Power Rankings: Episode 7 – S2

Shaggy:

This isn’t a eulogy, but it’s damn near one. With a fully black capital health bar and virtually no military to fight back, Egypt is on the verge of being rumped if not fully eliminated. They’ve lost the Chad-off and are now one melee unit away from becoming a Mediterranean city state in a game where the Normans seem to be hell-bent on recreating the Roman empire. So much for the all-out early aggression strategy. Praise the sun for now, Akhenaten, it seems to be setting for you.

Orange:

As an ardent Mohave fan I can’t say I’m sad about the state Comanche is in, but on some level you have to pity them. Like they sent their second settler out across the world only to try to bring them back and have them killed. And only then did they try to settle the land right next to them after Arapaho had settled so much and Mohave had begun taking Mexico. And now they are trapped between these two powers fighting them, who knows how long they will hold out.

Orange:

Look at them rising up the ranks! At this rate they will be in 1st in about 30 parts! What’s that? Still fucked? Welp. At least they are able to defend against Tuva still, but who knows when that defense will falter.

Emu

I wanted to like Seminole, I really did. They made the best of their Floridian start, but got smacked down by Roosevelt before they could get anything going. Now they just languish in Florida, waiting to die. Having known people in that situation, it's a good bet things don't look so hot in Cuscowilla right now. Maybe someone should go check on Micanopy. Actually, on second glance the stats sheet says he has 23 happiness, so maybe he's fine. In that case, the meager Seminole production (actually last place) should be focused on building a navy before America can get to it and trying to build a core in the Caribbean.

Shaggy:

Cambodia got no mentions this part but remains a rumped city-state in a region where one can’t afford to hide. Once Kokang (or *swoons* Timor-Leste) has a moment between dealing with needling neighbors, Cambodia would be a tasty treat.

Msurdej:  

The Anglo-Norse kingdom, ruled by its noble houses steering Canute, gained a few ranks this week. Though it’s mostly because the other civs we’ve already talked about are having much worse issues at the moment. A war with Yugoslavia may not lead to much, as there’s not enough space between them for an army to get through. It’s more likely the Anglo-Norse will be picked off by Brandenburg, or possibly Lithuania.

CelestialDalek:

In a move of extreme stupidity, Modoc gives away their second city, leaving them with only Captain Jack’s Stronghold. And it’s not the time traveller Captain Jack to save them. They don’t have any more space to settle, and are now well and truly fucked. With everyone having an avenue at their capital, it’s a matter of time until they are dead.

JDT:

Vermont fails to buck the worryingly common trend of “Low-mid tier civs completely throwing away their chances by giving away their second city,” as they decide to surrender Montpelier to the USA in exchange for continual regional autonomy. This, of course, relegates them to the bottom tier, with zero potential for any expansionism and even poorer stats than when the war first began. But hey, at least you still have Burlington, and are only killable by the good ole US of A right?

Reformer: Well that was sudden. But expected. The Filipino cities were divided and impossible to defend effectively - a gamble that did not pay out, and probably never was going to pay out. May I point out that there is STILL available land to be settled in the vicinity of their capital? At this rate it’ll be Timor-Leste who settle it. All the same, Philippines drop down here into the gang here who formerly had 3 cities and now have 2. They have nonexistent opportunities, and frankly, are vulnerable to an invasion whenever Timor-Leste so desires. Not a good outlook.

Cloudberg:

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD PEDRO, WHY?

Okay, let’s step back for a second and note that Brazil already didn’t have much chance, so it’s not like Pedro just threw away a winning hand. But still, Jeez. Handing over your largest city to the Inca without a fight is a Maria-the-Mad-tier play. And as if that wasn’t enough, Kayapo settled a city which blocks land access from Rio to Recife, Brazil’s only remaining cities. It’s just adding insult to injury at that point.

Msurdej: Khazaria lost more cities to the Permians in this part, but they still gained a few ranks. Sure Balanjar was taken, and Derbent  could easily join them. But after that, it doesn’t seem likely that the Permians will push on to Atil, much less the cities farther away.

