Part 80: There One Moment, Gone the Next

1

Come on, come all to the international blood bath that is Civilization Battle Royale MkIII! I, /u/LunarNeedle, have previously narrated only one AI game before this and have now been tasked to put to words the most influential battle of the ages. As some of you might or might not know, our lovely overseer /u/TPangolin has shown us a declaration of war teaser dropped on the subreddit that indicates that our two continental powers have finally dropped the gauntlet and prepared to fight. But alas, this is a world of war and chaos so we know that there is more death, despair and way too much hovertanks.

2

As you can see from this beautiful constructed map by our lovely cartographer /u/Spherical_Melon not much has changed in the world since the pen last touched this map one part ago. Lisbon went the way to the Buccaneers meanwhile the Vietnam/Sibir war grinds on with only the Sibirian cities of Lashkar Gar and Gyumri going way to Vietnam. Time will tell until this map pulls a Maori and suddenly explodes with action, excitement and millions of people dead! For now it‘s quiet. Too quiet...

3

Speaking of the Spherical_Melon, he‘s also produced a beautiful Boer focused map for all of us that love to witness the true might of the Boer empire in all it‘s glory with irrelevant nations grayed out. Ah, isn‘t it good that it‘s so relaxing. Well, let‘s hope it isn‘t staying that way either! Start the wars!

4

As you can see in the bottom right, Henry Parkes was the first person to drop the gauntlet to declare war on the unquestionable Power Ranking leader and professional cyborg that is Paul Kruger. Literally. It‘s unquestionable considering the solid first place position that was shared by all of our professional analysts. It‘s easy to see why considering the successful repulsion of the OCP over the past dozen parts has led them to controlling most if not all of the African continent as well as Arabia with room to grow. It‘ll take a mountain to move them, but could to collective weight of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch take a dent in Kruger‘s unflinching robot shell?

5

Back from where we left off, we can see the refugee camp constructed in the bombed out Finnish ruins of Batticaloa, desperately trying to build a camp out of recycled Ethiopian equipment, unaware of the chaotic world outside of them with an Artillery poised directly in the towards their once bitter enemies of Sri Lankashould. It seems that they were all moved to this enclave due to Open Border agreement not receiving reinstatement. Should the Finnish agreement expire, we might be seeing the Afghan military be forcibly put in far more dangerous lands…

6

The irradiated rum laden lands of the Buccaneer capital has changed dramatically since we‘ve seen it. Before, we saw five lands outside of the city center being actively worked on but now due to cleansing we can only see three tiles being actively worked on. These bountiful coastal tiles have been able to provide a lot for the Buccaneers in the past but with significantly less men to man the lands, we‘ve seen a 15 production decrease which slows down the recruitment of the naval forces required to defend the pirate lands from Australia. The growth rate has increased in this time however, meaning should the Australian armada become distracted, it might give some time for Buccaneer‘s to reclaim the Nassau canal. Thankfully for him…

7

...Henry Parkes (Australia) desires to anger the African artifice himself in a risky but opportunistic declaration of war on Paul Kruger of the Boer‘s! This is big news for the anti-Boer coalition as right now is the biggest power play that can stop the Boer reconstruction of North Africa. That might seem odd to hear be said about someone voted to be the strongest empire by every Power Ranker, but since the Boer‘s have been using their limited units to deal with Finland and the continual naval assault by the Buccaneers, his production has been split vastly between conquests and defense leaving his cities relatively bare of units. In comparison, the Australian army has been recently modernized and still appears competently carpeted. Should Australia aim to take a dent in the Boer‘s impenetrable skull, he might be able to slow the mechanized monster that is Paul Kruger.

08

Meanwhile we can see the thin line of Buccaneer defensive units consisting of Cybersubs, arsenal ships and a trusty settler aim to delay and halt the potential Australian advance into the gulf of Mexico. The strong move from Australia to attack the weakened city of Leogane with an Advanced Destroyer when there appears to be no melee units nearby means the city might be Leo-gone from Buccaneer hands for a few turns.

09

In a surprising show of competence, Australia aims to use the coast just south of the former Mayan city of Tikal as a floating airport which means that they will be able to bomb Palenque and Tikal consistently as units flood in fromt Uxmal. The sheer variety of unique units seen in this slide showcases the true diversity that the Australian army possess over other major empires. If this remains consistent going further into the game, we might be seeing Australian landfall in Africa sooner than you might think! Just don‘t count your lucky stars on it, as this is the same country that has failed to successfully conquer Mexico since part 64!

10

Speaking of the irradiated devil, it appears that the Blackfoot‘s attempt to take the Mexican capital of Ciudad Juarez isn‘t going to be possible due to ugly orange smog that appears to be damaging units as they try to take the city. The Inuit also appear to be showing strong interest in the weakened Mexican core as they gallivant their XCOMs around while building a wall of Future World units that seems to be solidifying around the border as well. Could this be indicating an oncoming Inuit invasion? It‘s either that or their units are merely passing through the area. It usually is the case with Inuit nowadays, isn‘t it? Oh well, we can wish…

11

It appears the Paratrooper carpet has left the Blackfoot core and has come down in terror to the Mexican people with a surprisingly varied army! I didn‘t say it was particularly strong, but it‘s definitely possessing enough melee units to make sure that Wahpekute and Veracruz are in Blackfoot hands. The complete lack of any melee units aside from a single Marine means that Blackfoot will need to fumble this invasion for it to not result in Blackfoot having two former Mexican cities. That is, until the Inuit come knocking…

12

While the core of the Blackfoot appears to be vacant, it appears that they are also appear of they are getting the hint from Inuit, who are using their top tier production levels to turn out a surprisingly large amount of land units that are slowly filling up the area. It appears that my prediction of a potential invasion was due to them amassing their troops by the Blackfoot border, it might just be a natural accumulation of units overall. This is good news for Inuit supporters after the war with the Buccaneer‘s only left them with Cincinnati under Inuit‘s icy control. Should we see continual expansion of their military strength, they might finally have the grit needed to fight their neighbor. Maybe. Possibly. Hopefully?

