Episode 1: The Claw – RG1

Welcome everyone to the Redemption Game for Season 2. This is a successor for the Losers Game released on April Fool’s during Season 1. Just like in 2020, this game will feature a cast of the civs eliminated from CBRX that get a chance for redemption in the Cycle 2 map. No starting bonuses, just a plain start and the thirst for glory.  

On screen we have Wales and the Teutonic Order. Basically all of Europe is open to them, with the Teutonic Order having an open continent to settle.

In North Africa we have the Tuareg and the Ptolemies. I prioritized featuring the first 21 civs elimination, but the Ptolemies enter the game based on a better starting location and potential over Hejaz and Jerusalem.

Namibia and Somalia are the rest of the African contient. You’ll be seeing plenty of blue around here shortly.

Lonely Perm is all by itself in the Urals and nearly all of Sibieria. An enviable position, for a civ known to be sleepy.  

Southern regionsof Asia are covered by Bhutan and Vietnam. Vietnam is a bit squeezed in with only Southeast Asia while Bhutan has several expansion outside its cozy mountain start.

Up above are Yuan, Manchu, and Japan. Yuan and Manchu are immediate neighbors, while Japan begins in the shadow of Mt Fuji.  

V.O.C. and Anangu have plenty of the Pacific to themselves, with V.O.C. starting with sefaring bonuses right away. Anangu on the other hand have all of Australia to their lonesome.

In upper North Americaare Chinook, T.A.T., and New Netherlands. Decent amount of land for the three of them without the Neutral crashing this party.  

The rest of the roster is rounded out by the Olmecs, Jamaica, Gran Colombia, and Peru-Bolivia. While there are plenty of free tiles for the taking, these four all start relatively close to each other.

Onto the game proper, we have our first settlements, and on-screen we find that both Nambia and Somalia rush to strike claim to the empty core of the continent.

V.O.C. claims the island of Sumatra and Anangu settle a less desert filled landscape.

No forward settles here as Manchu and Yuan choose to use their first settlers to found cities parallel to each other. Japan decides settling a one-tile island is preferable to another in the main island.

In Europe, the Tuetons claim more of Germany, while Perm in all their wisdom go for a snowy tundra second city.

Chinook feeling bold with Qwatsmats while T.A.T. goes for the lake region. New Netherlands moves down the coast and scouts further south.

North Africa remains open for anyone as the Ptlemoies go for a coastal city on the Red Sea and the Tuareg choose the Sahel.

Flashbacks to C1 as Peru-Boliva choose their first new city to be on the Atlatinc coast to the south. Not a bad play if they can claim more of the continent while Gran Colombia focuses the northern reaches.

The Olemcs move to claim Central America before Gran Colombia has any ideas. Jamaica chooses to settle the island of Cuba instead of going for any of the continents.

We quickly slide back to Gran Colombia to see their first Libertador, Jose Felix Ribas. Libertadores are GG replacements that provide the Sapper promotion (+50% Combat bonus vs Cities for all units within two tiles) and

may write Political Treatises. A nice boost to take down Peru-Boliva quickly.

New Netherlands oddly chooses the Pantheon of Ocean’s Bounty as they look to take advantage of a strong coastal focus. These lads will not be looking for beavers anytime soon.

The Teutons go for an equally odd choice, if not baffling, in Sacred Groves, which grants big bonuses for Marsh tiles. Not many to take advantage of here.

The Welsh lead the way in science at this early stage of the game. Another thing to note on this screen is that Andrés de Santa Cruz has chosen to bestow upon himself the title of Warrior, despite the fact we’ve had no conflicts yet.

T.A.T. builds Sargon’s Palace in Like-A-Fishhook, which grants them an instant Government. Not shown on-screen, but they choose to begin their political journey as a Princiaplity.

Japan goes for the Pantheon of Rite of Spring. They already have one working Pasture of Horses, but that might be as much bonuses as Japan will get from this belief.

Wales enter the continent with their third city of Caernarfon. A bit vulnerable, but a wise move to gain a beachehad early. Meanwhile, the Tuareg get a fertile and forested coastal city.

Machu’s turn for a Pantheon, and they grab Arboreal Communion. Unlike Japan, they will be sure to get plenty of use of this belief in their heavily forested region.

Sojourner Truth hangs around Thimphu as Vietnam builds the Great Library in Hà Nôi. Might be wondering why a Great Prophet is just sitting around and it's actually a temporary bug that I fixed shortly in a few turns.

