Part 30: Prelude to the Grand Culling

1

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome back to another thrilling instalment of the Battle Royale! I‘m /u/senshidenshi, reprising my role as emergency narrator for this edition! This time I‘m actually going to try to keep it short so we can get this out on time! Yeah, we‘ll see how that goes.

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Here is the map of the world as of the end of Part 29. This always lovely rendering is done by /u/SylonL, with the cities added by /u/LacsiraxAriscal!

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We start with a look at the dwindling Ayyubid core. They’re beset on three sides – the ongoing Elephant War with Carthage, against the Spartans to the north, and very nominally against Arabia to the southeast. Last part, the Ayyubids did a remarkable job holding off all three foes; can they keep it up here? Along the right of the screen, note that the Incans have declared war on the Mayans, which could prove to be relevant if they move their navy up the Pacific coast. And the Zulus declare war on Ethiopia, which isn’t likely to be relevant, given that the Boers are in the way.

4

With their peacekeepers out of harm’s way, the Hawaiians DOW the Mayans! After centuries of service as their shield, Kamehameha decides that it’s time to absorb his old protectorate.

5

The Maori join Shaka (Zulus) in declaring war on Ethiopia. Note the Australian unique unit outside Sydney, the Prime Minister (of whom is poised to be Moving Forward). From the workshop page: “This Australian unique Great Person replaces the Great Writer. It provides political quotes as Great Works of Writing and when it is acquired all non-puppeted coastal cities receive +1 Tourism per owned land tile outside workable limits.” Naturally, this fails to mention their sinister role in the Wollongate conspiracies.

6

The Korean Yellow Submarine scopes out the full extent of the Wobbegong Armada. It’s unmatched in scale, but I’m a little surprised we aren’t seeing ironclads yet. Frigates and privateers go a long way in this game, but Henry Parkes may want to consider making more use of them while he has a definitive tech edge over his neighbors. Along the right, Alexios (Byzantium) declares war on the Mayans, putting the world on notice that he’s coming for them, just as soon as he’s done mopping up Finland.

7

As Virconium falls to the Finnish tide, Press F for Attila and the Huns (which will also be the name of the official Battle Royale Band). Typically a strong and aggressive contender, they started off ranked #17. But they were sandwiched between surprise regional powers Sibir and Finland, and failed to take advantage of their opportunities with a strong early game UU and against weaker opponents like the Timurids. I guess this is what happens when you have a massive tendency to raze important cities you‘ve just captured!

08

Iceland continues to steamroll the Irish. They took Galway last part, and now they roll over Kilkenny and Waterford, giving them a foothold on the largest of the Irish Isles. Belfast is also into the yellow, and the Irish core is looking awfully sparse.

09

Sweden hasn’t made much headway against Sparta yet, distracted by the rock hard abs of Lodz and Warsaw’s defenders. Neither side had done much to militarize this border; it’ll be a race to see who can move troops to the front the fastest. Note the Swedish Hakkapeliitta, their UU lancer-replacement that receives an extra +15% from great generals, while granting generals extra movement if they start the turn stacked with them. To the east, Nicaea drops into the yellow as Alexios (Byzantium) commits suicide-by-Finland.

10

Chile takes La Plata from Argentina, and O’Higgins is already pushing on to Buenos Aires, as huge numbers of Brazilian troops threaten Argentina from the north. Eva (Argentina) still has a decent number of defenders, but with a mediocre core and two much larger opponents, I could see her collapsing quickly.

11

Kuybyshev falls to Sibir, who already cleared out Stalin’s mainland holdings in this part of the world. Sibir’s navy is dominant in the Arctic; it’s pretty doubtful that Vladivostok and Krasnodar hold on for long. But the real prizes in this war will be further south, where Sibir has a clear shot at the Soviet Union’s highly populated core.

12

The Irish flip Waterford back and start dealing damage to Kopavogur, the long-standing Icelandic thorn in Malachy’s side. And in the ultimate slap in the face to their conquered English enemies, Ireland is building Big Ben in Dublin. It seems that the Irish are too busy with their vindictive snarkiness towards the bants to produce more units for the glacial cascade of the Icelandic Polar Vortex Fleet.

13

The submarine dispatches a third spy, this time to Helsinki. Where will Kekkonen’s lensed, fiery gaze turn to next?

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Agents Em and Semiramis’ recent revelations, which mostly revolve around how hated the world’s refugee pikemen are.

