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Welcome to part 38 of the Civ Battle Royale! I‘m /u/Kurouma, and I‘ll be your host for this insanely action-packed episode! Now let‘s get it on - but presumably in a less Marvin Gaye way. Or not.
Civ Battle Royale Part 38: Where Women Glow, and Men Plunder – mk2
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Here‘s the map as of Part 38 by /u/SylonL and /u/LacsiraxAriscal. There wont be too much preamble because this part justifiably has a LOT to cover - so let‘s get this started!
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Despite Pearson‘s regional air superiority, the white walkers continue to push the front line further into Canadian territory. With the loss of Victoria, Pearson‘s holdings in the Hudson bay look extremely shaky, especially with the new Inuit land push along its south coast.
Compare the forces on the ground: the Inuit‘s army is wielding an unstoppable glacier of mainly infantry, AA guns, and artillery, while Pearson has a scattering of artillery and far too few rifles. Expect to see Oyuhpe and Regina painted baby blue.
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Whoa now! On the topic of land incursions, what do we have here? A crack force of piratical GW infantry dive into the heart of the Iberian peninsula. Captain Morgan has secured Lisbon and it looks like he will soon also control Porto. Maria‘s land forces in the area: three cannons and one rifleman. The good Captain might soon see significant Old World continental holdings.
How will this change the balance of power? Would the Buccs be able to support their trans-Atlantic colony if the French decided to put that big navy to work? Pity poor Maria, who is about to receive a right jolly rogering.
5
Here we pause to look at the expansive and powerful state of Vietnam, where the sisters Trung have just entered the Atomic era. They are fielding aircraft carriers, but have no planes or landships (except in Saigon aptly named ‘Saigon with the Wind‘‘), so probably have no oil.
But carriers unlock at electronics, which is a direct prerequisite for atomic theory. Will we be seeing a Hanoi Project, given that we can no longer see a Manhattan Project? My mouth waters at the thought. Maybe we will see the first nukes used in Vietman‘s current war with Champa?
On the topic of war, this current conflict with the Champs in Purple can only be good for Vietnam, as losses of older, obsolete units makes room for modernization. Vietnam has a core solid enough to keep that unit count high.
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It takes just one glance at the lower right portion of the screen to see who has the upper hand in this fight. Even if Gajah manages to flip some of his old cities back, he won‘t hold them for long.
The red of the desert is about to sweep hungrily up over the blue of the islands. It looks like Indonesia‘s only bid to relevancy will be through giving Jandamarra‘s troops a bit of training.
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Corinth has been brought to zero health by persistent Swedish bombing runs out of Warsaw. Maybe Casimir is there leading the charge, glad to help in the fight against his old Spartan enemies?
There is a Swedish rifleman in capturing range, but the Lion of the North needs to move his northern rifle corps down into position and break through the Spartan blockade if he hopes to hold it. The mountainous terrain and many citadels will make resupply difficult -- meanwhile Leonidas has less difficulty in moving his southern units up to support.
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Of course, that‘s unless Leonidas gets distracted by the battle over the shattered remains of Rome. I think on balance Leonidas is stronger here, taking into account the Spartan cannon support versus the Portuguese naval access.
Speaking of which, take a look at the captured Corsair there. I wonder what the captain of that vessel thinks, being forced to sail under the colours of a sworn enemy? Maybe he was promised a boatload of fine Iberian booty.
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Argentina is looking decidedly thin these days! It is due to a horrible wasting sickness that civs sometimes get when their neighbours acquire aircraft. Eva Peron appears to be in grave danger, with three cities under threat of capture and only the Chilean land border uncontested.
I guess now at least the Argentinians can shoot in almost any direction and hit an enemy. I‘m still at a loss for what Eva could have possibly done to deserve so many declarations of war.
On the plus side, once Argentina is sliced up and portioned out, we will begin to see the rise of the South American superpowers, and the region will finally begin to have worldwide relevance. That‘s a plus for us viewing at home, not for the Argentinians.
