Part 56: Eye of the Taiga

1

Come one, come all! Welcome to Part 56 of the Official 60+ Civ Battle Royale, ran by /u/TPangolin! The title card for today’s episode was made by /u/Jru247, who also did other similar pieces of art after last part. I, /u/ThyReformer, everyone’s favorite Finnish reformer, shall be your narrator today. I do all kinds of stuff, and I’m all over the place. Lately I’ve been doing civilizationball. I’m personally VERY hyped for this part, and I hope you enjoy it. Criticism is always welcome.

2

This beautiful map made by /u/Malssistra shows us the world as it is after Part 55. Gaze your eyes upon it, for it’ll never be the same again.

3

The countless wars after last part are visible right here, in front of our very eyes, in an easy-to-read format. This graph was made by /u/mazerlaser.

4

The Power Rankings show the Boers still on the top of the game. There’s a bit of deviation there, though...we’ll see how the Boers do in this part. See the rest of the Power Rankings by our expert team of Power Rankers (not Power Rangers) here: http://imgur.com/a/ST0mw/layout/horizontal/#0

5

Alright, let’s get to it! Here we see the Australian Hawaii in all their splendour. The Blackfoot must be slightly restless, but in my opinion the biggest losers here are the Hawaiians themselves, being conquered twice in quick succession. While to Australia this is merely a base of further operations, the populace can’t be exactly happy. We also see that although some people in Honolulu believe in a god, the amount of those practisers isn’t increasing - the current followers must be a consequence of some Missionaries. An Australian fleet approaches a contingency of Chilean ships. The two fleets here may seem even (with the exception of the Australian Nuclear Submarine, which the Aussies have had since last part), but the simple truth is that the Wobbegong easily outnumbers whatever the Chileans have to throw at them. Chile better look on to a quick peace deal to avoid facing a fate similar to Sri Lanka.

6

An Australian fleet approaches a contingency of Chilean ships. The two fleets here may seem even (with the exception of the Australian Nuclear Submarine, which the Aussies have had since last part), but the simple truth is that the Wobbegong easily outnumbers whatever the Chileans have to throw at them. Chile better look on to a quick peace deal to avoid facing a fate similar to Sri Lanka.

7

Although the Backdoor fleet of Chile is currently holding it’s ground (sea?), the Aussie reinforcements aren’t too far. The Brazilian peacekeepers flowing into the ocean certainly won’t make it easier for Australia, on both land and sea, but at least there isn’t an excessive amount of Brazilians here. If Brazil joined against Chile, Chile would be truly screwed. The oddity in this slide is the Cannon being hitched by a Submarine. I guess it’s not as bad as the Giant Death Robot on a Caravel, but still.

08

Oh. OH. Kekkonen (of Finland) has positioned some NUKES in Finnish Arabia. As a Finnish supporter, and a Finn IRL, this warms my heart. Although the Finnish holdings in India might seem doomed, the Vietnamese troops in India are most certainly doomed. Karma’s a bitch, Trungs. Make us proud, Kekkonen. Oh, and Chile makes peace with Afghanistan. Neither of these civs are doing great at the moment.

09

Some Finnish and Buccaneer troops skirmish in the Alps, with the Vietnamese providing artillery support. A working relationship, one might say. What’s notable in this slide is the fact that Orleans, Neapolis and Lyon have already been annexed by Iceland. The speed at which the former French cities are being integrated into Iceland is mind-numbing.

10

Mongolian Modern Armor enters the front, as Yakutia and Finland make tentative advances into Mongolian territory. Despite having modern troops at the front, Mongolia also has Landships and Great War Infantry. I mean come on. Also of note is the lack of Mongolian melee units in this slide - mostly Artillery and Machine Guns, with the few Rocket Artilleries here and there.

11

Yep, nukes have flown here. It is quite apparent that it was Yakutia who did this, and after the declaration of war against Mongolia, too. Both Mongolian and Siberian units have suffered casualties under the searing fire of the atom. Judging by the damaged units in the upper-right corner, I’d say there’s been another nuking over there. Yakutia is really being nuke-happy here, and with the foreign troops booted out of Sibir, there’s nothing stopping the AI from using weapons of mass destruction til there’s nothing left.

12

This spot has been nuked as well, like I presumed in the previous slide. The fallout merely has yet to render in. The Chinese Knight to the north, however, is protecting quite a large radius of Siberian and Mongolian units, just by standing there. It feels kind of funny that a Medieval Knight is literally protecting hundreds of thousands of people from a burning death. This is as close to being god as you can get, Mao.

