Part 20: They Grow Up So Fast...

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Hey there guys! My name is TPangolin, and it‘s an absolute honour have all of you on board to witness a battle of absolutely crazy proportions. What lies ahead is a battle that will last for millennia - over 60 Civilizations, both Firaxis and Fan-Made will battle it out on the largest Earth Map available. Some areas like Europe will be a hotspot of contention, where civs will have to brutally fight against each other in order to gain that vital early-game upper hand. Other areas on the globe are much more open, but are we sure these civs will make the most of what they‘re given? Join us on a journey bathed in blood, where one nation will hopefully become victorious over 60 of their lesser global neighbours. Join us as we step into the madness that is the Official /r/civ 60+ A.I Battle Royale! Joining us for the narration today is /u/TA_knight “It‘s a great honour to narrate the Battle Royale! Hopefully I won‘t make too much mistakes. My narration focuses on assessing civilization power and describing their wars, of of which there will be a lot of, thankfully.”

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And now for the Royale map, made by /u/SylonL and city flips added by /u/thehonestyfish! Remember to thank all of the content creators and the community, as well as TPang, as without them we would not have a Battle Royale. Take a good look at this map, as after this part, it will change forever....

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Onward to the Japan-Inuit front! In the last part, the Inuit have driven back Japan‘s forces and captured 2 cities from them. The newest capture, Senpai (Sendai) is noticed, secured, and is only fired upon from a trebuchet in Wakayama. It seems that the entire Japanese fleet was exhausted in the war, and now the Ice Sheet Fleet can advance in without troubles. First on the list: Wakayama!

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Vietnam is probably at the best position to grow right now - both Japan and China have ran out of units, and while they don‘t have many land units to spare, they do have a navy which they can use on Japan. The best option for them is make peace with China for some cities and focus on Japan.

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The Ayyubids manage to recapture Bethlehem from Arabic forces, with the help of their navy moving though the Dvin canal. It won‘t stay yellow long, however, as Arabia is already marching though with a massive army. Saladin needs to make some peace declarations, or face a Sparta situation, or worse, Sioux.

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The prime minister Bob Hawke is overwatching the Australian fleet moving northward to secure Asian captures. They have enough of a fleet to cover every tile in Japan probably, and that doesn‘t spell good for them. Besides them lay the totally undefended island cities of the Maori, who are somehow sporting population of 13-16 (Damn you deity AI). On another note, you can see that the Maori and Australia have open borders, so they might have gotten over their distaste for each other. Bad news for our watchers.

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The Mughals reach the Renaissance era fashionably late. Throughout the game, the Mughals have done pretty much nothing, as they are surrounded by the superior Afghanistan preventing any growth. If they want to make progress, they should use their navy and attack the undefended capital of Rangoon of Burma, as they lack in land military production.

08

The Buccaneers breach the Hawaiian blockade! Using their just gotten unique unit of the Corsair (A Privateer replacement with bonus plunder and naval combat) they take Uxmal down to red, and are one turn from capturing it, eliminating Maya‘s access to the seas. The Mayans would probably survive a while longer though, while Hawaii‘s protection still lasts.

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Back to Vietnam and Japan, The Trung Sisters are rampaging thru Japanese territory and lay siege to Vigan and Cebu, capturing any gains Japan made in the last part. Australia is also in on the plunder, as they take down Iloilo (A name which contends for weirdness with Medicine Hat) to yellow and send in a force towards Tokyo. Poor Meji.

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Kongo recaptures Nkuna from the Zulus. Kongo isnt really focusing on this war, and is prefering to clash with the Ayyubids, which resulted in the ravaging of Nkuna. The question is, however, is if Shaka manages to take Nkuna, or makes peace without it, sending himself farther to irrelevancy as Africa gets musketmen.

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Carthage is strolling though the rather empty Ayyubidian interior as they lag siege to the former Kongo city of Kwilu as well as Bilbais. Carthage is given the golden opportunity to capture a lot of cities here as Saladin is focusing on other targets, the question is, will he be able to defend against other civilizations wanting his lands.

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Either Elizabeth is playing really good, or Ireland and France just suck - Orleans and Nottingham are both at red and units are able to take both, while none of England‘s cities are damaged despite the proximity of invaders. England could even come on top in the war!

