Power Rankings: Episode 32 – S2

Lacsirax: Well, this eulogy came a lot earlier than I was expecting. Malacca has easily been one of this installment’s most memorable contenders, a nation that defied the cursed Indonesia TSL to build a naval hegemony that dominated the coasts of Asia in both cycles.

It’s safe to say they had a bit of help from some truly inept neighbours. Vietnam were maybe the worst performing civ on the map, and neither Laos nor VOC really took to expanding their frontiers either. Malacca took advantage of this, expanding rapidly around their neighbours rather than annihilating them and building up early warmongering penalties - though they had little time for nations like the Kulin and Taiping infringing on their territory (Chola strangely got a free pass). Never thriving inland, their conquests came almost entirely navally, at least until their evisceration of long-time rivals Taiping in total war. Cycle 2 saw less of a focus on settling and more of a focus on protecting their sphere of influence, batting away the Kulin and Punjab and helping destroy Chola early on. Fatally however, they allowed the Chukchi to settle the Philippines, and from here they amassed a Pacific navy to rival Malacca’s own. After a few centuries wasting their navy on a tenacious Lesotho, a coalition saw them taken apart piecemeal. It’s a huge compliment to them that 13th feels far, far too low a rank - Malacca truly did themselves (and mod creator/superfan Orange) proud.

Random Strategy:

This was one of the most sudden and brutal deaths of cbr history. And, although the loss wasn't completely unexpected if you were looking at the raw power, it would certainly be surprising to anyone looking at the civ’s recent history. And the outright elimination, all the way from great power to dead in a single war without even a chance at becoming a rump, well that was certainly shocking regardless.

Germany started off the game in cycle 1 by abusing their UA (which gives them production for every war they're in) by getting into wars with random rumps around the cylinder to be first in production by a long way. They used this production to conquer the Teutons and crossed the Baltics to crush Sweden's hopes. They built a vast powerful navy which they used to kill Iceland. They fought with the Gauls for a while before entering an uneasy peace, themselves having the advantage at sea while the Gauls had the advantage on land; they themselves were the favorite of the two for most of the game, though the Gauls managed to catch up by the time of total war so that they were again even. But Whilhelm's one true nemesis was Ferdinand of the 2 Sicilies. Despite having poor land forces and his navy being the wrong side of the continent, Wilhelm would not stop constantly trying and failing to invade Italy. Eventually, during total war, he got his wish, and savagely nuked 2 Sicilies off the map. Germany's cycle 2 was less exciting, only really fighting Kosovo and falling very far behind in tech for some reason. It was only 2 episodes ago that Germany was at the gates of Moscow (true, they got there using citadels) and even managed to flip Petrograd. We could tell that the USSR were statistically much better than them and SHOULD have been easily winning the war but they just weren't. That war ended with Munich still in German hands, and Germany even managed to make gains in the north atlantic against the soviet allies, the Vandals. Perhaps Germany could fight wars good even though they had bad stats? It turns out: no. Not at all. This second war, the exact opposite outcome happened, as the soviets utterly crushed the entire German empire into nothingness, even being so ruthless as to chase them all the way to Greenland so that not even a rump remained.

Random Strategy:

This part was relatively mixed. First of all, the bad news: Dalu Tua seceded and joined Rio Grande instead. Good news: the Dene survived Marajoara's attack with only Cenabum and Deline lost. Bad news, the Chukchi coveted the Dene’s large capital and attacked... Good news, the Chukchi were merciful and let the Dene survive with 2 cities! Bad news: the Dene are now in last place. Good news: 2 other civs died so the Dene don't actually lose any ranks. Things are indeed looking pretty grim for the Dene. Though I will say that for the people of Dalu Tua, their situation isn't much better: although by seceding, they did avoid getting sacked by the Chukchi, Rio was at the time in the middle of getting vandalised and could still be destroyed by either neighbour really easily.

Altima

Four cities. Rio is stuck with four cities. With both of our current superpowers capable of delivering the killing blow, all that’s left is the ticking of the clock. Still, they survive on, and even gain a rank due to the deaths of stronger civs. There’s a victory in that.

Msurdej:Brought low and made humble during the last part, the Gauls now only have one real threat: the USSR. Sure, if Lenin ever declares war, it’ll probably be over in a turn, maybe two. But compared to other civs like Rio Grande and the Dene, it’s a good place to be. Is Vercingetorix’s play of appeasement a winning strategy? No. Is it a strategy that could get him into the Top 10? Yes.

