France IA Redux: Part 7 - A Sense of Impending Doom

Hello everyone, welcome back to France IA Redux! Glad to have you along for the ride!

15 votes this time around, with 10 of them going to West Germany. Its not hard to see why. Francois has 2 of the remaining, while the HRE, Cornwall, and Catherine de Medici round out the votes with 1.

The Swiss develop The Bomb offscreen while we look at the fall of the Hainaut. Starting the part off strong, eh? At the end of last part the Hainaut were reduced to Chavonne, the former capital of Georges Clemenceau, and here it i sunder Flemish control.

Guillaume I of the Hainaut (Rank: 19/40) had a good run of it, fighting most of his neighbours to good effect until they got into a fight with West Germany. West Germany's might became too much to resist, and so the Hainaut were pushed back, and forced to give Ath away in the peace deal leaving them with a weird shape. Flanders took advantage of this and took them out.

Its getting harder and harder to remember what everyone did, so sorry if the eulogies tend to focus on the more recent events.

A reckoning of French civs happens, as de Champlain and Louis XI declare war on Francois! Well... Maybe, de Champlain has to send units through Richelieu or de Medici's lands to get to the front, unless the entire point of the war is to capture Gwened and only Gwened. I Guess Louis is in it for moral support?

Offscreen West Germany builds the Hubble Space Telescope.

I think we may have witnessed the first nuclear launch of the game, as Naoned is in the red and there's fallout near the city. Gwened fell to yellow in the meantime.

Good, get Burgundia out of here. Rome and Flanders take to the field to take them out.

Much appreciated Rome, you've done me a solid. However, they've done themselves a disservice, as they're still at war with Louis XI, and Borbetomagus gives them a shared frontier.

You can see that Naoned isn't the only nuked city here, as Montpelier and Amiens have a bunch of plundered fields, however that could be as a result of paratroops from New France. Eager to have a larger front to deal with, Francois declares war on Richelieu (finally). Richelieu won't last long as he's several eras behind tech-wise. Flanders joins in for fun.

Military stats. West Germany leads, but the Gauls are catching up.

You can see Richelieu at the bottom with less than 10000 troops. RIP him.

As predicted, Louis XI captures Borbetomagus, expanding the front towards Neapolis. Charles de Gaulle develops The Bomb.

On top of his warring, Francois has been hosting the International Games. Impressive.

Gwened falls to New France and both of Richelieu's cities are deep in the red.

There goes Lucon, and Gwened flips back to Francois' control. Ville-Maris has been nuked, but that doesn't stop de Champlain from building the Virtual Idol. The Virtual Idol increases culture in the city that built it by 50%, tourism from great works by 100%, and grants a free great musician.

Rennes falls to New France, likely captured by Francois first, as New France and Richelieu aren't at war. Francois, determined not to lose face when confronted with de Champlain's Virtual Idol, builds the Tokyo Skytree, which grants +1 happiness and culture per broadcast tower. Francois needs that due to his recent conquest of Navarre.

Richelieu of France (Rank: 18/40) spread out early, was pushed into a single city, built the Great Wall, expanded to a second city when a city near him was razed, then did nothing until he was eliminated as a footnote in a much larger war. Poor showing. Next slide.

As Francois captures Rennes he goes to peace with de Champlain. It looks like this war was an excuse to take out Richelieu and nuke New France (St. Malo has been nuked as well). Francois, feeling merciful, also goes to peace with Richelieu offscreen. This war showed the ineffectiveness of New France's military despite flipping Gwened and Rennes. Both sides lost military here, but they should be able to recarpet with more modern units. A coalition starts against Rome, but none of the attackers border the victim so it won't change much.

Adenauer leads the wonder list, but not by as much as one would think. Monaco is there, but that's because Albert built all of the gold-producing wonders.