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Secret Agent Ishtar tells us that there might soon be blood on the ice again around the Sea of Okhotsk.
The difficulty of crossing the sea to the Kamchatka Peninsula was one of the reasons the previous war was such a stalemate for both sides, with lots of unit losses and no solid gains. Now the Yakuts have severely strengthened their position in the Sea -- but access and manoeuvring remains an issue. If hostilities were to break out, we might see those stranded Australian corsairs unintentionally pull a Hawaii and prevent a lot of the action.
Control of the canal city of Igloolik will be the strategic hotspot for any wars to come in the area. Last time we saw it flip again and again and again.
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As predicted, the Hudson Bay area is nearly entirely under white walker control. The front line has reached the gates of Quebec City.
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Well, it looks like I have to eat my words here. The Bucc land force seems to have evaporated into rum-scented smoke, and Porto still stands above half health. Maybe Captain Morgan still has enough scattered manpower to secure the city, which only boasts a guard of two cannons.
The islander nations seem to like stickybeaking; both a Hawaiian crossbowman and an Indonesian scout are here as observers.
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Oh, how fickle we are, Ingolfur. With a rare shot of the Icelandic homelands we see the pseudo-viking overlord plotting against Pearson, even as Canadian vessels sail as friends through his waters.
If Canada continues to be weakened by the Inuit, then Iceland stands to make some North American gains by this betrayal -- but will the reputation cost be worth it?
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Oh man oh man computer oh geez. Here is a sentence loaded with the power of an atomic blast: 'Paul Kruger has completed the Manhattan Project'.
We can easily see why Kruger sits atop the power rankings here. Who knew that a bias towards expansion and infrastructure was a good strategy for domination games? /s
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And again, the point is driven home. Is this the first instance of paratroopers?
Anyway, here is the beginning of the long-range combat incursion era. Certainly none of Kruger‘s neighbours possess these capabilities. Will we see city captures accelerate on the African continent?
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The sun stops in the sky to watch the walls of Jericho crumble under the Arabic assault. The ARMYenians similarly make a push on Gaza. David sits in his holy city wondering what went wrong.
Israel has been a tough nut to crack, but you know how a nutcracker works: pressure applied from both sides. Here we see that principle in action.
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Another absurd troop maneuver on the cramped Roman peninsula. Without letting troops die to make room for a melee unit, Leonidas‘ best bet would be to try and get that one damaged privateer through (it‘s not going to happen).
But if that privateer captured the ex-Buccanneer Portuguese corsair, wouldn‘t that be something? A man can dream.
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Jakarta takes its first few points of damage as Jandamarra‘s navy slides up through the narrow Indonesian straits. The captured cities are firmly Kimberley now, and carriers have brought in air support.
It‘s kind of fascinating to watch, actually -- there‘s something almost poetic about a well-executed naval invasion.
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The Canadian forces rally and retake Regina. They may even stand a chance of briefly flipping Oyuhpe back too.
Ekeunick now shares a border with Sam Houston, so naturally decides to declare war. This WILL be interesting. Even though the Inuit are now technically fighting on two fronts, those fronts are joined as one, so only one army is needed.
Controlling the land bridges around the Great Lakes will be a decisive factor in who comes out on top. Things are going to get veeeery messy here.
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Meanwhile the Inuit are nibbling away at Canada from the north, too. St. Catharines falls, and no units are nearby to recapture. It looks like the city is also in control of a valuable uranium deposit (due north).
This opens up the possibilities of offensives against Ohsawa and Sherbrooke, though the bulk of the eastern Inuit navy still appears to be clustered near Quebec City.
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Jericho has fallen, and Gaza looks to fall as muskets and crossbows defend against rifles. A lone Armenian rifle troop makes a premature run against Jerusalem.
Who will get the holy city of Judaism? Taking all bets! Armenia to capture, but Arabia to get the snitch?
A Korean scout gathers data for the researchers back home.
