Civ Battle Royale December 22, 2021
NopeCopter
The survivors of Cycle 1 begin anew as the second half of CBRX Season 2 kicks off.
Hello and welcome to Episode 22 of the CBRX Season 2! I’m u/daXfactorz, also known as NopeCopter, and I’m incredibly honored to be bringing you the first episode of Season 2 Cycle 2 today. It’s been a chaotic three weeks, but thanks to the hard work of the Blue Cassette team, we’re still on schedule. But enough about that - let’s get on to the OC slides!
It’s not exactly relevant now that the game has been reset, but it just wouldn’t feel right to open an episode without one of Vihreaa’s incredibly hand-drawn maps. It’s clear that Total War did a number on a few civilizations - will they be able to redeem themselves, or will those unlucky few end up being fodder for their stronger neighbors?
I am also honored to be able to let you all know that, after a long, long hiatus, Dawkinzz has returned with a new audio narration! Sure, he’s still a bit behind, but it just hasn’t been the same without that buttery-smooth voice to listen to in the background while I do other things. Welcome back, Dawkinzz, you absolute legend you.
As always, a massive thanks to all of the CBR’s supporters on Ko-Fi for making all of this possible! For those unaware, Cycle 2 is currently being run on a computer purchased with the Ko-Fi money, so it’s 100% true that your donations make a difference.
Coiot: We could not have done it without everyone's help! It's been a really tiresome and stressfull development period to get to final production, but we got through it. Once again a reminder that every contribution has an impact, and we'll be able to offer more from within the game for the remainder of this season (and hopefully even more in the next).
According to our Power Rankers, the civilization in the best position going into Cycle 2 is… the Marajoara? Yes, even the overwhelming strength of Punjab, Malacca, and Nigeria weren’t enough to overcome the power of the Marajoara’s geography in the eyes of the PRs. But keep in mind that this is all just (mostly blind) speculation on the PRs’ part right now - anything could happen once the game kicks off! Speaking of which, let’s go hop on over to the sub and get all of the pre-game stuff out of the way.
Nebuchadnezzar II looks over the new, smaller world, with Pedro II and Abd al-Rahman III at either side. This world is populated with the most tenacious (though not necessarily the strongest) competitors of Cycle 1, given a second chance to conquer the world and earn their place among the greats. This will surely be a wild ride, but before Nebby throws the switch and starts the game again, let’s meet our competitors, shall we?
Our first two civilizations here are Cycle 1’s eternal European rivals, the Gauls and Germany. The Gauls are in a bit of an awkward spot here. Europe isn’t as large as it used to be, and Germany could easily box the Gauls in early on. But I wouldn’t count them out just yet - the Gauls have plenty of Mine-related bonuses and plenty of mineral resources nearby to take advantage of. They’ll just need to act fast and play aggressively.
Germany, on the other hand, seems poised to fare much better. Germany kind of under-performed in Cycle 1, especially considering their UA is absolutely perfect for Total War, but it hardly matters now - Germany has ample space to expand on all sides, and their generally-competent AI means that they’re likely to take advantage of this.(If you’re wondering where the bonuses are, don’t worry - they’ll be loaded in next turn.)
Throughout Cycle 1, Lenin’s Soviets were kind of like the opposite of Mark 2’s Stalin - while both were imposing but sleepy at first, Stalin was slowly ground down by enemies that grew larger and played smarter, while Lenin was the one doing the grinding. This has paid off for Lenin - the Soviets have plenty of space to expand now. The Soviets are surrounded by enemies, with Germans to the west and White Russians to the east, but if his reputation is anything to go by, Lenin should be a force to be reckoned with.
Mannerheim’s Finland was also sort of like the opposite of Mark 2’s Finland under Kekkonen - except in this case, that’s a bad thing. While Kekkonen was one of the most wacky and chaotic civilizations the CBR has ever seen, Mannerheim did literally nothing for the entirety of Cycle 1. Considering Finland isn’t even starting in its original capital this time, Mannerheim has his work cut out for him if he even wants to be remembered, let alone win.
Kosovo is a bit of an odd case. They barely survived Cycle 2 by a matter of turns, and of course they’ll be starting with almost no bonuses as a result. However, they also have the Middle East all to themselves, which could give them a chance to build a decent empire if they act fast. But whether they manage to overcome the odds or not, I do at least hope we’ll see Kosovo cause some chaos with their UA that drags their friends into any wars declared on them. There just wasn’t enough of that in Cycle 1!
Perhaps even weirder are the Vandals. The infamously-underperforming Vandals managed to build a massive seafaring empire spanning four continents in Cycle 1, only to almost lose it all in Total War. Now they have another chance, but with their poor AI, the odds of the Vandals being able to outplay their mighty neighbor Nigeria seem unlikely. Will lightning strike twice and allow the Vandals to pull some legendary shenanigans once more? I sure hope so.
Ah, Nigeria. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, you have to admit that they played really well throughout Cycle 1, becoming one of the strongest civilizations in the game by the time Cycle 1 ended and even crippling their main rival Zaire. With plenty of land and several weak neighbors to prey on, Nigeria looks ready to dominate the competition yet again, especially with their UA that grants them extra Food and Faith every time a new citizen is born.
Speaking of Zaire, they’re definitely going to have a rough time in this game after getting ripped apart by Nigeria and Lesotho during Total War. However, it’s not entirely hopeless - their new capital location means they’re not trapped between Nigeria and Lesotho this time, and they should have plenty of room to expand. Surviving shouldn’t be too hard for Zaire. Winning, though, will certainly be a tall order with Nigeria in the way.
Lesotho and Nigeria are sort of like a mirror image of Zimbabwe and Benin from CBRX1. Two African powers, one mighty and dominant, and the other resourceful and tenacious. One along the Gulf of Guinea, and the other in southern Africa. The only difference is that this time, the roles are switched - Southern Africa’s Lesotho has managed to crawl its way out of obscurity by preying on the dying Zaire during Total War, and with their UA that grants cities on hills extra Defense, they should remain a thorn in any African power’s side for a while even if they don’t end up winning.
We have three entire civilizations on this slide, so I’ll make their introductions quick. The Provisional All-Russian Government is a civ that’s perfectly positioned to cause excitement. Their aggressive AI and weaker neighbors mean they could potentially score some early knockouts, and with Great Perm gone, a bloody Soviet-PARG war is all but guaranteed to occur.
Uzbekistan has had such a fall from grace, going from a massive blob in the middle of the map capable of destroying civs from across the continent to a broke, backwards mess that got carved up during Total War. Uzbekistan has a chance to redeem themself here, but they’re also stuck between PARG and Punjab - not an enviable position at all.