Oh, this should be good. Coming off their recent conquest of the Hainaut and New France's drawfeat against Francois, Flanders declares war on de Champlain. The Flemish army is bigger in the region, and with New France's core nuked recently the production difference should be pretty large. Flanders also has a large navy, if they decide to use it. I predict many gains for Flanders in this conflict.

Seeing the shambles that is Louis XI's war against Rome, de Medici joins the fray doing early damage to Limoges, Antium, and Clermont-Ferrand with her strong air force. Louis had better hurry if he wants to keep making gains before Catherine eats Rome.

Trois-Rivieres falls to Flanders as predicted, and Saint-Lo and Maldon take damage. The Flemish Navy starts to ship out. Rouen falls to 0hp, but it looks like it'll remain Flemish for now.

Those West Germans are happy as can be.

Clermont-Ferrand falls to de Medici, while the rest of Rome west of there takes damage. Asturias develops The Bomb. The Gauls prevent Louis from advancing on Neapolis.

West Germany declares war on Switzerland, but with the HRE in the way I'm not sure much will happen unless West Germany paradrops a bunch of troops. The HRE has been aggressively citadeling Switzerland, who appears to have forgotten to build a military.

Limoges falls to de Medici, linking her southern holdings with the rest of her empire.

Francois completes the Human Genome Project, with a large lead over the nearest competitor.

New France recaptures Troi-Rivieres, while Francois builds a wonder that does many things, probably.

Things look worse for Rome, as Antium falls. It might flip back due to the marine that's hidden behind the puppet notification, but its unlikely. Thankfully for Rome, they have a city on the coast to the south, so even if Neapolis falls they won't be eliminated.

Trois-Rivieres falls back and is set to stay that way due to the peace deal. A weak war by Flanders, they should have been able to push into Saint-Lo, but I guess they just couldn't pull it off.

Neapolis falls to de Medici, effectively making Louis XI's gains against Rome nothing. You can see Rome's remaining hold out of Cumae.

A look at Andorra, target of a coalition against them that will go nowhere unless the Visigoths enter. Francois and the Visigoths have open borders, visible by the large amount of Visigothic units within Francois' empire.

Offscreen more people in the Andorra war: de Gaulle and the Anglo-Saxons.

Catherine de Medici builds the Orbital Refinery, which grants factories and nanomaterial plants +2 production, and 12 Nanomaterials, the strategic resource of the future age. De Medici has a solid core of paratroopers, but she should focus on getting stronger units, the Gauls and Francois both have more advanced militaries than her.

People seem to like the Swiss. Avignon falls to half health as West German units block off attacks by the Visigoths unless they're made by air.

Offscreen de Medici and Rome go to peace.

Francois continues building wonders, this time its the Utsade Gene Vault. Nature Preserves produce +2 science, Eco-Communes produce +2 culture, and Genocenters produce +2 gold. They're all FW tile improvements. Extensive Visigothic carpeting of Francois's lands indeed.

Speaking of Francois, he leads the tech race. If de Medici is so smart, why is her army so out of date?

The HRE goes after Switzerland again, and this time captures Autun. Many Swiss units are nearby however, so it may flip back. Bern is at half health.

Oooor not. Not only does Autun not flip back, the Swiss lose their capital. The Swiss don't take this lying back, they nuke Freiburg.

And there goes Switzerland, blitzed by the Holy Roman Empire, finally. Those units don't manage to take Geneva or Bern back unfortunately, so that's it for the neutrals who nuke Magdeburg as they go out.

Henri Dufour of Switzerland (Rank: 17/40) fought a lot with his neighbours, the HRE. They fought to accomplish nothing, until eventually the HRE captured Zurich. After that, it was apparently only a matter of time until the Swiss were defeated. The final HRE blitz proved too much to handle for the staunch Swiss, who caved in only 4 turns.

West Germany is scary... They built the Mnemosyne Facility, granting units trained in the city that built it "additional XP equal to 10 times the level of the unit in [the] empire with the highest experience level, to a maximum of 60". This seems hella OP, up to 60 additional XP is massive.

