Power Rankings: Episode 26 – S2

Uzbekistan

Altima

Oh good, they died. Probably. We won’t actually have to spend as long with an irrelevant Middle Eastern civ whose continued existence is owed entirely to geography as I was worried we would. Now, they could spring back up like dandelions at some point if that Shrodinger’s Settler should see sufficient space, but I find it best to generally bet against such things.

As far as eulogies go, Uzbekistan has had a helluva ride. They were a power for much of C1 before they forgot how to spell “power” and lost several generations of young men to like twelve Russian mechs, and then Total War saw them get eviscerated by the Russians red and white. They never found enough space or time to get a ball rolling in C2, and thus they got slowly shredded from north and south until finally they died. They did take that one Russian city that one time, though. That was funny.

Altima

The end is coming once again. The Dene could in theory still peace out before the deed is done, but at this lopsided of an arrangement, I’m not feeling it. Grab your chairs, your hot drinks, and your beer for  the second death of the Neutral Nation. Let’s see if we can go for three.

Cloudberg:

Finland remains the second worst living civ, stuck with one city and at the mercy of the USSR. Wait, where have I heard that before?

Anyway, while Finland is just waiting to die at this point, it is worth something that they’ve made it into the top 20 and could well survive into the top 15. By doing... absolutely nothing at all the entire game.

Rosay:

In all but name, the Gauls are a rump state. Sure the Gauls are far from the worst in the game, but there is essentially no possible way for the Gauls to even get double digit cities, hell even in the top ten at this point. In a questionably quiet war in Europe, the Vandals have essentially boxed in the nation, with Germany being on the other side. It's not going to be next part, but I don't see the Gauls making it past part 30.

Cloudberg:

Northern Yuan holds steady as the lowest of the non-rumps, quietly waiting for someone to annex their sizable yet sparsely defended empire. Right now all Northern Yuan is doing is serving as a parking lot for Chukchi troops, or some kind of glorified doormat. The only real question is who kills them—the all-powerful Chukchi or ascendant PARG?

Vihreaa

The Kulin, in contrast to their performance in cycle 1, are running behind this cycle. While they aren’t necessarily weak, they don’t have the strength or sphere of influence they had in cycle one, controlling all of Australia, most of the Pacific, and also southern South America. With the Pacific being fragmented between multiple nations currently, they could manage to consolidate power there, but those single tile ocean cities don't necessarily give a good base to produce military units. With Malacca as their only major neighbor currently, they have fought multiple wars with them but not managed to make much concrete gains.

Cloudberg:

Lesotho’s brief brush with the top 10 ends as quickly as it started, thanks to a Nigerian declaration of war near the end of this episode. Now, Nigeria isn’t exactly wiping the floor with Lesotho, and in fact Lesotho seems to have a slight advantage on land, but Moshoeshoe can kiss his island colonies goodbye. More to the point, however—if he doesn’t miraculously turn this war around and make gains against Nigeria, a scenario which I deem unlikely, Lesotho’s chances of long-term success are very low.

Msurdej:

Punjab starts to claw its way back up, finally taking out Uzbekistan. But it might be too little too late. Their production is falling behind other competitors, and they've run out of easy prey. They've begun a war with PARG, but it seems to have been a bit of a wash, claiming only a single city. This is due largely to the terrain favoring the defense, Punjab's armies having only small columns to go through outside of former Uzbek lands. Ranjit is going to have to hope they can pounce on another target for some easy wins.

Cloudberg:

PARG hits the top 10 for the first time in ten episodes after an unexpectedly strong performance against the USSR, which resulted in the capture of two minor Soviet cities in a war Lenin was expected to win. Furthermore, Kolchak’s stats only keep getting better, and his empire looks more solid with every passing episode. And having absorbed all the former lands of Uzbekistan, the White Russian Empire now extends from Iran to the Arctic Ocean—a good base from which to contest the game, should Kolchak play his cards right.

Altima

Last part, I pointed out in my Dene writeup that the two were so closely tied in most regards as to be unlikely to significantly break through each other, with terrain favoring the Dene. I was mostly right, while the Dene did take a city after significant hellfighting, neither side was able to affect a particularly major breakthrough. This leaves the Big River at a crossroad (a confluence?)- where do they go from here? The Neuts are dying, Marajoara is a firm “hell no”, the Dene have proven too evenly matched, what options do the bois in pink have? Their best bet at the moment is to bulk up, tech up, and prepare for the next war against the Dene. Even as matched as they are, that’s still going to be Rio’s best option for the foreseeable future if they still want to count themselves a power.

Msurdej:

Despite the capture of Prizreni, Germany takes a bit of a tumble this week. Their stats are okay, and they are making some good moves. This is mostly due to the better actions of their neighbors and other top civs doing better than them. The USSR managed to eviscerate Finland, leaving them a shell of a city state. The Vandals have an excellent carpet in the Mediterranean, and can still pick some Gaul cities. And the Dene... well, I'll let the next slide talk about them.

Rosay:

Dene continues their forever conflict with Rio Grande, this time with Quebec on the line. Despite the war going on for over a part, no real territory has been gained. Almost always this is due to nature's favorite defense, terrain, getting in the way. This is, crazily enough, more or less the exact same predicament we got in the last cycle, where even in the endgame no real gains were made.

Cloudberg:

Nigeria slips another place, continuing its downward trajectory, as the Vandals continue to get stronger at Awolowo’s expense. Furthermore, Nigeria’s last-ditch effort to break out of Genseric’s shadow by invading Lesotho doesn’t seem guaranteed to produce a major victory, with Lesotho apparently doing slightly better on land even as Nigeria bests them at sea. So where does Nigeria go from here? Nobody can say, but it’s starting to look like it might not be up.

Cloudberg:

Despite suffering a minor defeat against Kolchak, Lenin rises back to 5th place this episode, reversing an earlier decline thanks to his greater success in stomping Finland. Furthermore, the USSR’s stats are excellent and only continue to increase, so there’s little reason to believe the loss against PARG is anything other than an aberration, at least for now.

Vihreaa:

Malacca drops a rank this week, to fourth place. With a strong navy in a very coastal region of the world, they are still among the top contenders to win the game, but they will need to make some naval gains in order to show the rest of the world they mean business. Along with this, something that may lead to Malacca’s possible downfall could be their lack of development of a land army. While they have strong dominance in the seas, not having a strong land army cuts them off from multiple avenues for expansion, such as into China or India.

Cloudberg:

This episode, the Vandals reach an all-time high of third place, as their stats continue to rise and their military strength continues to grow. What’s more, the Gallic capital is all but undefended, and if they can just land a few more troops in southern France, they might be able to take it. And that will be just one more step in what appears to be Genseric’s goal: perfectly remaking the borders of the Roman Empire. Godspeed.

Msurdej:

​​Marajoara has a bit of a problem. Its stats are great, they're the only people on the continent, and they managed to take a city off of Nigeria this part. But this conflict has been the largest conflict they've been in, and against a minor outpost of Nigeria's no less. P'küee is going to need to make more power plays if they want to get back into the top spot.

Vihreaa

The Chukchi hold their spot as top dog this part, despite not participating in any wars in a major capacity. With a strong foothold in Asia and a capability to project power in North America, both from Alaska and down the west coast, the Chukchi are in a great spot. Settling the Philippines this part, they expand their sphere of influence further south in the Pacific, where they likely will come into major conflict with Malacca sooner or later. With a weakened Northern Yuan to their west, the Chukchi could take several cities from them, further expanding their empire.