Mediterranean AI - Part: 7 Great Powers go to War

Hello all, welcome back to the Mediterranean AI game, I’m u/porkpot and I’m your host.

The votes are in, and the results are as follows! Out of 20 votes, Rome received 5 votes, a massive vote of confidence from the audience. Spain, Iberia and the Guanches received 2 each, while Serbia, Sparta, Trypillia, Turkey, the Golden Horde, Egypt, the Berbers, Sicily, and France all received 1.

As is now tradition, we start his part with one of u/SeroSedSerio’s excellent maps. Last part we saw the beginning of the end, and the actual end, of a few civs, including Ptolemies, the Tuareg, Portugal, and the Visigoths.

Starting this part, we see Venice down in the yellow as Rome’s attack continues to ravage their lands. There’s a small force around Padua that the Venetians are using to cause trouble, but I’d be surprised if they manage to recapture the city once more. There are also many Bosnian forces in northern Venice, perhaps they’ll intervene on one side or another, or perhaps they’re going for the Lombards.

In Africa, the Berbers and Vandals declare war on Carthage. Hannibal will have his work cut out for him defending against the blue and tan, while keeping up appearances against the Numidians.

In the northern Black Sea, the Trypillians are still at war with the Hetmanate, and while progress is slow, the Hetman army is looking threadbare near Dnipropetrovsk. Towards Neblivka, the Hetman army gathers with their UU, the Serdiuk, a musketman replacement that pillages for free and is cheaper to produce than its normal counterpart.

Return to the Aegean Sea, as the Spartans declare war on Byzantium, bringing the Moldovans along for fun. The Byzantines are already at war with the Turks and Bulgarians, and appear to be struggling with them, so adding in the powerhouse that is Sparta will certainly cause them nothing but grief.

In the Nile, Napata falls to the Old Kingdom, as the Rashidun army passes overland to head south to attack the Nubians. Nubia’s starting location is a mixed bag. They have high population due to the Nile, but they have low production for the same reason. Their only productive city is Meroe, which is on a map border limiting its potential.

To the west, the Berbers are still finishing of the Tuareg, where Zinder should fall shortly. In more peaceful news, the Trypillians and Hetmanate have made peace, as have the Golden Horde and Georgia

Hannibal, never one to go silently into the night, takes the fight to the Vandals, attacking Hippo Regius. The Vandal navy has something to say about that as they crush a single Carthaginian Trireme against the coast in retribution. We can see the final Libyan unit, a great general. Perhaps Qaddafi promoted himself and is now in exile along with his staff?

Near Cyprus, the Hittites are mounting an offensive to take out the Phoenicians. The Hitties are apparently making great progress from their long ago existence as a city-state. They’ve recaptured Tarhuntassa, and are taking the offensive to capture Berytos.

Return to the Aegean, the Spartan navy has taken to the seas in an attempt to introduce Leg Day to the denizens of Akko. Nicea is somehow still Byzantine, and Adrianople is resisting Bulgarian probes.

Near the Pyrenees, the Iberians have declared war on the French. Apparently Indibilis has decided that Napoleon is too big for his boots after taking out the Visigoths. Indibilis has a simple strategic outlook: take Toulouse to reinforce Toledo, but appears to be attacking Lyon. Napoleon’s strategic outlook is better in my opinion: Take Toledo using forces from the interior while holding the line everywhere else, then send all forces to attack Numantia.

The small Venetian force around Padua has been all but defeated, as the Romans bring up the heavy artillery for the siege of Venice. It looks like a waste of time to bring cannons to a city in the red, but whatever floats their boats I suppose.

Phoenicia has been eliminated by the Hittites! They live on in the form of a composite bowman and a great prophet, but they are effectively eliminated.

The Phoenicians (Rank: 49/58) started the game well, founding lots of cities. This prolific expansion perhaps led to their downfall, as they didn’t build a large army to defend their holdings. They were at war with the Umayyads, Abbasids, Israelis, Hittites, and perhaps even some others that I have forgotten.

Byzantium looks worse for wear all of a sudden as the Spartans capture Akko and the Turks capture Nicea. The Byzantines aren’t eliminated yet, but it doesn’t look promising for them.

