Hello, hello, and welcome to part 9 of the Mediterranean AI game! I’m still your host, and I’m still called u/porkpotpie.



We have the results of the poll from last time, so let’s get right down to it! This is possibly the most voted on poll that I've ever had the pleasure of reading the results from; Thank you so much! Anyway, out of 29 votes, Rome received 9 of them, which shows a lot of confidence. France is in second, with 6, showing their rising stock with the readers. This pleases me, as I'm French :D. Israel is in third with 4, while a couple jokers decided that the Sardinians should have 2 votes. Serbia, Moldova, Turkey, the Alans, the Guanches, the Berbers, Cordoba, and former favourite Iberia all received 1.



We start this part off with one of u/SeroSedSerio’s maps, which help give us a firm base from which to work from. In part 8, we witnessed the crippling of Burgundy, Numidia, the Abbasids, the Golden Horde, Byzantium, and Carthage. A lot of people are much smaller this time, nice.

Our first slide shows us the results of the Algeria-Berber war, at least, its opening stages. Algeria has managed to capture Biskra from the Berbers, but if what I’m seeing looks like what you’re seeing, then they’ll lose Annaba quickly and Biskra and Buda in not much time. Moldova follows the trend and becomes autocratic.

To the east, Morocco recaptures Casablanca and push forward from Kufa, while the Umayyads defend Ubari from the invading Vandals. You can see Rome’s progress against Algeria, as the Aglerian capital is in the yellow. Cordoba becomes Autocratic.

Egypt has declared war on the Guanches, likely over disputes over who should control all of the formerly Ayyubid lands. The main thrust looks to be around Marsa Matruh, and the Burgundians are looking on to see what they can learn from those warring in Africa.

Israel has successfully fought through their way through the Abbasids and now start to take on the Umayyads. Harran is on the front lines, and its loss could spell the end for the Umayyads of the east. Israel takes advantage of the screenshot to declare themselves autocratic, and Bavaria and Rome declare war on Burgundy in an attempt to finish them off.

Wow, Rome has actually done it! They’ve successfully captured a foreign capital on a different continent. What’s amazing is that it looks like they’ve done it using only naval units, as their land units are on their way. Algeria should be able to recapture their capital, as for now Rome only has navel units in the near vicinity. Trypillia is now autocratic.

Serbia backstabs Bavaria, and attacks Esztergom in an attempt to take it off of the Bavarians. The Bavarians, still attacking the Croatians, have managed to make their way through the western Alps and have taken Split, apparently quite a while ago (Though I may have missed the peace message somewhere, as I’m trying to do this while in France on our laptop). Either way, if Serbia was smart they would take control of Ingolstadt, as it really shouldn’t be there…



Also, Burgundy and Spain make peace.

Algeria has in fact recaptured their capital, but the Romans have stolen it right back. Eastern Umayyadia looks a bit deserted, considering they’re at war with two of their neighbours.

Ah, we've had a crash here, as the Serbians and Bavarians return to war one turn after our previous declaration of war. This time, it isn’t Spain who made peace with the Burgundians but the Moroccans.

Egypt has successfully captured Marsa Matruh from the Guanches, and it looks like they have the reinforcements to take the fight to other Guanchean cities.

Return to the Caucasus to see that the Alans are attacking the city of Kutaisi, along with some support from the Kurds. Unfortunately for the Kurds, the Alans have made peace with the Georgians, so the Kurds will have to do it alone. That’s not all that Georgia has to worry about though, as the Turks are attacking the city of Batumi.

Luckily for the Umayyads, they have made peace with the Iberians, though that doesn’t do much in their fight against the Moroccans. The Umayyads have made progress against the Moroccans though, as they have recaptured Casablanca.

The Guanches have managed to recapture Marsa Matruh, and have established a line of melee units defending the borders of their nation. I’d say it won’t do too much as they’re using musketmen, while the attacking Egyptians are using riflemen.

Bavaria becomes autocratic as Spartan forces rush towards Sofia. The Bosnians are also present, though in smaller numbers.

The Berbers have managed to completely remove the exclaves that Algeria established in the area back when settling was the cool thing to do. The Berbers will have to take on the Vandals if they want to keep making progress however.