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Kamehameha wants to throw his weight around and so declares on Houston. On the face of it, it is difficult to see how he intends to carry this out.
But then remember that the Inuit declared on Houston a couple of slides back, and also remember the large Inuit navy waiting around the north Pacific...
That 'We fought against a common enemy' relationship boost might be the saving grace that protects Hawaii from the roving eye in the north, at least for a little while.
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Slow gains are made in the Swedish march south towards Macedonia. A squadron of Hakkapelittas has extended as far as Cumae, but the city is not yet in danger.
It is hard to tell who has the upper hand here. The Swedes certainly have superior military might, but the terrain favours Leonidas. That sounds familiar, somehow. A tried and true strategy for the oft-outnumbered Spartans.
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The Vietnamese navy sweeps through the south-east Asian ocean. From Manila in the east to the capital Panduranga in the west, Champan cities are taking damage. The purple flotilla is looking much thinner than last time.
On a broader note, any Vietnamese captures in the Phillippines would simply serve to increase the shared border with Australia. Would it be enough to stretch territorial tensions to breaking point? I am intrigued by the possible Viet-Aus war.
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Eva snatches Machu back from the Incans, but in the same breath loses two cities to Pedro. Neeuquen looks like one good push will also topple it.
Note the suicide charge from the lone Argentinian rifleman, who inexplicably has managed to make it nearly all the way to Sao Paulo. A valiant gesture, but ultimately fruitless.
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Maria stubbornly clings to Porto as Pirates and Portuguese vessels duke it out in the Straits of Gibraltar.
In other news, Ahmad al-Mansur takes a look around him and decides that war IS the answer, rolling out a decree that his is now an Autocratic nation. Tangier is secure, and he sets his sights on Saguntum. Dare I say: the age of the elephant appears to be over?
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The Maori declare war on Texas! This is only a marginally more relevant declaration than the Hawaiian one -- the two nations share a single traversable border tile.
But then remember that the Maori are a Pacific nation also, so appeasing the Inuit also applies. Do not expect major outcomes from this war.
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The Indonesian capital falls, and things look to stay that way.
The question on everyone‘s lips now: will Jandamarra obliterate Gajah entirely, or will he peace out before the final blow? Indonesia might yet survive out of sheer irrelevancy.
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Israel is down to a single city -- but not for long, it seems. Is it a test from YHWH? Will the Jewish people be scattered to the nations of the earth? They would probably be welcome anywhere they go, since the majority of the region practices Judaism.
Still an open question on who takes the holy city. Arabia need it, because if Armenia take it, then I can see Armenia taking an upper hand in any future Arabian-Armenian conflicts.
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Chile pushes up against the Incan coastline with their UU, the Escuadra Nacional. Vitcos is probably going to flip back to Incan control, but that itself is just another roadblock delaying the Incan army from effectively reinforcing Tiwanaku.
The majority of the Incan land forces are attempting to retake Machu before the Brazilians do. Pachacuti should probably hurry up and move his navy down from Vilcas before Bernado has time to reinforce his position. That is, of course, if Bernado is *able* to reinforce his position. His forces are looking a lot less mighty at the moment.
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Ekeuhnick shows his tactical prowess as he goes on the offensive against both Canada and Texas. His forces push both southeast and southwest, bringing Yankton low with artillery fire (and possibly air support).
The Texan core looks tough, but it‘s GW infantry versus regular infantry, so who knows? If the Inuit can keep their momentum, we might see them develop into the uncontested dominant power of North America.
Also, this is not the last time that Regina has flipped, I guarantee it.
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Manila has been cut off by a Vietnamese naval wedge. A second wedge cuts down the coast off the Champan capital. We‘ve been seeing some very satisfying naval warfare this round, particularly in the Pacific theatre.
In other news, good ol‘ Em tells us that once Pedro‘s done with Eva, he plans to move right on over to Bernardo. If done quickly, he could do it while Chile is still occupied with the Incans. It would be the perfect time to establish a continent-spanning empire.
