Part of the campaign:

Cloudberg here, as usual I've handed narration over to Miles (/u/1760s).



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It's Groundhog Day 11-5, and you probably know the shtick by now. It's Miles narrating again today. It seems like Bulgaria couldn't wait to settle their second city, by the looks of it.

Second cities roll out for most civs, and Australia has three already while Megara and Bulgaria are ready to settle more too. Second cities for everyone, except...

...the Nuraghians, who end up settling way down here. As the one who requested the Nuraghians for this game... this hurts. Sardus, why?

Naturally, Mexico sees this indefensible settlement as easy pickings and declares war.

Cyrus sics his army on Lincoln before the Union Army can even really get going.

Unwilling to let the Garamantes win again, Vasil Levski attacks Zinchecra!

Losa, unsurprisingly, falls to Mexico.

Achaemenid forces take New York! Lincoln's unlikely to recover from that. Meanwhile, Rome adds to the Garamantes' woes.

The Zunbils don't intend to let Cyrus start snowballing, and quickly join the fray! Other wars are declared elsewhere on the map, too.

For example, Canada vs. Namibia! Windhoek is repainted in more maple-y colors.

Djalla shoots himself in the foot by giving away Zinchecra to Bulgaria in a peace deal, probably ending his chances at a repeat victory this round.

I can't tell if Pasargadae flipped or just starved down from the war, but Cyrus manages to make peace with his capital still his own. Jimofuta loses out.

Sardus's bad run continues as he gets dogpiled on by Kosovo and its buddies, North Kyushu and Canada.

Another peace deal city giveaway as Australia picks up Kabasa from Kongo.

Not long after, Hughes uses his new acquisition as a launching point for attacking Garama.

The spirit of giving keeps going, as Rif gives Annual away to Mexico, who had no way of getting to it. Brilliant move.

Now that Cyrus has the Zunbils off his back, he decides to go for another round with America.

Canada and Wuyue team up against Mexico. Porfirio Diaz has a decent army, although Guadalajara is surrounded by a semicircle of Canadian cities.

Ranjit Singh attacks Rome, although this shot suggests Rome's army is a bit stronger.

Wuyue takes Losa from Mexico and burns it!

Mexico, undeterred, takes Toronto from Wuyue's Canadian allies.

The text notifications on the previous slide showed Antium flipping, and it does so once again! Punjab's forces look depleted but Rome's not managing to stop them.

Australia takes Garama, eliminated the Garamantes in 21st place after winning the previous round. What a turnaround!

Wuyue takes Toronto for themselves, and the Mexican army is all but gone.

Canada captures Kactchanas, eliminating Namibia in 20th place. Meanwhile, Kosovo's UA drags its buddies into war with Punjab.

Bulgaria also attacks Australia, with Persian approval. North Kyushu and Rif also set their sights on Canada.

The Achaemenid army wants to focus on besieging Washington, but the Philippines and Comanche attacking will probably complicate things...

Susa falls only a few turns later!

Mexico rebuilds momentum by retaking Toronto as Wuyue's forces scatter.

After an eventful first 100 turns, the Zunbils edge out Kosovo and North Kyushu for the military lead.

Australia's got the most food, however...

...and production.

Washington is captured, eliminating America in 19th place. Cyrus is probably eager to get his forces back into Susa now that that's dealt with.

Australia pushes back against Bulgaria, taking Zinchecra!

Canute threw Ribe away to North Kyushu in a peace deal a while back because... who knows, really. Here's a shot of it, anyway.

Zinchecra flips back to Bulgaria, and peace is made without further changes in territory.

Before long, the Zunbils attack Cyrus again! The Achaemenids only have one city that can build units right now, which puts them in a tough place.

Australia builds the Great Wall, ensuring Hughes will be a tough nut to crack indeed.

Against the odds, it's the Persian forces that make inroads against the Zunbils, not the other way around, as Jaguda falls!

Mexico and Rif go back to war with Canada. What will be different this time?

Australia and Bulgaria go back to war, only this time Levski has to deal with Theagenes attacking from the other direction, too!

