Mediterranean AI - Part 2: Reducing Extremities Through Judicious Applications of Force

Author: porkpotpie
Published: 2017-10-05, edited: 2017-10-10

Part of the campaign:

Mediterranean AI

Previous part:

Game: Civilization V, Sid Meier's

Mediterranean AI - Part 1: Forward Settles and Regrets

Images: 84, author: porkpotpie, published: 2017-09-25, edited: 2017-09-28

Hello and welcome back, this is part II of the Mediterranean AI battle, where 58 nations battle it out to determine who the winner will be! We start this part by looking at this awesome map created by u/SeroSedSerio showing us a tile-by-tile account of who owns what.

As for votes, there are many, and some of them are even grouped up! of the 22 votes, the Alans received the most: 5. That's almost 23% of the vote, which means people have confidence that they'll do great things. After the Alans, Rome received 4, while the Rashidun and Iberians received 2. Egypt, Spain, Burgundy, Lombardy, Croatia, Albania, Byzantium, the Golden Horde, and the Trypillians all got 1.
We start this part in Anatolia, where the Turks declare war against the Hittites. The Hittites are already at war with the Umayyads, so if the two coordinate their attacks, they may stand to make some major gains at Suppiluliumas' expense. The Byzantines have their UU, the Varangian Guard, which doens't require Iron, must be purchased, and begins with a random promotion.
Near the Sinai, the Rashiduns make peace with the Nabataeans, having taken Bostra off of their hands. The Nabataeans are apparently not too bothered with this, and settle to get Mount Sinai.
In the Everyone-vs-Romania War, the Romanian city of Targoviste looks set to fall, while Timisoara has already fallen to the Bulgarians. The Serbians are at war with the Romanians and decide that sending an army is too complicated, and that forward settling is much easier.
Over in Iberia, the Portuguese appear to be making good progress attacking the Cordobans, Tulaytulah may fall soon if the Cordobans fail to defend it. Emerita is still Visigothic at this point in time.
The Hittites make peace with the Umayyads, thinking that a two front war didn't work for an alternate universe's Hitler, so why would it work for him. Unfortunately for Suppiluliumas, he gives away Tarhuntassa in the peace deal. The Turks are taking their time attacking, and the Phoenecians cheekily settle Berytos to their south.
In northern Africa, Hannibal takes offense to Massinissa's attempts to block off his expansion, and so declares war on him. Hopefully, Hannibal has worked out some deal with the Vandals so that they don't backstab him.
Tulaytulah should fall, assuming that the Portuguese warrior doesn't die before being able to attack. If it does, there is another warrior that can attack the city two tiles to the right of it.
Targoviste falls to the Moldovans, which has the double effect of reducing the Romanians' total city count to 2, and linking together the two parts of the Moldovan empire. The Hetmanate settles on the edge of the world.
We can see some desert settles by multiple countries in this slide. Hopefully no one gets 'triggered' by Benghazi, whatever 'triggered' is... Also, the Sicilians know that there is land out there to settle, and they have the capability to explore it. Now they just need to actually get a settler there.
The Visigoths have lost Paris, or I guess a better way of putting it would be that the French have retaken Paris. Emerita is under attack from a multinational army, though who will take it is up for debate at this point.
The Umayyads and Abbasids declare war on the Phoenicians. I'm not overly surprised at this, as they've been settling cities left and right and haven't been too pressed to build a military. The Hittites are holding strong around their capital.
Instead of taking Tulaytulah, the Portuguese make peace with the Cordobans. What a shame. Also, the Spanish contingent attacking Emerita looks a bit shortstaffed.
Sarepta starts taking damage from Abbasid forces, and the Cypriots are still doing nothing apart from scouting out the same 2 coastal tiles. What a waste.
Bucharest and Alba Uilia are still standing strong for Romania, though the attacking Moldovan and Bulgarian battle lines are out of position. The Bavarians have made a risky decision and settled Ingolstadt between the Hungarians, Serbians, Bosnians, and Croatians. We'll have to see how that move pays out.
All quiet on the Visigothic front. For now.
We see here the Nubians UI, the Royal Pyramid. It gives 1 culture and 1 faith from desert tiles.
What's this??? Are we finally going to see it happen? An island civ settling a second city! Hopefully Roger doesn't send that settler far off somewhere, as he could really use a second city.
The western Umayyads are still at war with the Tuareg, and have launched another attack against Kidal. Meanwhile, the Israelites reform Judaism.
Bucharest starts to take damage, as at least 1 unit from each member of the coalition gathers close in a race to take the city.
As for the Phoenicians, they've already lost a city as Sarepta falls to Abbasid forces. The Hittites continue to stand strong.
They've done it!!! The Sicilians have successfully founded a second city! Its even on the mainland, barely, but at least they've done what 3 other civs in this game have failed to do.
Thamugadi and Kidal are damaged, though it looks like it'll still be a tough fight for them to fall.
Emerita is at 0 health, who will take the city? JK, it'll probably be Spain, as Iberia doesn't have any melee units close by. The Visigoths decide that defending Emerita is a lost cause, and send forces to attack Numantia and Paris. As for France, if they had settled Orleans one tile further south, it would actually have been geographically accurate. Curses, foiled again.