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What did I tell you?! The incredible Privateer Gambit worked! (I can‘t believe it. I guess defending the Roman coast ended up being too much effort for Maria)
It was a million-to-one chance. But I guess we know that million-to-once chances have a tendency to crop up like, nine times out of ten. It sure makes for good storytelling.
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Oh...oh my. It is said that, in the Caribbean, one can walk from island to island without ever getting their shoes wet -- across the decks of the largest pirate flotilla the world has ever seen.
I guess Henry Morgan considers Maria to be small fry, if he‘s keeping this much in reserve. He better not reserve too much for too long, though, because the age of sail is rapidly coming to an end. He could carve out a few more transatlantic colonies for himself with this before battleships and destroyers become the norm.
35
The Buccs finally have a chance at Porto, but the delay has allowed Maria to bolster her rifleman numbers in the area.
I‘m not going to make any calls on this one yet.
36
Regina (with its all-important uranium) flips back, now at 1 pop. Yankton gets taken to the far red. Ekeuhnick appears to be using AA guns as front line troops -- a bold strategy. Let‘s see if it pays off for him.
Meanwhile, Pearson is suffering from a severe lack of ground forces. The battlefront has now moved south of the permafrost line. What will become of these big, core Canadian cities?
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With the recapture of Vitcos, Incan territory is simply-connected again. Machu also comes back into the fold.
Cannonfire and arrows rain down on the Chilean naval forces from the defenders in Tiwanaku. The Chilean ships are now taking damage that Bernardo cannot ignore. But where are the rest of his forces? Surely this cannot be it?
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Porto falls! That‘s a big chunk of the Iberian peninsula, and another landlocked city for the seafaring Buccaneers to defend. Maria flees to Coimbra to organise the riflemen training there.
Loath as I am to say it, the pirates‘ lust for plunder might draw them into ground-battles and wars of attrition on distant continents that ultimately become detrimental to them. The Buccs need to learn more traditional warfare if they want to fight on these kind of fronts.
I guess you can take a seadog out of the salt, but you can‘t take the salt out of a seadog, as the old saying goes.
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As predicted, the Trung sisters have split the atom, and are now looking to split some heads. Is the clustering of naval units on the Vietnam-Australia border a sign of things to come? If Henry Parkes isn‘t careful, he may find himself in some serious trouble. That pointless war with Korea was a massive misdirection.
Meanwhile, Inuit subs float silently beneath the waves.
40
The Finns join the Atomic Club. It doesn‘t look like Kekkonen has any uranium in this part of his territory. I also see two tantalizing deposits just two tiles from his borders -- one in Sweden, one in Russia.
I kind of get the feeling that Kekkonen needs to step up his game here. His neighbours have both recently made large territorial gains, and his own territory is beginning to look less and less impressive.
Stalin is using a force mainly made up of workers. Just shoving a rifle into a farmer‘s hands doesn‘t make an infantry troop, Joe. If Kekkonen wanted, he could push down and stomp Stalin flat -- he certainly has the tech for it, if not the manpower.
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Things are looking pretty grim for Argentina. Pedro has taken Machu, and a wall of green presses in from all sides. Eva Peron stands out on the balcony of her Cordoban fortress and sees that the forest has come up to the walls.
Also, Bernardo takes another crack at the southern Incan cities. He has indeed brought a few more ships up. Will they be enough? I hope that he is having his spies keep an eye on Brazil, because he might be in for a nasty surprise otherwise.
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Pay attention to the fact that the Buccaneer army now includes *infantry*. I guess the pirates are indeed learning traditional warfare. They also seem to have pretty much secured Porto.
The open borders with Morocco -- and also apparently Carthage now -- has served them excellently, as the strong pirate ships have managed to beat the Portuguese back into the Med, opening the way for more conquests within.
Henry Morgan needs to take care, though, because defeating the Portuguese means acquiring their unenviable geographic position: a long thin country spread across land masses, difficult to defend.