It looks like its de Gaulle vs de Champlain again, but this time we'll have a winner. De Champlain's forces are much more advanced, and even with a Visigothic army in the south should be able to make quick gains. Nice and Oran are already in teh yellow.

Nice falls as Ville de Quebec goes to red.

West Germany builds Skynet, granting them 10% more combat strength. Their two previous wonders together makes them insanely strong.

Adenauer climbs higher on the wonder list.

All of de Gaulle's cities are at 0hp, but salvation may be on its way. The Gauls have declared war on New France and have sent paratroopers to attack Saint-Lo. Andorra is involved too for some reason.

Francois leads production on the ISS.

Hah, the Gauls have captured Rennes and are burning it to the ground. Nice.

Francois builds... Another wonder I can't identify. Looks like a satellite, so I presume science bonuses.

Ooh, I know what this one does. The Visigoths build the Helios Microwave Power Satellite. It doubles the yields of solar plants in the empire and enemy units adjacent to solar plants take 10 damage per turn. Visigothia isn't looking too bad.

Oran and Brest fall to New France, leaving de Gaulle in Algiers. Somewhat like real life actually.

There goes Algiers, eliminating de Gaulle. Only 2 leaders with de in their name remain, who will be the last?

Charles de Gaulle of France (Rank: 16/40) had a tough start, at the end of a peninsula. He started founding cities towards the rest of the mainland, but stopped when he encountered New France. De Gaulle and de Champlain fought a few wars, but they always stalemated, so when New France expanded and de Gaulle didn't, it became a matter of time until New France ate them up. Probably the most passive AI in the game gone now.

Francois builds the Pholus Mutagen, granting units the Gegineered promotion for free and causing random fungal growths on farms, plantations, and nature preserves that do... something? No idea. Look out for fungal growths I guess?

Things go from not good to very not good for Monaco as Louis XI, upset at not being able to reach Rome, declares war on them. Rome, Avignon, and Monaco-Ville take damage as French units practically outnumber Monegasque units in western-central Monaco.

Francois' digital citizens are now emancipated, granting him science, culture, and production for Drone Hives in the empire (a FW unit). Uploaded citizens also yield 50% more.

You know, I'd actually be worried for Andorra if Francois had any units nearby capable of reaching Engordany. If anything, it looks like Andorra is on the offensive against Paris. Good luck Andorra.

Just like that, Avignon falls to Louis' forces.

As does Rome, and even Monaco-Ville, Monaco's capital.

Catherine de Medici builds the Citadel Station, granting +2 gold and science from scientists, and +2 gold and production from engineers. A good wonder for her as she needs the production and science to keep up with her rivals.

Offscreen Francois builds the Shimizu Mega City Pyramid, granting him +20 production, gold, and science in the city it was built in, as well as eliminating building maintenance. Autoplants and Drone Hives will also produce +2 happiness, but the wonder must be built on an ocean tile and requires 6 Nanomaterials.

A quick trip north reveals that West Germany is full of military units and planes, and has built Angelnet. Angelnet doubles the effectiveness of Utility Fogs (which I think grant nanomaterials?) and causes them to grant +2 happiness each.

We return south to see that Monaco has been wiped off the map, apart from tehir strong navy and a few land melee units who won't manage to recapture La Condamine. De Gaulle joins in attacking Monaco because AI gonna AI.

Albert I of Monaco (Rank: 15/40) also had a tough starting location. Mountains to the north and the map border to the east forced him to settle towards the Papal States. Thankfully, they Papal States didn't settle towards Monaco as Monaco was one of the, if not the, slowest civ to settle their second city. They warred with the Papal States multiple times until they finally conquered them. War with the Visigoths turned Monegasque fortunes around, and Louis XI pounced while they were distracted, ending them in 8 turns.

