(r/civAIgames) Groundhog Day Mk. V - Round 10 - Last Chance for Glory

Welcome back to what might very well be the last round of Groundhog Day Mk. V! As you most certainly recall, the Seleucids won both round 8 and round 9, catapulting them into the lead on the eve of the conclusion. That leaves us with only a few possible paths forward. If the Seleucids (2 points) or the Kaweskar (1.5 points) win this round outright, they will be crowned the victor. If any of Rome, the Khamug-Mongols, Kasanje, Song, or Yakutia wins outright, or if the Kaweskar tie with another civ, then the game will move into overtime rounds until the tie is broken. If anyone besides the aforementioned civs wins, then the victory will go to the Seleucids. Let's get started!

The second cities go out, and they seem to be in the same positions as last time. Once again, Song goes for a non-traditional placement of Lin'an.

As usual, the first war involves Paraguay. Ireland has teamed up with the Evenks to take on Solano Lopez, but the armies involved aren't really big enough to do much yet.

A little while later, the Khamug-Mongols and Kasanje team up against Ethiopia, just like last round.

Austria and Teotihuacan attack Rome, and it looks like Augustus Caesar has been caught completely off guard! The area around the Roman capital is almost completely devoid of units!

With his army depleted by the failed war against Ethiopia, Jamukha suddenly finds himself the target of a DOW by Song.

Teotihuacan captures and razes Cumae, marking the first city capture of round 10.

On the next turn, Song captures Manan and decides not to raze it.

But before Zhao Kuangyin can really attack Ba'arin, he opens up another front against Ethiopia, which may have dashed his hopes of taking the Khamug-Mongol capital.

Kasanje gives away Angoleme to New Zealand in a peace treaty, and Seddon burns the city! Ireland and Harappa immediately jump in to take it while it's defenseless, but I don't think they'll have enough time.

Teotihuacan gives away Cholula to France in a peace treaty. Whatever happened to the Teotihuacan that almost won the test round...

The Seleucids attack Song, fielding their unique pikemen on the front lines! Zhao Kuangyin will need to focus everything he has on defense right now.

Lin'an flips to the Seleucids and back to Song, dealing a nasty blow to Zhao Kuangyin.

Then the Seleucids move in and take the city for good. It seems like Seleucus is already working to secure this round for himself as well.

Song makes peace with the Seleucids and gives away Manan. Seleucus is already really on top of the ball!

Rome gives away Antium to the Evenks in a peace treaty. Ouch.

To prevent the Seleucids from finishing him off, Zhao Kuangyin builds the Great Wall.

The Seleucids get another peace treaty windfall when the Tupi hand them Tupinambá. It will be easy pickings for anyone who wants it though.

New Zealand initiates an early war against Vermont! Ethan Allen's navy is all but nonexistent, so this should be pretty one-sided.

Time for the VERY late turn 100 stats! The Seleucids have risen to the top in military already.

The tech race is very close, with almost every civ having 18 or 19 technologies, while two lead the pack with 20.

And the Seleucids are also in the lead in production. Could we be looking at another round where Seleucus plows straight through to victory?

Anyway, we return to the action in time to see the Evenks attack Rome. Augustus Caesar looks pretty vulnerable... also, it's turn 155 and nobody has been eliminated. How weird is that?

Finally, on turn 162, the Evenks capture Rome, eliminating Augustus Caesar in 21st place. This may be one of the latest first eliminations in the entire series.

In the background, North Korea and the Seleucids declare war on Ethiopia.

New Zealand has indeed captured Burlington, although I missed when it happened. If only Vermont built its cities in better places and invested in a navy...

Ethiopia takes the Seleucid DOW in stride, easily capturing Manan, which was undefended.

And they have an ally now in the fight against North Korea, as the Tupi declare war against Kim Il-Sung!

The Kaweskar and the Khamug-Mongols join in too! North Korea is in real trouble now!

The Tupi capture Hamhung, although I expect it to flip many times.

France and the Kaweskar declare war on the Goths! Since Alaric has settled his third city much closer to Paris than usual, this could be a rare relevant early war involving the Goths.

In a move that has me scratching my head, Austria gives away Salzburg to Paraguay in a peace treaty. Solano Lopez burns the city.

The Kaweskar are the next to strike against North Korea, capturing Chingjin! It seems the Tupi have secured Hamhung as well.