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Yankton flips, and Charlottetown is in danger. Slowly but surely, Old Man Winter is tightening his grasp on Northern America. The defending nations really seem to be on the back foot here. Even their combined strength only slows the Inuit. I see that Pearson has a squad of rifleman down near Toronto that should be moved up to cover those artillery post haste. It‘s not much versus infantry, but it‘s something.
Interestingly, the Inuit and the Mexicans appear to be friendly. That Mexican gatling gun has been floating around the great lakes for a while now.
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The small but highly advanced Korean nation is the next to acquire nuclear technology, and are fortunate enough to have some uranium deposits.
I don‘t predict that Sejong will be the first to *use* a nuke, though. That honour will probably be Kruger‘s.
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Manila flips. The fighting is fierce off the coast of the former Filipino capital. Over to the west, the Trungs are really dropping the hammer on Panduranga -- finishing a job that should have been done thousands of years ago.
If they do finish the job, they will have sealanes all the way around to the Indian Ocean. That would make a Vietnamese war against Burma very interesting indeed.
46
Peace descends upon IRL Libya/Algeria/Tunisia. Moroccan gains Tangier.
We see that Mali plays follow the leader and goes Autocratic. However, the general tech level in these northern and central African nations is disturbingly low for the region.
Up north Porto is completely undefended, and the Buccaneer troops are clustered of the coast of Marrakech. What is going on?
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I take back what I said about the Vietnamese sealanes two slides ago -- I forgot that Indonesia‘s territory ruins that.
It‘s not going to be Indonesian territory for long. It looks like Jandamarra really is going in for the kill. Unless Gajah can peace out now, all three cities will be gone in the next couple of turns.
48
Oh dear. Poor Norway. Or 'Tonsberg', as the country is now called. They really can‘t say no if the Swedes want a couple of extra tiles, though, can they?
TPang‘s fun fact: In real life, Tønsberg‘s name comes from the terms 'fenced off area'and mountain'.
49
On the topic of Scandinavian conquests, it looks like the superior Swedish technology and numbers have prevailed in the battle for Corinth. Tegea seems to be next on the list. I have to say, it is looking harder and harder for Leonidas to fight back against this lion, swole as he is.
On the right: Tonsberg deigns to give the Persian people peace.
50
This is...interesting. As someone mentioned in the previous episode‘s comments, Australia appeared to have grabbed some Kimberley land near the end. Now we see it in the flesh: not one, but *three* generals were expended to grab Uluru (now called Ayers Rock, I suppose). Is it an Australian plot to demoralize the Kimberley populace by nabbing sacred Dreamtime landmarks? Is this a sign of hostilities to come?
It certainly looks that way. Check out that internal border: Australian troops are camped en masse in the red centre, while Jandamarra‘s lands are nearly empty of military presence.
We have to weigh this against the superior defence of the Kimberley cities (red fort op pls nerf) AND the fact that the two have open borders. Henry Parkes, would the diplo hit be worth a surprise strike?
Of course, it may be that Australia has so many units that they just carpet the land anyway, and the two civs are really best buds.
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Israel doggedly clings to life. Arabia has brought the dreaded camel archer to bear upon the city of Jerusalem, but the city is as-yet unscathed.
To the right: Tonsberg teams up with Arabia against Tibet.
52
Texas and Canada flip their cities back (including St. Catharines up north). All of the cities in the combat zone are dangerously damaged.
The struggle continues, to great loss of life and much lamenting. This is probably the most hotly contested region of the world at the moment, and that‘s including central South America. These countries are now merely fighting over the blasted shells of once-thriving cities.
Meanwhile, those on the observer sub just rub their hands together and watch the action with glee.
How do you sleep at night?
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Let‘s take a look at that other hotly contested region I just mentioned. Another city capture by Brazil in the south, and two more cities brought extremely low.
At this point it seems safe to say that Argentina‘s demise is inevitable. At the very least, a peace deal would see Eva bending over backwards into irrelevancy in order to turn back the overwhelming Brazilian forces.