Unfortunately for Burgundy, Sardinia-Piedmont has declared war on them. I’m not sure how Burgundy will ever get over this.

Luckily for the Georgians, they’ve managed to eke out a peace deal with the Kurds. Not that the Kurds were bringing much to the fight, it’s the Turks they should look to make peace with.

We return to the northern coast of the Black Sea to see that as usual the Hetmanate and Trypillians are at war. It would be nice if one of them could win already, so I can stop coming here to continuously mention the fact that they are at war. In the world’s most ludicrous war, the Abbasids have declared war on Burgundy, and have brought Algeria along for the ride. Spain finally makes peace with Burgundy.

Tourism stats are in, and Rome, Valencia, and Belgrade are the cities to visit.

In a triple war against Luxembourg, the western Umayyads, Serbians, and most importantly the French attack them. France should have it easy, though the Luxembourgish army is nothing to sneeze at. Luxembourg’s cities should be welcome additions to France’s core. Rome makes peace with Algeria, keeping Algiers.

Rome joins in the war against Luxembourg, trying to take advantage of a distracted country. Rome has the army, but they don’t have the means of getting to the front, unfortunately for them as the Lombards and the Alps are in the way.

After making no progress, Serbia makes peace with Bavaria, and so do the Lombards and Luxembourg. Bosnian forces are making slow progress against the Croatian capital.

When suddenly, a windfall occurs for the Bosnians, as they make peace with the Spartans. This should liberate troops for the Croatian front, while the Spartans can focus on finishing off the Bulgarians.

With the Moroccan assault knocking on the doors of Taza, the Umayyads make peace with the Morrocans. Asturia becomes autocratic. The Alans redeclare war on the Georgians, and the Trypillians and Byzantium make peace.

We join the action on the Franco-Luxembourg war, as we see an Israeli scout. Is this the beginning of the famed Mossad, of Civ V Battle Royale Mk I fame? Only time will tell. Bern starts to take damage, in any case.

In a move that fulfills one of my requests, Moldova declares war on the Trypillians, and brings Serbia along as backup. The two largest of the Balkan powers joined together to eliminate one opponent should be more than enough, one should hope.

Sparta and Cyprus, meanwhile, declare war on the Byzantines in an effort to finally eliminate them. You can also see that Sparta has made peace with Croatia, and that the Turks have citadel chained Constantinople

Luckily for the Umayyads, they’ve managed to make peace with the Vandals, though it looks like they’ve lost Thugga in the process. Oh well. In other news, the Turks and Cypriots make peace with the Abbasids, and Moldova makes peace with Byzantium.

Luxembourg finishes construction on Big Ben instead of war units, as Bulgaria makes peace with the Hittites. Bosnian reinforcements from the war with Sparta head north to attack the Croatian capital.

It would appear that Spain and Morocco have gotten jealous of their neighbours the Cordobans, who I’ve just noticed have one of the first submarines in Mursiya. Morocco should have an easy time retaking Marrakech, as the Marrakech defense force is currently keeping the peace near Taza and Mecca.

It was slow going, but Bosna has taken Zagreb, reducing the Croatians to the mountain stronghold (hopefully) of Rijeka. You can also see that the Romans have infantry, and that the Serbians have Great War bombers. Rome has also built the Eiffel Tower.

The Berbers and Algerians make peace, as the Berbers heavily citadel Leptus Magna. Perhaps this will lead to war in the future? Anyway, the Croatians have recaptured their capital, temporarily.

The Moldovans have captured Talianki, and have reduced the Trypillians to one city. The Hetmanate had better act quickly if they want to make progress in their war, as Odessa is already damaged. Algeria becomes autocratic, and Cordoba makes peace with Algeria and the Numidians.

The Spartans have done it this time, they’ve successfully eliminated the Byzantines. This is contrary to their CBR mk II actions, where the Byzantines suicided with the help of the Finns. You can see that Cyprus tried to get involved, as they have two musketmen near Antioch.



Byzantium (Rank: 41/58) was in a tough spot. They had to make inroads quickly into the crowded Balkans and the apparent power that was the Turks. They settled once in the Balkans, once in the Aegean, and a few more times in Anatolia, but it was all for naught. Multiple coalition wars were their end.

