively attack the Manx before Illiam Dhone can get too powerful.

Montezuma joins the coalition against Illiam Dhone, but the Manx have surprisingly competent defenses in place.

Facing attacks from two sides, Illiam Dhone ignores them and captures Poverty Point itself!

And the Almohads intervene... on the side of the Manx. Táhera's days are truly numbered.

Montezuma captures Andorra la Vella, leaving only one Andorran city.

Roger Bernard recaptures his capital, only to lose it to the Buccaneers.

Meanwhile, the Almohads sweep up the coast of Poverty Point, taking Las Anod.

An Aztec destroyer swoops in and momentarily captures Edinburgh.

And the Buccaneers capture Thessaloniki, eliminating Roger Bernard III of Andorra in 9th place.

The Manx retake Edinburgh, only to lose it to the Buccaneers.

But that won't stop Illiam Dhone from striking back against the Aztecs by capturing Lisbon!

The Almohads capture Beledweyne. There is no way Táhera doesn't die on the next turn.

And sure enough, the Almohads capture Taleh, eliminating Táhera of Poverty Point in 8th place.

HOLY SHITBALLS! Out of nowhere, Polynesia and Brazil both declare war on the Aztecs, and Montezuma is utterly screwed. How could this have happened!?

Montezuma starts by making peace with the Manx, getting Lisbon back in the process.

But Brazil makes short work of the southern Aztec lands, capturing Toliara!

And Polynesia takes a severely weakened Lisbon!

Kamehameha also captures Rome!

Montezuma momentarily retakes Toliara but loses Sofia.

And then he loses both Toliara and Mahajanga, as Brazil completely secures the former Imerina lands.

Pedro takes Porto, while Polynesia blitzes Teotihuacan.

Brazil captures Texcoco, pushing the Aztecs out of the southeast entirely.

Polynesia captures Teotihuacan as Teonichtitlan starts taking damage!

Brazil takes Tlatelolco. Honestly, this is downright jaw-dropping.

Kamehameha captures Tenochtitlan! From here it's just a matter of cleaning up a few minor Aztec cities.

Brazil takes Tlaxcala...

And Abd al-Mu'min decides to speed up the elimination process by waging war for the Aztec holdings in the subcontinent.

The Manx make peace with the Buccaneers and give away Jaketown. Absolutely preposterous.

Brazil captures Calixtlahuaca, most likely ending Pedro's role in the conquest of the Aztecs.

The Almohads flip Athens, then the Aztecs lose Engordany to Polynesia.

And Abd al-Mu'min takes Athens again, eliminating Montezuma of the Aztecs in 7th place. What the actual fuck.

The next major conflict breaks out just one turn later as Brazil ad Bulgaria team up on the Almohads!

Brazil kicks it off by capturing Athens with a stray landship.

But the Almohads take it back pretty securely.

Brazil wins another international project, but not by as much this time. Henry Morgan is the second largest contributor.

Brazil breaks through and captures Istanbul! Pedro's superior technology is really showing here.

But the Almohads strike back, capturing Pliska and retaking Istanbul!

Pedro makes another strategic alliance, this time with the Manx against the Buccaneers.

Polynesia also declares war on the Buccaneers, while it seems that Pedro is back in possession of Athens.

Illiam Dhone quickly retakes Jaketown, never mind that he shouldn't have given it away in the first place.

Bulgaria manages to retake Pliska and even captures Istanbul.

Meanwhile, the Buccaneers capture Athens from Brazil.

A wave of advanced Brazilian units weep down from the north, and Pedro captures Ankara.

Henry Morgan removes all foreign stains from the west coast of the subcontinent by taking Engordany from Polynesia.

Brazil tears into the Almohad heartland, capturing Fes and Marrakesh!

Istanbul soon falls as well!

Somehow, the Manx captured Engordany from the Buccaneers. Props to Illiam Dhone!

Brazilian tanks roll into Tinmel! What a disaster!

Kamehameha strikes back against the Buccaneers, taking Athens.