Now, though, we have a decent amount of shared border between Brazil and Chile to make an interesting war!
54
Canadian forces surge back up to the Hudson Bay. Inuit reinforcement from the homeland has slowed somewhat -- here is a chance for the maple leaf to make up some losses. Could the Inuit have bitten off more than they could chew with the declaration against Texas? I feel that If Ekeuhnik had just waited to consolidate his Canadian gains before going all out, he could have done much more serious damage to both civs.
Amidst the fighting, Pearson presides over a meeting of world leaders where it is suggested that the Australian aggressors be embargoed. And are there enough Jewish delegates to push Judaism through as the world religion?
55
Rome goes back to Maria, as Leonidas appears to have more pressing matters to attend to in the north. Porto again boasts a strong Buccaneer host, and the pirates may have secured the city.
It‘s business as usual in the frozen north, as the Inuit plot against Iceland in some kind of reverse Vinlandsaga.
56
A prophet stands before the gates of Jerusalem, raises his arms, and demands that the Arabians leave his city in peace. Remarkably, they accept, and back off into the deserts to the south. That just leaves the Armenians, who might not be so easily swayed.
I am amazed that David has managed to cling to life for so long now. He is not quite as tenacious as Mao, but he‘s pretty close.
57
Cartographers have given up on mapping the Great Lakes region -- as soon as they publish a map, the borders have changed.
Indeed, we should expect Yankton to flip a few more times yet. I‘m not sure who will end up with it. It looks like fresh Inuit troops are being brought in through blackfoot territory from the west.
Jolly Mexico, friend to everybody, has a unit in each of the belligerent nations‘ territories.
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...and then there were two...
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...one...
60
...but it looks like we‘re not yet able to the Indonesian demise. TPang, why? The anticipation is killing me.
Instead we see another very frustrating zero-health situation, this time for the Trung sisters. Their UU, the Viet Cong, cannot capture cities, so they‘ll have to punch their way through the Champan ships (I don‘t see any melee units nearby).
Well, they waited thousands of years for this moment. I guess they can wait a few years more.
61
Well now, this is a slide with a bit going on. To the east we can see the true extent of the damage done to the Spartans by the Swedish invasion, where it seems that Tegea will soon fall. Rome sits at zero health again, and maybe Leonidas will go for the capture.
France sits centre stage. Take the time to enjoy this rare shot of Napoleon‘s domain. At the moment it is Vietnam that is attracting his anger, though it could be said that a military campaign closer to home would be a better move overall.
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The south Atlantic is the place to be! Take a break from all that fighting to join the big international party down here on the open sea. How many countries can you count?
63
As we saw a few slides back, Yankton is now back in Texan hands. Brazil denounces Sibir.
The Canadian forces push harder up into recently lost territory. Will they be able to make a comeback and turn the war around, while the bulk of the Inuit land forces in the area are distracted with Texas?
64
It always pays to check the aircraft roster. Especially in the case of the Boers, where we might very well be seeing the first atomic bomb. Instead we see that Kruger is upgrading his air force as his units lose that 'Great War' prefix. It‘s shots like this that really show why Paul Kruger sits as high in the power rankings as he does.
Gajah lets the world know that their possible saviour Henry Parkes is not to be trusted.
65
Not to be outdone, Atilla show off HIS technological prowess, by advancing to a new era. See, anyone can do it with cities, but it takes real genius to do it without them. I wonder just how much research those Hunnic workers can be doing in a Carthaginian copper mine, though.
66
Flip, flop. Like a dying fish on the ice. But which of the three civs will end up being the fish in this scenario? Before, the Inuit were breezing through the North American cities with relative ease. Now, while still undeniably the aggressors in this war, they are finding themselves recapturing the same cities over and over again.
That line of infantry coming down from Michmash may be just what the white walkers need to keep their momentum in this fight.
67
That lone Indonesian scout sits in the last remaining Portuguese stronghold and watches.