13

Our omnipotent overseer casually flicks his hand to the right, sending the entire camera view across the Pacific to view the hallowed out Yakutian city of Beryozovo. It appears though that the sheer desire for this city has caused Korea and Mongolia to combine their armies down the choke point. With Korean hover-tanks completely surrounding the city, it might take far more time than necessary to conquer. The remaining Yakutian Great Admiral looks on at the tactics being displayed by Korea and Mongolia and simply laughs, lifting his sake glass, taking a long sip from it before tossing it harshly at the deck of his civilian ship. In celebration of freedom from his sleeping overlords or respite before death, we aren‘t certain.

14

With a quick snap to the Boer battle for the Mediterranean, we finally begin to see why hovertanks lack of ability to capture cities will be the Boer‘s biggest Achilles heel. We can also witness the relative bareness in the Boer core, but we can begin to see new units that aren‘t hovertanks begin to be recruited. Should Australia take too long, the defense of the Madagascar coastline will be increasingly hard with each and every turn. The majority of North Africa in this shot appears to be fairing far better than before, with moderately large cities beginning to sprout wings, safely defended in their core. Tick tock Henry, tick tock…

15

Despite Australia declaring war on Boer‘s, it appears that the Boer‘s have already begun sending more than seven nuclear warheads directly towards the Australian core with a trusty Boer caravel and a destroyer blockading to the best of it‘s abilities from the Australian navy just south of it. If the carrier armada to the west is an indication of future naval strength, than Australia might be looking to make gains in this war, but the immediate nuclear response of the Boer‘s showcases the willingness of the Boer‘s to make them fight for every single inch in this war. The outcome might be indeterminate, but the outcome will be more blood!

16

Former Finland cities of Lisbon and Cienfuegos goes to the way of Henry Morgan (Buccaneers) while the Boer‘s secure Braga and continue to litter the battlefield with more and more hovertanks. Meanwhile in Cumana, the last aerial resistance of Drone Fighters means that every single city in Iberia aside should fear the drones overhead that consistently whittle down the city defenses. This part of the world will be witnessing tons of potential city flips should the Boer‘s manage to actually send in units capable of taking cities instead of throwing more and more hovertanks at the problem.

17

As the Ashanti Pikemen navigate their way out of Boer territory for the first time in millenia, Semiramis unveils even more plots to capture the king himself (thought to be hiding amongst the men in a 'No I‘m Spartacus' sort of way).

18

In the war that no one thought was going to anywhere, it explodes in combat, with three cities rapidly flipping to Vietnam‘s side, claiming the former Afghan capital of Kabul alongside Nishapur, Carrolton and Herat. It‘s unlikely the latter two will remain Vietnamese as the amount of Bio-drones and the highlighted Mobile SAM will assure that the cities are only momentarily donning green borders. In the image, it also appears as the amount of ranged units is decreasing, but with all the space near devoid of units, which unit will Vietnam opt to produce as warfare becomes increasingly difficult against the well fortified Sibirian front?

19

In Urgench, the front tightens as more and more units try to force their way into the small gap that separates Urgench from Sibir. With the tactical positioning of one of those Great General‘s citadels, this land can easily become more and more easily defensible with the natural damage aura and defensive modifiers that are associated with the improvement can make progression towards Urgench almost impossible. Bamba is the exact opposite of Urgench however, with many ways to attack the city is in constant threat of falling and losing the 10 aircraft stationed within its walls.

20

Two empires with vastly difference color schemes meet in the British Isles with identical priorities on construction, all containing little to no actual land units with primary of the focus on a diverse and effective navy. In a theoretical match up, I view Ingolfur‘s (Iceland) position far more favorably than Gustavus (Sweden) due to sheer unit count in both land and sea with. Either way you slice it, a war between these two empires would be dangerous for both parties as more opportunistic neighbors grow more and more in size. In either case, the sheer naval effectiveness of these empires makes water locked Siberian worker shake in his boat, wishing for a way home.

21

If all the stress of potential wars breaking out across the cylinder is too much for you, why not take a gentle trip to Tibetan capital of Lhasa, the beautiful mountains and the aging technology can take you back into a simpler calmer time. You may offer to worship the religion the city was the first to found of Akatt-u, or you may find yourself practicing the minority religion of Buddhism. Either way, Lhasa is the land of peace and happiness in a world ravaged by the fangs of war. Fun fact, every Tibetan tile has a Civilian on it.

22

In a land lacking the true serenity of Lhasa, but gaining in a sense of protection that only the Boer‘s get to experience on a day to day basis. With no major powers breathing down the Brazilians necks and with the entirety of South America to them and Australia, they can sit and rebuild, awaiting an even more chaotic tomorrow. In Brazilian land, you can see a fair smattering of every type of unit as well, showcasing the superior unit selection of the Australians isn‘t an isolated case, but the severe lack of naval units will become an issue should the Boer‘s or Australia point their sights on them.