Cloudberg:

Did you hear the good news? Uganda has another settler out! There MIGHT even be a place to settle with it! Uganda to to the moon?

Altima

Sometimes, no news is good news.

Emu

Mori continues to languish on Honshu, not taking the incredible opportunity afforded by their neighbors being just as bad as they are. Their stats are awful, they have no land, and they're trapped in. Don't feel sorry for them though, it's 100% their own fault. They refuse to even settle the north of their own island. This is honestly embarrassing. If Yolngu is the wistful left-fielder, Mori is the guy that got handed a prime position and (literally) stands around and drops the ball at every possible opportunity. Go ahead and start betting on $NOK, cause if there's going to be any power at all in this region, Mori isn't it. The Mori-Ainu-NK triangle isn't that strong, Motonari. It's not that hard.

CelestialDalek:The Anglo-Dutch are still alive, despite Brandenburg’s worst efforts. Their strategy of settling the Anglo part of their name turned out bad when they lost a city to Ireland of all civs, and they’ve been saved by miracles multiple times. Their army sucks, they don’t want to use the space they have in France, and their stats aren’t good. I do not want to be the Anglo-Dutch.

CelestialDalek:Botswana continues to middle around at the bottom of both the rankings and Africa. They have nothing to do, their opportunities are nonexistent, and what’s keeping them up here is that they won’t die right now because they still have three cities. They coalitioned up against Angola, but any gains will be swiftly nullified. Really, it’s a matter of time until Zulu comes knocking on their capital and its terrain that grants quick movement.

Shaggy:

Kim Il-Sung spent this part bouncing between wars with Han and Mori. There’s also a settler heading towards somewhere the Ainu might not be super thrilled about. Tajihi-Sarugake looks to be nigh impenetrable without naval support that hasn’t materialized for North Korea. Expect a meatgrinder at best and another waste of resources leading to further encirclement at worst. But hey, rise a rung on the PR ladder, other civs are definitely doing worse.

Leman:

For a two-city civ, Yolngu is kind of impressive. I mean yeah, they’ve so far built only one settler and it died, but they defended really admirably from Wiradjuri. Honestly, that war really should have been a disaster, but Yolgnu comes out almost entirely unscathed. At the same time there are a half dozen other civs that are actively collapsing, which explains Yonglu’s 8 rank climb this week despite not founding a city.

JDT:

Ainu continues to languish in Kamchatka, not taking the incredible opportunity afforded by their neighbors being just as bad as they are. Their stats are mediocre, and though they still have plenty of land to settle, its quickly dissipating. Don't feel sorry for them though, it's 100% their own fault. They refuse to even settle the north of their own island. This is honestly embarrassing. If Yolngu is the wistful left-fielder, Ainu is the guy that got handed a prime position and (literally) stands around and drops the ball at every possible opportunity. Go ahead and start betting on the Gokturks, cause if there's going to be any power at all in this region, Ainu’s looking less and less likely to be the “one”. The Mori-Ainu-NK triangle isn't that strong, Shakushain. It's not that hard.

Leman:

Greenland doesn’t really do all too much this episode. Their economic problems are still very much present, at -23 GPT and an empty treasury. This leads to terrible effective science: 15, tied with Modoc for lowest in the game. Unsurprisingly they didn’t research a tech this round.

But hey. Greenland’s got time. It’s early enough that they can turn their technological failures around pretty quickly. And Greenland’s got room still – most of Quebec is still empty and most of the North Atlantic Islands can still be colonized. Plus, they have a settler out! And they’re at war with Vermont. Who know’s maybe Ethan will just hand over Burlington too.

Point is, there are still plenty of opportunities for Greenland. So don’t count them out. Yet.

Leman:

Correct me if I’m wrong but I don’t think Castile can found anymore cities on the Iberian Peninsula? Meaning if Castile wants to expand it either needs to declare on Tetouan or maybe start founding in France. Castile didn’t do either of those things yet so that’s kind of why it dropped a spot.