Northern Yuan was in the middle of being eaten alive by Malacca when Cycle 1 ended. Despite that, I think they’re honestly a bit of a dark horse going into Cycle 2. The quality and AI and ample room for expansion that got them ranked first in Episode 0’s Power Rankings haven’t changed, so if they play their cards right and don’t fall asleep, they could become a serious threat.
Sitting alone in China is Taiping, who only barely survived Total War with a single city to their name. Things are looking grim for the Brother of Christ going into Cycle 2, but China is full of good land, and Malacca will probably be focusing on naval expansion first - so long as Taiping can avoid the wrath of Northern Yuan, they might be able to form a respectable empire. Too bad their UA is based on capturing cities, something that they almost certainly won’t be doing much of for a while.
Punjab is the polar opposite of Taiping. They performed extremely well in Cycle 1, and they have multiple excellent expansion opportunities and a solid AI. However, Punjab also has to worry about rough terrain that could make conquest difficult, and their weak neighbors could easily box them in if Punjab isn’t careful. It’s a bit of a tricky start, but I’d definitely bet on Punjab here.
Chola performed remarkably well throughout Cycle 1 despite their powerful neighbors, and managed to easily hold out through Total War to make it into Cycle 2. Now they have another chance to make it big and become a naval powerhouse. Unfortunately, the dynamic duo of Punjab and Malacca are still present, ready to box the Chola in and crush them if the opportunity arises. Chola will have to play seriously well if they want to have a chance this time around.
Malacca, the breakout star of Cycle 1, is also here. Successful naval powers are rare in the CBR, but Malacca managed to build a seafaring empire that rivaled even the best land empires of the cylinder - but now they have to do it again. With their sea-focused uniques and plenty of bonuses, Malacca should be fine as long as they don’t decide to focus their efforts inland for some reason (which sounds like something the AI would do), but they do have their work cut out for them if they want to rule not just the waves but the world.
The Kulin start the game off with all of Australia to themselves! While this might sound nice, it’s actually both a blessing and a curse - sure, the Kulin are safe from invasion, but they’ll also have a tough time breaking out of their isolated start and becoming more than just an impenetrable turtle. Then again, they managed that quite well in Cycle 1, so if anyone can manage to secure a solid foothold in Asia or South America from Australia, it’ll be the Kulin.
The Chukchi are one of those civilizations that always feel like they’re on the verge of failure, and going into Cycle 2, that hasn’t changed much. Without any uniques to help them survive in the Arctic, the Chukchi seem like they’ll have trouble building an empire to rival the Dene or Northern Yuan. However, the Chukchi have more space than it seems like they should, and they’ve over-performed many times before - can they do it again?
Nobody expected the Dene to rule North America going into Cycle 1. Their uniques are all geared towards Culture and Religion, and their AI is generally mediocre. But against all odds, the Dene not only survived but thrived, and now they’re entering Cycle 2 as one of the top contenders. Now all they have to do is not sit around and waste their early lead… knowing the Dene, it could go either way.
Going from a massive over-performer to a massive under-performer, the Neutrals should not be here. Ranked third in the Episode 0 Power Rankings, the Neutrals spent most of the game as a rump state before being unceremoniously eliminated. But then the Dene brought them back during Total War and gave them a miraculous second chance in Cycle 2… with no bonuses at all. While they may seem absolutely screwed, remember that the Neutrals were ranked so high initially for a reason. Considering all the space they have, and the tendency of the Dene to underperform, the Neutrals could be the ultimate dark horse… or they could just be a legendary meme civ.
Rio Grande might be one of the most controversial civs in the history of the CBR. Thanks to a bug with their UB (which grants extra city defense for every river tile in the city the UB is built in), Rio Grande’s city defenses grew to absurd levels and made the civ practically untouchable. This bug has been patched in Cycle 2, but now we’re left with a question: did Rio Grande deserve to make it this far, or are they just a fraud that was carried by their UB? I guess we’re about to find out.
Our final competitor is Marajoara. Carrying on the tradition of South American civs becoming serious contenders in the CBR, the Marajoara were so powerful in test runs of Cycle 2 that their bonuses had to be nerfed! It’s no wonder why, either - while their AI is hit-or-miss, the Marajoara have all of South America to themselves, and unlike the Kulin, they have an early naval UU and several targets to conquer. But will the Marajoara live up to the legacy of Brazil? Or will someone else take home the crown? It’s time to find out! CBRX3 Cycle 2 begins… now!
Here come the bonuses! In addition to units and free techs, many civilizations are also starting with religions. Let’s take a look at them, shall we?
First up are the Dene, who have founded Inkoze. Their four extra Settlers and legions of free Swordsmen should give them a serious leg up in North America, which they might need depending on how aggressively their AI decides to play. Their religion is almost guaranteed to do well, though - the Dene UA and UI both provide methods of generating Faith through Tundra tiles.
The Kulin are the next to a religion, founding Tagai. Their bonuses have given them a massive seven extra Settlers, and without any neighbors, they don’t have to worry about spreading themselves too thin, either! You might also notice that the Kulin have Pikemen while the Dene have Swordsmen. This is because each civilization is being given the most advanced melee units they can build with the free techs they’ve chosen. So while the Dene must have chosen Iron Working as a free tech, the Kulin must have beelined Civil Service!
Punjab is the founder of our third religion, Sikhism. Punjab is also looking quite strong thanks to their bonuses (unlike Uzbekistan and Taiping to the north), but they have made the questionable decision to spec into Horsemen for their free units. Horsemen have a damage penalty against cities, which will make early conquest difficult, and the rough terrain and rivers will hamper the extra movement of the Horsemen. Well, it’s not like Punjab needs to conquer anything right away - for now, those Horsemen will be useful for exploring.
Our fourth civilization to found a religion is the Marajoara with Pajelanca! Even with nerfed bonuses, the Marajoara are looking pretty solid - not that they really need any bonuses at all considering their start location. While settling Panama to block the Rio Grande out of South America could be a smart move, it doesn’t seem like the Marajoara care too much about that right now - instead, they’re aiming their Settlers south and east.
Taiping is the next civilization to start a religion, founding Bai Shangdi Hui. Considering Taiping’s miniscule bonuses, this should at least ensure that they leave a mark on the world somehow… provided Northern Yuan and Malacca don’t found religions of their own, of course. But hey! At least Taiping has the first Archer we’ve seen thus far! (Ignore the fact that Northern Yuan has a Catapult, which is a heck of a lot scarier at this point.)
Our final religion for now belongs to Finland, who have founded Lutheranism. All those Forest tiles will help Finland create their unique Rune Singers, which replace Great Writers and can act as Missionaries to spread Finland’s religion. So even if Finland doesn’t do well militarily, their religion seems like it might do extremely well! Their UB the Sauna can also generate Faith and Rune Singer points from Lakes and Marshes, which Finland has plenty of as well.