23

Actually, nevermind, take that back about the superior unit selection as the lovely Brazillian coastline as contracted the Carrier bug from the Buccaneers from their latest incursion. Should this bug be contagious to Henry Parkes (Australia) will have more difficulty in the battle with Paul Kruger (Boers) than I originally predicted. Come on Brazil, you‘re better than this!

24

The relaxed building policies in Brazil might be due to a semi-centennial vacation in the least desirable locations in the world, with a sizeable chunk of Brazillian peacekeepers occupying the city of Tomtor. Meanwhile, it seems that the Mongolian army has progressed significantly away from the Helicopter Gunship days of old and into the days of Modern Armors. Sure, it‘s no Giant Death Robot, but it‘s still something!

25

Ah, the bare Siberian core, filled with nothing but workers and an occasional unit. I‘d imagine if you made a map based entirely off of the current real life situations, America would be full of nothing but workers, working desperately hard while their army fights far far away. I wonder if they live a nice calming life with the Knights of the Maound table. I wonder if they even know the war is going on? Side note: Finland‘s border gore is out of control! It‘s like someone took a can of white paint and just threw it at the world map and those tiles are result of the splatter as it contacts the surface. Cue audio-narrator for this part making a 'that‘s what my bedroom wall looks like' joke.

26

Oh my lord! That‘s… a lot of units! It could be far far worse, but the current carpeting of Inuit is absolutely insane. They‘re really showing the Reddit wrong when they claimed they couldn‘t fight wars good but simply adding more gun. This amount of units will have no problem cutting through the blue stain on their continent in less than a part should they actually mobilize and attack. Oh wait, this is the Inuit I‘m talking about after all. Never mind then, carry on. [Slide 25] Now that we‘re back to the Buccaneer death part we‘re noticing that… actually, wait. The Buccaneer army, lead by none other than Admiral Settler has managed to route the advancement and has halted the advancement of Australia with a surprising amount of movement, making sure that Palenque is firmly remaining in Henry Morgan‘s drunken grip for at least a few turns longer. The movement of Morgan‘s limited resources has always been so fluid and clean and showcases the potential for domination every Civilization in this map has. This match-up remains on knife‘s edge where anything could happen. Could the introduction of the Chimera‘s with their improved speed help capture the weakened former Mayan cities?

27

Now that we‘re back to the Buccaneer death part we‘re noticing that… actually, wait. The Buccaneer army, lead by none other than Admiral Settler has managed to route the advancement and has halted the advancement of Australia with a surprising amount of movement, making sure that Palenque is firmly remaining in Henry Morgan‘s drunken grip for at least a few turns longer. The movement of Morgan‘s limited resources has always been so fluid and clean and showcases the potential for domination every Civilization in this map has. This match-up remains on knife‘s edge where anything could happen. Could the introduction of the Chimera‘s with their improved speed help capture the weakened former Mayan cities?

28

In a surprising error on behalf of Paul Kruger (Boers), it appears that he‘s set course directly for Looma without his escorts next to him. Considering the vastly powerful air-force that‘s stationed on all the carriers and the strength of the submarine‘s in tow, I doubt we‘ll be seeing any of these missles make landfall. This realization brought a collection ‘Aww‘ throughout the entire Babylonian sub who wishes to see the Australian cities glow gold once more. Calm down guys, the war has just begun!

29

With a flip of espionage operations this time around, we have Em, Ishtar, Peshgaldara and Semiramis on route to some of the lowest ranked capitals around aiming to get dirt on what the lowest civilizations that have managed to stay alive believe and what their intent‘s are. We expect the greatest from you, our loyal servants. Fetch us our celebrity news headlines! In other words, the background showcases a bit of the core of Australia possessing a strong amount of hovertanks, the bane of city captures around the cylinder. We here in the Babylonian sub hope this production focus isn‘t a worrying trend for Australia in the future.

30

In an amazing show of tactics, the Boer‘s have somehow managed to use the hovertanks as they were intended and actually capture cities! Goa and Porto, former Finnish cities soon find themselves in the ever capable robot hands of the cybernetic Boer leader: Paul Kruger. With the arrival of more units on the front, there might be an Orange Iberia soon on the horizon unless our lovable Kekkonen (Finland) can really take advantage of his Power Infantry located in Funchal just to east.

31

In a classic case of political hot air, a nation whom shares no borders plots against a weak empire. In all hilarity, it‘s amazing how easy nations whom probably have never traded can get agitated and threaten to declare war on another empire. It‘s almost as if Ingolfur Armarson (Iceland) is jealous that Hawaii gets a lovely position in the Order of the Rump comic and he doesn‘t. Ah, modern day politics… In other news, the garbage patch appears to have left town, leaving only their carriers. It was rumored at one point the lackluster war between Mexico and Australia was entirely due to the garbage patch halting movement, but it appears the patch of units have drastically been reduced, which should both be a troubling indicator of Australia‘s long range naval performance and an indicator of future Pacific war performance. We here at the cylinder wait and see how Henry Parkes can project himself across the Indian and Pacific ocean. We wait Henry. We wait.