15

Sparta grabs the canal city of Dvin from the Ayyyybuids, and along with Carthage, drops Alexandria down to half health. The Spartan carpet is looking threadbare here, probably in part to shifting troops north to fend off Sweden.

16

Our brave English hold fast in Hastings, while warning the world of the looming Sri Lankan threat. What does Elizabeth know that we don’t?

17

The Icelandic fleet takes back Waterford, probably not for the last time, and brings Belfast down to almost zero health. Note the large number of reinforcements streaming in from the north, as compared to the handful of Irish units defending their homeland.

18

Nicaea falls to Finland, who has only brought a fraction of their army to this particular fight. To the west, Warsaw remains unscathed.

19

In a bold effort to break out of an increasingly cramped stretch of North America, the Blackfoot go to war with Canada. While Itazipcho is already taking damage, the Blackfoot army on the border consists of mostly Gatling guns and pikemen, which isn’t likely to make much headway against Canadian garrison artillery. Fun fact: The city to the south of Itazipcho, Sihasapa contains the Chichen Itza Wonder!

20

Ethiopia has built a very impressive army, but every turn they sit still, they’re really falling further behind the Boer Juggernaut. They have a prime opportunity to join the Ayyubid dog pile and pick up a couple of cities at very little cost.

21

We didn’t see a notification, but TPangolin has confirmed that Texas and Canada are definitely at war with America now! A fair bit of America’s small army is embarked, presumably sending to go fight the Portuguese. But the Appalachians provide a very defensible border with Texas, who still hasn’t discovered artillery, or apparently even frigates. As of the end of part 29, America was actually in a 5-way tie for having the 11th most # of techs, at 44 researched. In comparison, Canada had 41 and Texas had 40 – so hardly an insurmountable difference, but it does give Lincoln a nice edge in addition to his favorable geography.

22

Belfast becomes the fourth Irish city to fall, and with fewer and fewer Irish melee units near the front, it’s hard to imagine they get these back

23

A lone Spartan Gatling gun holds off the Swedish hordes as Warsaw falls to 50% health.

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Portugal works up the energy to denounce England. As long as France flounders in the Bay of Biscay, Maria is probably the biggest threat England faces.

25

The Inca make peace with Chile, leaving O’Higgins to focus on Argentina, where he’s comfortably holding La Plata and starting to deal damage to Buenos Aires.

26

Sri Lanka enters the Modern Era, but nobody has told their admirals, who insist that the trireme is the pinnacle of military technology. Even the Mughals are fielding a more advanced navy, with a dozen or more caravels outside Lahore. At the end of the last part, Sri Lanka only had 42 techs, tied for 19th in the tech race and a whopping 9 behind the Boers in 1st. They must have rushed a particular tech to get into the Modern Era so quickly – I doubt they’ll be popping out battleships and bombers any time soon.

27

Iglooik flips again, and the Yakutian core has been badly thinned out, with nothing to show for such huge losses against the Inuit and JaAn astute observer noticed in this week’s info dump that the White Walkers have more than double the military of the Sleep Walkers, but Yakutia’s saving grace may be at hand. Take a look at Isit – we have our first aircraft! If these start showing up in more substantial numbers, the Inuit would be wise to cut their losses before they’re kicked out of Asia entirely.

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The Boer Juggernaut enters the Modern Era, with piles of artillery and riflemen staring down Shaka’s impis and handful of musketmen. At the end of the last part, they were 16 techs apart, and that gap has probably grown since.

29

The Middle East is in turmoil as the Ayyubids take back Dvin, only to lose Alexandria to Carthage’s increasingly modern force (at least by the standards of the region). The Ayyubids have stripped their southern city of defenders to form a wall of crossbows and pikes defending their northern coast. This is a real gamble – they’re already at war with Arabia, who has mostly sat back from the conflict so far, and Ethiopia, and the Boers could devour them in a handful of turns.

30

In retaliation for Alexios’ (Byzantine) transgressions, Kekkonen (Finland) plots to finish off even their distant Roman relatives. A handful of Finnish troops move toward Antioch, but without the artillery support to push such a narrow approach. Note that they have open borders with Stalin again. To the west, Spartan reinforcements begin to arrive in large numbers – Sweden may have missed their window to pick off Warsaw or Lodz.

31

The Ayyubids take back Alexandria, but lose Dvin. However admirable this defense has been, they simply don’t have the numbers to hold this many fronts.

32

The American and Canadian navies spar out in the middle of the Atlantic. Pearson looks outmatched so far, but if he can gain the upper hand, it would help him get around the narrow land border he has with Lincoln.