Now that it’s been a few turns, second cities are starting to pop up! First up, we have the Vandals. They’ve already secured a foothold in Europe with the settlement of Leptis Magna - the Vandals’ UA should give their cities on foreign continents extra Population and Tiles, but in this case all of Afro-Eurasia counts as “one continent” so there’s no bonus. Sorry, Genseric!
Meanwhile, Germany, eager to defeat the Gauls quickly, decides to employ the famed France-conquering tactic of invading Belgium first. Unfortunately, there’s nobody in Belgium to invade right now, so Germany just settles Hamburg in the area instead.
Lesotho builds the first wonder of the game! It’s the Terracotta Army, a Wonder which grants them an extra copy of every type of military unit they own… all two of them. Two extra units hardly make a dent in Lesotho’s already solid military force, but when you share a continent with Nigeria, any extra power is appreciated.
A Rio Grande Scout approaches Chief Antonio Rosillo with big news: deep in Mesoamerica, several ancient pyramids have been found, apparently built by some “Olmec” schmucks thousands of years ago. Not wanting to be outdone by the dead, Rosillo orders the construction of pyramids of his own! Too bad Rosillo’s architects have never seen a Mesoamerican-style pyramid. Rio Grande ends up accidentally building Egyptian-style pyramids instead, but the citizens decide that these are still pretty cool. The people of the sub seem to agree - they’re excited enough to kick off our first Golden Age!
The Dene settle their second city towards the North American heartland. The Dene can settle the tundra to their north any time, but Rio Grande and the Neutrals will be trying to claim the fertile Great Plains as well, so I’d say this is a smart move. The city itself has plenty of resources too!
The Soviets settle their second city of Petrograd to the west, towards Germany. With the All-Russians trapped behind the Ural Mountains and Finland being a total joke, Germany is certainly Lenin’s biggest threat, so a defensible city like Petrograd between them and Moscow is a great call. It’s also a great jumping-off point for further expansion into the fertile lands of Eastern Europe, which Germany will certainly also be racing for.
Speaking of defensible second cities, Zaire’s Lubumbashi has mountains on one side and Jungle on the other, while also being built on top of a hill! Nigeria will have a tough time taking this city for sure, especially with those Horsemen of theirs. Nigeria just might be able to break through with sheer numbers, though, especially after they place all those Settlers and get to building more troops.
Lesotho’s second city of Maseru is another defensible city, at least by land. Mountains and ocean surround the city, and it’s built on a hill, which grants it even more defense thanks to Lesotho’s UA! It’s a fairly conservative settle, though - Lesotho has plenty of land available to settle, but they’ll need to grab it fast or Zaire and Nigeria could easily box them in.
(Also of Note: the Dene, upon learning that Rio Grande built the wrong type of pyramid, constructs their own Mesoamerican pyramids in order to flex.)
Nigeria decides that spiting the Vandals and scoring some sick minerals is a lot more important than access to farmland, and so they settle their second city of Ibadan in the middle of the Sahara Desert. Just outside the city is one of the Vandal UUs, the Alani Horseman! This unit is identical to an ordinary Horseman, except it can also be trained as a Settler. I don’t think that these ones can settle cities, since they were given for free rather than trained, but if they can… oh boy. (Also, the Vandals have three cities now!)
Speaking of spite, Punjab is so mad that Chola managed to hold them off throughout Cycle 1 that they’re not even going to give them a chance this time around. They’ve already forward-settled Chola pretty hard with Amritsar, and now they’re sending another Settler even further south! Luckily, Chola does have a Settler traveling along the eastern coast, so they shouldn’t be completely boxed in just yet. Meanwhile, Taiping wisely settles Jintian in the opposite direction of Northern Yuan, and Malacca kindly demonstrates that they can embark units.
The Kulin’s second city of Barere Barere Balug is fairly tame, but there are plenty more Kulin Settlers already fanning out across the continent. At this rate, William Barak should have no trouble claiming his entire home continent long before anyone else even has a chance to send a Settler over.
The Marajoara decide to settle their second city up the Amazon River. Unlike the Kulin, the Marajoara seem to be keeping all of their units closer to home for now. Well, except for their Great Artist - P’kuee has tasked them with cataloguing all of South America’s natural beauty, a duty they’re eagerly carrying out as we speak. They’ve also sent a Warrior to go make sure that Rio Grande doesn’t get any ideas about settling on Marajoara’s turf.
Rio Grande isn’t interested in expanding into South America, of course - they’d rather build a wall of cities to keep those pesky northerners out of Mesoamerica. Both of their new settlements have sea access, and Monterrey is quite well-defended, so breaking through Rio Grande seems like it’ll be tough even without their defense bug.
The Chukchi have a pantheon, and they’ve chosen Dance of the Aurora as their belief - with all the nearby Tundra tiles, they’re practically guaranteed a religion now. Also, despite having the ability to embark units, the Chukchi don’t seem to be planning on settling in North America just yet. Honestly, this would probably give them a stronger core, so I’d say it’s a good call on Lawtiliwadlin’s part.
Both the Gauls and Germany are now up to three cities, though Germany has two more Settlers and plenty of room to expand. It’s not over yet for the Gauls, though - they have their UU, the Oathsworn! This Swordsman replacement is not only stronger, but also grants a combat bonus to the Gauls upon dying. The Gauls just might be able to bust through Germany if they attack while the Oathsworn are still relevant… but they just don’t have the numbers to earn a decisive victory right now.
The Soviets now have a third city to the east of Moscow, with two more Settlers ready to reinforce the eastern front against the All-Russians! To celebrate, Lenin orders the construction of a massive statue of himself… but it comes out looking nothing like him. Lenin promptly “dismisses” the people who made the statue, and then tries to convince his citizens that it was never meant to be him at all, but rather some “Zeus” guy. Nobody buys it, but they’re obviously not going to tell that to the guy who just murdered hundreds of craftsmen because they built a statue wrong.
Kolchak has been so busy laughing at Lenin’s shitty statue that he’s forgotten to settle a second city! Northern Yuan has taken advantage of this to place Shangdu in what looks like a fairly hard-to-defend location. Hell, even Uzbekistan looks ready to forward-settle All-Russia! Kolchack had better get his act together fast.
The Dene have settled two more cities, both in the tundra. Behchoko will actually be more useful than you might expect - without any ice in the way, the city acts as a port that can access both the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. But of course, if Thanadelthur wanted access to the Pacific Ocean, she could have just settled the west coast…
Joining the Four-City Club are the Vandals, who have been settling the North African coast pretty thoroughly. And with their final Settler seemingly headed for Iberia, the Vandals have pretty much secured control over the Mediterranean. This would be a lot more impressive if anybody else has any cities on the Mediterranean coast. Still, at least they have more cities than Nigeria (until Nigeria uses those three Settlers at the bottom of the image, that is)!