Leman:

Well Vladimir uses ten turns of peace to do basically nothing as far as I can tell. Further Khazar conquests are out of the question now that Blanajar is flying the Permian flag. Vladimir still has a lot of space up north to settle and a neighbor to the southeast to bully. Better get on that before we start calling this civ Badimir.

Reformer: Quiet part in Southern India. Nothing really happened. Barely any growth. There is one noteworthy thing, thanks to new data in the infoaddict export: They researched Optics at the end of the part! So once they get those lighthouses online, those coastal cities will start looking a fair bit nicer.

Shaggy:

Central America, central rankings. Perennial mid-tier civ Central America reaches their lowest rank so far this season as they continue to do… not that much. There are some Mohave cities they could try to take if they could get an army through the jungle and the Caribbean doesn’t have an obvious ruler, but it just doesn’t seem like Francisco Morazon is really feeling like it. Until he does, autopilot will continue.

Emu

Kyivan Rus', the rock of Eastern Europe. Strong, sturdy, and completely immovable. Much like a rock, nothing's changed for them in the span of a couple dozen turns, but given time the waves will grind them into dust. Also much like a rock, they've flung a pebble of theirs from Ukraine clear down to the Sahara in hopes of finding settleable land. That metaphor kind of got away from me, but what's not getting away is Olga. From Lithuania. Nice save. Anyway, they're just sitting there. Menacingly. Keeping a surprisingly large army that I have no idea how they're paying for given they're only 2 GPT in the red. Is it saying something that even the more passive civs this mark are fairly entertaining?

Msurdej:

Tomyris has a few opportunities at the end of this part. They could snipe Derbent out from Permian noses.They could take Lashkargah and punish Afghanistan for their expansion. They could continue to set up an exclave in the Arctic, making more than just Kara-Kum. Or she could just sit on her butt and watch as her opportunity to escape the Permians shadow disappears.

Msurdej:

While they may not have lost a rank, it wasn’t a good part of the South American catboy. Chile has finally started to settle southward, giving them greater resources to pull from when an inevitable war comes around. Brazil lost São Salvador, which not only strengthens the Inca, but makes it much harder for Jose to launch a successful attack against Pedro.Odds are, Rio will end up playing more FF XIV until his inevitable end comes.

Leman:

It’s a race to the gates of Akhenaten, between Yemen and Chad! So far, it seems that Chad might be winning, they definitely have way more units surrounding the zero-health capital. But they’re all melee units, except one fortified spear a tile away. Yemen has a much fewer units around the city, but it does have a pair of spears lingering in the red sea, and an empty hill to land them on! With just a little more incompetence from Chad, Yemen could absolutely snipe Akhenaten!

Emu

Indonesia proves there's room for two civs that don't suck in the archipelago, but they'll need to do more than take a poorly-defended forward settle to prove they're in the same league as Xanana. Even with their shown ability to pull off a naval conquest this early, they're still stuck between a $KOK and a hard place. They're probably the premier naval power in the Indian Ocean save Kilwa, and there are a lot of juicy Bengali coastal cities just lying around, but they'll have a moderately superior power breathing down their neck the whole way. Things look much better for Suharto than they did just a few turns ago, though,  and that's not to be discounted. It earns them a rise of 6 ranks, bringing them the highest they've ever been. Let's just hope it's not the highest they'll ever be.

Orange:

Ireland takes Rotterdam off the Anglo-Dutch giving them full control of the Isles. They have good science but could use a few more cities. But they have plenty of space and time to build up. Maybe they could try to get some land on the continent, or perhaps yoink that Vermont city in Iceland. Collins has options, hopefully he uses them.

Altima

Maori has technically gotten free of its specific island start. It’s still an island civ, but now its got another island to work with! Progress. Technically.

CelestialDalek:The Zulu stall. Botswana is going to be even weaker as they throw away their army, Kilwa isn’t really open, and… uh… those are their neighbors. They don’t have much more space in Africa, so they just need to strike at Botswana quickly. The problem is they don’t seem to be in the mood to do that.