Random Strategy:

Last part we were wondering how much PARG would lose to the USSR. turns out: nothing at all! PARG put up an amazing defense against a much superior civ! Instead, the civ who ends up doing the most damage is... Punjab? Yes: Punjab have taken almost all the ex-Uzbek lands and are currently sieging the last one, Namangan. PARG is pretty much down to just their bare core of 10 cities and (with Germany out) are now last in tech excluding the Gauls. Fortunately, PARG got some unexpected allies in Lesotho and Kulin, who might distract Punjab enough to limit the damage.

Msurdej:  

The Kulin continue to hang onto the Australian continent, but little choices now remain for them. They got a pittance of land from the coalition against Malacca,and the war with Punjab may not amount to anything either. And with borders to both the Chukchi and Marajoara, it’s certainly not the best place to be. Of course, the Kulin are always buoyed by their main base of operations, the Australian subcontinent. But if they are still alive when Total War comes around, having two borders may turn into a losing proposition for Barak.

Random Strategy

Remembering their past glory of cycle 1, the Vandals decide now is time to retake the east coast of america. They had originally taken it from the New Netherlands, a civ that forgot to research boats and was therefore extremely weak to naval attacks. This time they took it from Rio Grande who are instead weak due to Marajoara. The war went very well and the Vandals landed themselves a large number of cities in North America including the old Neutral capital. Unfortunately, Marajoara did not recognise the gains and has taken everything back, sending the Vandals back to their position at the start of the episode. Worse: Marajoara had a small army & fleet in North Africa, which moved north to take a few Vandal cities in Africa, helped by mass stealth bombers from across the Atlantic. Now, although they are sending bombers across, Marajoara do not appear to be sending any actual reinforcements across the atlantic so the vandals SHOULD be able to clean up what's already here and not lose too much. Despite having a lot of cities at zero health due to bombardment, Marajoara just don't have the melee units to capture them. Though if you are pessimistic, you could imagine Marajoara changing their minds about not sending reinforcements, which would hurt the Vandals a lot… Oh and 1 more thing: Germany, the last viable expansion path for the Vandals, has also been taken out, which likely means there is no more hope of a Vandal victory.

Altima

Vengeance is so sweet. A pity it often costs so much. Punjab has bested the Malaccans who crippled them at the start of this and chipped away at the absurdly tenacious PARG, but now faces assault from both the Kulin and the Lesotho. Both powers have complete aerial supremacy against the AA-averse Punjab, with the former having Airborne Forces, and so this war could go rather badly for the boys in orange. It will certainly be a war to watch in the coming part.

Lacsirax: The fall of Malacca is a weight off Lesotho’s chest, their most frequent recent rival reduced to dust. Madagascar and the surrounding isles are firmly Basotho, and the new neighbour - an isolated Chukchi city - won’t be nearly as much of a threat for now. Instead, Lesotho are focussing on chewing up their erstwhile ally Punjab, while letting Marajoara bother the Vandals. It’s a great strategy: Punjab are at a moment of weakness, and if Lesotho wants to truly assert itself as a world superpower, they’ll need to leave Africa eventually. The only real concern is potentially allowing Marajoara to grow into a problem border, but they’ve thus far not dedicated too much to the invasion of the Vandals, so they may dodge that bullet.

Lacsirax: We came into this episode excited to see if the USSR could finally finish off PARG. That is… not what happened. Despite what felt like an overwhelming numerical advantage, especially in the air, Lenin once again failed to seriously breach PARG’s core, once again scuppered by the Ural mountains and falling short of their capital Omsk. So, if that’s still not working… why not deal with the other problem? The second half of this episode saw the USSR finally, cathartically tear through long-dormant Germany, not only kicking them out of Europe but following them all the way back to Greenland, eliminating them from the game. They’ll need a little time to rebuild now, but with PARG and the Vandals still acting as soft buffer states with the superpowers, they should get that opportunity. Welcome to the big league!

Msurdej:  

The ice stone has melted folks. Chukchi has been dethroned. Of course, don’t mistake this as Lawtiliwadlin going soft. The Chukchi still have the largest production, and had a resounding victory against former frontrunner Malacca. Best of all, there are still several civs for them to gobble up. Total war is on the horizon, and while the blue giant may have fallen a bit behind, the Chukchi aren’t out yet.

Altima

And so the champion is dethroned. On the back of monstrous stats and an insane technological lead, the Marajoarans have claimed the #1 slot. And their deeds justify it, sweeping the Vandals out of North America and pushing into the Vandalii heart. Now, the question is twofold- can they break through the Mediterranean naval heartland, and how will they hold in the inevitable fight against the previous champion? The mighty Vandalii fleet is ready for bear, and the Marajoaran fleet isn’t exactly famed- have they built up enough to push through? Will the Marajoaran army be enough to counteract the Chukchi naval supremacy? The stage is set for proper chaos come Total War.