The Tuareg have been eliminated this time! The Berbers had little trouble eliminating the final remnants of that civilisation, and they can now turn northwards for their war against Carthage.

The Tuareg (Rank: 48/58) settled a small group of cities in their core, and a colony in what is essentially Berber lands. They fought many wars against the western Umayyads, as well as the Algerians, but made little to no progress and were thus banished to Zinder. From there, it was only a matter of time until they were eliminated.

Little progress in the Carthage-Vandal war. The Carthaginian army continues to attack Hippo Regius, as the Vandal navy pushes northwards in an attempt to round the northern point of Tunesia.

In Iberia, things are looking up for the Portuguese. They’ve reduced the number of belligerents they’re facing by one by making peace with the Asturians. I’d still say that they’re doomed though, as the Spanish have a large modern army approaching with conquest in their hearts.

A quick pause in the action to see those who are on average busier than the rest.

As well as those who are not.

In a great moment of warfare, the Israelis declare war on the Abbasids. Israel has an extremely large army, thanks to their UA which grants them either a settler, worker, or military unit every so often. Unfortunately for the Abbasids, their army is pretty small and won’t do much to stem the oncoming onslaught.

Something tells me that the Ptolemies are in trouble, as all of the land tiles of their capital but one are occupied by the Guanches. The Ptolemies’ other holdings, such as formerly Ayyubid lands, appear to be safe from Guanche intervention for now, but odds are it won’t remain that way for long.

Sensing weakness, or struggle at least, the Numidians have declared war on Carthage. Hannibal will likely need to bring the offensive against the Vandals to a halt and focus on defense. It’ll be tough, but Hannibal should be able to work his way out of this one without losing too much.

To the south of Iberia, the Moroccans and Spanish declare war on the Umayyads. I think that the Umayyads will be fine in this, as the Spanish are a body of water away and the Moroccan army is wildly dispersed.

Return to Anatolia as the Byzantines, upset over the loss of Nicea, have taken the offense in the south to attack Adana. They will likely make some progress here, but it’s already a 1-pop city, so its military value is dubious.

Here it is lads and lasses, the fall of Venice. The Italian peninsula looks more complete now as the north adopts a nice shade of red.

Venice (Rank: 47/58) did typical Venice things in the beginning, as they stayed small, even after founding their second city (thanks to the extended Venice mod allowing them to build settlers). They severely annoyed the Lombards by preventing them from settling their second city, then fell to Rome in a part and a half.

The Franco-Iberian war is going decently well depending on who you’re rooting for. The French have brought Toledo down to half health, and Iberian forces have broken through to the outskirts of Lyon. My bet is that Toledo falls and that the French hold on to Lyon without too much trouble, but it’s been a while since I ran this part of the game so I can’t really remember what happens to clearly.

In Iberia, things are getting worse for the Portuguese. The Spanish have practically surrounded their capital, and the Portuguese army is in no shape to hold back the tide of Spaniards.

In Northern Africa, things have taken a turn for the weird, as the Algerians and Umayyads have declared war on the Numidians for their unprovoked attack on Carthage. The two-front war that Carthage is currently fighting has been imposed upon the Numidians in turn, and the Umayyads have done it to themselves, as they’re at war with the Moroccans.

The Abbasid city of Tyre has fallen to Israel. Their army is really large, and heading northwards. It looks pretty OP, but knowing the future I think all things will work out equally.

Hippo Reggius is in the yellow, but Utique is about to start taking damage. I don’t know what I would do were I Hannibal in this situation. Conquest is nice, but you have to have a base from which to conquer…

France has successfully conquered Toledo from the Iberians. Now all they need to do is to throw them back to the other side of the Pyrenees for a strong defensive line. Knowing the AI, they won’t do that because it would make too much sense for them to do so.

Rome makes peace with the Venetians, as the Bosnian offensive against Lombardy fails. The Cordboans construct the Leaning Tower.