Two eliminations in as many slides? Only possible in crowded AI games that, and this is one of them. Moldova has successfully captured Odessa, eliminating the Trypillians.



Trypillia (Rank: 40/58) was in a tough spot as well, trapped between the Hetmanate to the east, the Moldovans, Cumans, and Romanians to the east, they were only able to settle 3 cities. They fought many a war against the Hetmanate, which they never won. This weakened them to where a renewed Hetman advance with Moldovan support was able to eliminate them.

Another Alan-Georgia war ends, this time in the Alans’ favour. They make peace in exchange for Kutaisi. This reduces the Georgian core to 4 cities. The Georgians have successfully repulsed the Turkish advance against Batumi, though the city is still in poor health. Rome builds el Cristo Redentor.



Side note: this may be where the Great Crash of Part 9 occurs, as I was curious as to why farms near Tbilisi weren’t displaying. In an attempt to make them display, I crashed the game and couldn’t get it to load for a few days. If you notice that the graphical quality has suddenly decreased, it is because the game was able to be launched in DirectX 9, and not 10 or 11. We’ll go back to DirectX 11 in a few parts, as more competitors are eliminated and there is less to display.

Hey look, I pointed out the submarine turns after I saw it the first time. I’ll take advantage of this to point out that Cordoba has artillery as well. Anyway, they’ve had war declared upon them by the Iberians and Luxembourg.

In the Levant, Israel has their UU, the Haganah, which is a Great War infantry replacement that is faster at earning promotions and fight better in Israeli lands. Also, all the mods of the Islam Split mudpack are at war now, as the Umayyads and Rashidun declare war on the Abbasids.

Bulgaria’s capital has been taken by Sparta! Another one bites the dust, eh? Bosnia and Sparta make peace with Bulgaria now that they have no cities left to conquer.



Bulgaria (Rank: 39/58) started the game well, establishing a small core of cities and participating in some fruitful early wars against Romania, but they were then stagnant. This stagnancy led to their demise, as they declared war on the Byzantines and were weakened enough for the Spartans and Bosnians to eliminate them.

In Iberia, the Astuians have also declared war on the Cordobans, though they’ll need open borders from the Spanish to take part in the war. Seeing as Spain is already attacking the Cordobans it might not be that hard a thing for them to acquire though.

In a spectacular backstab, former allies Moldova and Serbia are now at war. This war, as many others I’ve attempted to predict, should be the deciding war that will determine the future of the Balkans! Hopefully they don’t make peace immediately after declaring the war…

French troops are making slow progress against Luxembourg, so slow that they have adopted the freedom ideology, hoping that it will keep them free from being a part of France. Rome has also sent in quite a strong attack force against the remains of Burgundy.

Oh, well speak of the devil and it shall be captured. Rome captures Zurich and eliminates the Burgundians. They also make peace with Luxembourg.



Burgundy (Rank: 38/58) has perhaps one of the toughest starting regions on the Rectangle. Boxed in by the Swiss, French, and Luxembourg, they had to settle quickly and expand even quicker to become capable of defending themselves. They warred with the Swiss and earned Zurich for their efforts, but it was Luxembourg that took the Swiss capital. Once France had a taste for war and conquest though, it was only a matter of time until they were assimilated to make wine. Rome had the honour of taking their last city, captured from the Swiss.

In Northern Africa, scenes similar to those experienced between troops of Rommel and Montgomery occur on a daily basis. The Egyptians appear to have firmly captured Marsa Matruh, though the Guanches are attempting to hold the line.

Morocco kicks the Cordobans out of Africa with the recapture of Marrakech, as Spanish troops attack Cordoba. Spain could really use the wonders that Cordoba built.

The Guanches become autocratic as Israel declares war on the Kurds and more importantly the Rashidun. Israel is still at war with the Umayyads, though it doesn’t look like this additional large front will hamper their offensive actions too much. The Israelites have antiaircraft guns, though it doesn’t look like anyone in the Middle East/Levant has created an aircraft yet.

