Groundhog Day Mk. X - Round 2

Welcome back to the second round of Groundhog Day Mk. 10! Last time, Albania crawled its way to a very late victory, beating out the #2 Maurya. This time it's likely that a different set of competitors will emerge. But who will they be?

The second cities roll out, and some of them just don't make much sense (Qin, I'm looking at you).

Unsurprisingly, the first war is against Qin, as Islam Karimov of Uzbekistan declares war on Ying Zheng.

Another war begins as Maurya declares war on the Geats. Seems to me that Beowulf might be facing another early exit.

India declares war on Newfoundland, which is one of several civs to have already built a third city.

Another of those is Thayae Khittaya, which has also become a target as Sonora and Maurya declare war.

Sonora easily takes Beikthano, dropping Thayae Khittaya back to two cities.

Numidia and Albania declare war on Uzbekistan, which expended a large portion of its army trying unsuccessfully to take Jiangzhou.

Newfoundland makes peace with India and gives away Corner Brook, which Indira will be hard pressed to actually connect with the rest of her empire (except by water).

Maurya finally captures Lödöse from the Geats. Beowulf just isn't living up to that one test round where he conquered much of the east.

The Central African Empire joins the war against Uzbekistan. It's now a race to see who will take their cities.

Newfoundland gives away another city, this time to Vietnam. Congratulations Edward Morris, you're a fucking idiot!

The CAE swarms into Uzbekistan, capturing Samarkand, while three armies converge on Tashkent.

11 turns later, Bokassa snipes Tashkent, eliminating Islam Karimov of Uzbekistan in 21st place! (I promise you Jake, they'll finish higher next time. Sorry.)

Thayae Khittaya ends its long-running war with Sonora by giving away Hanlin, reducing themselves to a city-state.

Vietnam attacks Newfoundland again, seeking to finish them off, but geography might make this a slog.

Uh-oh, there's another coalition down here, as Switzerland, Ezo, and Numidia all declare war on the Central African Empire! This is what Bokassa gets for eliminating Uzbekistan!

Numidia rolls into Tashkent, but it doesn't look like Bokassa has given up on the city yet.

Time for the turn 100 stats! First off, India has the largest military, followed at some distance by the Blackfoot, Sonora, and Navarre.

India also has the highest crop yield, beating out Vietnam by just three points.

But Navarre has the most production, with two more hammers than India.

Tashkent flips back to the CAE and is then sniped by Switzerland. It's amazing that four civs have held this capital already.

Switzerland then also takes Samarkand, driving Bokassa back to his original cities.

But guess what—it's coalition time! Numidia, Albania, the Blackfoot, and Qin all attack Switzerland! I swear, whoever holds Tashkent is cursed!

Albania takes Tashkent, again sniping it from Numidia. Massinissa is probably starting to get pissed—although maybe it's a good thing, seeing how the city brings doom on whoever holds it.

Qin takes Zürich, smashing the city in between the two halves of their empire.

Meanwhile, the previous coalition against the CAE is disbanded, and Bokassa gives away Mbaiki to Numidia in the peace deal.

Numidia captures Bern! At least Massinissa got a capital out of his contribution, even if it's not the one he's been trying to get for like the last 50 turns.

And then Albania takes Samarkand, eliminating Henri Dufour of Switzerland in 20th place.

Oh hey, there it is. Numidia and Qin declare war on Albania, because fuck whoever holds Uzbekistan's former territory, right?

Remember this war? Fifty turns after it started, Vietnam finally captures St. John's, eliminating Edward Morris of Newfoundland in 19th place.

Numidia takes Tashkent while Qin grabs Samarkand. Now that the Uzbek lands are split, the curse might be broken.

However, Qin is at war with the CAE, so Bokassa moves in and takes back Samarkand.

Vietnam builds the great wall, probably to keep out Sonora, because William Walker's army is fucking enormous.

Oh hey, would you look at that. Sonora has declared war on Vietnam!

After 15 turns, Saigon falls, although it will flip. The great wall is definitely slowing them down.

Numidia declares war on the Central African Empire! Why does Massinissa want to take Samarkand? Doesn't he know that whoever holds both Tashkent and Samarkand will quickly lose them?

The coalition against Albania suddenly reforms, now involving the Inca, Aleuts, and Ukraine.

Bokassa recaptures Mbaiki, the city he gave away to the Numidians.

The war actually starts off fairly well for Albania, as Skanderberg captures Machu from the Inca.

But then Machu is captured by Ukraine... can Yulia Tymoshenko pick up the slack where Pachacuti has failed?

The Numidians take Samarkand. However, I think the curse is probably broken, since none of Massinissa's neighbours could effectively take him on right now.