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The Sioux are grasping at straws to survive - they are fighting a five-pronged war against Mexico, Blackfoot, USA, Canada and Texas. Texas has the opportunity to make the most out of this war, as they lay siege to the capital of Hunkpapa.

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The five-pronged war goes to four-pronged as the smallest participator USA resigns from the war, making no gains but some lost units. He could probably snipe some cities from Sioux during the war if he continued, but the city would be disconnected from his land and could draw the anger of Canada or Texas to him, so at the end he probably made the right choice. Maya seems nice at this time of the year though.

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England captures Orleans! This is just embarrassing for France, they completely failed to attack York and instead lost a city to a much weaker civilization than them! Fortunately they have some melee units nearby, but Germany is starting to look threatening...

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Portugal gets a great person that was actually born in their region! (Apparently born in Spain according to Wikipedia). Portugal is an oddball here - they have an overstretched empire that is very hard to defend, but on the other hand, they could make some sweet captures against England (Hastings) or Morocco (Marrakech). Time will know if Portugal rises or falls.

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Uxmal is captured! While Maya has units around to retake it, its still one of their only cities and therefore it being flipped is devastating to the Maya. If Morgan is smart he will land ground units there to push against their remaining cities.

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Finland is showing his Kekpower as he snatches the first ideology and goes Autocracy! Finland in the past parts has been playing very smartly, first using USSR to gain against the Huns, then soaring into the info addict scoreboards, and now he is laying siege to both Wroclaw and Poznan again abusing his open borders with USSR. With a much more modern army, Poland seems done for.

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Zulu‘s army is starting to run out of steam and are being pushed back from Nkuna. This front is pretty much lost for Shaka at this point.

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Hannibal shifts his focus from Bilbais and Ayyubid core and aims for Dire Dawa, another city Ayyubids captured from another civilization. Meanwhile, Kwilu goes red and is expected to fall soon.

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France manages to take Orleans back, but at great cost. In his rage, Napoleon is moving his army toward York and is preparing to attack it, hoping to make some gains from this war.

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Back in North America, Texas is focusing on Yankton - a city with more population than the Sioux Capital. Sam Houston seems to realize that while capitals win the game, there are 61 of these and therefore its way more important to have a strong civilization.

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Ah, the ever boring South America. Chile and Inca seem to have forgotten their previous wars and are now trading with each other. The Inca-Brazil war probably wins the award for the most boring war ever between civilizations that have shared borders of all AI games so far, and that‘s a difficult bar to reach.

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The Buccaneers empire - lots of islands, and a huge army allows for high population and so science, as well as ransacking close by weak civilizations such as USA. They lack a land army, however, they should be thankful their southern lands have mountains to defend them against a possible Incan or Brazilian attack.

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Stede Bonnet stares at the enclosing Mayan troops, looking to retake the cities, and sighs. He was born to see the seas, to plunder ships carrying untold riches, to sink ships loaded to the brim with cannonballs and people. Instead, he was forced to sit idly in his ship at a captured city, forced to watch primitive tribes with axes dismantle his ship, bit by bit. Also: Maya has warriors. WARRIORS!

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The Inuit score another city, Wakayama, but unfortunately raze it to the ground. Advancing toward deeper Japanese territory will be a bit difficult, but if they can get enough army though, then Japan will be at their whims. In the background, Arabia regains Bethlehem.

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Afghanistan uselessly pounds at Nishapur who seems as hard if not harder to take than Lahor was. If only they sent their army toward Herat or Samarqand, but nope, Nishapur it is. On the good news, Afghanistan is the second to an ideology, and takes order.

28

Agent Em, after his/her previous failures to predict Yakutia and USSR aggression, heads to Port Royal, assuming that a drunken pirate would not spend useless time on planning then aborting attacks, but just drunkenly stumble toward the next target. Let‘s hope he/she is right.

29

Australia hits Industrial after a longer-than-necessary period and looks to adopt an ideology soon. As the tourism leader, his choice will dictate the main ideology to the rest of the world. Also, a small group of Australian ships is making its way though Maori territory toward an unknown target. Perhaps agent Em should‘ve landed in Sydney instead?

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Yakutia gets his unique unit of Bakas Cavalry, which is a lancer replacement with blitz. Will it see use? Probably not.

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Kongo and Zulus make peace, as Nkuna stays Kongo. Sadly Shaka could not really progress on this front, so hopefully he finds an opportunity to strike at a distracted Boer someday.

