Episode 46: Taking it on the Qin – S1

Difficult looking screens positioned in a formidable formation. They mock me.

Welcome to this week’s jam-packed installment of the Sea Bricks Endgame. The narration for Episode 46 is provided by /u/Bulletproof_Cookie, who’s been following since the start of mk2.1. You may have seen a couple of my “OCs” during the duration of Season 1.

We have plenty of everything this week; major wars, irrelevant wars, capital captures, empires reduced to rump states! Almost every remaining civ has something worth talking about this week, so let us begin.

This week’s OC was posted before the previous episode but I’ve decided to draw attention to it given the events that shall transpire this week. If you have not been paying attention to the Power Rankings, Canton’s rank has climbed from the high 50’s all the way back in episode 4 (when they gave away Hong Kong in a peace treaty with the Qin) to 19 40 parts later. This is of course a result of merely being ignored by their closest neighbours for most of this time while other empires slowly or quickly died out.

People were joking about their “diplomatic strats” as the countdown to Endgame started, but it has reached a point where Canton’s entire game plan appears to be “Ching Shih wins by doing absolutely nothing”. Of course, they won’t win with this strategy, but maybe they can last long enough for a Top 20/15/10(!) placement before finally meeting their end.

As usual, Vihreaa has provided the sub with a map of the current status of the cylinder as of last Episode. This is the new Hand-Drawn style that has been posted alongside the old style. With 26 of the 61 civs still remaining in play, we can easily see who are the likely contenders to win CBRXS1 at this point. The Kazakhs are the obvious favourite after the last part, with cries of deleting them already making the rounds, but Zimbabwe, Uruguay, Metis, Venezuela, Iroquois, Moors, Benin, Palmyra and Taungoo still have reasonable chances, too.

I would now like to take you back 30 episodes ago to DerErlenKonig’s Tile Accurate Map of Episode 16 to compare how big the remaining civs were back then and which empires have had their flame extinguished. Remember when the Khamugs were big favourites around this time to take Asia? When the Apache were still in the running for North America? How about North Africa when Benin were as small as Beta Israel and Songhai were at the peak of their power?

(Man, I’m still upset about what happened to Songhai…)

The Kazakhs remain perched at the top of Power Rankings after decimating the Qin empire last part. I’m sure the Part 0 team who ranked them as the number 1 civ back then are patting each other on the backs right now. Well, probably not that one power ranker who didn’t think the Kazakhs has that “Sibir touch to them”. :P

With the traditional opening slides out of the way, let’s dive into this week’s episode, beginning at Turn 271 in the year of our submarine 2110AD. Our first screenshot shows us how Bob Hawke is coping with what I (sadly) suspect is quite a thrashing. The Australian city of Brisbane is under attack by various Zimbabwe and Taungoo naval/land units, and it’s destined to fall much like its southern neighbouring settlement Newcastle if Hawke doesn’t reinforce its defences with units.

With things looking bleak, Bob Hawke decides the only sensible thing to do diplomatically in this scenario is to declare a state of war on the Metis alongside the Kazakhs. Those two wars won’t likely have an impact at this point in the game, but narrators have been wrong in the past so I wouldn’t place any bets on it.

THESE two wars, on the other hand…

An enraged Ying Zheng, furious that his dream of a unified China has been taken away from him by Ablai Khan, looks back at the Canton settlements that he left to live for thousands of years at his new capital of Geelong, and decides that he’s going to go down with the sinking the ship, it will not be before the Canton bloody Pirates do. A quick diplomatic discussion with Bayinnaung results in the two leaders declaring war on Ching Shih.

The Qin may have lost most of their empire, but they still have the navy to take a few Canton cities, at least. The Taungoo are also more than capable of finishing off their red and yellow neighbours. The Canton Pirates may flip Yueyang once or twice before they run out of units, but with all their cities being coastal, Ching Shih will most likely not survive for much longer.