The Inca strike back, capturing Durres, while Machu has flipped to Albanian control again.

Albania also takes Kharkiv! This is a huge blow for Ukraine!

After a prolonged battle that I completely forgot about, Maurya captures Thayae Khittaya, eliminating Duttabaung of Thayae Khittaya in 18th place.

Now it's time for the turn 200 stats! Qin and the Blackfoot now top the military manpower charts, which is interesting since their main rivals are each other.

Five civs are tied for the lead in tech: Vietnam, Maurya, the Numidians, India, and Sonora. Most other civs are only a couple techs behind.

Numidia now has the most production, outstripping Qin by a significant margin. Sonora is just one hammer behind Qin.

Out of nowhere, the Aleuts swoop down and take Machu and Kharkiv! Agugux is the hero the coalition needed, if not the one they deserved.

Albania takes back both cities, and the Aleut fleet appears to have mostly dissipated.

Bokassa makes peace with Massinissa and gives away Mbaiki again. Then again, IRL Bokassa was not known for being a sane man.

Sonora and Papua team up against Maurya! This will be a tough fight, but William Walker is already on the offensive, damaging Thayae Khittaya.

Albania makes peace with the Aleuts, allowing them to have Machu but retaining control over Kharkiv.

Maurya does what it can to hurt Sonora and takes Hanlin, but this might have pulled too many troops away from where they're most needed.

Indeed, Sonora captures Thayae Khittaya later that same turn.

Navarre declares war on the Aleut, triggering the largest naval war of the round so far.

Agugux manages to capture the Basque forward settle of Tudela, which is a worthless snow island city.

However, Navarre gets the much more valuable city of Machu.

Having made peace with Sonora, Ashoka launches a new campaign to eliminate the Geats, perhaps to rebuild his damaged ego after that war with Sonora.

And Skara quickly falls, eliminating Beowulf of the Geats in 17th place.

F

Numidia attacks the Central African Empire again, and this time Bokassa is facing total elimination.

At the same time, a new coalition is formed against Albania, including the Numidians, Ukraine, and the Inca.

Numidia captures Bangui soon afterward, eliminating Bokassa I of the Central African Empire in 16th place.

In the background, Navarre joins the Albanian coalition.

Sancho quickly capitalizes on his participation in the war against Albania, taking Kharkiv.

The city then flips back to Albania and then even farther back to Ukraine. On the same turn, the Numidians capture and raze Krujë.

Sonora declares war on Vietnam again, although this time it might be even harder to breach the Trung Sisters' great wall.

Turn 300 arrives, triggering another round of stats. Navarre now has the most soldiers, just barely edging out Maurya.

Sonora, Maurya, and Navarre are now tied for the most technologies as some of the previous leaders begin to flag.

However, Numidia has the undisputed lead in production, with 76% more hammers than #2 Sonora.

And back to the action...

Navarre has captured Tirana, eliminating Skanderbeg of Albania in 15th place.

Sonora's first capture in the war against Vietnam is actually St. John's, which at least gets them another capital even if they still haven't flipped the great wall.

However, this might be what does it: the Blackfoot join the war against Vietnam!

17 turns later, Sonora finally captures Hanoi.

But, during that time, Sonora and the Blackfoot declared war on each other, and now Crowfoot has captured Hanoi.

Then Maurya also declares war on Sonora! Could this be it for William Walker and his slave-owning separatists?

Maurya recaptures Thayae Khittaya, taking advantage of the new crossbow technology.

Numidia and Qin finally remember than Ezo exists and decide to team up to do something about it.

Maurya continues its rampage, taking Beikthano, but Sonoran resistance is beginning to mount.

The Numidians capture Hakodate, netting Massinissa a fifth original capital.

Qin takes Sapporo five turns later, eliminating Enomoto Takeyaki of the Ezo Republic in 14th place.

Meanwhile, Numidia is also at war with the Aleuts, so Massinissa captures and razes Adamagan.

After fierce fighting, Sonora has actually managed to recapture Beikthano and Thayae Khittaya.

Ashoka also gets a nice windfall from Vanuatu as Roymata gives away Mangaas in a peace treaty.

Time for the turn 400 stats! The Numidians have risen from sixth all the way to first in military manpower, while Qin has also climbed back above Navarre. Sonora remains in fourth.

The Numidians join Navarre, Sonora, and Maurya in their tie for the tech lead.

But Massinissa's lead in production has actually shrunk, as Navarre gains over 100 hammers and the Numidians gain just 13.

Now Massinissa declares war on the Blackfoot, which might be a bad decision, because Crowfoot is heavily defended by both rough terrain and a large, up-to-date army.

