Power Rankings: Episode 28 – S2

Vihreaa

Our good friends in the Neutral Nation retain their sovereignty for yet another part, defying the expectation of many in the community. It is undeniable though that just about any of their neighbors could put an(other) end to their race in the royale, as they have been a rump state for several parts now.

Msurdej  

The Gauls lost half of their cities in this part, as the Vandals remembered they were at war. With such devastation, Vercingetorix can only hope Geneseric loses interest again and calls for peace. Otherwise, I see a broken TV where we once watched the Gauls.

Random Strategy:

Finland gains 1 rank this part though I'm not sure why since the Gauls (who they overtook) still have 3 cities, of which 2 are inland and therefore unlikely to fall. Anyway, Finland barely appeared in this part and we didn't get stats so there really isn't much to say.

Altima

Still all quiet on the German front. The most exciting thing Wilhelm has done this part is join Dene in declaring upon Punjab (and thus, dragging Dene into a war with Chukchi) and that’s only interesting in that it might screw over the Dene. Time is no friend to the Germans; their Russian and Vandalic neighbors are stronger than them and their only good expansion avenue is almost completely eaten. If they are to make a power of themselves, they need to do more than drag distant powers into horrible mistakes. They need to make decisive actions of their own, like maybe joining in on the assault on Gaul to grab what little territory is left to gain.

Lacsirax: Not a particularly lively part for the Kulin, but given in this instance not lively is really code for “not at war with Malacca”, that’s no bad thing. They lost a city to the Chukchi, a city in the North Pacific they had no business controlling in the first place, but gained a city from Rio Grande on the South American continent. It’s not quite the sterling showing they had against the Mapuche in Cycle 1, but hey, gotta start somewhere. And they also end the episode at war with the Dene - with Thanadelthur having a couple of completely unprotected colonies in the South Pacific, and a more pressing foe in the form of the Chukchi, that’s William’s war to lose. There’s nothing here to really suggest the Kulin are finding a way back into the game, but a decently positive part is rewarded with a rank up.

Random Strategy: Last episode, the Vandals and Kulin distracted Nigeria from their conquest of Lesotho. So it turns out that Lesotho used that temporary peace well: to train an army of riflemen which reentered the war this part. This was successful as Lesotho pushed forward and captured Lubumbashi. Unfortunately, what should have been the best comeback story of the cbr gets ruined by the permanent party-poopers: Malacca and their jongs, who have already pooped on so many other civs' cool stories. Now Lesotho has not invested in navy, so losing to a naval civ is fairly expected; however, Lesotho does have the “ship for civs that don't want to tech navy”: the ironclad. But it turns out that a steam-powered armour-plated industrial era warship is still no match for just a bunch of medieval cargo vessels: Lesotho has lost Madagascar and now their eastern coast is flipping.

Lacsirax: Nigeria is in a weird, weird place - at the start of this episode there looked to be a real chance that the “winners” of Cycle 1 were about to be annihilated by Lesotho. They have now managed to reverse Lesotho’s aggression, but it’s come at the cost of ceding a city to the Vandals before suffering a surprise backdoor attack from the Marajoara. Whichever way you look at it, despite their scientific supremacy (which they’ve now lost to the Marajoara), Nigeria is bleeding cities quicker than they’re gaining them - and they didn’t have many cities to begin with. In a way, I’m more surprised this didn’t happen the first time round; starting in the middle of a continent with fairly powerful neighbours is an unenviable place to be, and this sort of piecemeal takedown we’re seeing is the usual fate of such civs (remember Songhai?) Really, Nigeria overachieved in Cycle 1, perhaps now unable to repeat it. That said, they’re not out of it - if they can curtail the Marajoara War before it gets any worse, they could definitely still storm beleaguered Lesotho, leaving them with only the one land border to worry about. And while they might not lead the tech race any more - make no mistake, they’re still swotting up faster than most.