13

The Yakutian war machine marches on, with the Yakutian air-force relentlessly pounding down the Mongolian cities, with minimal air defense on Mongolians’ part. Here in the south the amount of Finnish troops is much smaller, meaning the gains made here will be the Yakutians’. Although I could imagine some sniping by those Finnish Paratruupers - More enclaves, the better.

14

Here we see Mongolians properly, and all we see is more ranged units and outdated units. And Cavalry. I mean, what the heck, Mongolia? Why weren’t you partitioned by Sibir and Yakutia earlier? You didn’t even kill China, and you’re the goddamn Mongols! Northwards, we see Finnish troops advancing on Almarkh. All we need is some air support from the Yakuts, and that city is ours, and the way for Siberian units into Yakutia blocked.

15

The Australian reinforcements have arrived, and the naval battle is taking a turn for the worse for the Chileans, as they begin to run out of ships - at least on this side of South America. And that doesn’t bode well for the Chilean coastal cities on this side of South America. Santiago De Chile, the capital of Chile, is already being blockaded by a fleet that should be capable of at least flipping it.

16

Gyantse has already fallen to Vietnam, as the Vietnamese soldiers continue their relentless assault against Finland. The horrors they find… Once again, quick annexation is at work, as the former Afghan cities have already been integrated into the Vietnamese empire.

17

Adding to the previous slide about Iceland, Troyes and York have also been already annexed. Gotta give it to Iceland. They conquered France efficiently, and will already begin to benefit from the land, as soon as they get the infrastructure up. Also, Napoleon lives on in the form of a Galleass. Meanwhile, the skirmishes between Vietnam, Buccs and Finland remain minimal, with only few casualties racking up.

18

And the proposal to repeal the embargo on Finland fails. Sometimes I get annoyed at the big part played by technically dead civs in the Congress meetings, but such is life. ...woah, that was a big Deja Vu. At /r/CBRModelWorldCongress, people used to intensely discuss whether dead civs should have votes in the Congress or not. Those were the days. Also, open borders between Sibir and Finland. Well, at least one-way open borders, which should mean no war between Sibir and Finland. As much as I fear that the Siberians would overcome Finland in such a situation, my interests towards a true World War are much greater.

19

And Yakutia was embargoed. I’m getting the feeling Finland and Yakutia are the bad guys here, but that shouldn’t mean we’ll lose. The war against Mongolia continues expectantly.

20

Intense amounts of Industrial Complexes built by Sibir, here in the frigid north. This will surely increase the production output Sibir can afford, and tells us why Inuit are having such high production numbers. ...wait, this Industrial Complex has been pillaged. There’s been another nuke here! The Chinese Knight was just a smidgen too far, and thousands upon thousands of people died. With great power comes great responsibility, Mao. But I guess with you it’s more like “With great power comes great insanity”.

21

Afghanistan makes more peace with people it barely knows, as Finland continues to fight a war it can’t win - at least not on this front. The Mongolian front is another thing. Kekkonen (of Finland) should try to peace out while he still has the Statue of Liberty (in Agra) in his possession - and if that doesn’t work, nuke the Vietnamese to smithereens once they enter Agra and Gaur.

22

Finland actually takes back Gyantse! The Finnish troops are clearly fighting till the last man. Reinforcements don’t seem to be coming. I wonder what the Finnish troops have in their minds as they sacrifice their lives for their country.

23

Gyantse falls right back to Vietnam, as a Vietnamese Paratrooper finds itself on Agra’s doorstep. We never expected to win the Vietnamese, but let us make them pay for every bit in blood!

24

Chile finishes the Manhattan project, as the Australian fleet nearby grows in size. The Chilean capital has yet to take a meaningful amount of damage, but that’s not the most important thing on this slide…. Yakutia and Sibir make peace! When predicting what would happen in this part, people hoped for more war, and certainly not for more PEACE. Sibir is now basically at peace, leaving Mongolia to die a brutal death. Just better for Finland and Yakutia.

25

And here we return to the former front between Yakutia and Sibir. No cities were exchanged in a peace deal, but nukes were most certainly exchanged before any peace was made. Parts of Northern Asia will shine forever, as the fallout on the mountains won’t be scrubbed.

26

And Tiflis is the first casualty to the Yakutian-Mongolian war! I would expect this city to flip quite a lot, but with the lack of melee units on Mongolia’s part, the flipping might be scarcer than expected. Also, I think Hsia was nuked. The poor bastards.