The heated rivalry between Hiawatha and Louis Riel begins a new chapter as the Iroquois declare war against The Metis (whom this narrator likes to pronounce as the “Meh-tece”). Louis has the advantage in land and overall production, but Hiawatha has better production per city, holds a more scientifically advanced empire and, most importantly, a stronger military (though you may not notice that judging from the screenshot and a lot of that military score comes from their fleet). However, the Iroquois are currently struggling from Happiness problems which may harm their military units in combat and result in cities being razed rather than puppeted. So this may have not been the best time to start up the war machine, again.

Australia wisely makes peace with Taungoo, making one less invader to worry about. Unfortunately, they still have ZImbabwe to worry about, and Brisbane will not be green and yellow for much longer.

I can’t say for certain which Wonder the Moors built as I can’t see the icon in the Wonders section of the Info Sheet, but judging by what’s already been built, I’m assuming it was the Red Fort, which makes defensive buildings in all cities 25% more effective. Benin is going to have a harder time kicking the Moors off of Africa, now.

Care to share where you are directing that Marathan settler to, Mr. Shivaji? I’m sure the other civs will enjoy the free real estate.

Speaking of the Moors, they resume their fight against the Manx, where southern England will surely be under Moorish control soon enough.

The Vikings apparently still had a city in Scandinavia. Not anymore! Hedeby is now firmly in Sami control!

Let’s see how Taungoo’s red and purple neighbours are holding up. The capital of Kathmandu has fallen once again, but Nepal could probably flip it at least once more before it’s taken for good. Their last city, Pohara, is probably not going to be taken anytime soon thanks to the terrain of mountains. And maybe a few peacekeepers from Madagascar.

Brisbane falls. Zimbabwe has gone from only having one land title on the Australian continent at the beginning of this war to claiming the western coast. They don’t appear to have enough units to continue their conquest judging from this screenshot, but they could easily make peace now to rebuild for a second invasion later. It is also worth reminding everyone that Australia does have the Great Wall wonder, meaning enemy land units will only move one title each turn inside Aussie territory until THEY discover Dynamite (not their enemies).

Port Erin has vanished from the face of Earth, and it would definitely appear there is room in the British Isles for Moors as Laxey has been brought down enough for it to be easily taken by the Moorish army. The Isle of Mann itself could be in danger here if this war drags on for much longer.

Say hello to the Parthian trireme east of Gadoquat, everyone.

This new chapter in the Meh-tece/Iroquois rivalry presents an excellent opportunity for Hiawatha to take full control of Greenland (Let’s not pretend Roskilde counts, Ragnar’s merely keeping it warm for Hiawatha). Battleford has already fallen, and Frog Lake is surrounded by enemy units. The Iroquiois will also surely pound Frenchman’s Butte (I am a mature narrator).

Actually, I take that back. Maybe Hiawatha doesn’t want control of Greenland (yet), as he has chosen to raze Battleford rather than puppeting it. If the Iroquois don’t sort out their happiness problems soon, they won’t benefit much from his war.

Canton actually took a city! Not sure what went wrong for Taungoo here, but a Cantonese caravel manages to flip Pyay. There is no way it’ll stay that way by next turn, but at least that’s something for their supporters to celebrate about.

… Unfortunately, they are still going to get their backsides handed to them on a silver platter. Having already lost Pyay back to Taungoo, Macao has fallen to the Qin but that Cantonese pikeman may flip it back before it’s purple and pink for good (at least until the Kazakhs get hungry for more Qin). Yueyang doesn’t appear to have flipped yet, but the city is starving based on the population drop.

I see a Yup’ik Swordsman in Japan. I kinda hope It snipes the last remaining Canton city so they can get the hat trick of kills.

Grandma Edani is getting too tired to keep up with the superior Kazakh army, and negotiates for peace, but not before Ablai Khan conquers the cities of Leavdnja and Luvlieluspie. The Iroquois explorer next to the former sends a message back to Hiawatha, warning him of a mongol menace that is gobbling up large stretches of land across the Old World. (Or would this make this the New World? Because if the New World is exploring the new lands, wouldn’t that make the New World the Old World? And then what about the pre-endgame world Pedro destroyed? Would that make the New World the New Old World and the Old World the New New World?)

*Inception Sound Effect intensifies*

Also, Australia peaced out with Uruguay. That’s another invader they no longer need to worry about...