33

Lincoln is putting up a stout defense so far, and Canada’s Gatling gun-heavy army doesn’t appear well-equipped to take New York or Washington. Burma and Afghanistan make peace, in a war you forgot was happening.

34

Sri Lanka jumps on the Autocracy bandwagon. Southeast Asia’s difficult geography and quiet AI’s have combined to give us this collection of civs with outdated armies and moderately weak cores. I’d wager that for all of these, it’s only a question of whether Vietnam fields artillery before the Wobbegong Armada rolls into town. Worth noting: It seems that Afghanistan has snagged the Burmese city of Mawlamyine in the Peace deal! You can see the outline of the strategically important city on the mini-map (as well as the city only slightly being in view here too).

35

Limerick and Cork begin to take damage. There’s no question that Iceland is taking casualties, but they still look to have decisive edge on all fronts. Also, Champa denounces Sri Lanka, whom they do share a maritime border with.

36

Sweden and Sparta are both on the field in force. Lodz is holding firmly, but Warsaw is in the red, its lone Gatling gun continuing to blaze away.

37

The Irish take back Belfast, now reduced to a single point of population, but don’t look likely to hold it.

38

Canada takes Autocracy, setting them even more at odds with the Americans. To the northwest, the Blackfoot are increasingly on the defensive.

39

Sparta holds both Alexandria and Dvin for the first time, and Carthage (as always) batters Bilbais. The Ayyubids need to settle one or more of these wars if they want to survive.

40

The Yakutian Air Force grows, even as they Iglooik flips again. With planes on both the Japanese and Inuit fronts, the Snoryaks have a chance to prove their mettle.

41

Despite their big gains to the north, Sibir is seemingly ignoring its path into the Soviet core. The Finns continue to chip away at Byzantium, but have yet to deal damage to their last city.

42

Chilean forces tighten their grip around Buenos Aires, by both land and sea, but it’s still a narrow approach for them to navigate, particularly without artillery.

43

Straya enters the Modern Era, meaning he must have the technology for a much more advanced navy than they’re actually putting in the water right now.

44

Sparta and the Ayyubids make peace, with Leonidas picking up a foothold in Alexandria and keeping Nicomedia, which they captured in the previous part. They had the Ayyubids on the ropes, but this may have been a smart call to stop now – in the last part, both the Boers and Ethiopia declared war on Sparta, and I haven’t seen a peace treaty notification for either. With the Swedish pressing in from the north, Leonidas could never have held off those two powers from the south as well; better to keep the Ayyubids as a weakened buffer for now.

45

The Inuits also enter the Modern Era. The Ice Sheet Fleet remains strong, if a little uselessly focused on the north, but they have very few land units to protect their core or feed into the Yakutian meat grinder. The Maori declare war on the Maya. In theory, they have the navy to do something about that, but I wouldn’t hold my breath.

46

The Hawaiians begin to bombard Uxmal, and while they haven’t sent a huge army and fleet to take it, the dozen or so units nearby should be more than sufficient.

47

The English continue to hold off the French. Napoleon is now fielding his unique unit, the Imperial Guard, which is a rifleman replacement that increases the rate of Great General births and starts with 20 extra XP if it’s built in a city with a courthouse. This would be more powerful if Napoleon had conquered more cities to build them in, or if he made better use of his open borders with Maria.

48

Warsaw falls to Sweden as Lodz begins to take damage. Sparta has troops in the area though, and more should be coming soon now that they’ve made peace with the Ayyubids.

49

Texas piles on against The Blackfoot, who are still occupied with Itazipcho. But with small and outdated army, and almost no border, it’s hard to imagine Sam Houston is going to get anything done here.

50

Lincoln continues to hold the line on land, and his small navy is gaining the upper hand as well. If he has artillery, those caravels shouldn’t be too far away from upgrading to ironclads, and he has at least two coal deposits to fuel them. Chile also declares war on America. While O’Higgins has a strong navy that might be able to reach Lincoln’s coastal cities, he’d be better off focusing on Argentina. Plus, it’ll be bloody impossible to tell these two apart in screenshots if they really start fighting. With the similar Colour Scheme and Icon that Lincoln‘s America and Chile has - I can see why TPangolin was reluctant to include Lincoln in the Battle Royale in the first place!

51

Somehow staying alive, Byzantium rolls out its other unique unit, the Lanternas! This galleass replacement has a chance to withdraw each turn and heals 15 damage during each golden age, all of which would’ve been really useful a couple hundred turns ago. Still, it does add ranged firepower to Antioch’s defense.