32

We see how Ishtar has assimilated himself into the nuclear winter wasteland this time around, surrounded by all sides by nuclear wasteland. The amount of devastation up here is so intense, you might have not noticed the declaration of war in the side of the screen, but don‘t worry because…

33

Iceland is finally doing a thing! After the OCP‘s failure with Iceland claiming majority of the coastal capitals for himself, effectively resulting in Iceland being one of the first people to have won a war with the Boer‘s, we‘ve been waiting to his next conquest. His eyes, like Brazil, have shifted to the color of orange as he seeks out the blood of his former companion. His empire was previously highlighted as possessing a good mix of naval units and a medium assortment of melee units meaning that majority of his wars will be won over water. Thankfully to Ingolfur (Iceland), the Buccaneer possess almost all of his land on water, meaning that a skilled invasion using the bonus movement from the Great Lighthouse could result in all of the cross Atlantic Buccaneer holding will be switching to a slightly lighter in the coming parts. This is the moment that many Iceland fans (myself secretly included) have been waiting for. Tonight we drink!

34

And it begins, with nuclear missiles targeting the carrier laden land of Portobello, it‘ll take a masterful use of what limited resources to avoid an eventual capture. Just north we can see some Advanced Destroyers aiming to take and claim what is rightfully theirs. The blood will be in the water tonight. I‘m almost positively certain. I think I am at least. Right?

35

The unique thing about Icelands position is that they have rightful claim to all the same land the Buccaneers have. The majority naval focus of their military leads to counteract exactly what the beaten and bloody landlubbin‘ pirates stand for. A success here with all the Advanced destroyers could spell trouble for the potential unification of Inuit America. Hurry up Inuit before they beat you to it! I dare you, I double ice-dog dare you

36

In the harsh wasteland that is the Icelandic north, a new unit comes from his slumber, with an ability to launch many tiles into land and cause havoc. This might not mean much for the coastal Buccaneers, but should the Inuit come knocking there way, this unit should be able to provide a hearty challenge to the wide open plains of North America.

37

In that short of a time, they managed to take and secure Wahpekute and close in on Veracruz, encuring that it‘ll be a long time coming before Mexico can claim the heart of America again. It seems that the days of a wide reaching Mexico are over and the tight confines of being stuck between Mexico and Inuit are over for the Blackfoot. Now to just clean all this ugly orange fog…

38

The war appears to be stagnating despite all the war declarations. More melee units keep on emerging from outside of the harbors of many Buccaneer cities, indicating that even while beaten by many neighbors and pushed to the very end, they will keep on fighting. There‘s always a little bit to love for the Buccaneers, even as they fought against the Boer‘s, Inuit, Australia and now Iceland within a mere dozen parts. The tenaciousness of this captain knows no bounds.

39

Knowing that he‘s actually managed to isolate the curse that‘s been afflicting him, Henry Morgan (Buccaneers) orders all of his falsely produced carriers to the ocean to act as body guards. Isolating his useless carriers away from his more useful Cybersubs and Arsenal ships that defend the Mexican shores. Sure, there might be a few workers and submarine‘s in the isolated patch of units, but it‘s the thought that counts.

40

And the concern is rising, with the sheer amount of hovertanks even stretching to bottom most shores, it‘s pretty evident that even advances in technology does not avoid the curse of producing many units that cannot effectively take cities. If his hope is defense with raw among of damage, then his army might be fit for the task, but remember he was the one aiming to take Boer cities, not defend from Boer attacking his coastline. If he aims to be competitive against the Boer‘s and actually harass the Madagascar cities, he needs to move and fast.

41

With the offense towards Bamda finally crashing in on it‘s city walls, our omnipotent overseer opts to highlight how Nishapur is in resistance for 3 turns, which upon being out of resistance can positively contribute to the war effort. If it hasn‘t build defensive buildings, securing those on these cities might allow it to be even more of a choke-point for the Sibir army to waste away to. If I can judge the relative emptiness of Siberian lands, it‘ll only take a few more turns of grinding away before Vietnam can unleash it‘s army entirely on the Siberian core. Sibir needs to produce as many units as possible, as fast as possible should it wish to withstand the meat-grinder that is combat against Vietnam.

42

Near the south front, it appears majority of the units stationed by Sibir appear to be holding their own, recapturing Herat and threatening Carrollton with many Future Worlds units, leaving the army of Drone AV‘s to defend against the melee menaces fruitlessly. It‘ll take a large investment of melee units such as the newly recruited Mechanized Infantry for any considerable gains into the Siberian holding to be made.

43

He keeps on doing it! I don‘t even know how he‘s managing to do this, but it seems likely that Tikal will fall to the combined efforts of the irradiated mutants smashing down the walls. With the front on that side wavering, it‘s actually beginning to threaten Port Au Prince and loosen Henry Parkes‘ (Australia) iron grip on Uxmal as their port city.

44

A Kimberly destroyers move through the recently acquired waters of their once arch-enemies on the Australian continent so long ago looking upon as Australia aims to secure their naval holdings with much resistance from Buccaneers. In this slide we can also see how Leogane didn‘t drop from the Buccaneers hands at the beginning of this part, further showcasing the difficulty it is for Australia to actually go farther than the coastal cities all alongside the Americas.

45

With a small spattering of units beginning to harass and annoying majority of Mexican cities, it can be seen that the long term strength of the once beautiful Mexican empire is beginning to dwindle. I‘m not saying to press your F keys yet, but with the absolute lack of any melee units aside from two valiant Marine‘s, it‘d unlikely to be a slow loss for Benito Juárez.

46

I swear, ever since my remarks about Looma, it seems to get closer and closer. In more interesting news, for some reason the Arsenal Ship has survived any potential onslaught, instead opting to hide in the safety of Kimberly cities. It‘s unclear what decision making resulted in the nuclear payload.