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USSR is failing cut into Timurid land due to the only passage, a one tile passage besides the Huns and passes though a river, is under bombard by Timurid ships whenever USSR units want to cross. USSR should‘ve attacked Byzantium instead. 2 more civilizations declare against the Nazis. Nazi Germany gets all the great generals!

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A shot of the Middle East - Arabia here seems to be the only one with a unit carpet here, and they could probably take control of the entire area if they used that army. The weak Arabia that had Baghdad stolen by Persia is no more - its Arabia‘s day to shine. Also, TPang gets a second spy to use! Where will he put it? In Germany? Australia? Canada? Who knows! In my option it doesn‘t really matters as the AI is pretty much just rolling dice to decide what to do. TPang‘s Note: Spy placement was based off of this ;) - https://redd.it/3ko72y

34

Sibir declares war against the Huns, and HAS GATLING GUNS! Sibir is on the very top of ranged tech here, and will pretty much steamroll Atilla who is still fielding swordsmen and horse archers. Hopefully Sibir decides to strike against Atilla‘s core at Bakihon.

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And Semiramis makes his way to.. Jerusalem? Perhaps TPang believes in the Great Jewish conspiracy*. TPang‘s note: Jewluminati

36

The Inuit make peace with Meiji, content with their recent captures. They could probably use their fleet to capture Osaka, which is a shame. An opportunistic Korean settler is waiting for Wakayama to burn so he could settle himself in its place. Clever. Also, Japan shows his unique unit here, the Daimyo, a great general replacement who provides extra XP and production to melee units. Sadly it‘s useless in naval combat.

37

Vietnam is about to capture Vigan and Cebu as they both go below 50% health, Iloilo is going red as well, though Australia is not content at just that and is looking to snipe Cebu. Bethlehem is flipping back and forth in the background, at this point there is no Bethlehem left.

38

Elizabeth continues her epic struggle and manages to capture Nottingham, and is one turn away from Orleans as well! Say what you say about Elizabeth and her trade agreements, but she knows how to fight defensive wars. Meanwhile, Cologne is being threatened by Nazi ships.

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Finland is marching on Wroclaw taking it down to yellow as he moves in a giant squad of trebuchets to help take the cities. Meanwhile 2 additional civilizations join in the Nazi hate train, though surprisingly not Norway or Sparta so far. An Ayyubid prophet comes to Poland and tells them they need to party like the pope if they hope to survive.

40

Korea gets his second unique unit, the hwach‘a, a trebuchet replacement with bonus strength and sight but no city bonus. Korea is at prime strength right now, and there are three targets they can strike at right now, but instead they choose to declare war against Atilla. That‘s AI games for you.

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Yankton goes yellow as Texas is focusing everything they got at this city, while Canada is starting to crack the walls of Sihasapa. Also, for people who are bewildered at Blackfoot units looking like they are attacked by invisible units: don‘t be alarmed, they aren‘t self harming, they are just being damaged by bison resources and getting XP as per Blackfoot UA. Go figure.

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Calico Jack joins the Buccaneers as a corsair. Fittingly, Calico Jack is the designer of the Jolly Roger flag, which is the skull and bonuses symbol that is also the symbol of the Corsair unit. What came first, Calico Jack or the Jolly Roger? Only Nebbuchadnezzar knows.

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Vietnam finally unites Vigan into their empire, holding the entire area under a single banner without threats of it being retaken again. They celebrate the event by preparing to take Cebu as well.

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Sam Houston takes Yankton! Sioux can‘t hold on anymore and it is falling apart, even Mexico is starting to damage the southern Sioux city, and Texas still has a lot of force that can be used to capture the capital as a cherry on top of the already captured cities.

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Carthage captures Kwilu, but sadly seems to lack the force to push any further. Atleast African borders are no longer a mess except the 2 Morrocan colonies.

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It seems that Nottingham‘s capture is just the motive Ireland needed to actually do something against England, and prepares to recapture Nottingham. They won‘t recapture their pride, though. Germany takes Cologne to yellow, and could probably take the city if Napoleon doesn‘t end his war with Elizabeth soon. With all the different sides here, the real loser is France.