The French navy crushes Gothic resistance and rolls into Gothiscandza! I'm surprised they haven't taken Reccopolis yet though.

Scratch that, they have.

Anyway, turn 200 arrives and brings with it the stats. New Zealand and Harappa have passed the Seleucids in military, which isn't really that unusual, since both of those civs often perform well in the stats but never do anything with their power.

The tech race remains close, but New Zealand might be pulling ahead slightly.

And the Seleucids still lead in production, with New Zealand being the only other civ that's even close.

Anyway, back to the game, where the Toltecs have just captured Windsor, eliminating Ethan Allen of Vermont in 20th place! I must confess, I didn't see that one coming.

Two turns later, France captured Árheimar, eliminating Alaric of the Goths in 19th place. This is by far the earliest the Goths have ever been eliminated, at least in terms of placement.

And the turn after that, the Kaweskar capture Pyongyang, eliminating Kim Il-Sung of North Korea in 18th place. That's three eliminations in three slides—can we keep it up?

Nope. But we do have a new war as the Toltecs attack Austria!

And then France attacks Teotihuacan, which will probably just result in Clemenceau losing Cholula, as the French navy is nowhere to be seen.

Sure enough, Atlatl Cauac takes back Cholula without much trouble.

Several wars start involving Ireland as Brian Boru attacks Song, only to face DOWs from Harappa and New Zealand.

New Zealand declares war on Kasanje! Both sides have large armies and navies, but New Zealand's tech is considerably better, so they should have the upper hand here.

And indeed they do, as New Zealand easily captures the Kasanje capital.

Ireland makes peace with Harappa and gives away Corcaigh, which Went-Antu decides to raze. However, Ethiopia is at war with Harappa, and it seems Haile Selassie has his eyes on the city...

Sure enough, Ethiopia captures Corcaigh, saving it from destruction.

Several civs, including the Kaweskar, attack France! Can Clemenceau hold off the notorious Kaweskar navy?

New Zealand, as usual, is the one to found the world congress.

If you were paying attention two slides ago, you might have noticed that the Tupi attacked the Seleucids. As a result, they've now regained the city they gave away earlier.

The Seleucids finally face a DOW that threatens their core as Bombogor declares war! However, his army consists mainly of reindeer archers, which are kind of obsolete at this point.

Teotihuacan ends its war with France and gives away Cholula. Again.

But Song is at war with France, and Zhao Kuangyin takes the opportunity to capture Cholula. Sneaky!

Time for the turn 300 stats! The Kaweskar are a new arrival near the top of the leaderboard, while the Seleucids have fallen all the way to ninth.

The Kaweskar are also developing a tech lead, and it looks real this time.

The production stats don't seem to reveal much right now, as no civ has an unusually large amount of hammers.

Anyway, it seems France can't stand up to the advanced Kaweskar navy, and Terwa Koyo captures Reccopolis. Unfortunately for both civs, it's going to flip a lot. Fortunately for you, I didn't take screenshots.

Yakutia attacks the Toltecs! I don't know about you, but I can't see this going particularly well for Yakutia...

The worlds fair is completed, and it seems Seleucus has taken the crown, despite not having the largest production base.

Yakutia founds Tomtor right on the front lines, and loses it to the Toltecs. Nice going, Tygyn.

But Yakutia has Harappa on its side, and some Harappan units have managed to sneak through and take Tomtor.

The Kaweskar take another bite out of France with the capture of Gothiscandza.

Yakutia strikes back again, taking Windsor! This is a major blow for the Toltecs!

The Kaweskar capture Árheimar! They now officially control both of the northern peninsulas.

France makes peace with the Kaweskar and gives away Lyon, but the tile the city is built on flips back to France due to Clemenceau's buggy-as-shit UA.

Suddenly, several civs team up on the Kaweskar, including New Zealand! Jautok is probably fucked, and the rest of the Gothic peninsula could be in danger as well.

The two Kiwi colonies of Invercargill and Queenstown don't last long, however.

Harappa is the first to strike a blow against the Kaweskar by taking Lyon!

Anyway, it's now turn 400, and we must once again look at the stats. New Zealand has the largest army and the Kaweskar are second, but together Terwa Koyo's enemies far outnumber him.

However he does have one thing going for him: tech. The Kaweskar have powered ahead in science and now lead by nine technologies over the second place civs.

And the Kaweskar also rank second in production, but of course their primary enemy, New Zealand, has more.