47

Should the focus be immediately shifted towards capturing Marrakech, the potential speed of the new ships leaving Icelandic harbors will be slower, but the complete and total lack of any melee units makes that quite a tough task. If this was Civilization VI, the Buccaneers might be in a far better place with all of these carriers filling the ocean since they have a weak melee attack that presumably could capture cities, but for now they‘re stuck with floating targets for the Icelandic navy to have fun with.

48

All the war and excitement going on, we‘ve practically neglected the war that brought the Iberian peninsula into question. The war between the Buccaneers and the Finnish was what allows the expansion of the Boer into the Iberian peninsula and allowed even more expansion into the world. Now that they‘ve pretty much said “My bad bro.” to each other, they go off on their own, promising to never speak of this mistake again. In other words, nothing much has changed in this part aside from slightly more Power Infantry scattered in the Swedish core, which‘ll amount to nothing at the rate that this empire is using them. Which is never. Because they‘re not at war. Ever.

49

Ah, the years of discussing the ban of useless luxuries that mean nothing to the AI and the repeal of a resolution that adds Culture, a relatively useless statistic to an empire. In other not sarcastic news, I‘m happy to see the amount of Giant Death Robot‘s walking alongside other melee units, confirming my belief that Vietnam was intending to fill their army with more melee units but lacked the actual space to produce them. The convenient meat grinder that is Sibir to their north provided just the opportunity to get rid of useless weight on their military and it shows. Keep it going Trung Sisters!

50

They can do it, showcasing as even the Sibir fronts seem to be stagnating all the while the Trung‘s go stronger as if they were in some Hyperbolic Time Chamber. It wouldn‘t take too long before they Spirit Bomb their way directly through their core with their impressive army of Giant Death Robot‘s currently defending Bamda. Fighting with Trungs only makes them stronger Sibir. Stop, before it‘s too late!

51

Raise your hand if you‘ve heard this before. The Buccaneers have been doing surprisingly well for lacking any major source of production and units, with Lisbon and Cienfuegos perfectly in Buccaneer control long enough that the latter isn‘t being puppeted, meaning it can participate in producing any melee units needed to control the viking hoard growing in anger to the north. That being said, Hastings is beginning to look pretty well defended with a fully decked airport beginning to prepare to launch hell onto the former Portuguese capital.

52

But don‘t count them out as just north of Portobello is the first wave of the Viking Armada whom aims to take whatever they can in order to further unite Europe with the rest of the world. In order to accomplish this goal, he aims on taking out the first person to do so, Henry Morgan of the Buccaneers, even if it requires dropping down to their level with a few nuclear friendship packages approaching Lisbon.

53

The battle of the Atlantic begins now, with an army of subs and carriers aplenty! Success here could secure naval route to the main Buccaneer holdings, something Australia has been attempting to do for awhile now to mixed results. Success here could also split what little resources Henry Morgan has left to accrue for himself. Let‘s see if his trademark tactics can win him the battle against an equally as technology advanced naval Civ.

54

I insult a leader for their incompetence and they show me what to as Australia finally makes some landfall, sending two melee units directly to the greatly weakened city. The presence of the tank and marine makes securing this city harder than other, but it could truly indicate the Mexican resistance fading more and more as the turns tick on.

55

Oh damn! In utter contempt for the struggles Tikal has to go through in order for it to be contained, it gets utterly destroyed off the map. The city was positioned in just a way that it couldn‘t be accosted from naval means. Thus, the two naval empires decided in a nuclear blaze of glory that it wasn‘t worth the risk and nuked it off the cylinder destroying what was probably aeons of priceless Mayan histor-… Oh wait, they were the 10th civilization eliminated as early as 110BC. Oh… Nevermind then!

56

Up in the Great White Nothing it appears that Shinto has caused miracles beyond miracles as a city surrounded in the nuclear mountains manages to somehow hit 20 population with barely any tiles of it‘s own to speak of, possessing an entirely clean Shinto following in it‘s cities that the Tibetan capital of Lhasa couldn‘t even accomplish. Quite a feat! What‘s more of a feet is the sheer strength of these arctic cities. Deity bonuses plus being the Inuit really help for production and food in the isolated north, that‘s for sure!

57

Meanwhile in the even more cold Canadian north, some cities easily manage to have 23 population all the while on snow tiles with nothing but mountains. It‘s quite amazing how universal that population value is, with almost all the cities in this picture in the 20 to 30 population range. The amount of units in this section of the world could really leave more to be desired, and no, I‘m not talking about more Arsenal ships Inuit. More land units in this part could really help assure that no predator can crack their cold icy barrier.

58

Now for the literal opposite as we visit one of the most violent places on the world that‘s arguably the most hot. The city of Bethlehem by the Boer/Vietnam border was quickly accosted by three XCOM‘s projecting their border gore ability far and wide, insuring the utter destruction of the defenses and that the city is theirs. However, they‘ve done this to the Boer‘s, a mechanical beast unmoving and unflinching, willing to do whatever it needs to and whatever it takes to sink and destroy any foe they encounter, surrounding the new city in bombers and hovertanks within moments. For now, it‘s a fleeting victory. For now, for now…

59

The unflinching robot has opted to showcase how his territory, once completely devoid of all but the most basic of hovertank platoons now is fully beginning is reconstruction of the grand armada, quickly filling places like Benoni with as many varied units as possible. Australia might not be running out of time to attack the Boer menace, as he‘s already run out of time. Reconstruction begins. All will be assimilated.