… Just another neighbour they have to share Mad Max: Giant Spider Edition with!

Yikes, that was a bad treaty for Hawke! Giving away all the island settlements to the east (including New Zealand) and two newly settled cities on the mainland. Nyatsimba would be smart to make a similar peace deal to cripple the Aussies further.

But yeah, I don’t see Australia repeating what they did to the Murri and New Zealand in pre-Endgame to Uruguay and Zimbabwe. They’re done. It’s just a matter of how long they can survive for.

Abd-ar Rahman III makes the call to raze the captured city of Laxey, and moves his attention to Burano. The Manx lack the melee units to retake their two main continent holdings, so they’ll likely be kicked out of there for good should they fall.

The sidebar tells us that Hiawatha has built Wat Phra Kaew, which is potentially a decent science wonder. +1 Science from Religious Buildings will surely give cities with shrines, temples and other religious buildings a minor science boost.

So I initially wrote in this slide that Moors declared war on Prussia and talked about how screwed Frederick was, then realized in the next slide it was the Manx who partnered with Palmyra to DOW Prussia. Whoops.

Illiam gave away Burano and St. Johns in a peace treaty to the Moors (who razed the latter), and doesn’t look like he’ll benefit from this war. But hey, maybe it’ll amuse Illiam to just shoot down all those Prussian units with his fleet of Galleases.

Palmyra has the units to take down Prussia, but the terrain surrounding  Magdeburg might make it difficult to launch a siege. The Gothic and Madagascan peacekeepers are really not helping matters.

Well, Piye, you have lasted much longer than any of us were expecting you to, but it seems the last page in your CBRX story is about to be read. Zimbabwe has overwhelmed and outnumbered Nubia with its superior military, and the capital of Napata looks set to fall with Uselu following right beside it.

Zimbabwe may not hold the western coast, after all. Australia has rallied up enough troops to take back Brisbane and looks to do the same to the other two cities. Turns out when you’re not fighting on multiple fronts, you can defend yourself much better!

The Qin really aren’t being given a break in Endgame, as Juan Antonio Lavalleja chooses to take the one tile islands currently in Ying zheng’s hands. The Qin have enough of a fleet to hold back the Uruguayan menace’s first wave of units, but may not have the endurance to keep them out.

You are probably wondering whose capital has fallen. Let’s turn to our next slide to find out!

The fallen capital is Napata, which belonged to Nubia. Not anymore! And Zimbabwe looks far from done!

Uselu has now also fallen into Zimbabwe’s hands but not by conquest. Piye has opted to give it to Mutota in a treaty in order to keep Meroe from falling, too. It’s safe to say the next relevant war that involves Nubia will be their last.

On the topic of civs at death’s door, the Vikings make peace with the Sami, too. Though I don’t think any cities were given away.

Uruguay, now content with bullying the remnants of the Qin empire, declares a state of war against their only remaining South American neighbour, Venezuela. The latter is outmatched in almost all stats except Science and Culture, so on paper Uruguay looks to be the favourite from this war.

But this slide tells another story. Hugo Chavez has invested in a lot of cavalry units and those cities in the Uruguayan front look vulnerable from a lack of units on the frontline.

But hey, it works both ways because Cabimas and Broome are even more vulnerable. Those frigates and privateers will make short work out of them.

Bob Hawke kicks out Zimbabwe from the Australian main continent in one bit of good news for Aussies supporters. There are several enemy units left that could flip either city, but I’d imagine the Aussies have got that covered.

On a side note, Wagga Wagga might be the funniest city name in the first season of CBRX. Try saying that five times fast (and yes, Dawkins, I expect you to do this)! WAGGA WAGGA! WAGGA WAGGA! WAGGA WAGGA! WAGGA WAGGA! WAGGA WAGGA!

Hugo Chavez sends out his navy to take the nearest Uruguayan islands. Duranzo and Puerto La Cruz fall to Venezuela as Uruguay goes after San Cristóbal. The small and undefended island of Florida looks on as the Venezuelan fleet draws closer.