Henry Morgan flips Edinburgh again.

But the Manx are busy fighting the Almohads, which is paying off, because Illiam Dhone has captured Taleh.

Abd al-Mu'min then makes peace with Brazil and gives away Granada, Beledweyne, and Heraklion.

Brazil immediately loses Beledweyne to the Buccaneers.

But the Buccaneers lose Thessaloniki to Polynesia.

And the Manx lose Taleh to the Buccaneers.

Henry Morgan retakes Thessaloniki, only to lose both it and Beledweyne to Brazil.

Polynesia manages to briefly take Taleh.

And Brazil snipes Andorra la Vella.

It flips back to the Buccs, then to Polynesia, along with Leogane.

The Manx retake Taleh and make peace with the Buccaneers. (Edinburgh is also firmly in the hands of Illiam Dhone.)

But this opens the way for the Almohads to miraculously retake Taleh.

The turn 600 stats reveal that Brazil now has the largest army by a huge margin.

Brazil and the Manx are tied for the lead in technologies.

And Brazil has a lot more production than the #2 Manx. Bar a miracle, this game might be over.

After getting half his territory nukes, Henry Morgan makes peace with Polynesia, ceding only Athens.

Brazil and Bulgaria team up on the Almohads a second time!

Pedro prepares for this by making peace with the Buccs. He receives Leogane in the peace treaty.

Suddenly, the Buccaneers attack the Almohads, seeking to prevent Brazil from gaining any more territory.

Las Anod falls, and paratroopers descend on Milan.

And the Buccaneers take Milan; only one minor snow city remains...

And Pedro takes Izmir, eliminating Abd al-Mu'min in 6th place.

Pedro then betrays his ally and attacks Bulgaria!

Pliska quickly falls; Preslav is in the black...

And then Krum somehow wiggles his way out with a peace treaty. Fascinating.

Just eight turns later, it's becoming clear that the Manx and Polynesia are not going to stop building units, and that if Pedro doesn't start, his entire territory is going to be filled.

He does have plenty of production to spend on the international space station apparently.

26 turns after the last picture, and the Manx and Polynesia carpets have expanded even further into Brazil. Are they plotting to use Pedro's own tactic against him, just like Poverty Point did in round 4?



The actual thing to note on this slide is that Brazil has declared war on Bulgaria again.

And Preslav falls, eliminating Krum of Bulgaria in 5th place. Only the Big Four remain.

Turn 700 reveals, shockingly, that out of the four remaining civs, Brazil has the smallest army. Polynesia and the Manx are neck in neck for first.

Brazil leads in technologies, however.

And Brazil has the most production, but not more than everyone else combined.

And because I'm tired of waiting, I declare world war. Bring it on!

Immediately, the Manx backdoor army devastates the former Almohad lands, taking Marrakesh on the very first turn.

Manx XCOMs also capture Heraklion.

One the following turn, Polynesia takes Heraklion from the Manx.

Illiam Dhone also takes both Tinmel and Claiborne. Brazil is just falling apart!

Polynesia takes a slice of its own, capturing both Porto and Diakhao.

The Buccaneers finally make a move, capturing both Leogane and Heraklion.

The Manx capture Thessaloniki, however.

Kamehameha capture Tlatelolco and descends upon Rio de Janeiro itself.

Polynesia strikes back against the Buccaneers, capturing Milana dn Heraklion.

The Manx take Amsterdam and are on the verge of taking Preslav as well. Polynesia has Rio surrounded and in the black but is struggling to find a melee unit.

Illiam Dhone strikes against Polynesia, taking Diakhao, but he's starting to run dangerously low on units.

Polynesia is engaged in a massive grind against Brazil, and apparently Kamehameha is only able to flip Tlaxcala.

The Manx continue to chip away at former Almohad territory, taking Granada.

The Buccaneers completely expel foreigners from the subcontinent after capturing Milan, Heraklion, Thessaloniki, Athens, and Engordany.

Henry Morgan then begins to move against the Manx, taking Tinmel.

