Part of the campaign:

If you haven't read round 2 part 1, go back and read it before you spoil even more for yourself, you bloody fool!



Anyway, if you've read part 1, we left off with the brutal naval war between the USA and Kosovo, in which Lincoln has now taken Kactchanas.

Kosovo's navy on the main ocean is almost totally gone, allowing Lincoln's destroyers to seize Prizreni with impunity.

Oh my, there's been a sudden turnaround in the Wuyue-Australia war as Qian Liu captured Melbourne! Wuyue invented planes, which allowed them to hammer down the 120+ defense-strength city; previously, he couldn't even get units near it.

Sensing weakness, Megara attacks Australia too!

Billy Hughes decides the only way he's going to survive is if he makes peace with Wuyue, so he cuts his losses and gives away Adelaide in exchange for an end to the war.

Wuyue soon finds a new opponent in the form of an embattled Kosovo. Su Nuraxi is sure to fall almost immediately.

Indeed, Qian Liu easily takes Su Nuraxi.

Losa soon follows as Wuyue's air force does the heavy lifting.

But then Kosovo recaptures Losa and liberates the Nuraghians! What is this sorcery!?

The Nuraghians and the Philippines immediately team up to attack Wuyue, and oh boy this is gonna be crazy. Emilio Aguinaldo has already captured Adelaide and flipped Melbourne on the first turn of the war!

Melbourne falls for good as the Philippines air force hammers Xifu! Aguinaldo is going straight for the jugular!

Meanwhile, Lincoln has captured Roskilde, while Prizreni flips practically every turn.

Not surprisingly, Wuyue easily returned the undead Nuraghians to the grave where they belong.

But—holy shit! The Philippines have captured Xifu! It will certainly flip, but what a turnaround for the civ that seemed to be rapidly increasing its power! The largest city in the world is laid low!

Another liberation! Australia took Plovdiv, and when Megara retook it, Theagenes decided to resurrect Vasil Levski!

Kosovo ends the war with Wuyue and gives away Gjilani in the peace treaty.

13 turns later, we see that Wuyue has recovered its capital AND recaptured Adelaide and Melbourne. I guess the Philippines just couldn't sustain their insane zerg rush.

After recapturing Adelaide, Emilio Aguinaldo rests his laurels and peaces out, letting Qian Liu keep his ruined capital.

Lincoln wins the international games by a comfortable margin.

The international space station finishes 9 turns later, and Lincoln wins that as well, albeit by a much smaller margin.

Finally another war erupts as Megara declares war on Australia again.

Bulgaria declares war on Australia too, because Vasil Levski is feeling shitty right now.

But first, the turn 700 stats. The US has a very narrow lead in military power over the insurgent Philippines. Wuyue has recovered and is not too far behind either.

Lincoln's tech lead grew only slightly this time, from six techs to seven, with the Philippines still in second.

The USA has also knocked Kosovo out of first in production and down fifth. Despite losing its capital, Wuyue has climbed to second with the Philippines not too far behind.

Australia captured Plovdiv but then Megara immediately took it back and liberated Bulgaria again...

Oh... shit. Kosovo makes peace with the United States and gives away Prizreni, Pejë, Ribe, Lundenburh, and Antium. Absolutely brutal. At the same time, Wuyue and Rome both attack Kosovo.

Megara declares war on Kosovo as well in the hope of retaking Rome. Also, I missed when this happened, but it looks like Australia took Cumae from Megara, Theagenes recaptured it, and then he liberated Rome.

Vasil Levski, wondering why the fuck he's alive again, declares war on BOTH Australia and Kosovo. I don't even know what's going on anymore.

As expected, Australia immediately murders Vasil Levski yet again.

Megara takes Rome, but will be hard pressed to go any farther.

However Wuyue is playing its part too, and manages to capture Prishtina.

Turn 800 arrives with more stats. Lincoln's military lead increased slightly, but the Philippines also gained a lot of troops, and Wuyue is over 1 million now too.

Lincoln hit the end of the tech tree and now the Philippines are closing the gap.

And Lincoln's production lead has actually decreased slightly as Wuyue gets its powerhouse capital back online.

We immediately jump to the turn 900 stats because, although there were several ongoing wars for the entire 100-turn period, nothing of note actually happened. HOWEVER, these stats are important because there have been some major shakeups in the rankings. Megara of all civs has surpassed the USA in military manpower, probably because they have troops scattered randomly all over the map. The Philippines and Wuyue also have enough troops to be very competitive.