Rosay:

A while back i said something along the lines of “Ming can only really expand through conflict”; this is not what i had in mind. Out of all people to declare war on, Ming decided that the best plan of attack was the one civ that could end them in a second. Somehow they managed to survive without losing a city, but god damn that was a dumb war to start, especially when japan is basically looking free, just dont get too much agro on you to warrant Han going in for a rematch.

Leman:

I think I can definitively say that Kayapo is the most controversial civilization so far, and as the power ranker who is most in Kayapo’s corner, allow me to use this week to convince you all that Kayapo is great and you should never doubt them.

Obviously, Kayapo’s greatest strength is that absurd UB that’s fueling its insane population. You know that. We talk about that every week. Number one in population, effective science, techs, food, and social policies. The only stats that matter than Kayapo isn’t number on is are military (606 – 55th place, yeah this is bad, but not as bad as you think), city count – only 4 (bad but not untenable), and production (52 – middle of the pack-ish). To me, overall, these stats make it seem like Kayapo is nutty already, and assuming it keeps this population pace up (and it probably should, given that those newer cities should be about to explode in population just like Kayapo’s first two), Kayapo should continue to dominate these stats for the next few parts and steadily improve its bad ones, as it has been doing with its production.

But you may be thinking, what about that tiny army? It’s really, really bad. What if Inca or Muisca come along and try to invade. Well, I’m not sure if you noticed, it’s easy to miss given nothing happened, but Muisca did try to invade Kayapo. And it was an incredible failure. As long as Kayapo has jungle cover those two can’t do anything to them for at least a few hundred turns. Kayapo has plenty of time to build military.

Anyways, that’s why I think Kayapo should be 10 spots higher than it is now.

Leman:

Chile hold steady this week. It was a quiet part for them, with Inca and Brazil hogging the South American limelight, but I think that ignores Chile’s surprisingly decent stats. They founded a city, putting them up to five. However, more importantly,  Chile has found themselves sixth in the whole world in military manpower! They’ve got almost a 1000 more troops than our former number 1 RDLP. Not the worst look, if you ask me.

Reformer:

Against all expectations, Chad fails to take Akhetaten, and their rank drops to a more reasonable place considering such a grave failure. Right now, Chad only has one (1) spearman near the city, and it’s behind other units, so luck be a lady - lest the Yemenese spearmen sneak in to take the city under Idriss Deby’s nose! In the meantime, everyone and their mothers are looking to settle the Sahara, and time is running out for Chad to take advantage of the unsettled land nearby.

Altima

Quiet part for Timor-Leste, which drops them a few ranks as others rise and their previously absurd stats continue to even out with the continental big boys. Still, there’s time for them to catch back up- they’ve got space to settle, neighbors to eat, and no real threats. Only time will tell if they can start truly earning the memetic adoration they’ve got.

Altima

Well that went better than it had any right to. In either a moment of pure idiocy or selfless desire to sacrifice his own glory in the hope that one of them might be relevant, the Modoc gave Kwak their second city, ceding that theater to the ducks. Long term, it's unclear how this’ll impact Kwak- if they can get it fortified and insettle between it and their core, the mountains will make it a solid fortress against their eastern neighbors. But they probably need to do so before the Mohave peace out with the Comanche- Avi Kwa Ame has a straight shot into the new city.

Leman:

After throwing half their army away in the jungle Muisca take the rest of the part off, more or less. They took this time bulking up their stats, rebuilding their army and founding the somewhat questionable city of Ubate. I mean, maybe its genius, its not like Kayapo has any military to take Ubate, and there’s nobody else in the area who can try. Maybe they’re setting up a base for a future two-pronged attack against Kayapo? Or maybe they’re just crazy. Only time will tell.

Msurdej:

The Normies find themselves drop back out of the top 20 for the first time since part 1. While their stats are still good and the wars with Mali and Castille probably don’t go anywhere, Europe and the Mediterranean have changed. Brandenburg has become much more of a threat in recent parts. The battle against Egypt could’ve gotten Thebes if peace hadn’t been declared. They still have some room in Africa for expansion, but it might be too much for them to maintain.