60

Nuke crashes down in Tobolsk, upsetting the local Great Scientist as a few tiles get pillaged and filled with fallout. The damage, considering the strength of the blast was relatively minor and due to the city not being on the coast, isn‘t slightly actionable. We in the Babylonian submarine hope that this is positive sign for the future and not a troubling example of nuclear armament waste.

61

The strategic view showcases the true damage of the nuclear strike, it actually lowering down the relative strength of the city down to the critical, meaning that one key Finnish XCOM could, theoretically with a war declaration snipe the city. Not like I‘d actually encourage more Finnish border core, heheh…

62

Yes, yes! More! More border gore! Ahem, ahem… I mean. The strength of the projection of power that Finnish has is strong enough to not only take one city from the Boer‘s, but possible two as even Mecca gets snipped by the boerder hungry Finnish people. While these cities might not last, I fear for the people whom have to be tasked with drawing the map for the Finnish border at it‘s peak due to the sheer amount of city flips nation wide.

63

While Portobello and Lisbon begin to become accosted from all sides, it becomes apparent that while these cities are relatively defenseless, they hold little value to the Buccaneers after an unceremonious exile from Iberia. Further war in this part of the world would split their resources further, leaving only Buccaneer carriers to be the last defense for the once vast European and African holdings that were under Henry Morgan‘s drunken eye. The sun might be setting on a cross-Atlantic empire in Henry‘s near future.

64

Oh hovertanks! You open the door to so many things when used by an actual player, but in this state used by Paul Kruger (Boers) you do nothing more than annoy Finland with constant annoying missiles that amount to nothing. It‘ll take melee naval reinforcement should Panormus, Arretium and Antium wish to get into the mechanized menace‘s cold dead robotic hands of the Boer army. In other words, Finland is trying really hard to snipe as many cities with XCOMs considering the small platoon of them near Bilbais and Alexandria. Keep on trying buddy, but aim for the burning cities next time.

65

The Giant Death Robots are knocking Kuchum Khan (Sibir)! Do you care to answer the door, because if not the Trung Sisters (Vietnam) will break it down with force. The southern resistance is futile to the consistent threat of Vietnam‘s advanced units, leaving Sibir with nothing to defend itself against the encroaching threat. I warned you about a prolonged war with Vietnam bro. I warned you! Doesn‘t mean that Vietnam won‘t waste opportunities while they have them, opting to instead drop a citadel across a small pond away from any action where not a single unit dares walking, making sure to find the least logical location. Should it get defended with a… nevermind, I don‘t think they care about the defensive improvement that a citadel gets and only views it for the little bits of land score they get upon stealing someone‘s land. I mean, doesn‘t anyone remember the great English citadel chain from Nottingham to London? The AI will do as the AI does I suppose.

66

Ah, that‘s good to see. Despite the mixed results that Vietnam has obtained from the war, they‘ve managed to secure their weakest point and have begin the potential push down south. While this war will not be swift as one would hope, it will be long and glorious that‘s for sure. If I was Kuchum Khan (Sibir) right now I would definitely be considering what offerings I would be giving to the Trung Sisters (Vietnam) so more and more of my land isn‘t gobbled by the rapidly growing Asian superpower.

67

Ah, the famous digger relaxing in his natural habitat. About to die because he‘s a digger. But the assault on Mexico isn‘t ending, and the last stand made by the one marine and an artillery is absolutely amazind. I don‘t know how it‘s possible, but they keep on holding onto the city despite literally all odd. Should Los Angeles hold, we could be seeing a new addition to the rump states by next part.

68

The Inuit owned Grand Mesa is just a show of how far the Inuit have progress as a people, making sure to nab all those natural wonders as they continue growing much like ice in the water, slowly, but efficiently. Meanwhile we can view the remainder of the once great Mexican empire brought to it‘s knees by the Blackfoot after so much conflict around A‘Aaninin. I am earnestly impressed at the progress the incredibly citadeled empire has grown with proper carpeting and enough time to tech up to take on more waring neighbors. While I don‘t think they‘ll hold a change to Inuit, this is without a doubt one of the best positions they‘ve been in for many a part.

69

Damn son! That surprising turn around has honestly impressed me, with Port-Au-Prince honestly in question now and the Nassau canal city honestly being brought into honest question with a nearby mechanized infantry beating down the doorsteps of the famous Buccaneer strategic city. This /r/civ canal wonder is what allowed the Buccaneers to easily accost the Inca early on in the game and easily granted them strategic advantage over any American warfront. Regaining this strategic canal might not give them as much advantage as it once did, it‘ll at least take that advantage away from the war weary Australian navy, whom offensive offerings are only limited to a few scattered damaged units. Securing the Nassau canal and a strategic peace treaty is definitely possible for the tactically minded Henry Morgan (Buccaneers).

70

For all the effort this part on behalf of the Blackfoot, we get this lovely image of a beautiful beach location with true love in the air as a pilot of the beautiful Vietnamese mechanized artillery spends a beautiful and romantic night in the restored warzone that is Olongapo. What a beautiful romantic adventure in-between the war and bloodshed.

71

Behold the famous Israelite inquistor! He visits the overmilitarized Sri lankan of Negomba enclave next to the barely defensible Finnish enclave of Batticaloa, a beauty of enclaves forged through war and turmoil. For a moment, he can breathe a sigh of relief, knowing that at least for now in this part of the world, there isn‘t likely to be a nuke dropped. Yet.