Wuyue, the USA, and the Philippines have all finished the tech tree. Despite his huge army, Theagenes would be dead last if not for the undead Rome, with 14 techs still to go before he's done.

The US still has the production lead—can they use it? We're about to find out!

With no major new wars for 100 turns, I declare a free for all world war between the seven remaining civs (and Rome which is the, uh, 8th wheel I guess).

Here's a look at what used to be Kosovo...

Here's Rif, Wuyue, and a bunch of Megaran units...

..And here's the Philippines and the American core. I have to say, Lincoln has not done much to secure his homeland.

Anyway, the war kicks off with Lincoln immediately capturing Prishtina from Wuyue.

Lincoln takes a serious blow from an unexpected direction as Rif captures Zamindawar!

Rif has also recaptured Tangier from the USA using a huge embarked fleet.

However Abd el-Krim did lose the worthless snow city of Vancouver to Wuyue.

Um, what? Somehow, despite being reduced to one city, Ibrahim Rugova has recaptured his capital.

Lincoln takes it back and captures Gjilani as well, but Qian Liu is starting to lob nukes pretty liberally.

Qian Liu also retakes Adelaide from the Philippines.

Australia suddenly goes completely ham, capturing Rome, Cumae, Adelaide, and Gjilani in a single turn!

Megara flips Ajdir, and then Rif gets it back and eliminates the evidence. I only know it was Megara's peacekeeping army because the US and Wuyue haven't moved yet.

Oh fuck!!!! The Philippines suddenly strike hard against the USA, capturing Washington with an XCOM squad! Lincoln is in big trouble now!

It's now Wuyue's turn to take the Rifian capital!

The Philippines are now in retreat as Lincoln retakes Washington and Rif, somehow, captures Pasargadae!

Wuyue continues to make gains, taking Kactchanas from the USA.

I restart all the wars that ended. Note that Megara has taken Rome.

Rif captures Kactchanas... how is it possible that right now Rif has the largest net city gain of any civ since world war was declared?

The Philippines retake Pasargadae, but Emilio Aguinaldo is looking pretty exhausted.

Australia retakes Rome but loses Plovdiv.

Rif launches a massive offensive on the American core, taking New York, along with Pasargadae! I don't even know what's going on anymore tbh

Lincoln gets his revenge by taking Ajdir. I swear, if they end up switching capitals...

Garama flips and Lincoln captures Rome...

Megara brings the hammer down against Australia, taking Garama and Adelaide.

The Philippine army seems to have reconstituted itself and is making a counteroffensive against Rif, taking Pasargadae and Jaguda.

Wuyue takes Gjilani but the USA takes Losa.

Lincoln finally manages to capture Lahore, eliminating Ibrahim Rugova of Kosovo in 7th place.

Wuyue begins to dismantle Abd el-Krim's core, taking Annual.

Wuyue also makes gains on its western front, capturing Sydney.

Megara takes Zinchecra, but Australia has recovered Garama.

Lincoln takes Gujranwala, Australia's last built-up city.

Wuyue strikes hard at the coast of the inland sea, taking both Garama and Zinchecra.

Qian Liu has also captured both Ajdir and Kactchanas.

Megara responds, capturing Garama and Sydney.

Tangier falls as Wuyue almost entirely subsumes Rif's core.

Several wars end and I restart them. Lincoln is on the offensive in his homeland again, having retaken New York and captured Pasig. Rif somehow has control of Jaguda again.

Lincoln captures Cumae, eliminating Billy Hughes of Australia in 6th place.

Wuyue begins to roll over Megara's southeatern flank, capturing Sydney, Adelaide, and Mbanza-Kongo.

Wuyue also takes Tamasint.

Cities continue to change hands down her almost every turn. For the moment, the USA has captured Jaguda.

Finally, Lincoln recovers Zamindawar too.

Lincoln has also captured Gjilani, Kactchanas, and Ajdir.

Wuyue took Garama again but lost Mbanza-Kongo.

The Philippines take Sydney from Wuyue and the USA grabs Plovdiv from Megara.

Theaganes, who is still stuck on the whole liberation thing, liberates Nzinga after flipping Mbanza-Kongo again.

Out of nowhere, the Philippines capture Megara itself. Didn't see that one coming.