Wales build the mildly useful Pyramids (Workforces mod allows Workers to use charges to instantly construct improvements), but more noteworthy is the fact that their continental expansion goes unpunished.  

Anangu condsutcts Stonehedge right next to Urulu for maximum synergy. They have a too-long-to-be-named GP sitting around awaiting to make use of their strong faith start.

The Potlemies settle a bit too close and carelessly in front of a quickly bulking up Tuareg. Naukratis already thoroughly scouted out for future invasion.

Namibia has an uncontested grasp over Southern Africa as Somalia focuses on population growth instead.

Wales goes for the Pantheon Oral Tradition, which will go well for them once they found a Religion.

Despite Somalia having a sizable army, Namibia decides that Hargeysa should be their clay.

Perm continues to hug the Urals closely as they announce the completion of the Banaue Rice Terraces. A nice boost of food on Hill tiles.

The Teutons get their first GG with Gelawdewas, but decides Somalia is a more worthy target than Wales right on their doorstep.

Jamaicia chooses the appopritate God of the Sea Pantheon to give them a strong boost to Production on their constrained Caribeean start. Their odds do not look much better than in C1, but it’s a decent start for them.

Despite being in lonely parasdise, V.O.C. enter a Dark Age. Probably too much population and no worked Luxury Resources yet. However, they have settled all of Maritime Southeast Asia uncontested.

It was always going to be a challenge for Yuan, and the Manchu prove to be aggressive early on. Naoe Kanetsugu is enlisted to lead the troops as the Göbekli Tepe is constructed in Mukden to provide plenty of faith for sources of Stone and Marble.

Nearby, we see that Japan has gone for the mainland with Osaka and fortifies the new city well while Yuan is distracted.

Itzcoatl is welcomed by Four Bears as a much needed military advisor against a scary loooking Chinnok threat alongside a nearby entourage of fello Meso-American Olmec units that are ‘just passing by.’ They really mean it, though, as U Kix Chan coludes with Andrès de Santa Cruz against Simón Bolívar instead.  

Spinchered, Gran Colombia hunkers down for a defensive positon. Both Peru-Boliva and the Olmecs commit troops, but in truth, neither Bogotá nor Caracas look to be in any danger.

Speaking of danger, Yuan are full of it. The Machu horde crash against the Yuan defenders, and in the abscence of any physical defensive barrier, they choose to begin worshiping the Open Sky for comfort.    

Another Aztec general put to service as the Tuareg make due to punish the Plotemaic forward settle. The first incursion of Tuareg troops move in without resistance as Cleopatra’s army is scarely outisde their own city borders.  

Siad Barre enjoys the best population growth so far, almost entirely due to spawning near both Lake Victoria and Mt Kulimanjaro. High on the list is also Marcus Garvey, who enjoys the proximity of plenty of sea resources.

Not that Marcus Garvey is content with the bounty of the sea, as he lays claim to a slice of the continent. The new city is currently undefended, but Jamaicia already fields Composite Bowmen, which is a step above their immediate neighbors.

At this point in recording, I reload in order to fix the mini-map and the Religions not being founded. Immediately we see Japan founding the ever staple Shinto in the island of Shikoku.

Bhutan founds Vajrayana on the banks of the Ganges river in Paro.

Manchu founds Muism in Hietu Ala. Also on-screen we see that the Manchu invasion of Yuan has stalled and a large contingent of Japanese warriors are heading for Kamchatka.

Rastafarianism makes its debut in Kingston.

Namibia founds Lutherianism, though the war declarion of Japan on Yuan is probably of more interest. Also of note, two Somali settlers ready to expand their empire.  

Perm founds Eastern Orthodoxy, as they continue to keep to their lonesome.  

Back in East Asia, we find Fidel Castro has plenty of work ahead of him as Yuan is both at war with the Manchu and Japan. Lukcily (unluckily?) the divine winds seem to have pushed the entire Japanese army astray in the wrong direction.

V.O.C. gets a Government in the form of a Republic. Not much new activity anywhere inthe region as all parties content with slowly teching up.

Naukratis did not look like it would stay blue for long as the blue men of the desert assert themselves as the regional powerhouse.

Hermann von Salza is bestowed the erroneous title of Conqueror despite the fact that he has let the Welsh firmly establish a strong foothold within distance of his borders.

Peru-Bolivia expands once again, taking a chunk of Patagonia with the founding of Lima. There is a war with their northern nieghbors, but both sides are enjoying a bit of a lull, much to the benefit of Peru-Bolivia.  