A huge Aussie army pushes into Zinchecra!

Canada flipped Annual from Mexico, only for Rif to finally take back the city they gave away a while back.

It seems Emilio Aguinaldo and Quanah Parker reconciled as they once again attack Cyrus. Zamindawar was heavily damaged but doesn't seem likely to fall.

Canada, eager to be rid of Annual, tries burning it this time. Mexican forces approach Ottawa.

Windhoek falls as Canada's army is depleted!

Pasargadae is in the black, but the Philippines don't have a nearby melee unit at a critical moment.

Kato Kiyomasa finally takes Su Nuraxi, eliminating the Nuraghians in 18th place.

Cyrus ends one war as two more kick off. Jimofuta wants his city back!

Maybe the Filipino-Comanche reconciliation wasn't as real as I thought, as Cavite el Viejo is swarmed by Comanche units!



Cloudberg's note: Miles is referring to an earlier war between these two which i removed because nothing happened.

Wuyue takes Toronto off of Mexico again. They're proving to be a consistent thorn in Diaz's side.

Kosovo attacks the Anglo-Norse, although Rugova doesn't seem to have any allies on board for this one. Meanwhile, Wuyue gets to keep Toronto as they make peace with Mexico.

Punjab attacks Rome again, this time with a more substantial advantage.

Sofia falls as Australia extends its reach!

Jimofuta's grand plan for taking back Jaguda gets turned around on him, and Cyrus takes Zamindawar! The Zunbils are eliminated in 17th place.

Hughes also takes Plovdiv, preventing his allies in Megara from gaining any Bulgarian land.

Nearby, the Comanche pick up Cavite el Viejo as Aguinaldo runs low on troops.

The Philippines surrender Susa in the peace deal, leaving them with just their capital.

Kosovo and friends attack Canada! While Rugova himself is out of range, Mexico and Wuyue have a common enemy here.

Hughes picks up Jaguda for free as Cyrus inexplicably gives it away.

Punjab smashes through the Roman forces, eliminating Rome in 16th place.

Mexico bisects Canada by taking Montreal!

As Montreal flips back, Diaz faces a threat from the Aussie navy on the inland sea. Punjab and North Kyushu also target the Anglo-Norse.

Turn 200±3 stats show Australia has a major military lead...

...a slight tech lead...

...and a substantial production lead.

Montreal continues to flip as Canada starts to run out of options.

Canute loses Lundenburh to Punjab!

Any Mexican successes against Canada are undone in importance as Australia manages to flip Mexico City!

Wuyue picks up Ottawa as the Mexican army scrambles to face more urgent threats.

Canute retook Lundenburh only for Kosovo to snap it up this time instead.

It's another episode of Rump-State Rumble as Kongo attacks Bulgaria!

2 turns later, Varna falls and Bulgaria is eliminated in 15th place.

Mexico and Rif are still trying to finish off Canada, even though North Kyushu has citadeled the heck out of Kactchanas.

Diaz can't catch a break as Wuyue invades from the south! Also, Kosovo and the Anglo-Norse make peace.

17 turns later, they go to war again... except Roskilde's already in the red from Kiyomasa's navy.

But Kosovo snipes it first, eliminating the Anglo-Norse in 14th place.

Canada's last city finally is on the chopping block as North Kyushu attacks!

Not content with just sniping Roskilde away from North Kyushu, Kosovo drags all its buddies into war with them, too!

The Comanche attack the Achaemenids once again! I think a lot of carracks are about to get sunk.

Kiyomasa gets his revenge by flipping Roskilde! Although, if the barbarian pikeman is any indication, North Kyushu's got happiness problems.

Cyrus finally gets Susa back in the peace deal with the Comanche.

Yep, I was right about Kiyomasa's happiness being in the tank. I'm impressed a Deity AI managed to get that far negative pre-ideologies.

After using citadels to slice out a chunk of land between Hupenuu and Kuhtsutuuka, Australia attacks the Comanche!

5 turns since our last check of this screen, North Kyushu's managed to go from -24 to -41 happiness. What the hell?