Washington is slowly securing the southwest peninsula, having now taken Pasargadae.

Kongo joins the world war! Say goodbye to Nzinga before she's gone!

And poof, Megara takes Mbanza-Kongo. Wuyue has also recaptured Sydney.

The USA keeps pushing in Wuyue's east, taking Su Nuraxi.

The Philippines finally have a clear upper hand over Megara and have taken Mbanza-Kongo.

Megara liberates Bulgaria a third time. Vasil Levski just sits back and sighs.

Lincoln captures Megara straight from the Philippines.

Bulgaria is added back to the world war, and Plovdiv is immediately captured by Wuyue. The Philippines have also taken Mbanza-Kongo.

Megara recovers its capital, and the USA takes Húpenúú from the Philippines.

That doesn't stop Aguinaldo from making gains elsewhere, taking Kabasa.

However, Wuyue storms the battlefield and takes both Mbanza-Kongo and Kabasa.

Wuyue takes Varna and the USA captures Pasig again.

Qian Liu has also retaken Su Nuraxi, Ajdir, and Losa. Neither side seems to have many troops over here.

Lincoln burrows inland, taking Heruclea.

He then locks down the west coast by capturing Cavite el Viejo.

Wuyue captures Sofia, but it looks like it will flip.

....And guess what, Megara retakes Sofia and liberates Bulgaria a FOURTH TIME. I don't even know what the shambling corpse of Vasil Levski is doing at this point.

The US makes more substantial gains, taking San Juan del Monte and Kúhtsútúúka.

Finally Megara can't keep liberating Bulgaria, since they were forced into war and have taken Sofia. Megara recaptures Heruclea as well.

Wuyue makes its biggest western push yet, capturing Sofia, Kúhtsútúúka, and Pasargadae. Somehow, Rif has Jaguda again.

Lincoln captures Jaguda, Pasargadae, Heruclea, Kúhtsútúúka, and Malolos! Emilion Aguinaldo of the Philippines is eliminated in 5th place.

Since we last saw this area, Lincoln has captured Garama and Losa.

Wuyue responds by retaking both cities, and Kactchanas.

In the west, Wuyue captures Kúhtsútúúka and Malolos.

Wuyue grabs Heruclea as well while more cities flip in the background. On the map, Wuyue and the USA look about equally matched, but so far the demographics continue to show Lincoln with a clear lead.

Lincoln takes Susa and Wuyue has captured Tamasint, eliminating Abd el-Krim of Rif in 4th place.



This means that all three remaining civs have at some point lost their capital to the Philippines.

Wuyue captures Chalcedon while the USA recaptures Heruclea. More cities flip in the background.

Lincoln suddenly makes a massive push, taking Malolos, Chalcedon, and Sofia.

Lincoln keeps going, taking Kúhtsútúúka and Plovdiv. I think it's safe to say that Wuyue has peaked.

Qian Liu won't go out without a fight though, as he retakes Losa, Gjilani, and Plovdiv.

Lincoln captures Megara again.

Wuyue retakes Sofia but Lincoln clearly has more troops at this point.

He uses them to take Sofia, Plovdiv, and Garama.

Varna, Su Nuraxi, and Kactchanas all follow.

Lincoln also takes Byzantium and Megara Hyblaea, eliminating Theagenes of Megara in third place.

Surprise! Wuyue takes Susa!

Lincoln dives right into Wuyue's northwestern holdings, taking Zinchecra and dropping several other cities to black.

Mbanza-Kongo and Kabasa fall...

So do Adelaide, Zinchecra, and Losa...

Sydney is captured...

In a desperate burst, Wuyue retakes Losa, Kactchanas, Sydney, and Adelaide.

But then the USA captures Sydney, Adelaide, and Melbourne.

Su Nuraxi and Kactchanas soon follow.

Wuyue loses its capital as Lincoln takes Xifu!

Toronto falls!

Windhoek is captured!

So are Mexico City and Guadalajara!

And with the fall of Ottawa, that's it—Lincoln has won! Although he was the favourite since at least turn 600, his path to victory was certainly winding. I also want to say that the real winners, at least in my heart, are the Philippines, since they took the capitals of every civ that finished ahead of them, something no civ has ever done in any AI game, ever.

Anyway here's the aftermath. The score now stands as follows:



The Zunbils: 1

The United States: 1



(Honourable Mention: the Philippines. RIP you magnificent madlads.)