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A short break for Ireland backside and eastern Iceland. Ireland still has some units to spare and they should send them directly toward Canterbury if they want any gains in this otherwise failed war. Iceland is just bidding their time, growing and developing, awaiting the next war. Hopefully for them it would be a North American civilization on which they can use the full force of their navy. That poor city of Selfoss, even Deity AI couldn‘t save you from eternal 1 population.

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Gondar is on the way of falling to Kongo, as Morocco joins the war despite only having an isolated colony bordering Saladin. On any other place this would be a free city for the ‘defender‘, but the Ayyubids simply lack any force around said area and so Morocco could snipe Dire Dawa from Carthage.

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The seamen in the long, hard Babylonian submarine are about to burst with excitement upon hearing of the recent developments. Three civilizations at a state of free fall? I wonder what games they play on the sub.

50

Orleans goes to Elizabeth again and France decides to take back the city using.. Great generals and settlers. Napoleon simply gone insane, I‘m afraid. Hopefully it isn‘t terminal or France will join Sioux at the road to death.

51

Uxmal goes Mayan again, though Morgan is looking to just flip it again. Maybe just leave them be? A land army is needed here anyway.

52

Finland takes Wroclaw! It doesn‘t look like Poland will take it back soon as all they have are composite bowmen nearby. All of Casimir‘s melee units are on the German border, away from the actual war.. Please tell me you aren‘t planning something stupid, Casimir.

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Vietnam takes Cebu and heads straight for Caloocan. Note that Vietnam is still at war with the Philippines, so capturing Caloocan will open path to Manilla. Australia is still struggling with Iloilo as their main navi still hasn‘t reached Japan, sadly. Hopefully they won‘t make peace before then.

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Australia goes Autocracy, just like Finland! This is going to be interesting, as Australia will force the rest toward Autocracy, and being a militaristic ideology, should increase the amount of wars and carpets.

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A look the Boer as they head to the Industrial era, his interior is suspiciously devoid of units, except a batch up the Ayyubid north. A Zulu strike here could be more effective than the Kongo, though, sadly, they have open borders instead.

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Nottingham flips back to Ireland, though England is positioned to take it back again. At Orleans, Napoleon finally finds the units to take it back, though Germany is ever so closer to capture cities for himself.

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The Sioux is quickly vanishing. Oglala is captured by Mexico, Sihasapa by Canada, and both Oyuhpe and Hunkpapa are targets for the next captures. Assuming this trend continues, the Sioux will be gone next part.

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The quickly disappearing empire of Meiji. 2 cities captured by Inuit, 2 by Vietnam, 1 (about to be 2) by Australia, Japan only lives because Inuit and Australia couldn‘t get their fleets out fast enough. They will likely last a while, but in a position like China rather than the Empire it was before.

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Really, Maya? I don‘t think the leader of a dying civilization is a great candidate for a great general. Unless you want Mexico and Texas declaring war on you too.

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Sitting Bull is throwing everything they can at the captured cities in despair trying to get them back, they took Oglala and Yankton to deep red, but both civilizations are advancing their armies and will just flip the cities back. Blackfoot, just end this already! Send your idling army into Hunkpapa and get the capital you wanted for so long!

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Iloilo is finally captured, and Nagoya is the next target on the list. China and Japan form a pact to take Busan however, which Vietnam left undefended. Can Tho?

62

Ah, Oceania, only South America is no more boring than you. Indonesia and Champa both have carpets, although Champa has Caravels, while Indonesia owns a few musketmen. Neither civilization has soft targets to strike, however, except some undefended Australian cities.

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Gondar finally falls to the Kongo, but the Ayyubids are determined to take it back. Carthage notices and lays siege to Bilbais and looks to take it soon. Ethiopia, on the otherhand, just can‘t do damage to Baalbek, which may be due to sending ranged units only, into death by city bombard. Good job, Selassie.

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Napoleon manages to flip back Orleans, but Hitler is already marching on Cologne, looking to reunite their empire into one piece. Nottingham also flips again and seems secure in Ireland‘s hands finally.

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Despite Finland besieging Poland, Casimir its a great time to start yet another war with the Nazis. Neither civilization can spare the units right now and its only going to end badly for both of them. One might call it a mutual destruction pact?

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Brazil, Morgan? Brazil is probably the toughest opponent that Morgan could attack, leading in info addict, and unlike Canada, isn‘t busy with other wars. The fact that Brazil could march his army right into Buccaneers‘ South American cities does not help. Why not attack the USA?