27

Agra falls to Vietnam, and Gyantse has no chance of rebounding. I had this coming, but it still hits me really hard. Losing the Statue of Liberty is going to be a tough hit. We’ll probably take Agra back, and hold Gaur for a couple of turns, but other than that, I fear for the worst. It was obvious to me, but I guess...I guess I lived in denial. Or something. It’s just a game bro.

28

Here we can obviously see that Yakutia has been extremely trigger-happy when it comes to nukes in this war. If the Yakuts have anymore nukes stored up, all of Mongolia will be lit up by the end of this.

29

Napoleon, going crazy with (the lack of) power, declares war on Chile. What an interesting move. At least it’s some kind of movement, while the Wobbegong Armada (Australia) basically just shuffles around. The Chilean fleet is nowhere to be seen (expect at the bottom of the ocean), what are you waiting for?

30

You did WHAT?! Finland and Yakutia make peace with Mongolia before the war even properly starts. I’m flustered. At least Finland received some cities in the peace deal, while Yakutia seems to have received none. Well, I guess they got Tiflis, at least. And spent a shit-ton of nukes. But all that matters is that there are more Finnish exclaves. In border gore we trust. Hmm. I think I’ll put that in my flair. Mexico finishes the Manhattan project as well, while something different happens! Finland and Morocco declare war on Sparta, and both can actually reach Sparta, if only through narrow routes.

31

Yeah. That happened. Mexico would do well to get rid of Texas, but maybe they’re afraid of the Inuit striking them down the moment they step out of line - I would be afraid, and unlike Mexico, I actually see the strange and scary Future World units in Inuit territory.

32

A distinct lack of ships on Finland’s part is apparent here, but the amount of tiles on which sea battles can happen isn’t exactly huge, and only so many ships can come through the canal city of Constantinople. I also just realized that this is my dream war. We’re finally fighting the annoying Spartans! We’ll put an end to their shitposting and endless leg days. I dream of the day when Finnish flags fly above Dvin, and /u/SirMallock is finally freed… Let’s kick some Spartan ass.

33

Here we see the Spartan-Moroccan front in all it’s glory. While the Spartans clearly have a numerical advantage, Morocco has the technological advantage in the form of Destroyers. And we shouldn’t forget the Great Lighthouse that is still under Moroccan possession.

34

Morocco is also plotting against Arabia. Other than that, there really isn’t much recent information here. What are our spies doing? Having another holiday somewhere?

35

Sparta charges at Morocco like a rabid dog. Sounds accurate. Carthage is already falling into red, and will probably flip some, as the numerical superiority of the Spartans overcomes the defenses Morocco mustered. It also becomes painfully obvious that the Spartans have enough Destroyers of their own.

36

I think the Wobbegong Armada inched. I’m not sure, but it seems to be even bigger than last time. What could they possibly be waiting for? Are they carrying over some nukes?

37

Agra has flipped for quite a while, all the way into 1 population, and Gaur is standing on it’s last legs. I can’t see it holding for very much longer anymore. This is a sad day to any Finnish supporter, but our new exclaves will make us feel better again. One F for Findia, and one ???? for new exclaves. We deserved them. Senshi‘s note: We‘re actually having a party in Vietnam right now. Kekkonen isn‘t invited >:D [s]Kaukonen was[/s]

38

The peace between Ethiopia and Afghanistan gives us an excellent opportunity to look at the nicely developed Boer army. What, you thought we were here to have a look at the Ethiopians? No way, José. Ethiopia still has Great War Infantry, and look: No planes. Well, at least in this slide.

39

That’s a nice exclave. I’m drooling right now. But what’s crueler is the Citadel placed by Yakutia as a final nail on Mongolia’s spine. This war truly broke the Mongolians, whether we wish to admit that or not. At least trade is continuing again in this war-torn region.

40

ARR-occupied West Africa still glows in the dark, as the Boers quickly begin to carpet former Mali. We also see proof of Mansa Musa’s continued existence - there’s a Privateer, a Machine Gun and an Artillery in Buccaneer waters, safe and sound. For now.

41

HOLY SHIT That’s way too many nukes. Just way too many. When I said “kick their ass” I didn’t mean “eradicate them off the face of Earth”. And the Spartan core is completely devoid of foreign units, too - if Kekkonen (of Finland) is anything like Darkhan (of Yakutia) with nukes, we might have no Sparta left after this.

42

Now there has been some movement! The absolutely massive Wobbegong Armada is now entering Chilean waters, and although there is a notable amount of Submarines (both nuclear and non-nuclear) among the Australian fleet, I have no doubt Chile is currently either preparing for a last stand around their capital, or cowering in fear. Or both, since there are tons of people living in Chile.