Navarre declares war on both the Aleuts and Ukraine. It's a bold move; will it pay off for Sancho III?

Finally, Sonora manages to get in and capture Mount Pearl, eliminating the Trung Sisters of Vietnam in 13th place.

Qin joins the war against the Blackfoot! With Ying Zheng and Massinissa working together, now the invaders might have a shot.

At the same time, Numidia and the Aleuts team up to attack India. Massinissa has already completely isolated Bombay by surrounding it with citadels.

Navarre, having quickly decided the war with the Aleuts was a mistake, made peace and focused on Ukraine. The outcome of that stands before us: Sancho III has captured Kyiv, eliminating Yulia Tymoshenko of Ukraine in 12th place.

Numidia takes Bombay, but Massinissa doesn't seem to have comitted many units to the fight.

Navarre wins the world's fair project by a pretty wide margin.

Ah, I see Massinissa has now gotten his shit together! A huge Numidian army swarms into India, taking Delhi.

And now for the turn 500 stats! The Numidians retain their lead in military, while Sonora has risen from fourth into second.

The Numidians have dropped back out of the tie for the tech lead, returning it to the three leaders from turn 300.

Everyone's production is growing massively, but Numidia's growth is the largest, keeping them comfortably on top.

Maurya declares war on Papua! Time to get revenge for that time Rajapapua sneakily teamed up with William Walker...

Navarre declares war on the Inca in a bid to unite the western peninsula. Terrain is working to Pachacuti's advantage, but Sancho's military tech is clearly superior.

Maurya takes Hanuabada with a handful of units, but it looks like it might flip a lot.

Navarre captures Durres and begins a siege of Cusco!

Cusco falls! Sancho is making this look easy!

After capturing Káínaa, the Numidians make peace with the Blackfoot. Crowfoot hands over Aapátohsipikáni in the peace treaty.

And Navarre captures Tiwanaku, eliminating Pachacuti of the Inca in 11th place! However, Sancho immediately faces a retaliatory attack from the powerful Numidians.

Massinissa manages to take Kyiv, but Sancho's superior technology is holding the line elsewhere.

...Or not. Numidia captures Tirana.

Numidia also takes Kharkiv, but loses Kyiv again.

Qin captures Siksikáwa, mostly finishing what Numidia started. The Blackfoot still have one island city left, but this doesn't stop Ying Zheng's UA from triggering, allowing him to build Blackfoot uniques.

Four turns later, Qin also takes Aamsskáápipikani, eliminating Crowfoot of the Blackfoot in 10th place.

Sancho and Massinissa make peace with Navarre keeping Kyiv and the Numidians keeping Tirana and Kharkiv.

The turn 600 stats reveal that the Numidians have taken major losses in all these conquests. Massinissa has dropped to fourth, below Navarre, while Sonora has taken the top spot.

Sonora and Navarre are now the only civs tied for the tech lead as Maurya proves unable to keep up.

However the Numidians still wield a commanding lead in production.

Oh shit, Massinissa is NOT done conquering! Despite his dwindling military, he decides to take on the Qin. A risky move, but will it pay off?

The Numidian navy takes down Sapporo, but Ying Zheng has actually dealt surprising damage to Bern.

Qin is also at war with Vanuatu, and has actually captured Falesa.

Jianzhou, the forward settle that should have been taken on like turn 50, is captured by Numidia.

Navarre attacks the Aleuts again! This time, however, Sancho looks like he's committed to fighting it out.

In a surprise turn of events, Sonora captures Teouma, the capital of Vanuatu.

The Numidians push a little farther, taking Zürich. Qin appears to be running low on units.

...But that won't stop them from capturing Aapátohsipikáni!

Suddenly, both Navarre and Sonora declare war on the Numidians! Massinissa is in MAJOR trouble! His army is depleted and both attackers have better military tech. Navarre does at least still have to deal with the Aleuts, but the Numidians' western cities are practically undefended and totally up for grabs.

Navarre easily recaptures Tirana, but the Aleuts appear dead set on capturing Kyiv.

Indeed, Kyiv falls. Could the Aleuts actually save Massinissa's ass?

Navarre also takes Kharkiv, but that was a given.

Haha, Agugux is really trying! He's actually taken Kharkiv!

Meanwhile, the Numidians also lose more ground to the Qin as Ying Zheng captures Káínaa.

The Numidians also took Nanzheng a few turns ago and I forgot to screenshot it.

Navarre recaptures Tudela, which spent much more time in Aleut hands than under Basque control.

Navarre and the Numidians make peace now that Sancho has regained the cities he lost earlier.