And Canton gets coalitioned by multiple civs, particularly Maratha, who may be able to take a city.

The Qin loses two cities to Uruguay, these being Yiqu and Yique. Dianjiang and Puyang are looking very vulnerable, too.

The Qin might be able to take Sum Chen from Canton with what little navy they have left, but the fact that the city has only taken chip damage is a discouraging sign.

It also appears a coalition is forming against Prussia. The Moors or Goths could jump in at any moment.

The Qin, scared of the invading Uruguayan threat, hastily make peace with Canton, which, judging from the 6-7 frigates the Qin have (alongside other military units), is a complete disappointment. They could have easily grabbed Sum Chen and Hong Kong given how most of the Canton Pirates’ military consists of trebuchets. Now I kinda want Canton to outlive Qin.

Taungoo has units parked at the capital’s doorstep, but I don’t think they’ll threaten the city under this formation.

I WAS NOT BEING SERIOUS WHEN I SAID I WANTED TO CANTON TO OUTLIVE QIN, GODDAMNIT!

Wanxian may go back to Qin colours, but they could very easily lose South Korea and the rest of their mainland cities in this war.

Florida joins the other former Uruguayan islands in sporting a yellow colour scheme, but it and Duranzo could flip back and forth for a little while as this war carries on. On the South American mainland, Ciudad Del Plata is down to half health though there are notably less Venzuelan troops in this slide than there were earlier.

Both Wanxian and Quanqui are down to zero health but the Qin don’t have the necessary melee units to take the cities. It’s all for nothing if you can’t take the cities themselves. The Kazakhs have the reverse problem. They keep smashing cavalry units into Macao, Yueyang and Yunzhong.

And chill out, Lavalleja. Don’t you have enough wars going on with Qin and Venezuela?

I saw an image made by someone on the subreddit using that 5 black men meme to illustrate Australia’s ongoing conflicts.

I feel like you could just use that meme here to illustrate how boned Teiaiagon is sandwiched between several Uruguayan cities (one of which is the reinstated Puerto La Cruz).

Can someone please attack Townsville please so I can make a Powerpuff Girls reference?.

Meanwhile, the Iroquois’ war against the Meh-tece rolls on. The civ that once housed formidable lumberjacks has taken Lepai-nde and are looking to flip Ka-igwu. Both sides are still supporting large militaries so don’t look for the frontlines to change much until one wears out the other.

This slide shows off Hugo Chavez’s impressive fleet of Galleases and Carracks which could really be used down south to attack Lavalleja’s coastal cities, but my guess is that Hugo is trying to intimidate Hiawatha with it. The Iroquois do have superior naval units in frigates and cruisers but they are heavily outnumbered to the point where it’s meaningless. The two civs are not currently at war, but Hiawatha would be in major trouble if Venezuela attacked now.

Also of note is that the Moors are at war with the Iroquois, but there’s no visible attempt in actually invading Hiawatha’s lands outside of a measly couple of frigates..

But no, Mr. Chavez, do continue to intimidate Mister Hiawatha with your fleet up north. I’m sure he isn’t laughing behind your back as he watches Uruguay take Barquisimeto away from you as he pushes further into your core. Imagine being militarily competent.

The capital of Canton has fallen to the Taungoo, and Bayinnaung does not appear to be finished just yet. He orders his ships to set sail towards Sum Chen. I would imagine this won’t hurt Canton supporters too much since the Pyay flip made the impending collapse worth it for them. As this is going on, the Qin lose Macao to the Kazakhs.

Meanwhile, the cylinder slowly draws their swords at the Haida, as Shikoku joins in the anti-Haida coalition.

The Qin has managed to ship in the melee units needed to flip Wanxian and Quanqui, though the latter could be flipped back in another turn or so. We can also get a better view or Macao in this slide. The Kazakhs do not have the navy to defend these coastal cities, so the Qin still have a chance to retake them.

This is it. These are the brave men and women tasked to defend Ninstints from being taken by the Shikoku fleet. Pray for these poor soldiers. They may not live to see the last Haidan holdout fall.