43

The numerical superiority of Spartans is certainly overwhelming. Despite this, Carthage has managed to heal, meaning the first Spartan charge might’ve been their strongest. Morocco will still have a hard time starting an offensive, but they’ve nevertheless done that already, primed to capture Panormus from Sparta. Important here is the fact that Morocco has open borders through Ethiopia, and Sparta doesn’t. This will play a part for as long as the war is waged on these battle lines.

44

Gaur is at zero health, ready to fall into the hands of the greedy Trung sisters. It’ll flip once, twice, but after that, it’s all over for Findia. Meanwhile, Persia and Afghanistan continue their mountain skirmishes - I can’t imagine either one getting anywhere in this war, but maybe they’re having fun? Why was Afghanistan on the receiving end of so many declarations of war anyways? Was it their weakness after the war against Vietnamese? Probably yes, but you can never be entirely sure.

45

The Australian invasion begins in the earnest, as Concepción falls to yellow, and Talca receives it’s first bit of damage. Godspeed, Chile.

46

Indeed, Panormus falls to Morocco, but will surely flip some more, and Carthage is ready to be taken by the Spartans. And to correct myself from earlier, there is actually a non-Spartan unit in the Spartan core - a French Rifleman is valiantly standing it’s ground for Free France. Not that there is much to fight here. He might be just vacationing.

47

Oh my. Ahmad al-Mansur (of Morocco) is currently building the Manhattan project. We could see nukes flying at Sparta from TWO directions. Watch out, Leonidas (of Sparta).

48

I’d say Braga is safe - even though Sparta has a relatively huge navy complemented by planes right nearby, this is the place where the Moroccan reinforcements enter the battle, from the Moroccan core. What’s funny is that Morocco is actually over-upgraded here - plenty of anti-tank guns, but Sparta has no tanks. Not even landships. The skirmishing between Finland and Buccs/Vietnam in Southern France is still just that: skirmishing.

49

Oh wow. The World Congress proposes the banning of Coral, and an embargo on Buccaneers. We get an excellent opportunity to look at the Buccaneer core, revealing us that the Buccs have plenty of Coral - meaning that both of these proposals are negative to the Buccs. Nice core, though. Props on that.

50

Sparta comes through, re-capturing Panormus, and taking Carthage, making sure it’ll flip plentily. If the Spartans keep Carthage, they’ll have four capitals - not bad, but expected in the flustercuck that is Europe.

51

Iceland has attained an Arsenal Ship, one of the units in Future Worlds. I’m pretty sure they didn’t have any of these babes last part, so good for them. Iceland looks great, and although a war with Sweden would be draining, they would still come out on top. What surprises me is the spotty annexation going on here. Two cities in the north are still puppeted, with Canterbury in the middle of the Icelandic Isles still being unannexed as well. And Paris, of course. I have no idea why. Maybe it’s the size of these cities?

52

Last part, The Inuit built their first Cybersubs - these things are absolute BEASTS. What’s seriously needed here is the mod that removes civilian unit traffic jams - with foreign units in the way, the Inuit haven’t been able to scrub the fallout, and they haven’t been able to use that Settler they’ve been saving up ever since that one city was nuked away.

53

We get a good look at Madagascar under the Boers. And Hovertanks. Damn, those things look cool. I can’t help but notice the lack of Cybersubs, though.

54

The Finnish Paratruuper corps are basically running over Adrianople. And since Sparta doesn’t have a carpet, the Paratruupers are free to land in their core, wreak havoc, and make room for more Paratruupers. Just nuke the Spartan core first, okay, Kekkonen (of Finland)? There’s plenty of room.

55

We see that Sparta has almost no planes on the Finnish front, but there’s something else here. Sparta is clearly profiling as the target for refugees around the globe, as there are French units, a Hunnic Worker, an Indonesian Scout, and a Timurid Galleass. Not sure what their intentions are.

56

The Australian attack on Chile continues to be a success, as two cities, Talca and Conceptión, enter the red. No cities have flipped yet, but expect some flipping to happen in the next few turns!

57

Morocco takes back Carthage and Panormus, but Sparta still has more ships, ensuring that the flipping continues, as long as Morocco can continue reinforcing the front. If the Buccaneers attacked Morocco right now, Morocco would be screwed, and the Buccs’ hold on Africa would strengthen even further.

58

Finland is still in the process of surrounding Adrianople, while the Armenians have more Civilian units than Military units. How are you still even breathing?

59

Chile is actually planning on distributing military resources away from the defense of the homeland. You can’t even reach Texas, Bernardo (of Chile)! What is going through your mind? Have you gone daft?