Sonora attempts to make some inroads of its own, briefly capturing Delhi.

The turn 700 stats reveal that the order of the top four in military manpower hasn't changed.

Sonora now has the lead in tech by itself, pulling just slightly ahead of Navarre.

But Numidia still has the most production, and its hammer count has actually grown despite losing cities.

Now able to focus only on the Aleuts, Sancho III retakes Kyiv.

The Numidians retake Delhi and make peace with Sonora.

And the Numidians also make peace with Qin, having regained Káínaa but lost Nanzheng. Also on this slide: Maurya and India both attack Qin.

Ying Zheng swiftly strikes back at the attackers, taking Mangaas from Maurya.

But then Sonora attacks Qin, swarming Ying Zheng's cities with an enormous wave of units.

Meanwhile, Navarre eats farther into the Aleuts, taking Chaluka.

Then Agugux agrees to make peace, handing over Ounalashka and Sanak.

Sonora takes Aapátohsipikáni from Qin.

Without warning, Numidia declares war on Navarre! Navarre's tech is still better, and their armies are similar in size, so I just can't see this as a good move by Massinissa.

Sonora captures Aamsskáápipikani and closes in on Siksikáwa as well.

Wow, the Numidians have actually quickly and effectively won the war against Navarre, capturing Kyiv and then immediately making peace.

Sonora takes Siksikáwa.

Meanwhile, Ashoka decides to finally finish off his old rival Rajapapua.

And the Numidians declare war on Qin again, trying to get in ahead of Sonora.

Massinissa takes Nanzheng...

Sonora captures Chengdu...

Maurya takes Elevala...

...And Boera, eliminating Rajapapua of Papua in 9th place.

Numidia gets Xianyang, the Qin capital. Ying Zheng is exiled to his Vanuatuan snow city.

HOLY SHIT, IT'S NUMIDIA SANDWICH PART 2! Navarre and Sonora team up on the Numidians again, and this time, Massinissa looks like he's in even bigger trouble than before!

Sonora takes Káínaa and Navarre captures Kyiv.

Sonora also takes Delhi but loses Chengdu.

Navarre takes Bangui, and it looks like Mbaiki has also flipped.

Meanwhile, Sonora captures Falesa, eliminating Ying Zheng of Qin in 8th place.

Back on the Numidian front, Sonora also takes Theveste.

Navarre captures Lambaesi but has lost Bangui.

Sonora retakes Chengdu and captures Xianyang, but troops are pretty thin on the ground over here.

Sonora pushes inland from the northm capturing Bombay with help from Navarre.

Bombay then flips back to Numidia and over to Navarre. The Numidians have also retaken Lambaesi. India and the Aleuts join the war, although there's no way they'll get anything.

Things start looking much worse for Numidia as Sonora flips Capsa and Navarre retakes Bangui and Lambaesi.

Sonora captures Rusicada...

And then the two sides make peace.Sonora gained Xianyang, Káínaa, Rusicada, Delhi, and Theveste while Navarre gained Kyiv, Bangui, Lambaesi, and Bombay.

Our dynamic duo then teams up on a much less threatening target: the Aleuts.

Navarre easily captures Anangula, eliminating Agugux of the Aleuts in 7th place.

Suddenly, Sonora attacks Maurya, even though it appears as though Ashoka has a larger army. We'll see how this goes.

Thayae Khittaya flipped, but Maurya appears to have repulsed the attack.

Sonora then begins to dismantle Maurya thanks to huge air support, taking Taxila.

Pataliputra is the next to fall!

Then Mathura!

We momentarily interrupt this dramatic conquest to bring you the turn 800 stats. Sonora has the largest army by a pretty wide margin.

Maurya actually has the most techs now, for whatever good it's doing them. Navarre has also overtaken Sonora.

And Sonora now has the most production, but Navarre is not far behind at all. Both civs have totally eclipsed the Numidians.

Sonora takes Hanuabada but has lost Mathura.

Navarre wins the international games, while Sonora comes in third.

Suddenly, Maurya makes peace with Sonora and gives away literally all their remaining cities except for Hanlin. I think Sonora probably has the overall advantage now.

William Walker decides to clean up India, which should have been eliminated long ago.

At the same time, Navarre declares war on the Numidians again. Navarre's tech is vastly superior, but Massinissa's army is still not to be messed with.

India loses Corner Brook...

And Bangalore also falls, eliminating Indira Gandhi of India in 6th place.

Numidia is actually pushing back against Navarre, retaking Bangui.

Massinissa also retakes Lambaesi.

Meanwhile, Sonora attacks Maurya again.

Somehow, Ashoka manages to capture Skara.

