France IA - Part 12 The Final Five (and some Bretons)

Hiyo, you're about to read part 12 of the France IA game! As is usual, Vercingetorix took the strawpoll results with 10, followed by Alfred with 4, and Anne, Alaric, and Viriato with 3.

Anyway, we start this part off by looking at the last 4 Norman units. Also, Flanders is nuclear, which could be fun if I remembered if I gave them any uranium or not. Or aluminum. Oops.

The Swiss just lost their capital, and have been reduced to a single Gatling gun and archaeologist. They're done for, but as per usual I'll save the eulogy for when those two units are destroyed. Same with the Normans.

After his wars against the French and the Normans, Robrecht's core is empty of units, though those he does have appear to be modern.

Vercingetorix makes peace with Dufour because killing those two units is too hard for the largest power on this map.

Somehow those Norman units are still around... Hmm... You'd think someone would take care of those. *cough cough Alfred cough Robrecht cough cough sneeze*

See what I mean about modernity? I know it was there a couple of slides ago, but I'll point it out for you again because I've been told I'm a nice guy. Jury's still out though.

Success, more war! Alfred has declared against Robrecht hoping to take the bombed out remains of the ex-Norman empire and establish a stronger foothold on the continent.

And because one war is good, but many are even better, William's civilian units and his useless cavalry are now declared bandits! See? War is good for you!

Look, its Iberia. They're still alive because Alaric can't be bothered to finish them off...

Kill the Normans already! How hard is it to walk onto three civilian units?

Uh oh, Dover may take damage from the small Flemish fleet. It won't though, so its cool.

I've also declared the Swiss bandits! This might help the turn progression go a bit faster, hopefully. Also, Vercingetorix is in the atomic era, fun.

Things went from decent to terrible for Robrecht and the Flemish as Vercingetorix declares war on him. This can only end badly for someone, and I'd be surprised if that someone was a certain Gaul. Troyes has been taken down to yellow in the opening salvo of this war.

One down, two to go. Alfred has more units on the front, yet Robrecht seems to be taking the offensive around Caen. Granted, Alfred is advancing on L'Aigle, but that isn't Caen, one of the capitals of former empires.

You couldn't not, could you Vercingetorix? Also, look! A Breton caravel!

The naval battle in the Channel isn't too heated, so Dover should be fine.

Troyes falls to the Gauls as the Flemish prepare to storm Paris. Maybe, just maybe, it'll go better than when they tried to attack it last time when it was French.

L'Aigle is falling faster than Caen, so I guess that's good for Alfred. Also, good news race fans, Alfred has founded Le Mans a couple of turns ago, which means we can now take part in many 24 hour races!

Robrecht has brought Wavre to yellow while Gallic forces assault Bastogne.

Vercingetorix has 11 or so great generals around this part of the map. Could lead to some fun citadel trains if used well. He also has paratroopers which can only lead to XCOM carpets.

So do the Anglo-Saxons. Maybe they should use them to attack Lillebonne? That'd be a pretty good idea.

Bastogne falls further as Wavre stays at the same health.

*struggles to resist WWII reference*

The Flemish attack on Paris is going... Somewhere, as those units are damaged, but I'd be surprised if it was going towards Paris. Meanwhile, a Gallic push is heading towards Chalons.

One... More... Norman... Worker... L'Aigle is still Flemish and Caen is still Anglo-Saxon. Nothing to see here unfortunately.

Poor Flemish navy, is the big bad Anglo-Saxon navy picking on you?

Yes yes me, its a bit late to point that out. What's mildly annoying is that Alaric went to the trouble of destroying the Swiss Gatling gun north of Turin but left the archaeologist alive.

Nice force there Alaric, maybe you should attack that Swiss Gatling gun with it! Unless... You're planning to attack Anne?

Wavre is in the red, Bastogne is in the black, Chalons has an air force that will quickly be neutralised, this area of the world has a lot of potential but not much action going on.

*so many potential WWII references*

Dammit Alfred! You could have taken so many cities! Both sides of the Channel could have been yours, but no! You had to make peace with Robrecht!