Wanted to show a quick zoom-in of the Chinook UU the Esquai-ah, which is a Workboat replacement that has both  melee and ranged attack capabilties. The Chinook enjoy using them as naval scouts. The unit model though is devoid of rowers, making them look rather ghostly.

Namibia and Somalia remain at war, and the cold conflict has become hot with the bold settling of Galdogob in sight of a large concentration of Nambian troops. Jacob Morenga welcomes the inviation despite the missing red carpet.  

The Chinook have a Salmon migration dispute with T.A.T. and decide to go to war. Both sides look too evenly matched for there to be any exchange of cities, so the Olmec units still lingering about have a neat show to watch.

Perm breaks out of the Urals and onto the Black Sea. There is a vast amount of land to choose from as the Tuetons remain on just two cities.

Cleoptra sues for peace and gives Memphis to the Tuareg. Tin Hanan is quite the negotiator, as this essentially ensures that all of North Africa is destined to be the Tuareg domain.

Wales can sense weakness as the Tuetons have remained static and decide to test their metal. On the face of it, it does not seem like the Welsh army can take a city off Tuetons, but the declaration is a clear sign that Wales is ahead.

Kubali Khan is given the title Brave for his fine efforts in keeping his tiny empire intact. Yuan still looks vulnerable, but in immediate trouble.

Despite Namibia fielding a large army with enough battle stregnth to overwhelm Galdogob, they have declared peace with Somalia. The result means the conitnent will neatly be divided in three horizontal bands of color.

Vietnam builds Templo Mayor and continues to do not much else. Luckily for them, Bhutan is also content to sit tight on two cities.

Jamaica welcomes the GA William Merritt Chase, who decides to hang out in the island of Hispanolia. The joint Peru-Bolivia and Olme war on Gran Colombia continues but no signs of any progress.

V.O.C. builds the Forum Magnum, which gives thema boost to their Government, and they are joined by Cao Cao to commerate their inclusion of Composite Bowmen to their army.  

Yamanaka Yukimori inspects the now ascendant Tuareg military that sprawls all over the Sahara. It was unlikely, but the Tuareg have emerged as one of the big powers so early in the game.

Japan decides to form a military dictaroship as their form of government. Not bad for the Shadow Shogun. Elsewhere we see on-screen that Yuan has finally expanded with Ganzhou

Álvaro Obregón links up with Itzcoatl to take down Chinook. Chinook seems to have slammed their army against teh T.A.T. wall and now looks exhausted.

No surprise to find Tin Hinan on the top military stat, but several sleepy powers also make the top list.

The Plotomies find a fresh start in the fertile crescent with the settling of Thebai. Just up north, we see that Perm has expanded again in a southingly direction with Berezniki.

Jamaicia builds the Terracota Army for a small boost in their military and we can see their Florida expansion of Spanish Town is already a sizable city. New Netherlands enlists Chandragupta Maurya as they start to measure up the Jaician encroachment.

Jose E. Diaz attempts to hold the line with a few archers as Yuan looks to be losing the battle of attrition with Manchu’s superior production. Yuan finishes the Gate of the Sun for a good bonus on growth and yields on lake tiles, but that is not what the doctor ordered.  

Cleopatra cannot catch a break as Somalia declares war after having already positoned a large army outside Alexandria. Memphis seems like a more enticing target, but Said Barre is fine going after the weakend Ptolomies.

Vietnam builds the Colosusu as Ho Chi Min continues to bulk up and go for wonders. Missing from their empire is their entire army, as they march north after smelling blood.

Gran Colombia gain another Libertador with Manuel Belgrano. The conflict seems to have warmed up consdierably as a long front stretching the length of the Amazon forms.

T.A.T. and Chinook peace out with nothing gained from their adventure. Chinook settle Clatsop in an easily defensible and remote location. Now with two coastal cities, perhaps they will start seeing a migration of Salmon and Orca between them.  

Flashbacks to C1 as Anangu begin to flood the ocean with their troops. But for now the only units sent out are the scout replacement Warmala UU, which is a ranged unit that spawns settlers if they uncover unclaimed natural wonders. Mt Kailash would be the closest such destination if they can find it.

Spartacus rises up to defend Cleopatra in what could be a bizarre Stanley Kubrick directed sequel. Tin Hinan wishes for round two as they know they have enough firepower to kick the Ptolomies out of Africa.

The Tuetons have finally settled a third city, but that has proven to Perm to be a good sign to begin an invasion of Europe. The Permian horde marches west accompanied by their GG Pompey.