Malacca is wasting no time sending their Settlers out in all directions to secure as much coastline as possible as quickly as possible. More scary than those Settlers, though, is the ship in the waters of the Malaccan capital - that’s a Carrack, the next step up from the Trireme, in a time where most civs don’t even have navies. If Malacca were to build up a small fleet of those right now, they could wreak havoc on the entire Indian Ocean basically uncontested!
To the west, a Punjabi Settler and a Cholan Settler (both on horseback) race to settle the east coast of India while a Malaccan Great Merchant watches.
And the Cholan Settler wins, settling Thanjavur! Chola manages to survive another turn without being totally boxed in, although Punjab certainly won’t be happy about their settling location being stolen. The Malaccan Great Merchant was clearly rooting for the Punjabi Settler, as it sails back towards home in anger.
With a third city placed, the Kulin Settlers continue to spread out across Australia, when suddenly one Settler/Pikeman duo stumble across a massive rock in the middle of the continent unlike anything they’ve ever seen! They rush back to Coranderrk to tell William Barak the news. In the middle of their report, however, their leader suddenly begins to tear up! The two begin to panic, wondering if they’ve done something wrong, but William assures them that it’s alright. He’s just remembering an old friend of his.
The Neutrals still don’t have a second city yet, but they do have a Catapult right there above Kandoucho, so they’ve basically already won. Do the Dene or Rio Grande have a Catapult? I think not.
As a side note, I’m not sure how to count the Neutrals’ living streak anymore. Do we count from Turn 0 of Cycle 2? Do we start from when they were revived back in Cycle 1? I’ll leave that for someone else to decide.
Punjab is apparently pretty angry that Chola won the Settler race, because they’ve just declared war! Not only that, but Malacca is joining in too! Maybe that Great Merchant pulled some strings behind the scenes? Well, either way, this is a pretty big war for Turn 10. Chola should be safe for now, considering Punjab’s army is mostly Horsemen and Malacca has one naval unit, but they could very easily lose their remaining Settler.
Uzbekistan has indeed forward-settled the All-Russians, but now the All-Russians have a second city up too, and they have a third Settler headed towards Uzbekistan. Islam Karimov wisely avoids poking the white bear again and sends his third Settler into Iran instead.
Meanwhile in Tashkent, an Uzbek Great Prophet asks for permission to start a religion. “Not yet,” replies Karimov. The Great Prophet doesn’t understand why they’d need to wait to found a religion, but they comply.
The Chukchi have decided to settle into Asia for now, and so far they’ve built up a respectable little empire. Pagytkenay is entirely made up of Snow tiles, but it’s also a coastal city, so it should be useful enough. Irvykynnot, meanwhile, just looks like a nice and defensible base of operations for future Siberian expansion.
The Neutrals have now settled a second city, Niagara, along the eastern coast, but more importantly, it appears that they’ve actually had a second Catapult all along! I mean, come on. Two Catapults? That’s just overkill. How is anyone supposed to compete with the Neutrals when they have two entire Catapults?
Both Nigeria and Zaire now have three cities, with Nigeria placing Kano next to Lake Chad and Zaire settling Mbuji-Mayi in a hilly region around the Nile. Zaire’s capital of Kinshasa has now expanded into Lake Victoria, too, which should give Zaire a nice bit of food. Looking at the top-left corner of the screen, though, it seems like the Vandals might have both civs beat in terms of interesting settlements…
Not only have the Vandals now settled 6 entire cities, but they’ve also stolen one of Nigeria’s prime city locations with Catina! Those two Nigerian Settlers will be forced to relocate now, and I’m sure that Nigeria won’t be happy about that. But wait - the Vandals only started with 4 extra Settlers. Unless they happened to build a new Settler recently, then the fact that they have 6 cities now means that the Vandals can in fact use their bonus Alani Horsemen to settle cities… which means they effectively have six more Settlers ready to go right now. Oh no.
(As a side note, is it just me, or is the image of those Alani Horsemen next to the Mediterranean absolutely hilarious? I don’t know, it’s just something about that horse model staring tenderly into the sea…)
While not quite as massive as the Vandals, the Soviets now have a solid core of five cities, and I’m pretty sure Moscow is the first capital to reach a Population count in the double digits. By contrast, Kosovo still hasn’t settled their second city - their Settler is currently wandering up through the Caucasus, looking for the perfect city location. On the other side of the Soviet Empire, Germany has a Settler ready to claim the Baltic coast. Lenin had better act fast if he wants a warm-water port!
Lesotho is slowly but surely expanding north. Their third city, Butha-Buthe, is not located on a hill, but it is located on the coast, and there are plenty of minerals nearby. It also looks like Lesotho’s next Settler is headed even further north, but it’s hard to say j right now.
(Also of Note: Lesotho now has a Composite Bowman around Thaba Bosiu! I believe this is the first one we’ve seen.)
Finland finally settles their second city, becoming the second-to-last civilization to do so. Turku is a fine city, but what’s really important about it is that it means Finland is taking advantage of their free access to all of Scandinavia. While they probably still won’t be able to get past Germany or the Soviets, all of this fertile and defensible land should at least help FInland become a highly successful turtle.
The Kulin are expanding nicely, with four cities down and four more Settlers spread out across the region. The Kulin have completely avoided settling the eastern Australian coast, though, apparently due to “bad vibes”. Off in the top-left corner, a Diorite Axeman, touched by William Barak’s tale of his old friends/rivals the Anangu, honors their memory by sailing off into Indonesia.
Punjab is completely failing to make any progress against Chola, and because of the war, they can’t forward-settle them either or else they’d risk losing their Settler. This situation is made worse by the fact that Malacca isn’t even trying to help Punjab in the war effort. Instead, Mansur Shah is focused on building one boat and settling Borneo.
Best Yuan now has three cities and is preparing to settle a fourth. The new city of Yingcheng is settled in the direction of Taiping rather than All-Russia, which is probably a smart move considering only one of those two civs is remotely dangerous. The two Siberian giants seem to be on good terms for now, at least, considering they’re both freely sending Warriors around each other’s lands.Down in Tashkent, the Uzbek Great Prophet asks Islam Karimov once again for permission to found their religion already. Karimov assures them that the time will come, they just need to be patient. The Great Prophet is frustrated, but they obey once again. It’s like Karimov doesn’t even want a religion!
The Kulin are now up to 6 cities, adding Marnebek and Tanjenong to their lineup. Curiously, the city of Marnebek has been settled just out of reach of Uluru, perhaps out of respect for their fallen Anangu brothers. Tanjenong, meanwhile, is a nice solid coastal city with a source of Cotton nearby. Two Kulin Settlers remain!
(Also of Note: The Chukchi build the Great Lighthouse, while Chola builds the Great Library. Great!)