The Flemish decide to build one of those fancy wonders, and so build the Nephilim Gene Template. This grants each city +1 production, gold, and science for every 2 citizens. That's a great wonder, and Flanders should be able to use it to its fullest considering their massive populations. The smallest bonus is +10 from Charleroi, and the average bonus is +16.

Oh no, I missed it. Sorry everyone, I completely missed Francois taking Engordany eliminating Andorra...

Roger-Bernard III of Andorra (Rank: 14/40) performed better in the Redux than in the original France IA. They settled towards the Visigoths and warred them multiple times, but the Visigoths wouldn't break. A poorly timed war with the Visigoths saw them lose all of their holdings north of the Pyrenees. They held on for a while, but somehow Francois somehow managed to get a unit to their last city and take it. A good run, Andorra.

The Gauls and New France go to peace. The Gauls made the only gains, but burnt the city they captured down. Boring.

Catherine de Medici caught up to Francois, well done. Unless 115 is the total number of techs. One sec, I'll check. *scrolling* Nope, it isn't. Catherine has done well to tech up so quickly, and the Flemish are only behind by 1 tech.

Our first ideology flip, this'll tell us which one is more prevalent. Turns out its autocracy, and not order/communism.

Francois builds the Bionic Tower, our first Hyperstructure. A hyperstructure is a wonder that can be build in a city that doesn't already contain a hyperstructure. Anyway, specialists in all cities produce half as much unhappiness and consume half as much food. Requires a source of fresh water and 6 nanomaterials.

And here's the Ultima Tower, another hyperstructure. Every city gains +2 population, and a general +10 happiness.

This is a big deal: Catherine de Medici has declared war on the Gauls! Orleans(the capital), Lille, and Arlon are in the red (Bourges, Nimes, and Darantasia are as well offscreen), while Mont-Saint-Aignan and Orleans(the city) are in the yellow. I'd put my money on the Gauls here due to their more advanced army.

Francois keeps building wonders, this time its the Buenos Aires Forum, yet another hyperstructure. Golden ages last 50% longer, and gain golden age points equal to the number of citizens in the city it was built in each turn. (According to the civilopedia on this wonder, it was supposed to be completed in 2016. Could have fooled me.)

Oh. Oh no. Things have gone from good for the Gauls to terrible for the Gauls. West Germany has declared war on them. I... I don't think the Gauls will survive, to be honest. Troyes and Lutetia are in the red, and the Gaul's army is nowhere near big enough to stop the West German onrush.

The Gauls put on a brave face and capture Neapolis, but I don't think it'll matter in the long run. The victors of the original France IA will be in for a tough war.

Neapolis flips to being West German all of a sudden.

Here's why I'm not optimistic: The Gauls have 3/4 of the military of West Germany. de Medici has 1/3 of the Gauls' military, but all they have to do is wait for the West Germans to beat up their mutual foe and reap the rewards.

Francois leads the world in building the Asteroid Mining Project.

Troyes falls to the West Germans, with Lutetia soon to follow. Sorry if I'm a bit sad at the impending fall of the Gauls, they were the original winners, so seeing them get double-teamed like this kinda sucks as I was rooting for them. Francois builds the Ceres Station, another wonder that does many things, I'm sure.

Anyway, we'll end the part here, just as its getting interesting in central France. Thanks for reading, here's the usual poll, this time with even fewer participants: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdzVWOgkejsqShQ5nFUKydDnte6J4pV34p9Sxhzd9vOmqRDjA/viewform

West Germany dominates the population chart, and looks set to keep doing so with their future acquisition of Gaul.

Eh? Francois leads the production race by a few hundred, must be those wonders. Gaul is behind West Germany by about 1500 hammers.

Wow, even the Visigoths have passed the Gauls in military strength.

Tech time, with de Medici leading at the end of the part. A meteoric rise.

Thanks for reading, here's the poll again: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdzVWOgkejsqShQ5nFUKydDnte6J4pV34p9Sxhzd9vOmqRDjA/viewform