Polynesia also makes inroads, capturing Kahone.

Henry Morgan takes Taleh...

Brazil begins a massive push back against Polynesia, capturing Tenochtitlan.

Brazil annihilates the Manx gains in the old Almohad heartland, retaking Marrakesh and Granada, but loses Izmir to the Buccaneers.

Polynesia retakes Diakhao but loses Teotihuacan. I restart some wars that ended prematurely.

Porto falls. It seems like the Buccaneers and Brazil are the ones on the offensive now.

Not the Illiam Dhone has noticed, as he recaptures Kahone and takes Lisbon as well.

Brazil takes Tlatelolco; Polynesia's core is crumbling.

Rome and Tahiti are captured...

Pedro retakes Diakhao...

Meanwhile, the Buccaneers are storming into Manx territory with a huge invasion force! Jaketown has already fallen!

Poverty Point follows, and Henry Morgan turns his attention to Edinburgh.

Brazil takes Benevento and Nuku Hiva....

And Honolulu...

Pedro strikes at the Manx, taking Lisbon and nuking Kahone off the map.

The Buccs take Edinburgh, but the invasion force is pretty much spent.

Brazil takes Samoa, Tonga, and Aotearoa, eliminating Kamehameha of Polynesia in 4th place.

Pedro then sends his full force against the Manx, capturing Peel and Rotterdam.

Amsterdam is recaptured...

But then the Buccaneers take it for themselves.

Brazil retakes Amsterdam again and captures Castletown...

And Glasgow is nuked off the map and Pedro captures Douglas, eliminating Illiam Dhone of the Manx in third place. It's down to just two, and if Henry Morgan fails to beat Pedro, Brazil wins Mk. 8.

Pedro starts off strong, taking Jaketown and Poverty Point.

Edinburgh soon joins them, but Henry Morgan deploys a huge force for a counterattack.

The counterattack successfully takes Tinmel and Poverty Point.

But Brazil strikes back, retaking both cities along with Taleh.

Buuhoodle joins them. But without a navy, it's not clear how either side will get past this point.

The Buccaneers strike back, retaking Buuhoodle, Taleh, and Poverty Point.

Pedro retakes Poverty Point but loses Tinmel again.

The Buccaneers move in once more, taking Poverty Point and Edinburgh. Jaketown is nuked off the map. It has now been 59 turns since the Manx were eliminated.

Turn 800 arrives. Pedro has the largest army, but not by very much—certainly not by enough to overwhelm the Buccs right now.

Both civs have finished the tech tree so I'm not showing techs. Brazil has almost twice as many hammers as the Buccs, but that does't seem to be helping.

14 turns pass, and Pedro has retaking Poverty Point and Edinburgh, along with the recently settled city of La Habana.

Buuhoodlem, Tinmel, and Taleh soon follow.

But the Buccaneers retake all three cities. It has been 128 turns since the Manx were eliminated.

Brazil retakes Tinmel and the two sides make peace. It has been 139 turns since the Manx were eliminated, and 177 turns since world war was declared. If Brazil and the Buccs haven't killed each other yet, they never will. And so, I declare this round a stalemate, and the Buccs and Brazil each receive half a point. But half a point is all Pedro needed—Brazil has broken the tie and won Groundhog Day Mk. 8 with 2.5 points!



As always, the next Groundhog Day will begin setup immediately. Two civ suggestion threads will be posted on Sunday April 8th, one at 10 a.m. US Eastern Time, and one at 6 p.m. US Eastern Time. Below are those times in some other time zones.



US Pacific Time: 7 a.m. and 3 p.m.



London: 3 p.m. and 11 p.m.



Warsaw: 4 p.m. and midnight



Tel Aviv; Moscow: 5 p.m. and 1 a.m. Monday



Sydney: midnight and 8 a.m.



At each of these times, a thread will be posted with 10 slots. I will choose the 21st civ. It's first come, first serve, so make sure you get there literally the moment it drops! Thank you for watching, and I'm looking forward to the next mark!