The Marajoara have settled their third city, Pacoval. It’s a nice city with river access, plenty of Forest and Jungle, and many resources within reach. Most of the Marajoara units are still grouped around Camutins and Bichos, though. Meanwhile, the Marajoara Great Artist observes the serene beauty of the Pacific Ocean after making it through the Andes Mountains.
Punjab, not letting their endless war against Chola slow them down, settles two more cities. Multan is super well-defended and could act as a nice jumping-off point for a future invasion of Uzbekistan, while Gajranwala is just a really nice coastal city. Uzbekistan looks ready to settle nearby, though, so war might come sooner than expected.
Meanwhile, up north, the Uzbek Great Prophet doesn’t even get to finish their request to found a religion before Islam Karimov kicks them out of the palace and tells them to wait. The Great Prophet, furious, decides that if their leader doesn’t want their religion, then they’ll just have to take their services elsewhere…
The Vandals now have 8 cities. Cirta is right next to the place where an Alani Horseman was standing last time we saw the Vandals, too, which basically confirms that the Vandals made the 900 IQ play of rushing Horseback Riding so they could get a bunch of bonus Alani Horsemen and then settling all those Alani Horsemen for tons of extra cities. God I love the Vandals. Nigeria isn’t just sitting around and taking this, though - to fight back, they’ve… founded a religion (Itan). Huh.
(Also of Note: The Gauls build the Colossus while Malacca builds the Grand Canal, complete with one very large boat. Perhaps Malacca is building their ships way larger than they need to be, and that’s why they have so few?)
The adventures of the Kosovar Settler continue! This time, our hero has found themselves between two mighty empires destined for war, separated by a treacherous mountain range. Clearly, this is a dangerous land, but the Kosovar Settler and their Warrior companion trudge on through the forest undeterred. They know that, if they can just find the legendary Perfect City Location, then this will all be worth it.
Meanwhile to the east, the Uzbek Great Prophet suddenly appears within the small town of Namangan. They make their way to the city center, climb atop a small podium, and begin to speak…
By the time the Uzbek Great Prophet has finished their speech, the whole town is listening - and what’s more, they’ve taken the prophet’s words as gold. The people turn their backs on the foolish and blasphemous Karimov and instead turn to this great “Allah” that the prophet speaks of. News of the prophet’s treachery quickly makes its way back to the capital, but it’s too late for Islam Karimov to do anything about it - the religion of Shia has been founded, not in Tashkent but in Namangan. (I think this is the first time I’ve seen a religion founded in a city that isn’t a capital!)
Malacca now has five cities, with Singapura on the coast of Borneo and Kelang in a land that Vietnam once called home. In addition, Malacca has also built another very large boat. This time, it’s a Galleass! This means that Malacca is the first civ to build a ranged naval unit, though with only one of them, I doubt Malacca will be taking Cholapuram any time soon.
Meanwhile in India, Punjab’s Horsemen form a wall to prevent any Cholan units from escaping. A Cholan Settler and their Horseman escort are forced to try and blend in to avoid being caught and killed.
The Chukchi are now up to four cities, having settled Uvelen on the northern coast of Siberia. This city will probably be hard to feed, but it’s worth it for all that sweet, sweet snow. Man, the Chukchi must love snow. A less ice-happy Chukchi Settler takes to the seas, deciding to try and find some place that’s a bit less cold.
Sailing next to the Chukchi Settler is the CHukchI UU, the Chuite’nnin! This Composite Bowman replacement gets double the defensive bonus from rough terrain and gains extra experience whenever an adjacent enemy unit dies.
On the eastern fringes of the Dene lands, a Dene Swordsman and a Neutral Warrior argue over whose nation is better. “My nation is the strongest in all the world,” the well-armored Dene Swordsman boasts. “We have a sprawling empire that spans from the top of the world to the great Mississippi River, a thriving capital with many happy citizens, and a mighty army full of master Swordsmen such as myself.” He puffs out his chest and smirks at his opponent.
The Neutral Warrior, looking fairly ragged by comparison, just laughs. “No, MY nation is the strongest. We have two entire Catapults!”
The Dene Swordsman stares at the Neutral Warrior for a few moments, seemingly dumbfounded, before speaking once more. “What the hell is a catapult?”
The Kulin have finally settled all seven of their bonus settlers, bringing them up to eight entire cities. With this, the Kulin have settled pretty much all of Australia, and their Triremes have begun to search out more lands for the Kulin to inhabit. But the Kulin are no longer alone - Malacca has sent one of their abnormally-large Galleasses to scout out Australia.
Germany has built up a solid core of five cities, expanding out in all directions from their capital. In particular, Wilhelm has made sure to set up a nice little buffer between Berlin and Moscow with Munich and Frankfurt. Meanwhile, the Gauls are still stuck at three cities, and they probably won’t be able to settle any more on the European mainland because the Vandals have settled all of Italy and southern Iberia. But with their Oathsworns and Catapults, maybe the Gauls could take a couple Vandal cities for themselves while they’re still undefended?
It looks like Vercingetorix was just thinking that exact same thing, because he declares war on the Vandals and begins marching his army into Iberia! The Vandals have practically no units in the area to defend their new settlements - after all, they just got done using all their bonus units to found cities! Still, conquest can be tricky in the early game… Can the Gauls manage to capture Tacape and Lilybaeum, or potentially even Aleria?
The Punjabi Horsemen are finally managing to deal a bit of damage to Thanjavur. It seems like they’ve also managed to catch the imposter in their ranks, too, because the Cholan Settler and their Horseman escort are nowhere to be seen. On top of all that, Chola is also starting to run out of military units… could this be the beginning of the end of their defense?
Meanwhile in Malacca, a former Great Merchant is granted the title of Great General for their brilliant suggestion to declare war on the Chola. This Great General decides to keep quiet about the fact that they only suggested it because they were mad about losing a bet. (Malacca has also founded Siak, which would be a great jumping-off point for a naval invasion of Chola… just saying.)
Following the instructions of a kind German explorer, the Kosovar Settler makes their way along the Ural Mountains to the very northernmost parts of Siberia. Here, snow blankets the land, and the auroras shine brilliantly in the night. The Kosovar Settler loves it here. But still, it is imperfect. The Kosovar Settler knows that even better lands await on the other side of the Ural Mountains, and so their adventure continues.
The Malaccan Galleass continues its journey around Australia, but it hasn’t gone unnoticed. Word of the gigantic vessel reaches William Barak, who immediately orders his Triremes back from their scouting missions to form a blockade around the waters of Coranderrk. He doesn’t want war with Malacca, but he’s not just going to let the naval superpower waltz on into his lands, either.
Eager to keep up with the Vandals, Nigeria now has five cities down, with a sixth Settler heading all the way to Egypt. Unlike the Vandal nation, Nigeria’s lands are well-defended, too - they have plenty of Horsemen and Catapults at the ready should they ever need to go to war. Considering the Vandals still have two Alani Horsemen, though, it doesn’t seem like they’re done settling new cities just yet. The race for Africa continues!