72

Yes! This is what we need, more border gore! More! More! Ah, sorry… I don‘t know what came over me. Here in this image, we notice a Finnish XCOM squad jumping a bit too far landing just outside the recently nuked North African city of Bilbais, just slightly too north to actually be able to catch it immediately this turn, meaning that he‘ll have to fight for his life to secure the one thing more valuable than a medal of honor to a Finnish man. More unnecessarily beautiful, I mean, more unnecessarily ugly border gore.

73

I used to be good at predicting, but damn. It appears that Austin might be falling and the rest might be falling to in quick succession. The Blackfoot have smelt blood, and left the bombed out ruins of Veracruz to strike a knife into the Mexican heart. This bold move also factors in the second wave of units approaching Veracruz that could allow potentially every city but Mexico City to fall into Blackfoot hands. Prime your F keys folks, this is going to be bloody!

74

Holy damn, I appear to have mistake the garbage patch awhile ago, as it simply has moved slightly to the north. This army of garbage units isn‘t as had as the first name has you believe, as the army itself seemingly has been modernized as it bounced around between unit and unit. That still showcases the general weakness of this army, as a good portion of the units have the Buccaneer bubonic plaque that is the empty carrier bug that seems to become an epidemic among major naval powers. In this shot along, we can easily pick out more planes then there are carriers. That being said, this garbage patch might be beginning to make landfalls if the northern line of units going toward Buccaneer territory is anything to be believed, but with the AI, we might find it stuck near Hanoi in the coming part. Who knows with how bad the AI is at managing large fleets with varying speeds like this. Who knows…

75

Ah, a lovely image of the empire no one expected to still be alive but has managed to somehow stay alive and begin to actually show his brother just to the west of him how to effectively carpet a unit. Truth being he still doesn‘t know what unit to carpet and what units are even good, completely lacking in any major Future World unit to compliment his army. It‘s still impressive, if only in numbers alone! Oh yeah, and he desire to sink the Knight of the Maound Table in his vast ocean of out of date units a plan only made futile by the complete lack of Mao anywhere near his land. Perhaps he‘s hallucinating and remembering a memory of a time where he actually helped bring down a major empire on military size alone. Keep dreaming Gengis, keep the dream alive!

76

I was beginning to grin from the border gore growth, but then I realized that this wasn‘t an offensive border goring, but a defensive one, as the Boer‘s managed to push them entirely out of Iberia, far away from the cities he used to own. That made me sad, so I changed my grin to a slight smirk. I doubt that this city capture, should it happen will last long as melee units are nearby and prepared to take the city for what it is. It also appears that Punchal was taken to the east, potentially signaling an end to the undefended Mediterranean one tile island cities. We‘ll have to wait for the camera to focus on those cities to assess the situation further.

77

The border gore growth anti-fun police decided to swoop in and eliminate each major unit from around the area, reducing the health of every single city in the nearby area to literally zero, but the sheer lack of any melee unit means that these cities might remain Finland for some while longer. Will they remain until the end of the part, I eagerly await the answer!

78

I felt that there wasn‘t likely to be any more city captures and I was definitely right in that assumption as the naval chain of cities appear relatively impenetrable to hovertanks that begin to surround the cities much like Kumasi was in the past. Should no melee units appear in the next few terns, some of these cities might be remaining Finnish for a long while due to the sheer nature of the AI. Time will tell, but the sheer overabundance of units that cannot capture cities within the Boer army prove troubling for any Boer fans that wish for them to be claiming the eight cities with no health remaining on the map.

79

Judging from how slowly the health bar is shrinking in comparison to the army size around these cities including a vintage scout near the top of the screen, that the Icelandic army seems to be focusing more on clearing all the units rather than accosting the cities, perhaps aiming to get as many promotions as possible before they potentially begin to accost the Buccaneer‘s North American holdings.

80

In the first positive note in awhile, Australia has blown back the offensive that the Buccaneer‘s provided them. The tactical nuking of Tikal has completely shattered the offense and has bought just enough time for the garbage patch to make landfall. Should it make landfall and Iceland finish off with the Iberian holdings, it won‘t take long in till Henry Morgan take his final shot during the sunset. He wouldn‘t have it any other way.

81

Henry Parkes (Australia) notices the nuclear arsenal ship and has decided to one up him by not only bringing on ship, but many. This amount of ships leaving and going towards Paul Kruger (Boer) lands is quite positive for anyone supporting Australia, as they garbage patch aiming for Mexico and Boer should roughly reach landfall at the same time. But let‘s not get ahead of ourselves, because they have to actually make it to landfall through the bombing and air raids on both ends to actually do that. Should he succeed and make landfall and claim at least one Boer city, it‘ll be the first time Paul Kruger‘s inner holdings have received any form of competition since the dawn of the Orange Containment Project a dozen or so parts ago. God speed, you magnificent Australian, god speed.

82

Impressed by the suicide move that Kekkonen (Finland) has performed on the Boer‘s much similar to his own suicide move against Iceland many parts ago, good ol‘ Napolean lifts his glass and offers a toast, wishing secretly that the Dvinese military would defend him in case of nuclear irradiation. The Dvinese Empire merely shrugs and awaits the destruction across the Nile.

83

The grinding occurs slowly, but surely as Lisbon shows signs of flipping meanwhile Marrakech tries to fight off the weaker but still far more annoying Marine‘s who begin to accost the former Moroccan capital. Sadly enough with the positioning of Icelandic units, Marrakech might actually fall before Lisbon, which is a troubling sign considering how easy pickings these coastal cities were for the Viking Armada.