The Qin dynasty may just die through peace treaties, because they have just given away Wanxian and Tanu to Uruguay. As for their war with the Kazakhs, Quanqui has just flipped back and Yueyang has been brought down to yellow health. Time is running out for Ying Zheng, and he may be gone from the game before Canton. Speaking of which Canton made peace with Taungoo, whom I believe took Sum Chen in the treaty.

The Smithsonian Institution is the latest Wonder to be built. Zimbabwe will now gain 150 Science for every Great Person they expend, as well as a free academy (science building) to where the wonder was built.

(I seriously try to abuse the latter in my games playing with the Enlightenment Era mod by building a saloon in my capital for the extra culture then building the wonder to get an academy too, as you can’t build both a saloon and an academy in one city).

Here’s the confirmation of Sum Chen being taken, though Bayinnaung has opted to raze the city rather than keep it. This leaves Canton with Hong Kong as their last remaining city.

Oh, and Uruguay also took two more cities from Qin south of Luoyang. You can’t see the names of the cities from this slide, but looking back at earlier slides, they were Puyang and Yangdi.

Zimbabwe attacks Taungoo but I don’t think this was at all a smart idea. They lack a naval presence in this area and they are risking losing Manyikeni and Bambandyanalo.

Turns out the Iroquois/Moors war is relevant, but not in Rahman III’s favour. Bagat Az-Zayt (which was settled on top of the ruins of Port St. Mary) is down to red, and could flip if that privateer and those two frigates don’t stop the enemy ships from attacking. The Moors also have a city in Greenland, so a land invasion from the east is plausible.

Those Meh-tece cities located in Greenland have since been razed and replaced with new settlements. Frog’s Lake is now Tiononderoge.

The Iroquois workforce consider this a good time to take a vacation in Laridah.

*Slowly moves left index finger to the F key on keyboard*

Uruguay pushes further into Venezuelan lands. Having successfully defended Cudad Del Plata, the troops march north to attack Cumana and Maracaibo. It’s looking increasingly obvious that Venezuela is no longer a contender to win the game and Uruguay have pretty much succeeded in being the only remaining South American power.

Ragnar spearheads the “Parthia sucks” movement which Taungoo, Sami and Benin join.

The Iroquois succeed in flipping Ka’igwu but the Meh-tece have enough knights to flip it back several times. Things still look relatively even.

Remember when Prussia were citadeling its neighbours pre-endgame? Things have come full circle with the Moors and Palmyra planting citadels and stealing Prussian territory. Palmyra also made peace with Prussia once it became apparent there was no clear path to invade Prussia thanks to the peacekeepers (and also to deny Frederick from reclaiming Berlin).

Yueyang, Yunzhong and Ju have fallen, kicking the Qin out of mainland Asia for good. All Ying Zheng can do now is look on as the last remnants of the Qin dynasty slowly fades away. He sits slumped on his throne as he tries a new drink, one that he hopes will finally be his long desired “Elixir of life”. It is a vintage bottle of vodka that seems to have originated in an ancient time in Eurasia.

“Two measly frigates” have turned into a surprise naval invasion in South East America. A Moorish caravel has flipped Onodaghara and if the Iroquois don’t order their admiral to take action and correct the situation, those 5 enemy frigates could attack Ganondagan next.

*Presses the F key*

And thus Koyah’s arc in the Civ Battle Royale has come to a close. It is unlikely those few remaining units will retake the city in time. Ryoma may not be in contention to win the whole thing anymore, but his empire is still able eliminate one or two more rump states (I’m looking at you, Apaanugpak).

The Haida were never a top contender in the cylinder, but there were occasions earlier in the season where they had the potential to become a large empire if they had used their armada to conquer the coasts of North and Central America and work their way inland from there. They never truly reached this potential and most of their conquests came from Yup’ik and Korean territory. This failure to create a large empire resulted in relatively small starting bonuses heading into Endgame, which led to any settlements made on mainland America being taken away from them by the Metis. Overall, a somewhat average showing for a civ that some experts considered the 47th best civ before Episode 1.