And would you look at that, no more Norman units! Huz- How sad. William was an early favourite, and had a strong war-based UA. He made some early great early progress against the Bretons, but chose to turtle or burn his captures instead of settling Brittany and taking out the French. What a waste of potential.

Paris should be Flemish by now. What are you waiting for Robrecht? An invitation?

Ah nuts...

Chalons is brought to yellow and Robrecht captures Wavre.

He did it! Alaric eliminated Dufour! FINALLY.

Dufour had a rough start in the Alps, but he did have an area to the north to expand to. He chose to expand there and had some large cities, but once the Gauls actually decided to take them, it was only a matter of time before the Swiss were absorbed into the Gallic Empire.

Look at that, the Visigoths have destroyers. I could make a pun here, but I'll spare you.

I'd be surprised if Viriton stayed Flemish for very long now. After Chalons was captured it appears that the forces responsible went to Viriton instead of pushing on to Laon.

Paris falls to half health, but Robrecht has bigger worries. Also, the Flemish have bazookas. I'll point them out on a future slide, so be ready for it.

If Viriato was smart, he'd resettle some of his old cities. If he was smart.

The Anglo-Saxons have Lancaster bombers now, capable of carrying the earthquake-generating Tallboy bombs, 12,000lb bombs used to destroy hardened installations such as submarine pens.

Alfred may have Lancasters, but Vercingetorix has some fighters. Fun fact, Civ V fighter models are based off of the Messerschmitt BF-109E, but their artwork is actually a Focke-Wulf FW-190 A

Viriton falls to the Gallic onslaught, as forces separate to attack Laon like I suggested some slides ago. Huh.

Paris is still in the yellow, but Flanders appears uninterested now.

Alaric builds the Sydney Opera House, giving us the opportunity to comment on how empty his core is. His cities aren't that bad though.

Apparently I lied earlier, because Robrecht has captured Paris. That brings his capital total to 2. The Bretons look on and laugh, because laughing is better than crying about their fate.

Wavre is still in the red, and Gallic forces march on the next cities that are 'in the way'.

Here is Vercingetorix's core. Its decent as well. You may have noticed that the Great Wall hasn't changed shape to match the borders of the Gallic Empire. This is because I ran the game over two days and didn't stop the game. My computer didn't like me much that weekend.

Alfred proves that he is the ultimate socialist by building the Kremlin.

Philippeville looks to be the next city that will face the wrath of the Gallic army. Hasselt will probably feel the ire of the Gallic army as well.

Robrecht could flip Chalons if he was so interested, and he may even hold Paris for a little while.

Noooo! Alaric why? What did Anne ever do to you? The Visigoths attack the Bretons, in an attack that will most likely take all of three turns to finish, except for that one rifleman by Blois.

Hasselt seems to be facing more Gallic wrath than ire, while Philippeville is being given the evil eye... Whatever, attacking is happening so I can't complain too much.

Hasselt falls to no health, so Vercingetorix will likely take it next turn.

Look, Flanders hold Paris, and there aren't any Gallic units to dispute it! Good job Robrecht! Now just hold off the rest of the Gallic army.

Alfred goes nuclear, and looks to be moving in a force to attack St.-Hilaire as well.

Alfred does attack Anne, and takes the city. Probably a good thing, as it would be tough for Alaric to defend. All that's left of Brittany is that rifleman now.

Wavre is Gallic again, and Hasselt is too. Philippeville is next by the look of things. The Gauls have mobile SAMs.

The Anglo-Saxons aren't impressed, as they have landships, or male Mk IV Tanks.

Alfred has the most wonders and Vercingetorix is just behind. That's nice.

We'll end this part with the Gauls capturing Philippeville. The Flemish also have landships (1910s) to go along with their paratroopers and bazookas (1930s and 1940s, respectively).

Here's a strawpoll, for your entertainment: http://strawpoll.me/6604438

I think we all know who's leading and who's losing.

That's a pretty sharp military increase by the Gauls, which is a bit scary.

This is becoming my favourite screen, as more and more circles go dark. No one seems to like Anne or Alfred.

The Visigoths still lead in population.

And the Gauls in production.

But the Gauls are dominating the happiness race.

Everyone who still has a city has 60 or more techs, so it isn't too imbalanced.