Lesotho’s fourth city of Teyateyaneng is… honestly a pretty nasty forward-settle towards Zaire. Lesotho isn’t really in any danger of losing the city, though - it’s well-defended, and Lesotho has a network of cities connecting it back to their capital. What’s more, Lesotho has two more Settlers around Maseru that I’d bet are headed to the same region. At this rate, Zaire could be completely boxed in within 15 turns!
They’ve done it! With the last of their strength, the Punjabi Horsemen have taken Thanjavur, marking the first city flip of the game! Chola doesn’t have any units nearby to retake the city, either, so it looks like it’ll stay in Punjab’s hands for the time being. It seems nearly impossible for Punjab to continue on to Cholapuram right now, but this is still a potentially game-ending blow towards Chola and a huge victory for Punjab.
Meanwhile in Malacca, a Punjabi Caravan approaches the capital. These two civs really get along, don’t they? The cylinder might have its first power couple right here.
Ignoring the fact that they don’t really have much of a military to speak of, Taiping is actually doing pretty well right now! They’re up to three cities, including one on the coast, and they have plenty of fertile land in southern China that they can settle without having to worry about pissing anyone off. Not bad for a civ that only had a single city by the end of Cycle 1!
In contrast to the more conservative Taiping, the Neutrals have settled their third city straight into the heart of North America, placing Quinaoutatoua right along the Ohio River. Rio Grande looks about ready to start boxing the Neutrals in with that Settler just to the south, so this was probably the best play for the Neutrals. Sure, it might lead to war, but the Neutrals don’t have to worry about that - they do have two entire Catapults, after all. The Dene and Rio Grande only have one each in this screenshot.
The Chukchi, now at five cities, decide to build a wall. In fact, they decide to build the greatest wall in the world. Unfortunately, after building it, they realize that their wall only covers seven tiles and isn’t really that impressive after all. Even still, the wall becomes surprisingly popular as a symbol of the Chukchi people. The workers who tend to the Decent-Enough Wall eventually come to be seen as spiritual leaders who can “speak” to the spirit of the wall, and from there, the religion of Angakkunngurniq is founded!
Lenin hears from a Kievan border guard that Kosovo’s Settler is still wandering around in the Siberian wilderness, and immediately declares war on his southern neighbor to try and wipe them out before they can build up! Uzbekistan joins in too, because they plan to settle in the Middle East and they don’t want any competition in the area.
While things might seem grim for Kosovo, the truth is that neither the Soviets nor Uzbekistan really have the means to invade Pristina right now, so they’re probably fine for now. Kosovo even has another Settler ready to go, so they won’t be limited to one city for long.
The coalition war against Kosovo is apparently really exciting, because it’s whipped the people of the sub into a Golden Age! Here’s hoping that something actually happens at all.
Meanwhile in the background of the screenshot, we can see that the Gauls aren’t really making much progress against the Vandals, but they’re trying. Aleria has taken a bit of damage, at least!
With the settlement of Sanharao in Colombia, the Marajoara have pretty much completely cut Rio Grande off from entering South America. The two seem like they’re getting along fine enough anyways, though - I can’t think of any other civ that Marajoara’s Caravan could be traveling to.
To the west, the Marajoara Great Artist continues their journey to capture all the beauty of South America by painting the deserts of Peru.
It’s turn 25, which means it’s stat time! Ibn Battuta tells us that Punjab is absolutely stacked. No wonder Malacca was willing to help Punjab wipe out Chola just to trade with them! At 8th place, though, Chola isn’t doing too bad money-wise either. Too bad the AI rarely ever uses Gold.
Right around the middle of the pack we find the money-hungry Malacca. I wonder why they’re not higher on the list? Maybe they’ve been buying stuff from Punjab?
Finally, at the very bottom of our list, we find Taiping. Somehow, they’ve managed to only amass 33 Gold total. Of course, Taiping has much bigger problems to worry about than a lack of money, but one does have to wonder why they’re so poor right now.
The fourth-poorest civilization in the game, Rio Grande, has just founded the religion of In Kaltonal. They’ve also decided to settle Reynosa fairly close to the Neutrals. It’s not like the Neutrals can really do anything about it - Rio Grande has sent a sizable military force to protect the city, and the almighty two Catapults of the Neutrals are a bit less impressive now that Rio Grande ALSO has two Catapults.
If I had to guess which civilization would settle the Sinai Peninsula in this game, I would not have guessed Nigeria - but not only have they done just that, but their new city of Port Harcourt is also a canal city! Nigeria… doesn’t really have much use for a city that connects the Mediterranean to the Red Sea, but it’s still fun that they managed to make it happen.
Meanwhile to the east, Uzbekistan settles Andijan in Iran, blocking off a Punjabi Settler in the process.
The Gauls are finally starting to make progress in Vandal Iberia, taking Lilybaeum into the yellow and dealing a bit of chip damage to Tacape. With multiple Oathsworns and Catapults in the area, Lilybaeum is in serious danger of falling at this rate! Aleria will probably remain in Vandal hands for now, though, since the only Galic melee unit nearby is almost dead.
Islam Karimov has a problem. The religious rebels of Namangan are a pretty serious thorn in his side, but since Namangan is technically a part of his empire, he can’t really invade the city to get rid of them. As such, Karimov makes a bit of a risky play - he invites the mighty All-Russians to take care of the traitorous city for him.
All-Russia has built up one hell of an army since we’ve last seen them, and Namangan is practically undefended, so I see no way that Kolchak fails to take the city. Hell, if he wanted to, Kolchak could probably even capture Tashkent! (Also of Note: Taiping has a Caravan headed towards Northern Yuan, so unlike Uzbekistan, they’re probably safe for now.)
The Dene continue their expansion into the Great Plains with the settlement of Dettah, which contains Old Faithful and is only a single tile away from the Grand Mesa. All in all, I’d say it’s a wonderful city. The Dene are also expanding on other fronts, but curiously, it seems like they’re only just now scouting out Alaska. Will they bother settling the region before the Chukchi do?
The Gauls have captured Lilybaeum! This is an excellent first step in their conquest of Iberia, and it shows that the Gauls don’t plan to just lay down and die even if they’re boxed in. The Vandals aren’t giving up on the city, though - on the coast of Lilybaeum is the other Vandal UU, the Trihemiolia! This Trireme replacement requires Optics to build, but it starts with the Coastal Raider promotion, which gives it a combat bonus against cities. I doubt a single ship will be able to retake Lilybaeum on its own, though…
A Northern Yuan messenger steps into the throne room of a Karakorum palace. “Lady Mandukhai, a caravan has arrived from Taiping!”
Mandukhai smiles. “Excellent. I trust they’ve sent the tribute we requested?”