I can‘t tell from the minimap if Jandamarra has captured that last Indonesian city yet, because the city dots for the two countries have similar colours. It‘s only been one turn since we saw Gajah‘s final one-tile-island at zero health, so at this stage it depends on turn order.
68
Tegea falls. Ohrid is already at zero health and ripe for the plucking. Gustavus Adolphus has had a pretty cruisy military campaign against Leonidas so far. Now, I feel that the Spartan defensive efforts are too little and too late -- very little can save Leonidas now. He should give up on Rome and focus on the north, but maybe trans-Aegean rivalries die hard.
69
Oh, that‘s a cute little Roman Ballist --WOAH NOW.
HOLD. EVERYTHING.
IT.
IS.
ON!
It‘s happening, folks! It‘s actually happening! Parkes has declared war on not one, but TWO of the biggest and strongest nations in the Pacific!
...holy shit...
70
Okay, let‘s take a look at the main continental battlefield. *deep breaths*
I think we can safely say that the two central Kimberley cities will go down quickly. The small(er) Australian army in the west might remove a lot of the enemy ground troops in the area, but I don‘t see them capturing a coastal city easily.
After that, who knows? Jandamarra has a strong navy, which might be able to hold and recapture the coastal cities even if Parkes manages to take some. Then it‘d be a matter of who runs out of muscle first.
Of course, we haven‘t seen the state of the Wobbegong Armada for a while, so there‘s that to think about, too.
71
Here in the north the borders are so intertwined it‘s hard to decide who is surrounding whom. Ordinarily I would say that Caloocan is pretty much done for, but it has a decent defense force, and Vietnam is still at war with Champa.
Up in the ex-Japanese islands, the close straits favour the defenders with their many densely-packed cities. The bottleneck at Vigan and Cebu funnels the Vietnamese, but also makes an Australian offensive from the north very difficult to execute, unless from the open ocean into Cebu -- but there is a small navy there for protection.
72
Here, again, the border mess is very complicated. We will see many small land skirmishes break out over the islands. Australia perhaps has stronger forces (let‘s not forget those numbers hovering above the cities, which are all pretty decent), but the Kimberley has much better supply lines to their core cities.
73
Oh my lord. That‘s quite a mass of troops you‘re floating there, Parkes.
Though, all of them are sail-powered. I may have missed it, but I‘m yet to see an Australian ironclad or carrier.
74
Not wanting to leave his conquest incomplete, Parkes has made sure to set aside a ship or two for every Kimberley city, even the far-flung Antarctic ones. I wonder if we‘ll see a capture down here.
The scale and reach of these two nations is impressive. This war rivals the Inuit-Canada-Texas one in regional importance, and may very well exceed it. Just as in the North American theatre, the winner of the Great Pacific War will quickly become the dominant regional power, the loser/s threatened with obscurity.
I feel privileged to be your wartime media correspondent as we dive into the fray.
75
First blood: Australia takes Manila. There are some benefits to having the first strike, for sure. We also see a portion of the north Pacific fleet take Cebu down to half health. Defenders include ironclads, privateers, and a great musician. Gotta have a bard in dat support role.
Don‘t look now, but there‘s also a Vietnamese privateer in striking distance of Panduranga. Very exciting!
76
That southern armada has moved up. It‘s sustained some overall damage, but it seems that in this instance Parkes has units to burn. Biyadanga, as predicted, is one of the first to go down as the Aussies swarm over it like blowflies on a dropped meat pie.
77
It looks like the air force out of Port Macquarie and Quezon have focused on Yungngora and Milijiddee. In a questionable move, Parkes has embarked nearly all of the units capable of actually capturing those cities. We shall have to wait and see what he has planned with them.
78
In the midst of the Big Boy wars, Jandamarra forgot that he was also at war with Indonesia. Noticing the oversight, he had Gajah put out of his misery.
My condolences to his family. I nothing else, I think Indonesia wins the prize for most sudden and most dramatic defeat. After doing nothing for a long time, they got into a war with a neighbour and folded like a pack of cards.