The Sonora takes Hanlin but not Skara, leaving Ashoka with only a city that's in resistance.

And Sonora quickly retakes it, eliminating Ashoka of Maurya in 5th place. It's down to the big three, and Vanuatu, which has one snow tile.

Navarre is now back on the offensive, taking Bangui and sending a huge wave of troops toward Numidia's depleted cities.

Navarre captures Cirta, the Numidian capital!

But suddenly, Sonora declares war on its erstwhile ally, Navarre! What the fuck is happening!

Sonora captures Bombay and the Numidians retake their capital.

The Numidians and Navarre make peace, with Numidia having gained Lambaesi.

Sonora takes Anangula...

OH MY GOD WHAT THE FUCK?????? Massinissa unexpectedly declares war on William Walker! What an absolute madman!

First, the turn 900 stats. Numidia and Navarre put together have about 24,000 more troops than Sonora, which amounts to like four units. Seriously.

Navarre has an enormous tech lead over Sonora now, but Sonora has an eve bigger lead over Numidia. We don't speak about Vanuatu.

Sonora's production lead is unquestionable, but Navarre and Numidia put together have 52 more hammers.

Massinissa starts off by retaking Bombay while Navarre recaptures Anangula.

Navarre also takes Rusicada.

However, Sonora's vast air superiority is proving deadly, as William Walker randomly flips Bern, Numidia's largest city.

In an act of revenge, Massinissa captures Xianyang.

William Walker then randomly flips Zürich. This is going to be an effective strategy—wear down Numidia by randomly flipping all their cities.

The strategy works, and Sonora pushes forward, taking Xianyang, Bern, Capsa, and Bombay.

Cirta follows. Each of the big three has no at some point held Numidia's capital, and Numidia is still one of the big three... well.. okay not anymore really.

Sonora continues its rampage, taking Auzia.

But then Navarre takes advantage of the situation and captures Auzia, Cirta, and Bombay!

Sonora retakes Cirta and Bombay but loses Capsa. Numidia is just down there watching like "wtf is going on"

Sonora captures Rusicada, and Numidia somehow manages to get back in and retake Capsa.

Numidia also retakes Auzia while Navarre gets back into Cirta and Bombay.

Massinissa somehow manages to recover his capital after it flipped back to Sonora, but in the process he loses Sapporo. Several cities appear to have been nuked.

Sonoraa takes Cirta, it flips back to Navarre, then Massinissa makes peace with Sonora and gives away Jiangzhou, Hippo Regius, Samarkand, Lambaesi, Auzia, and Capsa. A couple of those might have already been captured but it's hard to tell.

Navarre takes advantage of the chaos and captures Rusicada, Auzia, Capsa, and Theveste.

Sonora retakes Cirta, Capsa, and Bombay but loses Lambaesi and Samarkand.

On the next turn, Sonora retakes Samarkand, and... Numidia declares war on Navarre? Lol okay then.

Numidia takes the opportunity to recapture Auzia, while Navarre has retaken Samarkand.

Samarkand then flips to Numidia. Sonora is blocked off from a large part of the front.

Numidia also takes Lambaesi, while Navarre takes Auzia only for it to flip to Sonora, along with Rusicada and Theveste.

Sonora takes Kyiv, while Navarre has recaptured Lambaesi.

Anangula falls...

Tashkent flips to Navarre and then to Sonora. There's fallout everywhere now, indicating a liberal use of nuclear weapons by all sides.

Numidia retakes Bangui and Lambaesi goes to Sonora.

Sonora takes Tirana; Navarre has recaptured Bangui...

This time Sonora gets Bangui.

Kharkiv falls...

Just letting you know that Sonora has fucking crushed the international space station contest.

And Navarre makes peace with Sonora, giving away Durres, Tiwanaku, Bilbao, San Sebastian, Vitoria, Barakaldo, Ouanalshka, and Sanak in the process, although Navarre keeps Kharkiv and Tirana.

Sonora then decides to finish off Numidia.

But first, Massinissa gives away Samarkand to Navarre, just to fuck with William Walker I guess.

Two turns later, both Hakodate and Mbaiki are captured, eliminating Massinissa of the Numidians in 4th place.

Sonora then declares war on Vanuatu and takes Napatau instantly, eliminating Roymata of Vanuatu in third place.

Then, just one turn later, Sonora attacks Navarre again. Samarkand and Tirana have already fallen.

Another turn, and Kharkiv and Getxo are captured.

And then it's over: with the fall of Pamplona, Sonora has won round 2!

The score now stands as follows:

Albania: 1
Sonora: 1

Round 3 is already fully filmed, so I'll try to get it out next weekend. Thanks for reading!