That disparity can already be seen as New Zealand captures Jautok, and there's little hope that the Kaweskar will be able to retake it.

Harappa also takes Gothiscandza, but it looks like it will probably flip a bunch before it falls for good.

Meanwhile, Ethiopia attacks Ireland, which it has already reduced to only a few tiles with citadels. This is also a good time to note that it's turn 400 and only 4 civs have been eliminated, which has to be some kind of record.

Eight turns later, Ethiopia captures Dublin, eliminating Brian Boru of Ireland in 17th place.

Harappa and Yakutia decide to have another go at the Toltecs! Last time, it actually went pretty well; can this war live up to the first?

After Gothiscandza flipped back to the Kaweskar, New Zealand captures it instead of Harappa. It might stay in Kiwi hands for a while, I think.

Meanwhile, the international games take place, hosted—somehow—by the Evenks. That was unexpected.

The Kaweskar finally agree to peace with new Zealand, and Terwa Koyo gives back Queenstown in the treaty. This war was a massive loss for the Kaweskar, and although they seemed like a victory contender before it started, their position is much weaker now.

In an unexpected twist, Harappa betrays its ally and attacks Yakutia! Tomtor is probably fucked; this wasn't really a good move by Went-Antu.

That minor roadblock doesn't slow down Tygyn Darkhan though, and he takes Huapalcalco before Tomtor has even been recaptured.

It only took one more turn though, and Tomtor is back in Yakut hands.

Well, that was unexpected. New Zealand has captured Paris, eliminating Clemenceau of France in 16th place!

Three turns later, Yakutia takes Tula, eliminating Xochitl of the Toltecs in 15th place.

Yakutia makes peace with Harappa and gives away Windsor. What the fuck Tygyn? You were on track to be a victory contender, and then you pull this shit?

Nevertheless, Yakutia teams up with the Seleucids to attack Austria, hoping to seize another capital to replace Windsor.

Kasanje declares war on Harappa for some reason. I guess suicide is not out of the question.

You may have forgotten, but the Kaweskar are still at war with Harappa, and they've used this opportunity to retake Lyon. Also note their tech level compared to New Zealand, and note that New Zealand is already somewhat ahead in tech compared to the average civ.

Offscreen, Kasanje has been eliminated in 14th place. Somehow I failed to take a screenshot of their last city falling.

Anyway, the Yakut-Austrian war is already over, as Tygyn Darkhan has taken Vienna. Maria Theresa of Austria is eliminated in 13th place.

The Seleucids have awoken, and they've declared war on Song! It might be a tough fight—Zhao Kuangyin still has the great wall and a unit carpet with technology equivalent to that of the Seleucids. Nevertheless, Seleucus's superior production is likely to win out in the end.

Time for the turn 500 stats! The Kaweskar have surged into the lead in military—they are definitely still in the game here.

They also lead in science by twelve technologies. That is a seriously large lead.

They're all the way down in fourth in production though, so unless they conquer more lands soon, they could find themselves overwhelmed in the endgame.

Meanwhile, the Seleucids have taken Bianjing, reducing Song to one city and netting Seleucus the Great Wall!

Suddenly, Yakutia and the Seleucids team up against the Evenks! How this war turns out could be very important for the course of this round...

Yakutia strikes first against the Evenki snow islands, capturing Vanavara and bringing Tohoi down to red.

Tohoi falls, and the Yakut navy moves on to more targets.

Meanwhile, the Kaweskar make their next move and attack the Khamug-Mongols. This will be over fast...

Two turns later, Ba'arin has fallen, eliminating Jamukha of the Khamug-Mongols in 12th place.

Later that same turn, the Seleucids attack Teotihuacan, threatening the existence of another minor civ.

Yakutia continues to sweep through the snow islands, taking Ergun and Asajin, but Bombogor strikes back, capturing Vienna!

After eight turns of war, Teotihuacan falls, eliminating Atlatl Cauac in 11th place.

While we wren't paying attention, the Kaweskar continued to push through far-flung Harappan colonies, capturing Tulancingo and Surkotda.

The Seleucids attack Song again—and so the cleanup operation continues. All the rump states shall be destroyed!

In an unexpected turn of events, Ethiopia snipes Cholula, eliminating Song in 10th place. That was really out of the blue...

The turn 600 stats arrive, and they reveal that the Kaweskar now have a YUGE, UNPRESIDENTED lead in soldiers. They still don't have very much land though.