Enough distractions Pork, get to the main show already! Yeah yeah, I'm getting there. The Albanians, seeing that the Bulgarians have little military strength near their capital, decide to take advantage of this fact and declare war. It'll be rough going though, as forest and hills dominate the area. The Romanian capital is slowly falling.
Elsewhere, the Alans declare war on the Golden Horde. This should be an interesting battle, as both nations have large forces.
Nope, no progress for Hannibal. So little progress, in fact, that he makes peace with the Numidians in disgust. He does have his famous Elephants though, which could lead to some fun in the future. The question this game poses is will he use them to conquer faroff and exotic cities through naval invasions using them in other wars he may declare?
Spain takes the prize, as they conquer Emerita. The Visigothic attack on Numantia has been crushed, though the Paris attack is still going, if a bit ineffectively.
The Bosnians, for similar reasons as the Albanians I'm sure, have declared war on the Serbians. The Bosnians appear to have military dominance in the area, though the same can be said of the Albanians, and not much progress is being made there.
We take a closer look at Bucharest to see that there are no melee units surrounding it. Those that are present are blocked by ranged units. Who will take this city at this point is anyone's guess.
The Alans have pushed towards the middle of the Golden Horde's empire, as well as the northern flank, while Tokhtamysh has sent his forces towards Alhan-Kala.
The Ayyubids settle a city perilously close to the Ptolemaic core, while the Guanches settle more cities near incense to smell all the good things.
The Israelites... Israel settles a third city, right next to the Phoenician capital. The Phoenicians don't appear to be too bothered by the war they're currently fighting, and neither to the Abbasids. Now that Sarepta has fallen, all fighting appears to have stopped. Notice, however, how large the Iraqi army is.
No progress on Bucharest, or by the Albanians or Bosnians.
Paris is in the yellow, as the Visigothic offensive appears to be picking up some steam.
You know, this is the 3rd 4v1 war in the game. Weird. Anyway, the Guanches, Old Kingdom/Egypt, the Nubians, and Israel attack the Ayyubids. I doubt that Israel or the Nubians will be of much use, but I suppose moral support is something. Egypt looks set to attack across the board, and the Ayyubid army is nowhere to be found.
The Kurds and Georgia also feel like these transgressions cannot be forgotten, and declare war on the eastern Umayyads. The Kurds look set to quickly take Damascus and then grind meat in an attempt to take Harran. The Hittites remain strong, or is it that the Turks are weak?
To the north, units die and that's about it for the Alan-Golden Horde War. You'd think that the Alan's greater production capability would lead them to do some damage, but I guess you'd be wrong.
The western Umayyads and the Tuareg make peace after many years of attacking and failing to take Kidal.
Meanwhile, the Berbers decide to take the fight to the Garamantes. Which of the two will win? Eh, my money's on the Berbers.
Damascus starts to take damage, and the Abbasids send a force to attack the Phoenicians.
Still little to no progress in the Balkans, which is unfortunate.
If Napoleon really cared, he'd do something to repulse the Visigoths. The loss of a 7 pop city will really hurt French prospects in the near future.
The Georgians, in an act of comedic relief, found the completely useful and fun to say city of Zugdidi. I'm sure that there are worse spots to found a city, but they have to be few and far between.
In more serious news, the Egyptian army is attacking Bilbais and is moving closer to Baalbek.
Nope, Napoleon can't do it. The Visigoths take Paris. Though they've lost their cross-mountain empire, they're making gains to the north, which can only help them.
The Hittite stronghold of Hattusa finally starts taking damage from the marauding Turkish forces. Also, Fustat looks like a really crappy city spot, unless by some miracle they successfully build Petra there.
The Croatians actually have a fairly large army. If they were smart they'd use it against the Bavarians, who have decided to build the Hanging Gardens instead of an army..
Huzzah, another war in Iberia! The Asturians have decided that Portugal's failure to take Tulaytulah is punishable by war. Hopefully they know what they're doing and will actually be able to take a city before making peace.
Disgustingly, Skanderbeg of Albania makes peace with Simeon's Bulgaria. Albania's army was much bigger than the present Bulgarian army, so that makes this peace doubly saddening. Looks like Bucharest might fall soon, a melee unit is close to the city.
Damascus is taking more damage, as Turkish forces fall back from Hattusa. The Spanish and Cordobans make peace with the Visigoths.
Well, Paris is Visigothic again. Oh well. The Burgundians declare war on the Swiss, which could lead to a power rising in the area. Bern should be pretty easy to take, though Zurich will be another story.
The Egyptian force that was headed towards Baalbek has made a surprising turn towards Bilbais. The city should fall shortly, in theory.
Paris is French again, as the Burgundians press home the attack against the Swiss.
You can barely see it, but Bilbais has fallen to Egypt. The Guanches have finally mobilised part of their army to attack Aswan.
In one turn the incredible happens! The Romanian capital has fallen to the Moldovan army. Romania's only other remaining city, Alba Iulia, has fallen to the Bulgarians. This is the first elimination of the game, though the Romanians will continue to live on in the form of a scout near Luxembourg.

