Civ Battle Royale A quick glance at the Sahel shows that Pedro is not playing around. He has begun the process of annexing cities, moving over his air force, and repairing damaged Boer infrastructure with an army of workers.
We also see the new city of Jaboatão dos Guararapes. Unlike it’s real-world counterpart, renowned for its white sand beaches and wide ocean vistas, this version of the city is probably less tourist-friendly, as it’s in the middle of the Sahara Desert and surrounded by smoking ruins.
Sibir takes New Sarai. While Mongolian defenses continue to crumble, it’s worth noting that Kuchum Khan’s forces are having trouble keeping up with the rate of his expansion. It’s entirely possible that Genghis can flip back Hovd and hold it for a couple turns, but like Kruger, his fate seems sealed.
Worth noting, however, are the large numbers of Inuit, Brazilian, and Australian troops in the area. What are they up to?
What is probably the last remaining Finnish unit drifts lazily across the Indian Ocean, probably with Kekkonen drunk/asleep at the wheel.
The Trungs rub salt in the wound and denounce Kruger.
Rustenburg falls as a sizable force of Brazilians embarks with its eyes set on Madagascar. I’m not sure if the pillaged tiles are the results of nukes, though-- their populations still seem too high.
Still, it’s clear that Pedro intends to take over the entire Boer Empire, including the islands of Reunion and Mauritius.
Kaneohe is predictably captured by Australia, and is unlikely to flip back. The once-massive population of the city has either been culled or fled, and it’s now just another dot on the map for Henry Parkes.
It’s almost cruel, though, that they took the city while the Blackfoot were still in range.
Here we get a beautiful shot of Sibir’s core, and of the respectable carpet there. I won’t go beyond respectable, though, as about a third of Kuchum Khan’s territory is occupied by Brazilian peacekeepers. Still, it’s good to see the boys in grey capable of building a decent army.
Meanwhile, overwhelmed by the smell of death and decay in this world of war, the international community reverses its ban on perfume.
They pass on making Catholicism the world religion, however.
In Europe, Pedro continues annexing cities and building more troops. Ekeuhnick’s Swedish-based expeditionary forces have the potential to do some damage here, given the older troops Brazil has decided to keep in this region, but with those numbers-- and without air support --they wouldn’t last long in a hypothetical match-up.
Pedro takes the city that shares its name with the Boer leader: Krugersdorp. Ekeuhnick sends a small force to either help shore up the Boer’s defense against their common rival, or just observe, but it’s too little, too late: Madagascar is overflowing with Brazilian troops now. I spy three Boer advanced destroyers and a smattering of ground forces, but it’s hardly enough to hold back the green tide.
For whatever reason, Pedro isn’t done yet. This is getting absurd.
Now, for the exact opposite of competent AI: Kuchum Khan makes peace with Genghis Khan, netting Sanchu, Rutog, and Dalandzadgad in the process, but missing the only city that really matters in the CBR: Karakorum.
Mapmakers hoping this war would reduce border gore will be disappointed: Sibir has cut Mongolia in two, and Korea controls a couple tiles outside Khonuu.
Brazil and the Inuit continue their staring contest in neutral territory.
I… honestly never expected we’d see this day: the Boers have been kicked out of Africa, and by Brazil of all civs. The enormity of this cannot be overstated. Nodwengu and Umgungundlovu fall to Pedro, and Kruger has no ability to take them back.
This is really unbelievable.
Nongoma and Kroonstad also fall, meaning Pedro now controls all of Madagascar. Ekeuhnick’s plan to help the Boers falls flat, leaving him with a single robot infantry desperately trying to escape the approaching Brazilian army.
Kruger has two melee units left to defend Ondini and the megacity of Middelburg. Unless Pedro gets a sudden change of heart, they’ll almost certainly fall, too.
Back where the bottom truly started to fall out for Kruger we see Pedro consolidating his gains. Tile improvements are being repaired, a new carpet is being built, cities are being annexed and put to work, and the true consequences of this war are finally sinking in.
Worryingly of note for Iceland fans: Brazil has moved an awful lot of air units close to the border between the two civs, in addition to its carpet.
In Anatolia and the Balkans, Contagem and Osasco have been established, while Constantinople-- already back up to a population of 29 --has been annexed.
For the time being, Sibir has a stronger army on its side of the border.
I guess that about wraps up this pa... oh.
Mongolia and Brazil join together and declare war on Korea. In any other scenario, this would be death by suicide for Genghis Khan. I mean, it may still be.
Brazil has a large presence here, but then again, so do the Inuit. In the absence of war with Ekeuhnick, Pedro should absolutely be able to provide the cover needed for Genghis to snipe a few cities from Korea. I can’t help but feel that in the end this may be a strategic miscalculation for Brazil, and a fatal one for Mongolia.
What’s clear that Pedro is an absolute madman.
At the very least, it does not appear that the Inuit have open borders with either Korea or Mongolia. So long as the peace between the two remains, Pedro has the upper hand here, and even if war breaks out again, Ekeuhnick’s ability to do any damage in that scenario is hampered by his lack of ranged units in the area.
As for Sejong, he’d better have troops waiting in the east, because the city of Tabriz is already surrounded, and Pedro very likely has a carpet waiting in Vietnam to the south.
In the land where the book on fighting wars good was written, Sejong seems to have only read the cliff notes. Pedro is pushing hard and fast into Korea, but it doesn’t look like it’s a very sustainable attack.
Sejong’s cities boast high defense scores and large numbers of air units while Ekeuhnick has his own army in Vietnam to take on Pedro’s reserves there if the need arises. If Brazil manages to take a city or two here, the Inuit could just as easily flip them if/when hostilities resume.
In the north of Korea, again, the Inuit stand to gain the most. Sejong has virtually no army up here while Ekeuhnick has a formidable carpet just over the border. If Brazil captures any one of these cities and doesn’t carpet up quickly enough then the only ones likely to take control in the end are the Inuit.
It’s very possible that we could see the White Walkers dominate in Korean Manchuria without having to fire a single shot against any actual Koreans, if Brazil doesn’t just flat-out conquer them first.
We close this chapter with a shot of the Brazilian Raj, which has been almost completely annexed by Pedro, and has gone on from building courthouses to new biotroopers in order to quench the bloodthirst of the accidental occidental emperor.
Brazil now controls almost all of Africa, Europe, South America, and India as well as the entirety of the Middle East. It possesses a gargantuan army and the industrial capacity to make sure that it only gets bigger.
Still, they’re far from invincible. The Inuit are not to be taken lightly, even with Australia fighting against them, and Pedro is at risk of throwing his troops into a meatgrinder in Korea. It’s easy to see why Pedro may feel like he’s unbeatable: in less than ten parts he singlehandedly swallowed whole the cylinder’s longtime juggernaut and cybernetic boogeymen, the Boerg, and began to creep his way up through Mexico and into North America. He risks massive warmonger penalties, however, if he finishes off Kruger, and his hubris may have led him to make the ultimate mistake by DOW’ing Korea-- never fight a land war in Asia.
Yet here, at the height of his power, does Pedro settle his newest city, and with the most arrogant-- yet appropriate --name, given the context: Uberlandia.