Actually, it‘s still the same turn (#401), so nobody forgot about anything. The declaration against Indonesia was made on turn 382. At only 19 turns, this is surely the fastest total annihilation so far.
I guess we can only question the wisdom of Parkes, challenging Jandamarrah to a showdown only *after* the latter has acquired an entire new island chain for his empire. The Kimberley troop losses were minimal, so there is probably a net strategic loss for Australia here. I don‘t think the happiness hit from the captured cities will have changed anything, either.
Anyway, Jandamarrah is more concerned about Geelong. The city will probably flip for a while, judging by the forces around it.
79
Jandamarrah‘s red desert army has a strong presence amongst the IRL Indonesian islands, where dense cities have good air support. On the other hand, further south is a mishmash of Aussie troops on the continental mainland, surely just waiting for the order to embark across the Timor Sea.
80
Australia charged with war crimes: wounded Kimberley civilians flee into deep ocean, claiming to be under pursuit by Australian forces. Parkes denies all knowledge of events. Jandamarra furious, demands Australia removed from Council of Ottawa.
81
A Boer scout and a Kiwi cannon look on silently as the Australian home force charges up through the burning sand to Kalumburu. I guess both of those civs have a vested interest in the outcome of this war.
Deciding that enough is enough, Atilla decides to warn the world, denouncing Mali and Korea.
82
We take a little breather from the Great Pacific War to look at a couple of nice familiar little one-front wars in south America.
Chile just keeps on chipping away at the Incans off beside the Andes there, and Brazil keeps chipping (with a MUCH larger chisel) at Argentina. I think it will only be a few more turns before we shed a tear at Eva‘s funeral.
83
And there we are! Panduranga is now finally part of the ever-growing Trung Family. In the ruins of Panduranga, the Trung Sisters search in vain for Che Bong Nga with the hopes of dressing him up like a new sister and lock him in a cage. Mostly so that Mao Xedong has some company anyway.
I predict that Kauthara might fall, but no more Champan cities than that in this war -- I have a hunch that Vietnam will be much more concerned with the green and gold menace to the east from now on.
84
Diggers land on the shore at Cebu. Ironclads batter at the walls of Iloilo. This battlefield is set to become more and more complicated, and the fighting is sure to be fierce and dirty.
Burma peaces out with the Mughals, ending a battle that got zero air time this part. Evidently very little of note occurred.
85
Now we see that the ideology in the previous slide was: Arabia, Autocracy. We are also given a peek at the Nile delta region, where Carthaginian rifles are going up against Ayyubid muskets and crossbows, in an interesting parallel of the Armenia-Israel war.
In this case, though, Hannibal is having less success than Tiridates III enjoyed. If he can push just a little harder, we might see a city flip or two.
We can also se that the Spartans are sporting a rather nifty navy. It‘s a shame that the war with Sweden is entirely overland.
86
I‘m sure the eagle-eyed amongst you saw these a few slides ago, but here it is pointed out for all to see: Boer rocket artillery.
Kruger has a very up-to-date army. All Kruger has to do now is pick a target -- nearly anyone would do; he would not fail. The only mistake here would be to sit around and do nothing.
87
And here we have the religion slide. Once Catholicism has spread down to Chile and Buddhism across to New Zealand and the Pacific islands, there will be no major unconverted areas in the world. Judaism is, understandably, Israel‘s most potent legacy.
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That concludes Part 38 of the Civ Battle Royale! I‘ve been your host, /u/Kurouma. I hope you enjoyed this action-packed episode, which I think has been one of the most dramatic of all. We saw bitter three-way wars break out on three separate continents, each of which will determine the dominant regional power. One of these was the long-awaited Kimberley-Australia war, with a bit of Vietnamese fusion thrown into the mix.
As always, thanks to our omniscient omnipotent overseer TPangolin for running the whole thing, and thanks to the wonderful community over at /r/civbattleroyale for making this such an enjoyable creative experience!
Peace y‘all!