Their tech lead has dropped from 12 techs to 9, but that's still quite a lot.

However, New Zealand has over twice as much production as them, nobody else is close either.

Anyway, the Kaweskar conclude their conquest of the Harappan colonies by taking Windsor, giving them a fifth capital.

The Evenks peace out with Yakutia, and Bombogor keeps Vienna and retakes Asajin. Overall I'd say this was a slight win for the Evenks.

But that glory doesn't last long, because two turns later, the Seleucids, Paraguay, and the Kaweskar all team up against them. And Seleucus has artillery now too.

That artillery is quickly put to use capturing Baykit.

Sensing an opportunity to repair his wounded pride, Tygyn Darkhan declares war on the Evenks as well.

Seleucus decides to start a side war against Paraguay, and Encarnación immediately drops to red.

Encarnación falls, and Asunción begins taking damage.

The Seleucids then decide to attack Ethiopia as well, because Seleucus is out of his fucking mind. Harappa joins in too for kicks. (If I'm not mistaken though, the Seleucids have made peace with the Evenks at this point.)

Seleucus captures Asunción while planes bombard Dublin down to the black. There's no way the Seleucids are getting a unit through that wall of Ethiopian troops though.

In fact, it seems Ethiopia is actually winning, as Haile Selassie captures Lin'an and deals significant damage to Bianjing.

Bianjing falls! And since Ethiopia hasn't researched dynamite, that means the Great Wall is now active for them.

Meanwhile, Yakutia has managed to retake Vienna, though it's not clear they'll keep it in the long run.

Actually, it seems like Yakutia definitely has the upper hand! Tygyn Darkhan has taken Asajin again and is dealing damage to Antium.

Suddenly, the Ethiopian army seemingly evaporates, and the tide begins to turn. Seleucus has retaken Lin'an and Bianjing, and now Dublin is captured as well.

Yakutia makes more inroads against the Evenks, capturing Rome!

Antium falls as well, although the Evenks have recaptured Asajin and the Yakut navy is pretty much toast.

The Seleucids finally take Cholula from Ethiopia. That took them way too long in my opinion.

Yakutia takes Asajin and Yakesa; only two Evenki cities remain...

Meanwhile, Ethiopia gives away Harar to Harappa. Note the huge Kaweskar carpet sprawling over everything.

Duochen falls, reducing the Evenks to only their capital.

Oh, I almost forgot this was happening. Some times ago the Seleucids captured Piribebuy, and now Humaitá has fallen as well, eliminating Solano Lopez of Paraguay in 9th place.

The Seleucids are still trying to kill Ethiopia, but all the Kaweskar units in the war are making it difficult.

Yakutia attacks the Seleucids, but all the Kaweskar units in their territory leave little room for troops with which to attack Seleucus.

Now here's some real action—the Evenks and Harappa attack the Seleucids as well!

Harappa captures Piribebuy and... liberates Paraguay? Solano Lopez is back!

Meanwhile, Ethiopia makes peace with the Seleucids and gives away Corcaigh, expelling a large number of Kaweskar paratroopers.

Yakutia manages to push through and take Baykit, but their army is pretty pathetic.

Since the Seleucids are at war with Harappa, they manage to take Harar, condemning several more Kaweskar paratroopers to oblivion.

Harappa moves around Piribebuy to take Asunción, and thankfully they don't liberate that as well.

Out of nowhere, the Tupi strike out and take both Harar and Corcaigh, and... what's this? Harappa has liberated Ireland? Fuck me... sorry, /u/TheSpecialize, you're going to have some work to do correcting all those placements.

The Seleucids manage to scrape together enough troops to capture Tura, eliminating Bombogor of the Evenks in... let me think... 10th place. Yeah, that sounds right.

Anyway, it's time for the turn 700 stats, and it seems the Kaweskar have over 2 million troops—a level not usually seen from a civ that controls most of the map, let alone one that controls only 13 cities scattered randomly all over the map.

The Kaweskar have finished the tech tree, which isn't surprising given the amount of XCOMs I saw around. Everyone else has a ways to go still.

New Zealand still leads in production, but the Kaweskar have caught up quite a bit. This will be an interesting endgame.

Anyway, back on the battlefield, the Seleucids have retaken Corcaigh from the Tupi but neither side seems to have many troops in the area.