Speaking of Part 0 Power Rankings, how many people would have guessed the Yup’ik to make the final 3 in North America? There were many who expected them to die out quickly yet they have outlived a majority of the starting 61 civs. Sadly, the two remaining behemoths in North America are probably not going anytime, soon.

THERE IS ALWAY ROOM FOR MOORS!

Greenland is the next landmass to learn this, as Unjarga is now under Rahman III’s rule. The city could easily flip back, but the Moors are now taking this war a little more seriously as they disembark cannons and line infantry onto the harsh cold terrain.

Ying Zheng watches on from his palace in Geelong as the Kazakh invasion of Jiangling succeeds. He takes another sip from this “elixir of life”, and turns his eyes to the growing Australian fleet invading Jinyang and Luoyang. Seeing his once impressive empire crumble like this should pain him immensely, yet the elixir seems to numb the pain.

A Nubian knight chronicles the recent developments of the great North American war. He writes in detail of the siege of Ile-a-la-crosse and the recapturing of Lepai-nde. He hopes when this conflict finishes, he can return to his homeland to share the stories.

… If there still is a homeland for him when he gets back.

The Qin higher-ups watch in grief as the Australian ships encircle Luoyang and Wuzhong, the fall of the former is sure to follow Jinyang. All Ying Zehng can do is watch in growing drowsiness as he lets out a hiccup after another sip.

The situation grows grimmer by the year for the Qin empire as Luoyang is the latest casualty of the dynasty’s collapse. Those close to Ying Zheng have become increasingly concerned about their leader’s condition. The most recent news left him half-heartedly laughing. They couldn’t tell if this was because he was drunk or if he was breaking down from his dynasty’s tumble.

(We shall discuss the two notable sidebar icons in an upcoming slide when we next look at North America.)

This episode must be heartbreaking to Venezuela fans. Two more cities turned blue as Barcelona and Cumana are the most recent gains for Juan Antonio. Barquisimeto will shortly flip back in his hands, as well. Throughout this downfall, Hugo Chavez commits to keep most of his swarm of galleasses in the Carribean despite these troubling times, leading to an impatient Juan to take the fight to him by sending several privateers to sink the ships to the depths of the sea.

The latest chapter in the great Metis/Iroquois saga is in the books, ending with the treaty of Ile-a-la-crosse where after intense negotiations, Louis Riel hands over the city to Hiawatha as part of the agreement. It is rumoured that the Nubian Knight was allowed access to the meeting. This leaves the capital of Batoche neighbouring Iroquois territory, though Hiawatha’s new acquisition does not leave the ideal terrain to launch an invasion from.

Hiawatha celebrates the end to this war by announcing to the world that the Iroquois is now an autocratic empire, adopting the Autocracy ideology in the process. And no, they didn’t cheat this time to get it. Fitting that the first civ to adopt an ideology in the main game is also the first in Endgame.

Disregard my stance earlier on the Zimbabwe/Taungoo conflict. Mutota has summoned a military capable of making ground, having successfully captured Inwa. I’m sure their failures in Australia have led to a stronger determination to maintain their colonies.

I bet you forgot that the Iroquois were at war with Uruguay. I’m sure the latter did, too.It has become a three horse race for Barcelona, with the Iroquois in front. The Iroquois have also managed to take back the caribbean city they lost to the Moors, who have sent an unescorted settler within the range of Tiohero.

“Trapped on an island, surrounded by ships, need more shitposts.”

Embarrassed by the loss of Inwa, the Taungoo government negotiates peace with Zimbabwe.

The Iroquois enter a new golden age upon building the Sagrada Familia, which also grants 50% Great People generation in the city it was built. Hiawatha is notably ahead of everyone else in the wonder race, even if some of the ones he has built aren’t considered very well in a Battle Royal scenario. Mutota responds to this revelation by denouncing all other forms of government that do not adopt the one true ideology: COMMUNISM… IN THE ZIMBABWEAN UNION!

Oh, and the Kazakhs make peace with the Qin now that they’re down to a single city (Wuzhong fell to Australia). Australia is still at war with the Qin, so they’re not in the clear yet.