The Serbians and Croatians declare war on the Hungarians. Hungary is really pitiful, hopefully they’ll put it out of its misery…

Well, like I said, they likely won’t do anything smart. The Iberians and French make peace. What could have been a decent war for the Iberians turned into an outright failure. They should have made great progress against Toulouse and perhaps Lyon, but they waited too long to push forward and lost Toledo in the meantime. Overall a win for the French.

The Nubian capital of Luxor has fallen to the Old Kingdom. Egypt has made great progress this game, taking out most of the Ayyubids in the north followed by the Nubians in the south.

Adrianople is taking damage from the Bulgarians, as the Spartan navy heads to the south in an attempt to take care of Byzantine cities there.

In the Middle East, the Kurds and for some reason Bulgarians have declared war on the Umayyads. The Kurds are habitual enemies of the Umayyads, but the Bulgarians are newcomers to the quagmire that is this region.

The Portuguese capital falls to yellow, and it’s all but a matter of time until it falls.

Not content with taking on the Abbasids, the Israelis decide to join the crusade against the Umayyads and declare war on them. They’ll have to fight through the Abbasids first however.

The Umayyads of the west make progress against the Moroccans, taking Casablanca. They can likely make good progress if they continue, but the gains will be costly.

Hoping to grab the glory for themselves, the Cordobans have declared war on Portugal! If they manage that, it would give them a line of attack against the Asturians for expansion.

As if the Hetmanate didn’t have enough troubles, they have declared war against the Golden Horde. It’s good to see them take to the offense somewhere, but you would think that they would have done it against their current opponents first, and secondary targets after. I may have missed a peace deal between Trypillia and the Hetmanate though.

Nubia’s capital is completely surrounded, but unfortunately for the Egyptians it doesn’t look like they’ll be able to claim Meroe as their own. The large Rashidun army that passed through the Sinai has finally arrived just in time to take the city for themselves, never mind the Egyptians.

It would appear that Napoleon has acquired a taste for conquest, as he declares war on Burgundy. France should be able to make some progress against them across the front, but it may be slow going if not for a fortuitous peace deal.

Hetman forces have left the west of the country practically defenseless, as they invade Horde lands across the Sea of Azov. At least the start of progress is good, continued progress will be interesting though.

And like that, Meroe falls to the Rashidun. Egypt appears to have gotten the greater of the prizes though, as Luxor is a capital and Napata has high growth potential.

The Nubians (Rank: 46/58) settled their first city against the map border and their second further up the Nile. This raised the ire of their great rival Egypt, who showed them who the true Pharaohs of the Nile were, along with some Rashidun help.

The Bavarians have their UU, the Hartschier, which is a lancer replacement that is weaker but cheaper. It also earns gold when on Bavaria's UI (Schloss), and can't be upgraded but doesn't obsolete. In the war against Hungary, the Croatians have made progress and may well take the city.

A lot of civilisations have fallen this part, as Coimbra has been taken by the Spanish. That’ll serve the Cordobans right for trying to snipe the city.

Portugal (Rank: 45/58) founded their second city towards the Cordobans and Spanish, which started their troubles. They almost took a Cordoban city a time or two, but were repulsed and then were conquered in turn.

The Ptolemeic capital is in the yellow, and there isn’t anything they can do about it. They look like they might defend their Ayyubid holdings, but nothing is for certain.

I’m sure you’ve seen it as well, but Rome has declared war again! Their next target is Sparta, which is interesting as I would say this is the first of the Great Power wars. Historians may argue that the first was the Franco-Iberian war, but others will argue that that was simply the solidification of France into a power of its own. Others say Israel-Abbasid, but as the war continues to progress it is impossible to say. Either way, assuming this war doesn’t fizzle out in a couple turns, it should be a war for the ages defining who the next Great Power is, and who isn’t.

Bavaria builds the Globe Theatre.

Samara has fallen to Israel, and they show little sign of slowing down.

I like how Cyprus has done about all it can do, putting ranged units on every tile of their island.

The Carthaginian offensive against Hippo Regius has failed, and the Vanadals have taken the offensive against Utique. Positive news for Carthage at least, they’ve repulsed the Numidian offensive against the city.

The Croatians have assembled their army at the gates of Miskolc, and look set to take the city. The Serbians are conspicuous by their absence here, but they may be a peace with Hungary already, I forget.