84

In a tactical espionage action moment, an Icelandic worker works alongside Buccaneer brethren, hoping that he‘ll be able to blend in. Unfortunately for the unit, everyone can tell that he doesn‘t belong here. Irregardless of that, it‘s amazing that the first Icelandic unit pictured to make landfall in Buccaneer land after the war declaration appears to be a worker. Truly a hero.

85

Finally, we see actual contact of Australian units approaching orange shores with more than enough nuclear missles to awaken every Madagascar unit from their slumber. In front of them lies the most dangerous navy the world has crafted. Empty carriers. The Australians thankfully have brought just the weapon to deal with the flotilla menace!

86

Thankfully our favourite armada seems to be splitting apart and moving in various directions, hopefully towards orange shores to the east, but we may never know.

87

I was hoping I would be able to narrate an elimination, but it seems that the Blackfoot decided to stand about and rub their head instead of taking two key cities. The good part is that with the paratroopers all breathing down the neck of each and every city, it wouldn‘t take much more than a swift breeze for Mexico to be the next voted off of Surviv-… Civilization Battle Royale. And by votes I mean murdered. Badly.

88

Meanwhile, in paradise, there is an amazing lack of units. If Korea doesn‘t bulk up, Vietnam could point their guns towards the empire that decided that Tibet was a plaything and declared war on it. If the Trung Sisters (Vietnam) are anything, they‘re spiteful. Thankfully, the lovely scenery featuring way too many citadels makes this an obvious tourist location for everyone to visit if anything. They just hope their next visitor doesn‘t bring Giant Death Robots and way too many Drove AV‘s.

89

Hey, Trungs. I told you not to nuke random cities you have no chance of actually damaging yourself! Come on now, or I‘ll take away your fancy new unit. Like come on, it‘s rude to all the workers who just want a place to relax. Thankfully, the Knights of the Maound Table have taken the high road away from any nuclear blasts, grouped up in two for added protection in the surprisingly dangerous Siberian tundra.

90

It appears that the aggression has halted at Carrollton, which is good for anyone who wishes Sibir to be able to make it out of this. Unfortunately, it appears that Power Infantry appear to be knocking on the door and they have an unfortunate message for any Roman Ballista caught in the way. Wait?! The Roman Ballista?! Peace treaty now. We don‘t want our original refugee to be caught in the middle of any nuclear blasts, now do we?

91

Despite the complete and total annexation of Iberia at the hand of the Boer‘s, the only unit left near the former Buccaneer and shortly Finnish lands is a single cybersub trying his damndest to get home, no matter the coast. The only thing blocking him is Icelandic tiles that seem to not allow passage, meaning he‘d had to force his way past a hovertank to get through to Arretium. I‘ve already discussed with /u/TPangolin and we‘ve already worked out the movie rights. “Finnish Line From The Mechanic Menace” coming to theater square districts near you!

92

Lisbon falls! Lisbon falls! With the final eradication of most easy experience to be gained from the ships nearby, they focus their attention on the Portuguese capital, quickly scooping it up in mere moments forcing the Buccaneers to make a last assault onto Marrakech. Thankfully to your budding film makers, these movie rights are still available! Go ahead and post as much art of this final Marine defense in /r/civbattleroyale/ subreddit immediately before it gets copyrighted by Warner Brothers. Act now!

93

D-D-Double kill! Impressed by the destruction of Tikal across the globe, the Boer decide to try the same thing to a nearby Finnish city of Trebizond, erasing it off the map, leaving the beautiful perfume in it‘s place to make sure the ruins don‘t upset the naturally radioactive odor around this part of the world. How considerate of the Boers!

94

Now we‘ll be covering the cities you never know what was in them. In the makeshift capital of Kaneohe is a unique building called the Heiau that provides two faith and a random specialist slot at the cost of two maintenance, no double aiding in the relatively low amount of land in this city. The land, unfortunately, doesn‘t seem to be well fed with most tiles only bringing two food yield and not much more to the city, meaning it has less production and food than the nuclear radiated Port Royale at the beginning of this part!

95

Speaking of no yields, we have the starving capital of Beryozovo where our lovely spy is surviving by stealing as much food from the local granary. Our lovely overseer has highlighted a Great Work depicting Paris, which when located in the harshest Siberian north, seems to be a beautiful taste of irony. Elsewise, this city doesn‘t appear to be doing so hot with only 12 production to it‘s name.

96

The Mongolian capital of Karakorum appears to be doing beautifully when it comes to production, being able to put a lot of production into the Science production queue, allowing Mongolia to focus on climing ever higher into the scientific ladder. This is made easier by the lovely book of Huckleberry Finn located in the local University, offering a fine read for any training helicopter gunship pilot.

97

The makeshift capital of Yerevan (Armenia) seems like an inferior version of Karakorum (Mongolia) in all stats, both stagnating in population but at a lower number, meaning these stats aren‘t likely to be improving any time soon. Highlighted is a unique building that converts 20% of the population each turn to the first World Religion each and every turn, also allowing it to produce an additional two faith for being adjacent to a mountain tile.

98

With this, this ends one of the longest parts in CBR history. I hope my relatively speedy narration was enough to cut it. This has been a blast, and on behalf of everyone in the Civilization Battle Royale community and myself, /u/LunarNeedle, I wish you a beautiful border gore filled day. May all your wars be irrelevant, and your plots numerous.

Part 80: There One Moment, Gone the Next – mk2

Abstract

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

77

78