“About that,” the messenger says, “the entire caravan was apparently empty, save for a single letter. Apparently, it was written by Hong Xiuquan himself.”
“Curious,” Mandukhai responds. “Please, allow me to see what he’s written.”
“Very well.” The messenger hands the letter to Mandukhai, who carefully unseals the envelope and unfolds the letter.
‘more like Snore-thern Yuan lmao’
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So yeah, Northern Yuan declares war on Taiping, and they also found their own religion of Tengriism out of spite while they’re at it. The Chukchi join in too, because they’d really prefer to not get on Northern Yuan’s bad side right now.
Despite being at war with both the Soviets and Uzbekistan, Kosovo hasn’t even had to deal with a single enemy unit so far. In fact, they’re so safe that they’ve managed to settle the city of Prizreni in the Caucasus! This is a pretty well-defended location, with all the mountains and hills around, so having a city in the region should make a Soviet invasion even less likely to succeed. And Kosovo’s finally starting to build up properly, too - they have another Settler built already!
(Also of Note: the Soviets have finally secured a spot on the coast with the city of Nizhny Novgorod in the Baltics.)
With the settlement of Viipuri, Finland now controls who can come in and out of the Baltic Sea. It also gives them sea access, of course, and makes it harder for Germany or the Soviets to sneak a city onto Scandinavia. With a fourth Settler now heading east, Finland has actually managed to build up a nice little empire for themselves!
Rio Grande has finally started expanding into Mesoamerica with their new city of Matamoros. Monterrey has also expanded to contain the Barringer Crater, which should give them a nice Science boost, and there’s another Rio Grande Settler on the other side of Monterrey that I assume is going to be settled along the Pacific coast. Rio Grande is building a solid empire… but will it be enough to let them handle the Dene and Marajoara?
Namangan has fallen to All-Russia! (Does this make Shia an All-Russian faith?) Tashkent is looking much more well-defended than Namangan (which has been suspiciously devoid of Uzbek units for the entire war), but the All-Russian military looks just as strong as when the war started, and there isn’t exactly anything in the way between the All-Russians and the Uzbek capital…
(Also of Note: The Gauls and the Vandals make peace. I guess Vercingetorix is satisfied with Lilybaeum for now.)
A Chukchi messenger bursts into the court of Lawtiliwadlin. “Sir! A Work Boat has returned from its voyage, and its captain says that he found something incredible! There’s a whole new continent to the east!”
Lawtiliwadlin looks unimpressed. “So what? There’s plenty of land where we are now. Is there even anything over there on this ‘new continent’ you speak of?”
“Well… there’s snow, sir.”
Lawtiliwadlin practically jumps out of his seat. “Send a Settler immediately!”
And thus, the city of Kytryn is born. Considering this and the island city of Gachgatagyn, it seems like the Chukchi are finally starting to become a naval empire again. They’re not entirely abandoning Asia, though - they have another Settler heading out west from Guvrel.
Nigeria and Lesotho team up to declare war on Zaire! This… is a horribly unfair war. Nigeria and Lesotho both have solid militaries, while Zaire is weak, small, and entirely surrounded! Their cities are fairly well-defended, so Zaire should be able to hold out for a while, but I could very easily see this leading to an elimination.
After years and years of wandering the Kosovar Settler comes across a particular patch of tundra. It’s bleak, cold, and devoid of fresh water, and the only resources nearby are also present in much more reasonable city locations, but something about it just… feels right. This is it. The perfect city location. The Kosovar Settler cries tears of joy as they plant their flag into the frozen soil. They’ve finally made it. Gjilani is founded.
Germany has founded Mennonism, filling the final religion slot on the cylinder, so let’s take this as an excuse to look at Europe! Germany and the Gauls are both building up solid carpets for this early in the game, so any wars between the two will certainly be intense. The Vandals, meanwhile, don’t have many troops nearby, but they do have Composite Bowmen. The Soviets are already making great use of their port city by pumping out a fairly large fleet of Triremes to scout the Baltic Sea. And finally, Finland has settled Tampere in real-life Finland! I’m sure they’re glad to have Helsinki’s original location back.
The Punjabi-Chola War has reached a stalemate now that both sides have run out of units. In fact, there are so few units present that Chola is just casually sending a Settler through Thanjavur without a care in the world! Without the means to conquer the world militarily, though, Punjab is turning to religious conquest instead, pumping out Missionaries left and right.
The Dene and Rio Grande have been expanding quite a lot recently, and the Neutrals aren’t about to get left behind, so they’ve settled a fourth city with a fifth on the way. Not only that, but the Neutrals have also ascended even further and built themselves a THIRD Catapult, guaranteeing that nobody will ever be able to stand up to them.
I didn’t notice it earlier, but Lesotho is actually really damn strong! They’re now up to 7 cities, and their entire civilization is pretty well-carpeted for this point in the game. Unfortunately, even with all these units, they still haven’t been able to scratch Zaire. A Kulin Trireme has stopped by the new city of Hlotse to witness the fighting, though!
Speaking of the Kulin, they’ve successfully driven off the Malaccan Galleass (which appears to be sailing off the top of the screen) and settled Mareang Balug on the last bit of unclaimed Australia. Still, though, William Barak doesn’t feel comfortable knowing that Malacca’s around, so he orders the construction of a few more Triremes just to be safe. Coranderrk has quite the little navy now!
(Also of Note: the Kulin decide that they’ve honored the Anangu enough and finally claim Uluru.)
As expected, the All-Russians have started to push towards Tashkent, though it doesn’t seem like they’re doing very well. But it gets worse for Uzbekistan: apparently the Holy Order of Namangan has allies to the west, because the Soviets have joined in the war against Uzbekistan, too! This probably won’t result in any actual fighting, but it does show that Uzbekistan isn’t very popular right now. That, or they’re just the easiest target around.
Meanwhile, Uzbekistan has built another Great Prophet around Samarkand. Too bad, Karimov, you already had your one shot at founding a religion.
Ladies and gentlemen, it’s happening! The Dene have decided that they don’t want to risk letting Rio Grande build up any kind of defenses this time around, and they’ve declared war! That may not have been the best idea while they still had a Settler on the front lines, but ah well. Both sides look about evenly matched here, so this will probably end up being a pointless meatgrinder of a war. But if someone does manage to take a city, then that civ will pretty much have free access to the majority of North America! The Neutrals, of course, don’t join either side - they’re more than happy to just build a couple more cities while their neighbors throw away their militaries.
(Also of Note: Northern Yuan joins the Uzbekistan dogpile.)
Kosovo continues to expand despite being actively at war with the Soviets, mostly because the Soviets can’t seem to figure out how to reach Kosovo. The Kosovar core is now made up of three cities, with the new city of Peje also giving Kosovo access to the Mediterranean Sea.