52

Uxmal falls into the red, with caravels positioned to take it. But the real action here is off the right – we can see that Afghanistan will be hosting the first World Congress in just five short turns, considering resolutions on the World’s Fair and making Catholicism the World Religion. We also have at least 7 separate DOWs: Finland, Israel, Vietnam, Carthage, and France all pile on against the Mayas, Finland DOWs the Mughals, but the only really relevant one is that Vietnam is going to war with Tibet!

53

More irrelevant wars declared! The Timurids are on the Mayan bandwagon, and Hawaii and the Inuit are ganging up on Tibet. I’m sure the Trung Sisters appreciate the international solidarity. The Inuit also pick up Autocracy, and in spite of the Yakutian air superiority, this front seems to have stabilized as both sides have depleted their armies.

54

Portugal and Brazil skirmish in the Atlantic, in a war most people had forgotten, but Brazil hasn’t brought enough units to do more than hassle Leiria.

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Ladies and gentlemen, the war that we’ve all been waiting for! At long last, Sri Lanka makes a play for relevance by invading the decrepit Mughal Empire. While neither is a powerhouse, the Sri Lankans have a surprising tech edge, fielding riflemen against swordsmen. In contrast, the Mughals do have a powerful cannon replacement that will be key to defending Fatehpur Sikri.

57

Henry Morgan, quiet for the last few years, declares war on the Mayans, determined to finish off Palenque now that the Hawaiian peacekeepers have switched sides.

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Both sides have already lost large numbers of units, but the Mughals look decidedly sparser here. That Farsakh Cannon is insanely powerful though. The tradeoff is that it can only move when at full health, and is weaker to melee attacks – but in a defensive battle like this, it’s an ideal UU.

59

The Arabian powerhouse enters the Industrial era. In this part of the world, that doesn’t put them fatally behind, but they’d be better off fighting Israel than trying to wade across the Red Sea to get at Baalbek.

60

Vietnam has a decent shot at Xigaze, but without artillery, this war is going to be slow and bloody. China has rebuilt a surprisingly decent carpet, and they might even take Beijing back briefly if they made a real effort. As always, Mongolia’s massive and aging military sits still.

61

It looks like Sweden is going to hold Warsaw, their third capital, and they’re making a strong push for Lodz. I’d like their chances more if they weren’t using trebuchets to launch rocks at Sparta in an era when some empires have bombers.

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After watching Uxmal fall, Mexico’s Catholic Church decides Hawaii is a land worth converting. The Hawaiian core has incredibly populous cities and a more or less adequate navy to protect them, at least against anyone except Australia, lurking to the south.

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Speaking of Australia, check out their Digger, a Great War Infantry replacement that gets +15% combat strength on land adjacent to Coasts or in foreign territory. They start with the Cover I promotion and can be upgraded from workers. Fans of the BR Mk. 1 may recall that Diggers were incredibly effective, especially against island nations like Indonesia. Also note the open borders with the Maori here – it doesn’t seem like that showdown will be happening any time soon.

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The Boers are the second empire to get planes in the air, wisely stationing many of them along their sparsely defending border with Ethiopia. These will be key to getting over the mountains protecting Adwa, or wiping out Shaka.

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The Irish make peace with the Kimberly, but can’t take Belfast, and Cork and Limerick are taking substantial damage now. Note the Icelandic fleet off the western tip of Ireland: if they break through, Derry is almost sure to fall, and Dublin will be threatened from both ends of the channel.

66

Argentina declares war on the Blackfoot, for no real apparent reason. They’re bravely holding Buenos Aires, for longer than I would’ve expected, but very much at the expense of defending their border with Brazil. If Pedro gets more aggressive, Catamarca is his for sure.

67

We see some skirmishing as Sibir moves a handful of units toward Morelia and the Soviet heartland. Kuchum Khan will need to make a much stronger effort here if he wants to take a meaningful chunk out of Stalin’s empire.

68

A look at the religion overview: Catholicism has a narrow lead with 129 cities, but this isn’t likely to win them enough votes to make it the World Religion. Of the 7 civs that founded religions, only Mexico and Ethiopia are real contenders at this point.

69

In a nod to historical accuracy, Judaism looks likely to survive long after Israel is conquered. Want more stats? Check out my InfoAddict dumps at /r/civbattleroyale; the full stats for this part should be up in the next couple of days.

Part 30: Prelude to the Grand Culling – mk2

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