The Serbians do have an air force though, 7 whole planes. They appear to be using them against Timisoara, though they have no forces able to capture the city so it’s a bit of a waste. In the north, the Moldovans push against Cluj-Napoca and it doesn’t look like there’s much the Serbians can do about it. The Alans become autocratic, and the Guanches and Egypt make peace.

Bern falls to the French as a Venetian warrior helps Luxembourg defend Echternach. It doesn’t look like it’ll amount to much though, as the French have many forces in the area. The Lombards have finally entered the industrial era. At least they’re trying.

As usual, the AI has no idea how to spend money, so they just stockpile it. In the background, Spain and Cordoba make peace.

Israel captures Arbil, and Mosul and Petra have quite a lot of damage. Rome builds the Kremlin, as they are the only communist nation on the Rectangle, and the Croatians join the autocracy train.

The Venetian warrior is teleported into Arlon as the French capture Echternach. The fight for Luxembourg will likely be a short one, as everyone including great artists have been sent to the front.

Egypt joins in the fight against the Rashidun, as Israel takes Petra. I’m sure Israel will welcome the help, though Egypt’s prospects are slim.

Cluj-Napoca falls to the Moldovans, and Serbia’s defensive line struggles to hold the technologically advanced Moldovans back.

Mosul falls to the Israeli onslaught, and most of Egypt’s advance force has already been destroyed by Rashidun frigates. The Alans and Georgians are at war again.

It looks like the Alans have taken the peace between the two nations to significantly strengthen their army south of the Caucasus Mountains. It looks like the Georgians will have a tough time defending their capital against so many cannons.

Another busy slide, as the Romans and Umayyads declare war on the Algerians, though I doubt Rome will make much progress here. The Umayyads also make peace with Luxembourg, though soon there likely won’t be much of Luxembourg left.

The Serbians sue for a quick peace with the Moldovans (and Luxembourg), and give away Nis to do it. Nis was a Serbian forward settle back when Romania was still around. Serbia emerges from this war severely weakened, while Moldova is greatly strengthened.

In the Middle East, Israel declares war on the Abbasids. They’ve almost captured Harran, which has taken some time, however they only appear to have sent older units to the north. Were I the Kurds I would try to take out the Abbasids, though I don’t know how much success they’d have. The Iberians have built Prora, and the Sicilians make peace with the Croatians.

In Iberia, the Iberians make peace with the Cordobans, who appear to be holding off the Spanish pretty well considering the discrepancy in army sizes between the two of them.

Rome and Sparta are at it again, though this time the Romans have brought along the Berbers. If the Berbers are as good as the Romans at naval captures, the Spartans will have a tough time defending themselves.

To the north, the Serbians have apparently forgiven the Moldovans, and have joined them in war against the Cumans. This war should be quick and relatively easy for the Moldovans, as they have paratroopers now. The Cumans make peace with Croatia.

The Turks are making limited progress against the Georgians, though you can see that Tbilisi is taking some damage. The important piece of news here is that the Israelis have captured Harran, and thus reduced the Umayyads to one city.

I think more people are trying to curry favour with the French, as the Spanish and Bavarians declare war on the remains of Luxembourg. I don’t think they’ll have any particular part to play in this war, but the solidarity must be appreciated I suppose.

The Umayyads have recaptured their capital, but my money is on the Israelis. The Vandals are autocratic.

The Cumans lose Cumanie, and seem to be pushing a line of Gatling guns towards Serbian lands from Szeged. They should probably worry more about the Moldovans to be honest. The Umayyads lost their capital again.

Watch out folks, it the battle of the islands! Sicily declares war on Sardinia-Piedmont and sends 3 caravels to take a look around. You can see a Roman aircraft carrier in this shot.

Rome has landed 3 infantry to fight the Algerians around Constantine, and they appear to be having some success. The Umayyads have a large force attacking Aghat. Oh yeah, the Romans have the Bomb now, so that’ll be interesting.

Turkey has their UU, the Kuva-yl Millye, a GWI replacement that is weaker but starts with Drill I, benefits from great generals more, and upgrades into infantry for free, and it’s on its way to take Batumi. Tbilisi has taken more damage from invading Alan forces.

Israel finishes off the Abbasids as the Kurds become autocratic.