60

Sparta takes Panormus and Carthage right back from the Moroccans. These cities have flipped to non-existent amounts of population very quickly. Sparta retains its numerical superiority, but they can’t keep this going for very long - being attacked on two sides is very draining, even if the lanes of attack are narrow. Sparta is in danger of losing big time here.

61

Adrianople falls! This is so exciting! It’ll probably flip twice or thrice, but look: a Paratruuper is already knocking at Constantinople’s doors. Let’s go all the way, boys!

62

Damn, that’s one hell of a carpet. A carpet of mostly Diggers. We must remember though, that the Digger upgrades directly into Mechanized infantry, jumping normal Infantry. Tony Abbott looks on, filled with pride over his nation, nay, his EMPIRE. For the first time in the history of the Civ Battle Royale, I’m not annoyed at Australia doing good. Senshi‘s note: As an Australian citizen, I feel it‘s my right - nay, my DUTY, to make a joke about Tony Abbott. Not that I need to, he‘s a joke in himself.

63

Talca falls! The Wobbegong doesn’t rest, on the contrary, it’ll be the Chileans that’ll be resting after this. Conceptión is about to fall as well, and Santiago de Chile seems to be taking damage.

64

Remember that huge fleet of Australian generals that sailed for Hawaii once upon a time? Well, here they are again, in all their glory, if only a bit thinner, near the airbase of Tulum. Tulum was probably a nice place, until the Australians came and occupied it, changing its purpose into purely militaristic. Poor pirates.

65

Indeed, Santiago de Chile has taken some damage. It does not look good for Chile, but the amount of Brazilian peacekeepers flowing into the sea is growing by the day. It is also told to us that Chile has re-captured Talca. Chile ALSO has 15 planes in this slide, although some of those could be nukes. Or Guided Missiles. They have Guided Missiles, and misguided men.

66

Another good look at the Australian carpet. It’s fear-inducing. It’s paralyzing. /u/senshidenshi told me Australians don’t have floors, some I’m not sure where they’re holding these massive carpets. Maybe there’s enough room in the Outback. Senshi‘s note: Slander! Libel! Although I did say it.

67

Chile has indeed re-captured Talca, and the Australian fleet has scattered, but so have the Brazilian peacekeeping troops. No matter what, Chile is going to be on the losing end here. But how much they lose, that’s what matters at this point. The excessive amounts of Aussie Submarines are still going to slow down the conquest of Chile, though.

68

Morocco, are you telling me you didn’t retake Carthage this turn? Goddammit, Spartans are going to have four capitals for a moment, since this is the last slide before the Info Addict slides. The Spartan supporters will be….well, Spartan. Both sides have already lost considerable amounts of units, and this might attract the attention of some other nearby civs, such as Sweden...or Buccs.

69

And so, we enter the Info Addict slides. The only real loser here is Chile, as Finland only loses about 2 million population. I’m saying ‘only’, but on the inside, I’m bleeding. The only ones to really gain population are Australia and Boers. Boers are certainly catching up to Australia in this category.

70

Land area! The only noticeable change here is Chile taking the eleventh spot from Finland, but that should change next part, as Australia hopefully begins to properly attack Chile.

71

And the ones with the least land area. I have no way to compare this to last part, so I’ll just say this: Sparta is going down. Literally and figuratively.

72

In the military manpower compartment, Finland loses more than 200 thousand troops. And yet, Finland keeps it’s position as the fourth biggest military, because the Inuit aren’t exactly militarizing, gaining 17 thousand men. What are they doing with all their production? Meanwhile, Australia takes the number 2 spot from Vietnam, barely having a bigger military. Boers only grow slightly.

73

Alright, what? Australia has suddenly grown their science output by almost 3000! Where did they pull all that science out of?!

74

People gain mostly one or two techs across the board. I wonder how quickly Australia’s new science will affect their tech count, and if they will have a momentary tech advantage over Vietnam at some point?

75

Islam has one less follower, again. The other religions fluctuate naturally.

76

And finally, the religion map! In my opinion, this is one of the best things to ever exist. It’s sometimes hard to understand how all the religions are doing from mere numbers, but when put on a map, it’s clearer than day. That was it, boys and girls! I’ve been /u/ThyReformer, and you’ve been awesome! I sincerely hope you enjoyed today’s part, because I certainly enjoyed narrating it. Have a good one!

Part 56: Eye of the Taiga – mk2

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

08

09

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

32

33

34

35

36

37

38

39

40

41

42

43

44

45

46

47

48

49

50

51

52

53

54

55

56

57

58

59

60

61

62

63

64

65

66

67

68

69

70

71

72

73

74

75

76