Cloudberg's note: Their UA significantly increases unhappiness from population in exchange for a large boost to production.

Unsurprisingly, given the happiness issue, when Kiyomasa takes Kactchanas, he razes it. Canada is eliminated in 13th place.

Turn 300 is here. Australia still has the military lead, although the Achaemenids are catching up.

That said, Australia's tech lead has grown...

...as has its production lead.

Australia hasn't managed to take any Comanche cities yet, but Megara joining the war may prove decisive.

Shortly afterwards, Kuhtsutuuka falls to Australia.

Kosovo surrenders Prizreni to North Kyushu. Unable to support it, Kiyomasa razes it as well.

The Comanche capital also is captured by Australia, once again screwing Megara over as Hughes keeps all the prizes for himself.

Speaking of Australia, this chain of citadels on the old Mexico/Wuyue border is... what is this. Seriously, what purpose was this supposed to achieve? It's dumb. I love it.

Never mind the fact that Kosovo threw away its biggest non-capital city to North Kyushu's torches last time the two went to war: they're at it again! And Rugova brings along his friends, as usual.

Mexico, still attempting to recover, takes Ottawa from Wuyue!

The two make peace the next turn, and... Mexico keeps Ottawa, but gives away Windhoek. Sure, why not at this point.

Quanah Parker faces another war with Cyrus, although the Achaemenid military doesn't seem fully ready...

...possibly because Cyrus's navy is over here taking Yanagawa from North Kyushu.

Cyrus's lack of preparation shoots him in the foot as the Comanche sack Susa.

It takes 14 turns for the Achaemenid army to rectify this blunder.

North Kyushu takes Roskilde yet again as Kosovo proves it can't win this front.

Peace is made, and Lundenburh is given away to Kiyomasa this time. Thankfully, it seems his happiness score has recovered enough to keep the city rather than torch it.

Cyrus finally makes his way into Cavite el Viejo, eliminating the Comanche in 12th place.

Mexico, still trying to re-establish itself, attacks its old ally Rif!

Kiyomasa didn't burn Lundenburh, but he was still at war with Ranjit Singh... whoops.

North Kyushu loses more territory still as Cyrus takes Saiki and burns it.

Speaking of Cyrus, he hosts the World's Fair! That's a huge production dropoff after #3.

On turn 400, Australia's re-widened its military lead...

...still has a tech lead...

...and an ever-widening production lead.

This time, it's North Kyushu attacking Kosovo, not the other way around! Still activates the UA and gets Rugova's friends involved, though.

It takes over 30 turns to do it, but Kiyomasa takes Prishtine and eliminates Kosovo in 11th place.

Apparently the Achaemenids were at war with Kongo as they take Varna!

Mexico pushes its way into Ajdir, eliminating Rif in 10th place.

We've got 3 eliminations in 4 slides as Cyrus takes M'banza-Kongo and eliminates Kongo in 9th place!

The Achaemenids and Punjab team up against North Kyushu! Minamata, which Kiyomasa built after his previous city nearby was razed, is immediately knocked to red.

One turn later, it falls!

Punjab grabs the former Kosovar capital...

...and the former Anglo-Norse capital!

A huge Achaemenid force overwhelms Ribe and seems ready to move on to Kiyomasa's core!

Mexico loses Ajdir to... Megara? What on earth?

Turn 500 rolls around and boy howdy is that a military lead.

And a tech lead.

But not a production lead! No, the Achaemenids have surpassed Australia in hammers!

2 turns later, Cyrus gets a huge windfall as he picks up two major cities from North Kyushu's core in the peace deal!

The Megarian backdoor squad strikes again as Theagenes grabs Kumamoto!

Hughes pumps a huge chunk of production into hosting the International Games. I do like Punjab's icon glitching up and showing a palette swap of North Kyushu's.

The Achaemenids attack the Philippines, swiftly knocking Malolos to red...

...and taking it only one turn later, eliminating the Philippines in 8th place.

Mexico seeks revenge by attacking Wuyue!

Windhoek is Diaz's once again.

Cyrus attacks Kiyomasa and rolls a landship into Su Nuraxi within the first turn of the war. North Kyushu is eliminated in 7th place.