To the east, Uzbekistan manages to make peace with All-Russia by pointing out that, technically, by continuing the war they would be working together with the Soviets. It’s not like All-Russia was making much progress on Tashkent anyways, so I’d say this is a reasonable peace deal.
Lesotho has surrounded Lubumbashi and Nigeria has surrounded Mbuji-Mayi, but neither city has taken any damage just yet. Zaire is definitely not in a good position right now, but they’re also not in immediate danger at this point. On the contrary, it looks like Zaire could potentially take Lesotho’s new city of Hlotse if they wanted! Of course, the city is on a hill, so it has plenty of defense, but it’s practically undefended and Zaire has plenty of units in the area…
(Also of Note: Kosovo and Uzbekistan make peace, meaning that Uzbekistan is no longer at war with any of its neighbors.)
It’s been a good few turns since Northern Yuan declared war on Taiping, but Northern Yuan’s troops are only just starting to reach the borders of their target. Honestly, though, I don’t think that Northern Yuan has the military to conquer Taiping just yet. Their units are all spread out and Taiping is covered in rough terrain, plus they actually have a modest military around Tainjing and Yong’an, so Taiping could definitely manage to stall out their opponent until Northern Yuan is forced to sue for peace. The Chukchi are also obviously not committing any troops to the war.
Taiping may be a decently-successful underdog, but they’re nothing compared to Finland! With five cities and two more on the way, plus a highly defensible set of natural borders, Finland is all set to turtle hard. If all goes well, they might even manage to avoid losing a city until Total War for a second game in a row! They also have a Caravan, which implies they have solid relations with at least one of their neighbors (the Soviets have a Caravan northwest from Moscow, so it might be them?). If that’s true, then it means that they’re even more safe unless their trade partner pulls a Northern Yuan.
The Dene have managed to use that Settler they had on the front lines to found Echaot’l Koye, which has a river and plenty of hills between it and Rio Grande. If the Dene can hold onto this city, then it’ll make Rio Grande expansion a lot more difficult. The city’s taken a bit of chip damage so far, but the Dene have plenty of units nearby and Rio Grande hasn’t mounted a proper attack on the city yet. Meanwhile to the west, the Dene seem to be trying to march an army through the Rocky Mountains to attack Monterrey, with predictable results.
Nigeria has sent a Cavalry squad around the mountains to help Lesotho attack Lubumbashi, which is now defended by only a single Archer. Despite this, the city is still completely undamaged! Mbuji-Mayi is also untouched, though Nigeria is trying to close in. Meanwhile, Zaire’s forces are putting serious pressure on Hlotse. Unbelievably, this war could actually end up backfiring for Lesotho!
Ohhhh shit, here we go! The Kulin decide that they can’t risk waiting for Malacca to build up a proper navy, and declare a pre-emptive war on their Southeast Asian rival! Malacca definitely has the advantage when it comes to naval technology, but the Kulin have a larger number of ships and a well-balanced set of land units traveling alongside their fleet to Singapura. This war could end up determining who rules the Indian and Pacific Oceans in Cycle 2, especially if Singapura falls to the Kulin… this will definitely be a war to keep our eyes on.
And on that cliffhanger, we end this episode! Or at least, we’re done watching things happen. Now it’s time for a few stats! These graphs here are mostly just to show that Cycle 2 doesn’t have any horribly broken civilizations like Cycle 1 did, rather than to provide any readable information, but I can at least confirm that Nigeria is currently leading in terms of score with the Kulin close behind.
Next up we have military scores! Here, it’s actually Germany in the lead, with the Dene in second. I’d bet that the civilization in last place is Chola, although it could also be the Vandals.
Our final stat graph here is Science, with the dynamic duo Punjab and Malacca in first and second place, respectively.
The rest of these slides are going to be all about religion. First up, an overview of all the religions in this game! Some highlights here: the Chukchi religion of Angakkunngurniq is an absolute nightmare to try and write out (thank goodness it’ll probably never go anywhere considering the Dene and Northern Yuan both have their own religions), and Nigeria’s religion of Itan has more followers than the religions of the Marajoara and the Dene despite only having one city.
Here’s the rest of the religions, including the largest of the bunch, Sikhism. It’s not too surprising that Sikhism is currently the top religion, considering that the last time we saw Punjab, they were pumping out Missionaries like there was no tomorrow.
Next, we have a list of all the beliefs for each religion! There’s a lot here and not all of it is super relevant, so I’ll just point out one neat belief for each slide.
First up: Sikhism’s Architect of the Gods, which grants extra Food, Production, Faith, AND Gold from Citadels. Considering how Citadel-happy some civs can get in the CBR, it’s possible that Punjab could end up making great use of this.
Our second set’s highlight is Shia’s Faith Healers, which gives a 25% increase to a city’s Ranged Combat Strength and causes friendly units next to any city that follows Shia to heal 25 extra HP per turn. This is perfect for Uzbekistan, which has basically been forced into the role of a turtle by this point… too bad they didn’t bother to send any units to the only city of theirs which actually followed Shia when they got invaded.
Our third set’s highlight is Itan’s Mandatory Tribute. This belief is a double-edged sword which gives 15 extra Food and Production to its founder’s capital but reduces the Faith and Culture output of all other cities by 2. Not a huge deal in an AI game like this, but it’s still an odd choice for a civilization like Nigeria which will obviously be trying to build a large empire with many cities and already gets plenty of Food from its UA.
Our fourth set’s highlight is the Gallic Pantheon, Monument to the Gods. This belief gives the Gauls an extra 20% Production towards all Ancient, Classical, and Medieval Era Wonders. Considering the Gauls have already built the ever-valuable Colossus, it seems like they’re at least kind of making use of this, but they really could be building more Wonders with this nice bonus.
Also, shoutouts to the Chola Pantheon belief, Oral Tradition. This belief helps the Chola spread their non-existent Religion 15% faster!
The highlight of our fifth set of beliefs is Sikhism’s Society of the Faithful, which gives an incredible +5 Food, Production, Gold, Science, Culture, and Faith from Holy Sites! Punjab could seriously benefit from some Holy Sites if they manage to set any up.
Sikhism is absolutely stacked with useful beliefs, and our final highlight is yet another one of theirs - War Memorial, which grants 1 extra Faith from Walls and Castles in addition to 1 extra Production from Forts and Citadels.
Also worth noting is that Marajoara’s Pajelanca has the Televangelism belief. Not exactly relevant right now, but the image of a jungle-dwelling society in 2240 BCE having televangelists is pretty funny.
Finally, here’s the religion map. Sikhism is definitely the largest religion right now, but Nigeria’s Itan, Germany’s Mennonism, the Kulin’s Tagai, and the Marajoara’s Pajelanca all have plenty of room to grow.
And that’s all for today! Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed. This has been u/daXfactorz aka NopeCopter, and I hope to see you around next time as Cycle 2 continues to heat up. Take care!