The Abbasids (Rank: 37/58) had settled a wide area, and then conquered land from the Phoenicians, but apparently forgot to build an army to defend their lands. They fought some with the Kurds, but it was Israel’s relentless first push that effectively took them out of the game. Israel finished them off almost as an afterthought in a series of other wars.

Further south, Israel has captured Ha’il, though Rahsidun forces may retake the city soon. The Rashidun are otherwise holding the line at Bostra and Hegra, though that may be a temporary thing.

A huge naval battle is occurring around Sparta, perhaps Leonidas might want to move more ships down there as the Spartans look a little weak navally. Rome appears to be dominating land combat around their holdings.

Almost like that, Moldova has eliminated the Cumans. Serbia helped too I suppose, but it was all Moldova in reality.



The Cumans/Cumania (Rank: 36/58) was included to crowd up the Balkans and because they have a cool colour scheme, and they managed to gain some early war experience against the Romanians, but they became stagnant after a war with Serbia in which they lost their capital. They were then taken out by the Moldovans, though, so we’re not really losing much at this point.

Israel has taken pity upon the poor eastern Umayyads and makes peace with them after taking their capital. Someone like the Turks or Hittites should gobble them up, as it wouldn’t be too expensive for decent land.

In Iberia, the Cordobans make peace with Asturia, and Asturia somehow managed to lose territory in the war by giving the Cordobans Pravia… There was no interaction between the two forces, so that was utterly unneeded, but whatever, another contestant for the ‘worst at making peace’ awards. At least they’ve damaged Emerita in their war against the Iberians.



Croatia and France declare war on the Lombards, and Bosnia on Luxembourg.

The Umayyads have captured Aghat from Algeria, and it looks like Algeria is in a bad way with two unconnected cities, one of which isn’t even one they original founded. That won’t stop Abdelkader from declaring war on Luxembourg, and he’s brought the Sicilians along for shiggles.

Hegra has flipped, and it looks like the Rashidun line is being pushed back.

Sardinia-Piedmont has joined Luxembourg in adopting the freedom ideology, as Sparta is brought to half health, as is Tegea.





Luxembourg (Rank: 35/58) had more space to expand than either of its neighbours Switzerland and Burgundy, but only settled 3 cities. They warred with the Bavarians and lost a city, then the Swiss and gained their capital. After Burgundy was demolished by the French, it looked like the French would attack Luxembourg next. This was true, and so Luxembourg went.



We end this part here, so please vote in this poll to determine who will win the game!

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScHiqY7TZyWJ2DslmawtkvU48HZPKySbFYZpHTY82NH-eXw3g/viewform

Thank you for reading! Napoleon has conquered Luxembourg, finally. The lone rifleman will probably die soon after, so Luxembourg is finished.Luxembourg (Rank: 35/58) had more space to expand than either of its neighbours Switzerland and Burgundy, but only settled 3 cities. They warred with the Bavarians and lost a city, then the Swiss and gained their capital. After Burgundy was demolished by the French, it looked like the French would attack Luxembourg next. This was true, and so Luxembourg went.We end this part here, so please vote in this poll to determine who will win the game!Thank you for reading!

You can see the influences of the civ names by policy mod, as the Great Empire of the Moldovan Nation takes first, and the Napoleonic Reich shoots up the rankings. The nation in last place score-wise that still exists is Lombardy. These states are as of last turn, so getting so up to date score stats should help if anyone is plotting them or something.

France’s conquering streak has kept them on top of the population game, though Moldova has attempted to emulate them. The Hetmanate is doing it the old fashioned way, and Serbia is up there even though they’ve lost a few cities to the Moldovans.

These are the states at the bottom of the population chart. We’re getting higher and higher, eh?

While France may lead the population game, Rome leads the production game. France is just behind though.

No one too surprising down here. (Cnt. stands for county, Desp. for despotate)

Rome leads the military game by a large margin, and Moldova is second by an equally large margin. France’s military isn’t that large for all the conquering they’ve done recently.

Nothing much to say about these nations, although Algeria is weaker than our one cyber submarine is.

Rome leads technologically, but not by much.

Here’s the real science game, the amount of science generated per turn. Rome leads this too.

Oof, some of these figures hurt. Lombardy and Croatia, I’m looking at you.