Uruguay takes back Barcelona and Baquisimeto while adding Maracaibo and La Guaira to their expanding empire. South America is now mostly blue, and the capital Caracas will surely switch colours too if peace isn’t made soon.

The top left corner informs us that the Iroquois have entered the Modern Era, sporting the newest naval invention, the submarine.

A diplomat hands Shivaji a message from supreme Zimbabwe leader Mutota, which in summary, reads the following.

“Give us the city of Vishalgad and its children will become socialists for life!”

Shivaji refuses the demand, which leads to Mutota to declare war! They align themselves with Parthia, who are also at war with Maratha. Maratha has a lot of (outdated) land units within their territory but little navy to support it.

The Iroquois has sent out a new wave of troops to push back the Moors, having recaptured Unjarga. They could choose to move east and grab the cities north of the british isles.

The Zimbabwean Union makes short work of Maratha’s fortifications in Vishalgad, and promptly takes custody of the city’s children for rehabilitation. The parents and guardians that refuse to comply with the new regime are quickly executed.

It’s the end of the line for the Manx, as the Sami declare war on them. We will have to wait until next week to see how the war unfolds, but I’d have to imagine the Manx will be overwhelmed by Eadni’s forces. At least if they do fall soon, they’ll go out knowing they have far exceeded everyone’s initial expectations.

Keep an eye on that settler from Benin near Castletown next episode, too.

We return to Uruguay’s successful war against Venezuela. This slide shows us that Valencia has been captured, and Maracay will fall soon, too. The Venezuelan capital of Caracas is surrounded by Uruguayan troops and is taking damage. And throughout all this, Hugo opts to keep most of his fleet in place.

A few turns later, Venezuela has taken back Barcelona and Valencia, but Maracay and Caracas, while still in Hugo’s hands, have clearly flipped.

Not shown in this slide is that Uruguay has built the Louvre, which, in my honest opinion, is arguably the worst wonder in the vanilla game. A free Great Artist and some great works of art slots. This comes at a time where you need to build factories and public schools.

Remember when Australia were losing their coastal cities to Zimbabwe and Uruguay at the beginning of this episode? They’ve certainly turned that momentum around, and now are seeking to finish off the Qin. There’s enough units in this screenshot to achieve this, just a matter of moving them to Geelong.

Qin officials have attempted to wrestle the russian bottle of vodka away from a drunk Ying Zheng’s hands in fear that the drink is cursed, but these attempts have failed and resulted in their executions. These last few episodes have been unforgiving for the Qin dynasty, and the next episode may very well be their last.

The Moors also build the Fasil Ghebbi, a defensive wonder which provides extra combat strength to friendly units within two tiles of the city it is built.

(What is not shown on this slide but is shown in the director’s cut is that the Iroquois built the Eiffel Tower, which offers a bunch of Happiness and Tourism.)

Here’s a tease for next week’s episode. Samegameshwar is in the yellow, and both Satara and Raigad (Maratha’s capital) are in the red. Maratha has the units to quickly flip any of these cities back should they fall, but this appears to be the beginning of the end for Shivaji.

Zimbabwe, on the other hand, are setting themselves up as a challenger to the Kazakhs dominance. If they can conquer the rest of Africa, India and even the Middle East, I could see them emerge as the new favourite.

And our final slide shows us that Barcelona and Valencia are back in blue and Maracay and Caracas have been flipped once more. Those four cities have been reduced to 1 pop each, when they used to have between 17 and 20 at the start of this war. This is pretty much it for Chavez. Things may have gone a little differently had he ordered his entire navy down south, but he would have ultimately ran out of steam anyway.

Also, at some point in this episode, the Goths’ capital got citadel’ed by the Kazakhs (if you check the mini map). I was about to call them out for being the only civ to have nothing interesting happen to them this week, but noticed that as I was wrapping up the narration.

And on that note, we’ve reached the end of this episode. One last thing I wish to point out for those of you interested in narrating for Season 2. I signed up for this Season’s narration list around Episode 1’s release (almost a year ago), so be sure to sign up as soon as Blue Cassette posts up the signups thread close for Season 2’s release. I hope you have enjoyed reading this narration and I wish you a safe week ahead of you.