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Back at Europe, Morgan is about to settle right on Portugal‘s doorstep! However, Portugal has just gotten his unique unit, the Nau, a caravel replacement that has an ability that generates gold and XP. Nau you are talking! The question is, will Maria will strike back at Morgan at his offense, or will they do nothing like they did most of the game.

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Ohh, what‘s this? Australia is moving a force past Kimberly toward South Asia/East Africa. Henry Parkes is silently scheming, executing plans to take over smaller civilizations.. If only someone could tell his plans. *Pokes TPang*

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While Australia is destroying, Kimberly is building, and sends a settler toward the same sea. There ain‘t many places left to settle any more, though there is an island near South Africa that could be taken. Kimberly in this game is somewhat underwhelming, like Yakutia, a great position that is not being exploited. Their navy lies unused while there are plenty of weak civilizations with a shoreline, but yet, they do nothing.

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We finally get a look at the Australian Antarctic settlement, Broken Hill, even though there isn‘t any hill there*. Henry Parkes needs some glasses maybe? Meanwhile, Bethlehem is still flipping the entire time, with no progress made by either side. Flipperdidoo. TPang‘s note: *Duhdoy, that‘s why it‘s broken.

71

Manila is somehow still surviving despite Champa still regularly sending units toward it. However, Caloocan is under assault from both Australia and Vietnam, and once it falls, Manila is done for. For now, though, they can drink some of the finest Byzantium wine, reserved for civilizations that are in “Just-get-it-over-with” category.

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French fans cringe in shame as France, once again, loses Orleans to the English. The showing of France this part was absolutely abmysal, failed to gain ground against both bordering civilizations, despite being much weaker than France, and are looking to lose Cologne to the Nazis as well, and judging from the German army, it may not end in just Cologne.

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Stat time! The Maori overtake Australia in 1# in population! Despite them looking weak in all screenshots, they sure have a lot of cards they haven‘t shown yet. The Maori‘s first war should be interesting. Or disastrous.

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At the bottom, the usual suspects so far, except Armenia and Tibet, which really have no excuse. Work it!

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You just can‘t get enough of Finland! Finland leads Culture with 25 policies, 3 more than second place! No doubt part of it is being first to Autocracy, but, still.

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At the bottom, some of the same bottom feeder civilizations, but, notably, Korea. All that science and yet no culture.

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Australia tops the military charts with a healthy lead of 90,000 troops. Their grand Wobbegong Armada is simply unbeatable. If they aren‘t stopped soon, the world will go down in flames and drop bears.

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What is Persia doing at the bottom? Did they lose all their units on Timurid mountains? Only TPang knows. Ireland and England look similarly depleted.

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Australia‘s recent captures bring them up to a tie with the Inuits. Expect to see them overtake the Inuit the next part. Also, what‘s this, Armenia declaring war on the Ayyubids? Say good bye to Nicomedia, Saladin.

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The Sioux fall to the bottom after the “Indian” war, and this rate, there may not be another. Say goodbye to uncle Sitting Bull, kids!

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Korea is still somehow overteching the Great Empires of the world. Finland is showing their strength by taking a 4th place this for 37 tech.

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Only wonder here is Inca, who really shouldn‘t be here as unlike other civilizations they aren‘t war focused and have a lot of cities and land.

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Over to religion data, Catholicism and Jewism are almost tied on the number of cities, however Judaism has many more followers. However, due to Catholicism having the entire South America open to them, we may see a change soon. Islam reaches a new top of 3(!) cities! The Party Pope lives on! Dance like its the ayyties!

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Akkat-U looks to be the first religion that has nowhere new to expand, it seems.

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And here are the civilizations joining the Ayy party! It looks to be a guitar party, folks, get ready for some wonderwall! Yakutia and Kimberly tie for 4 wonders, as appropriate for giant turtles. Canada is also up there on the list, and Mexico only got so high due to a lucky Petra capture from Sioux.

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p>8 other civilizations manage to score a wonder, one of them is surprisingly, Burma*. That‘s all for today, folks! Remember to tune to r/civbattleroyale for all the OC from our wonderful community. Also, I‘d you have any issue with my narration (errors, typos, or just plain boring) don‘t be afraid to ping and tell me, constructive criticism is always needed! TPang‘s note: They have the Colossus!

Part 20: They Grow Up So Fast... – mk2

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