Turning Crimea and the Sea of Azov into a free-for-all, the Trypillialls declare war on the Golden Horde as well. It looks like the Trypillians are completely ignoring undefended Hetmanate cities, perhaps I missed a peace agreement between the two?

The Guanches have captured the Ptolemaic capital, though not at no cost. Their army is still impressive but smaller than it once was. It appears to making its way towards the remaining Ptolemaic lands.

Georgia and Turkey make peace.

The Iberians have decided that they must take out their frustrations of having lost to France against the Asturians. I’m not sure what will happen here, my confidence in the Iberians has been toned down since their loss against the French, but it shouldn’t be too hard to attack a 3 city empire right?

Potentially smelling blood in the water, the Cordobans have jumped upon yet another war started by someone else. They’ve declared war against the Moroccans, though until they clear the Moroccan navy, it doesn’t look like their efforts will bear fruit.

Woah, the Hetmans have actually managed to capture a Horde city. Sarai Berke has fallen to the Hermanate, granting them a way to send their ships out of the Sea of Azov without going through Horde territory. They then immediately make peace. That’ll serve the Golden Horde, eh?

Remember when the Byzantines were taking the offensive against Adana? It’s been a while, as the Turks are now surrounding Antioch, and may even take Varna.

Rome and Sparta have assembled their armies at their border, though no one has taken the initiative of launching an attack on the other yet.

France’s war on Burgundy looks like they’re making progress, as Dijon is in the yellow. Autun appears to be next in line to take damage from French forces, though the defenses look decent.

The Hittites have declared war on the Abbasids, hoping to reach new heights. I don’t know how well they’ll do against the mountain fortress of Sidon, but they better hurry if they don’t want the Israelis to take it first.

In a reversal of fortunes, the Moroccan army has brought Kufa to the red, though they lack a melee unit within easy reach of the city, and the Umayyads look ready to flip the city should it fall.

It would appear that people are doubting the strength of the Golden Horde after their loss of Sarai Berke, as both the Alans and Georgia declare war on them. The Alans should have an easy go of it, assuming they know what they’re doing, but the Georgians should find it hard to make progress due to the Caucasus Mountains.

Woah, check that out. Djoser of Egypt is upset at the Rashidun capture of Meroe, and has decided that the interfering traitors must pay. I don’t know how well the Egyptians will do, as their army is to the north of Bostra, while the Rashidun have split their army between the defense of Bostra and the offense of Luxor. Probably a good thing for Egypt that the Rashidun only have one melee unit on that side of the Red Sea.

Carthage has taken damage from the Vandals’ offense. If they continue to mount pressure, they should be able to capture the city within short order. The Numidians have all but given up against Carthage.

We return to the Nile to see that Luxor is already in the red. The Rashidun have wasted no time in attacking the Egyptians, and they occupy the Red Sea as well forcing all Egyptian forces to go the land route to Petra. The Rashidun pikeman has decided to ignore Luxor and heads north.

Also, the Berbers have declared war on Morocco.

Finally, the Hungarians have been put out of their misery, and Croatia dealt the death blow.

Hungary (Rank: 45/58) expanded early in the game in a crowded area but forgot to build an army to defend their lands. Wars against the Serbians, Croatians, Moldovans, and Cumans reduced their empire to nothing, where they were finally eliminated.

We end this part here, with Hungary’s end. Here’s a poll, to determine who you think will be the winner of the game: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSddn606IR0eFw_Wn7469mwZww4ZvZwzVNWjOQRmSydcrv6o0w/viewform

Thanks for reading!

Turkey has taking a large lead on the competition, at least score-wise.

The Hetmanate is still largest in population. Too bad they haven’t turned that large population lead into a large science lead. Same with Trypillia.

The Hittites may be second last in population, but at least they’re trying.

Iberia and Rome lead in production.

Not surprisingly, the Lombards, Sicilians, and Sardinese are last. Surprisingly, the Abbasids are down here too.

Moldova has the lead in military, and Serbia is in the top 4 as well.

Heh, we’re still not last!

Sparta leads in science gain, by quite a margin.

Future losers down here, I’m calling it now.