Get some popcorn ready, because the entire planet is about to throw down.
UPDATE: The game has begun! There's a stream here, but service has been patchy at best.
The Civilization fanatics at /r/Civ have hatched a wonderful plan: they're going to setup then run an enormous planetary showdown, which is going to take place on a huge real-world map that's big enough to accommodate 42 Civs.
42.
And they're all going to be AI-controlled.
Yes, rather than let actual players duke it out, the organisers have made the smart move to let Civilization itself sort everything out, meaning everyone can just sit back and watch the world burn.
Or unite and trade peacefully and spread happiness and save the environment and...
Nah, it'll burn. And not just because Gandhi is involved, but because the game is set to be won by Domination only, which means everyone will be forced to duke it out militarily.
To get to 42 Civs, and have them spread out fairly across the planet, a number of mods will be used that'll mean unofficial Civs like Australia will be joining more established ones like Rome. Some other existing Civs have also been modified; Germany becomes Nazi Germany and Russia becomes the USSR.
Some other rules: there are no city-states, it'll be played on epic speed and will run on deity AI.
It's in the final stages of preparation; you can follow along once it kicks off here. Don't expect to sit and watch it live though; with 42 Civs on a massive map turns will take forever to crunch, meaning daily reports and timelapses will be better way to see what's happening.
Time to pick a Civ to root for!