The colonials enlist Francisco Pizarro in the defense of the Tawantinsuyu. Gran Colombia’s army appears to have thinned out a bit, but we find that they have settled two new cities in the Amazon along their extended front with Peru-Bolivia.

The Olmecs expand northward up the Gulf Coast and this seems to have angered the Chinook. The new city of Papaloapan looks lke a juicy treat for the lads in grey.

Alexandria is besieged against an increasingly terrifying looking Tuareg army. Horsemen now dash forward in what can be a decisive victory for Tin Hinan.

Plumpy looking Jamaica establishes a Republic as their Government. With no other navy in sight, and plenty of Composte Bowmen, they look to sit tight and turtle up for a while longer.

Teuton GG Uzi Narkiss looks in dismay as the Tuetons field only a tiny number of melee units as Perm looks to flip Danzig to their side. The city of Memel is settled in the Venetian Lagoon but it does not look optimistic.

Japan changes its mind and reforms under a Theocratic State. Already Shinto missionaries go forth from Nigata toc convert the religion-less Yuan.  

Wales establishes a Monarchy as their rpeffered choice of Government. Wales, with plenty of Composite Bowmen, are looking to be in a great position to be the regional powerhouse with the Tuetons being belingered in the east.

Alexandria takes damage as the Ptoloemy defense melts away. Danzig is also under fire but holding firm for now.

Agricola enlists under Japan just in time to help handle peace negotiations with Yuan. Relief for Kubali Khan as the fighting with the Manchu continues to stalemate. Also of note is the failure for Japan to spread Shinto to Yuan as Bhutan’s Vajrayana swoops in first.

Peace also returns to South America. Both civs appear to have definitely established their respective zones of control over the continent, with Peru-Bolivia better poised to bulk up in the future with only a single front to worry about.

Perm completely holds Danzig in its grasp as a large conigtent of its army now stays garrisoned in the vicinity, with plenty of reinforcements on the way. The outlook appears bleak for the Teutons.

Naresuan enlists with the Manchu as a large display of superior tech is on display for the Yuan to witness—Composite Bowmen, Chariots, and Spearmen against a largely Archer and Warrior composition. In parallel to C1, the Manchu also decided to settle further north than more in the immediate vicinity. Also of note is the V.O.C. settler making its way in the same direction.

Gran Colombia’s main conflict might be over, but suddenly the Olmecs decide to open up an unexpected front by blockading Panamá. No danger at all seeing as there are only two triemes, but the Olmecs persisting is a little surprising. Perhaps the more impressive Jamaican navy can take a few notes from this.

Shajar al-Durr is the latest GG meaning the walls of Alexandria. The city is in red and there are plenty of strong units nearby to deal the decisive blow to the Ptolomies’ hopes in this game.

V.O.C. has basically sent its entire navy to search the hidden passages in the Arctic. They could do some serious damage to closer targets, but Jan Pieterszoon Coen clearly has other ideas.

Judging by the fact there are triemes on this screen as well, it appears they are going for an early circumnivagtion of the world! Bhutan is also scouting uncovneitnally with plenty of spearmen that could be better be put to work closer to home.

Tin Hinan remains the leader of the military stats, but several new faces are vying for the top. Perm in particular would not have seemed to be so high judging by their reputation.

Chinook had their chance at taking Papaloapan but seemed to have pushed for Coatzacoalcos instead. Peter Stuyvesant must interpet this as an invitation as he declares war on the Olmecs to give it a go himself.

Vietnam leaps onto the Indian sub-continent with a risky settle. Troops are moving in to garrison Hai Phòng, but its looking like a mighty nice and easy morsel for Bhutan.

Alexandria is the first capital to be captured, and the Tuareg now hold a pretty good looking empire. The ​​Galatian Guard UU comes a bit too late despite getting a nice combat bonus within distance of a Ptolomey city. The city may flip once again, but the Tuareg have plenty of melee units to take it right back.

Another embattled capital is Khanbaliq as the Manchu finally apply some strong pressure as they make full use of their superior tech. With hardly any melee units, it is looking very bad for Yuan.

We end this episode with a look back at the conflict in North America. The Olmecs seem to be holding well, using both the Rio Grande and Mississipii rivers as good defensive barriers.

That is all for now. More episodes will follow slowly as I find time to record, but I hope you’ll enjoy what’s to come. If you enjoy having a game like this, let me know as C1’s game was left unfinished and I can always go back and try to recreate that one to a conclusion.