The Seleucids also retake Asunción from Harappa, and then the two sides make peace. If the Seleucids declare war on the two liberated civs, they might even come out of this war with everything they had when it started (plus Tura).

Indeed, Seleucus makes another stride, retaking Harar from the Tupi.

And they try to push even farther, flipping Yperoig itself!

And then they even manage to keep it for a turn. Not depicted: the approximately 1 billion flips.

Suddenly, every one of Seleucus's dreams is shattered, torn to pieces and strewn across the universe like confetti. Yes, the Kaweskar have declared war on the Seleucids. Prepare yourselves, because you are about to witness one of the most brutal campaigns ever wages in Groundhog Day.

On the first turn of the war, the Kaweskar take Teotihuacan, Damaskos, and Edessa. There is literally nothing Seleucus can do to prevent his doom.

Cholula falls, along with Seleukia itself, on the second turn of the war. The Seleucids are being utterly dismantled in record time.

Tura and Lin'an fall, and most of the remaining Seleucid cities are taking damage.

Yperoig and Harar are captured; Bianjing and Corcaigh fall to red...

Then Bianjing, Corcaigh, and Encarnación are all captured! The end is near!

Asunción falls; only Humaitá remains...

And with the fall of Humaitá, Seleucus of the Seleucids is eliminated in 9th place. What a fall from grace... wow. I think it's safe to say the Kaweskar have won.

Indeed, turn 800 arrives and their military strength remains unparalleled.

New Zealand has also nearly completed the tech tree, but will it help them?

And of course the Kaweskar have surpassed New Zealand in production as well. I think this is game over—so let's declare world war and sit back to watch the destruction.

Here we go everyone! Grab your popcorn!

Dublin immediately falls, eliminating Brian Boru of Ireland in 8th place.

Kaweskar XCOMs tear through Yakutia, capturing Duochen and Asajin.

Harappa takes Piribebuy, eliminating Solano Lopez of Paraguay in 7th place.

Addis Ababa and Manan both fall, eliminating Haile Selassie of Ethiopia in 6th place.

Rome falls; Yakutia is crumbling...

The Kaweskar take Baykit, Antium, Tula, and Huapalcalco, and someone has nuked Tula...

On the eastern front, the Kaweskar have taken Angoleme and Hamhung and Harappa is down to black.

Harappa and Piribebuy fall; Went-Antu is going down!

Vienna and Whangamata are captured; Yakutia is reduced to its original cities...

Tygyn Darkhan makes peace and gives away Druzhina, Elgyay, Tomtor, and Tohoi, but peace treaties won't stand and I immediately restart the war.

Meanwhile, Tupinambá and Caebé have both fallen, eliminating Cunhambebe of the Tupi in 5th place. Note that only seven turns have passed since I declared world war.

Oymyakon, Otorohanga, and Ruapehu are captured...

Yakutia strikes back, retaking Tohoi, Oymyakon, and Huapalcalco while New Zealand takes Tula, but it can't last. The Kaweskar are simply too strong.

Paris falls and Tula is recaptured; New Zealand has two capitals left...

Mohenjo-Daro is captured as the Kaweskar eat further into Harappa...

The Kaweskar push back against Yakutia, reducing them to only Jokuskai and Ergun...

Both cities then fall, eliminating Tygyn Darkhan of Yakutia in fourth place.

Dholavira, Banwali, and Kalibangan are all captured...

Burlington and Rotorua fall... the end is near now

Kasanje and Hamilton are captured... Wellington has been nuked and is in the black...

And it falls. It's over. The Kaweskar have won not just round 10, but all of Groundhog Day Mk. V! And what a way to win too! They sat on the sidelines while others fought, acquiring cities here and there, only to lose several in a coalition war. But they built back up right away, developing an insane tech lead and carpeting the map with units despite having little land of their own. And when they awoke again, no one stood a chance.

Now, don't forget to read the last slide for an important announcement!

Yes, I will be jumping right into Mk. VI! The suggestion thread will be posted in r/civAIgames at precisely 8 a.m. PST Friday (11 a.m. in New York, 4 p.m. in London, 6 p.m. in Israel, 2 a.m. Saturday in Sydney). I will personally choose three of the civs, and the other 18 slots will be open on a first come, first serve basis. In the past, the slots have all been filled within 30-40 minutes, so make sure you get there as early as possible! Thank you everyone for watching this wonderful series, and I'll see you in Mk. VI!