The Romanians started off in a crowded portion of the map with enemies on all sides. They managed grow to 4 cities, but never build a substantial military to defend their holdings. Overall, they burnt bright, not long. Rank: 58/58
Byzantium founds a fourth city, and defends it with their UU. If they hurry, they could settle a few more cities between Antioch and their capital and have a solid core.
The Bosnians make peace with the Serbians. Similarly to the Albanian-Bulgarian war, no gains were made.
France makes peace with the Visigoths while they hold on to Paris. It sucks for the French that the city was taken so much, it was a largeish production centre for the French, and its reduction in population will hit them hard.
Remember this war? The Berbers and Garamantes have been going at it for a bit, and it looks like its going in the Berbers' favour.
Baalbek is taking damage from Egyptian forces, who appear to have heard the legends of aquatic elephant invasions. They've decided to look to those lessons as inspiration and embark a catapult.
Somehow, Damascus isn't Kurdish yet. Anyway, we can take this opportunity to look at the Phoenician Bireme, their trireme replacement. It earns great merchant points when fighting, and confers its movement speed to any units stationed on the same tile as it.
The Asturians make little progress against the Portuguese, as the Garamantes enhance their religion.
Oh wait, there goes Damascus, though it looks set to flip back to the Umayyads. In other news, Cyprus does something good, and builds the Great Lighthouse. Good job Peter, now do other things too.
To the south, the Nabataeans decide that they don't like being picked on and will proactively pick on someone else, in this case, Israel. Aretas looks set to make some serious gains here unless Ben-Gurion decides to accidentally an army.
The Alan-Golden Horde War is still going nowhere, but at least the Golden Horde has founded the worlds most useful canal city, Sarai Berke.
While the Burgundians take the offense in the north, the Swiss are fighting back and attacking Vezelay. I'd be surprised if it works, but at least they're doing something.
Baalbek falls to the forces of Egypt, as the Nabataeans flood towards Tel Aviv, damaging it.
Ptolemy makes the smart decision and also declares war against the Ayyubids. Aswan is set to fall to the Guanches, and soon the Ptolemies will have Dvin under siege.
The Algerians and Iberians declare war on the Tuareg. The Iberians aren't likely to be that great a threat, but the Algerians look capable of inflicting some losses on the Tuareg.
I think we may have found out who the worst peace negotiator on the rectangle is. Its Suppiluliumas. He's been in two wars, and to make peace in both of those wars, he's given away one of his cities. Well, now he only has one, but at least he isn't at war with Turkey anymore...
As predicted, Aswan falls to the Guanches.
Upset with the Berber attack on the Garamantes, Gaddafi declares war against the Berbers. The addition of Libya should prove interesting, as they have a sizeable army. This could save the Garamantes, not that it looked like they were in too much trouble.
Moldova, happy with their conquest of the Romanian capital, declares war on the Hungarians. The Croatians join, and it looks like the Cumans will soon join. Hungary has a nice empire, but a pathetically weak military, so it'll be easy pickings for the invading nations.
Holy cow, maybe the Swiss are onto something, as they're damaging Vezelay while holding on to Bern.
Ah... Or not, as they make peace with the Burgundians and give away Zurich... Damnit Dufour, you were actually doing decently and now you've ruined it.
Over in Iberia, no such mistakes are made. Alfonso and Pelagius make peace without giving cities away.
Tel Aviv hasn't take much more damage than earlier, though Tyre is in the red due to consistent Abbisad attacks.
We end this part by looking at the eastern Black Sea region, where we can determine that the Alan-Golden Horde War is a giant waste of time so far.

Thanks for reading, here's a poll to see who you think will win this game! https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd8aE2TMY99XPBwKqwLGy2EM_Hd9e1uXTgW4fJzXVULfu47_A/viewform
Here are the scores as of 5 turns ago. The disparity between current turn and score turn will increase, up to a certain point. It'll get fixed eventually.
The Hetmanate/Ukraine leads in population, though the Trypillians aren't far behind.
The Hittites are at the bottom of the list, unsurprisingly, as they gave away two cities this part.
Egypt leads in production, though not by much.
Towards the bottom of the list, one city nations reside, though Nubia has 3.
As for military might, Rome leads the pack. Thankfully, many more civs are ahead of us in military might now.
And unsurprisingly the Ayyubids and Garamantes trail. The Altanese are the Golden Horde by the way.
As for science, the Trypillians are in the lead in science output, but their competitors aren't far behind.
And the usual suspects are at the bottom of the list for science output. Thanks for reading!

Next chapter:

Game: Civilization V, Sid Meier's

Mediterranean AI - Part 3: How Not to War

Images: 81, author: porkpotpie, published: 2017-10-23, edited: 2017-10-24

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