Cloudberg:

Punjab mysteriously rises three ranks based on... well, to be honest, we’re not sure exactly. It might have something to do with everyone in Africa fucking themselves over, leaving us scrambling for someone else to put in the top 10, or it might be because we succumbed to the hype of Ranjit Singh taking a random PARG city that was nowhere near his borders. Otherwise, however, little has actually changed for Punjab, with their offensive against PARG so far yielding little other than memes, and their other neighbor Malacca only continuing to increase in strength. Although they do have one thing going for them: Malacca’s naval tech is still basically just Jongs.

Cloudberg:

PARG reaches its highest rank since episode 8 after managing to avoid evisceration at the hands of the Chukchi. Lawtiliwadlin only took one small city before making peace, leaving Kolchak enough time and manpower to fight off the simultaneous assaults by the USSR and Punjab. As a result, what looked like it might be curtains for PARG has turned out to be only a minor speed bump, and Kolchak’s place in the top 10 remains secure. All that having been said, it’s not super clear where he goes from here—only time will tell if he finds a way to break out.

Cloudberg:

The Dene will enter episode 29 in serious trouble, thanks to the Chukchi invasion which was declared on the final turn of episode 28. Despite power rankings speculating that Thanadelthur might be screwed, we’ve only dropped her one rank, because Chukchi’s ability to push into North America is as yet unproven. But in any case, the Dene had better put up a good fight if they want to have any chance at winning this game.

Altima

So the only noteworthy thing Rio did this part was lose their random South American city. On the plus side, their northern neighbor now finds themselves staring down the barrel of a loaded #1 civ, which could well create some interesting opportunities for the future. Rio does have a track record for picking fights with the Dene when the Blue-Green Boys and Girls are fighting someone else… This potential opportunity is more than they’ve had for a bit, and so, up two places they go.

Altima

Well, Lenin took back some lost ground. Things could change as the war grinds on, but for now, they’re making slow progress. It all comes down to how much longer this war lasts, and if they can keep the pressure on PARG, who have consistently proven capable of handling Punjab and the USSR. My personal bet is that they stall out for a bit unless the Chukchi jump back in. The Urals are hell, and PARG is pretty good at prioritizing unit production. Either way, the USSR loses a rank.

Msurdej  

Luck certainly turned around for Vercingetorix. They managed to deal a decisive blow to Nigeria, taking a few cities in the ocean alongside a few cities in Africa. They also managed to get back to their war with the Gauls, taking three of the six cities. While they still have a few more to go, they should be careful before their next battle if they don’t want to fall back down.

Vihreaa

Marajoara hit back at those pesky African powers taking their cities, opting to capture a city in Africa! Unfortunately it looks like they invaded the wrong country, because it was actually the Vandals who took a city from them, not Nigeria. Is that racist? Who’s to say. This reflects the fact that Marajorara is number three for a reason though, as they have just about the entirety of South America to themselves to continually strengthen their core.

Altima

Madagascar has been infected by the Jong. Per Pandemic II rules, the world is already boned. Per Civ rules, this is simply promising progress. The rest of the war seems likely to stagnate, although if both Nigeria and Malacca keep at it Lesotho does seem likely to crack eventually, ground to dust from southern seas and northern lands. Either way, this war’s been a solid W for the boys in blue.

Random Strategy:

Fresh off the annihilation of Northern Yuan, the Chukchi’s Asian forces continue their rampage by going after PARG. But the Chukchi change their mind and cancel the war after only 6 turns and 1 city capture. That is a shame because with their high production and with the help of the USSR and Punjab, they could have grinded out PARG and extended their asian empire even further. Not to mention that making friends (or staying friends) with the large anti-PARG coalition would be very good diplomatically. Instead, the Chukchi decide they want to expand eastwards into North America by attacking the Dene. For this to be a good move, they need to actually win and take some cities so that they are in a good position to become the dominant civ of North America. The risk with this move is that the attack on the Dene merely weakens them enough that Rio Grande can eventually defeat them and then Rio Grande would become the North American superpower, presenting a serious thorn in the Chukchi's side.