Megara is the next to get Cyrus and Ranjit Singh's attention...

Kumamoto is swiftly captured.

And only a few turns later, Ajdir falls to Achaemenid troops as well.

Heruclea [sic] falls too, kicking Megara off the east coast of the continent.

Meanwhile, the Achaemenid navy takes Megara itself!

Theagenes takes it back, only to lose it to Mexico, attempting to get back at him.

While Australia still has the military lead at turn 600, the Achaemenids are still competitive.

And although this 7-tech lead is significant...

...this production lead for Cyrus is a big deal.

Megara gives up Chalcedon to Cyrus for peace, dividing his remaining territory.

Cyrus attacks Mexico next, and the Achaemenid air force takes three cities down to the red immediately.



Also, Australia's stupid but hilarious citadel chains across the snow and tundra are even longer. Wow.

Naturally, Megara is taken immediately as Mexico had no way to defend it.

Windhoek falls as Persian tank divisions come in from the north.

Montreal falls next...

...then Guadalajara...

...but before Porfirio Diaz loses Ottawa, he makes peace.

The Achaemenid war machine focuses on Wuyue next, going straight for the jugular by taking Xifu!

This is followed by Toronto, or at least what's left of it after Australia's absurd landgrabs.

As if to give Hughes a taste of his own medicine, Ranjit Singh has sliced neatly through old Garamantian lands with a long line of citadels of his own.

Yuezhou falls!

Cyrus and Singh play cleanup by declaring war on Megara...

But first, Cyrus builds a cool space station almost single-handedly.

Megara Hyblaea falls...

...as does Byzantium, eliminating Megara in 6th place.

Cyrus and Singh still want to eliminate Qiantang, although that's rather hard at the moment given that 5/6 of the tiles around it are Australian...

Turn 700 stats! Cyrus has surpassed Hughes in military strength, albeit barely.

The tech gap has been basically closed as all remaining major civs wrap up the tech tree...

The Achaemenids, however, have run away with the production lead.

Cyrus finagles a mechanized infantry division into Qiantang, eliminating Wuyue in 5th place.

Porfirio's long suffering is about to be put to an end...

Ottawa falls, eliminating Mexico in 4th place.

Showtime! The Achaemenids attack Australia, with several fronts opening up immediately. Kuhtsutuuka is in the yellow right away.

In the south, Mexico City and Toronto flip as well.

Hughes pushed back and takes M'banza-Kongo...

...as well as Qiantang and Mexico City!

Australia also takes Megara Hyblaea, but...

Astoundingly, Cyrus has somehow managed to get his troops straight into Melbourne, the Australian capital!

Jaguda, which had been Australian on Cyrus's doorstep for ages, is taken as well.

Kuhtsutuuka falls!

Cities flip all along the front here, but more important than any of that is that Cyrus's ally, Punjab joins in the war effort!

Achaemenid forces push Australia out of the south!

Hughes has retaken his capital, but Adelaide has fallen! (Also, Persia must have captured that Aussie UU with a destroyer that used to be a privateer. Neat.)

Melbourne goes down again as Australia loses all sorts of cities to its opponents!

Hughes gets some flips back, but Garama is a new and major loss.

The whole front starts to collapse in on Australia at this point.

1 turn later, Hughes is down to just Sofia!

Punjab gets the kill, however, taking Sofia and eliminating Australia in 3rd place.

War is declared on turn 801 between the former allies - probably, I'm guessing, at Cloudberg's instigation since it's obvious who's gonna win.



Cloudberg's note: yeah this is forced war

Sofia falls immediately as other original capitals go to the black...

Prishtine falls...

...then Garama...

...then Rome...

...then Lahore, Punjab's own capital...

...and with the fall of Roskilde, the Achaemenids take this round! Cyrus's many reversals of fortune managed to help him push past the ascendant Australia!

Here's the endgame slide! That's all, folks!



Cloudberg back here for the score:



The Zunbils: 1

The USA: 1

The Achaemenids: 1

Australia: 1

The Garamantes: 1