Altima

Man, Keita really wants him some North African coastal holdings. He might even get them! I know I could take Capua with that host, and the terrain isn't terrible for trying it once you get past the hills, so maybe the AI will swing this one. I wouldn’t bet on it, but hey, stranger things have happened (in this very part, even). Moving past that, he’s still got a solid enough position in North Africa with a couple of relevant neighbors and Tetouan and strictly okay stats, so upper-mid he goes.

Msurdej:

The war against the Yolngu is over, and ends with no change of cities. This is a blow to Windradyne, who should’ve coasted to victory over the smaller Yolngu. Nevertheless, they didn’t lose any cities, and are making more settlers to settle Australia. But even if they defeat the Yolngu, they’ll still have to get out of Oceania. And that’s an even greater force to be reckoned with.

Cloudberg:

Yugoslavia continues to sink down the rankings as the difficulty of their position becomes clearer. Don’t get me wrong, they’re still pretty strong—but many civs are declaring war on them, and their options for future expansion are rather murky. They’re not actively in danger, and this all might blow over in an episode or two, but we are beginning to have doubts.

Rosay:

Angola is... tricky to rank. On one hand they are the most dominant civ on the African continent out-performing a coalition, on the other they have a coalition they are fighting. This is going to feel like hyperbole but this coalition may determine the early-mid game of the African continent. If the coalition is a success or if Mali or even Chad joins in, then the future of Africa is likely going to belong to Mali and Kilwa, with Angola and Chad being contenders. If the coalition results in an standstill, then Africa is a tossup, however if Angola manages to gain cities, then they are locked in as the controller of Africa. Why do I say this? Well there are currently three members of the Coalition that actually matter, those being Kilwa, Zulu, and Botswana. Looking at the short term, Kilwa is the only civ that is a threat to Angola, at least right now. Botswana and Zulu on the other hand are relatively vulnerable, and if Angola is able to swipe a chunk of South Africa then they will have cut off Kilwa from any meaningful expansion opportunities. In the event that Angola wins this war, they will more or less have free reign over Africa.

CelestialDalek:Oh, America, the beautiful. Taking Montepelier and crippling Vermont was their highlight this part, and the only thing they did this part. Roosevelt has a big army, a range of cities that enables him to attack whoever he chooses (and borders), and overall has a good shot at North America. As good as the rest of the North American civs? No, probably not. But still a shot.

Rosay:

To tell you the truth, I never really bought the hype around Kilwa. Don't get me wrong, They're easily the second best civ on the continent in my eyes, but they don't really have a lot of expansion opportunities without heavy cost. Kilwa does seem to be making the right moves to mitigate that however, as they have joined a coalition war that hopes to weaken the other strong African power in Angola. Provided that they are at least moderately successful, say taking a few straggling cities, and cutting the Angolan military down to size, then Kilwa would have basically unrestricted access to South Africa, and as any CBR veteran can tell you, South Africa is an incredibly strong position to be in a battle royal. That is a really big if however, as jungles are an absolute bastich to navigate this early in the game and we don't exactly know the exact position of Kilwa's troops but if that “if” becomes a “when” then Kilwa would easily become a top 10 powerhouse.

Cloudberg:

The Gokturks continue to have solid stats, plenty of room, and the ambition to settle it, but also... was declaring war on Han really a good idea? Would it not have been better to attack the Ainu or Qocho instead? As it stands, Bumin is making the same mistake as always: trying to split his army to attack every frontline city at once. If he’s lucky, he may grab one of the recent Han settlements, but he might come away with nothing at all. Great use of what was last episode the world’s largest army. (Guess what: it’s not anymore)

Orange:

Han stumbles a bit more as others move up. Facing a few dicey wars but still expanding. They need the time to consolidate now and their neighbors just won’t let them have it. Luckily for them the Gokturks are splitting their army and Han has the tech advantage. So things will probably be okay for now. If they survive this war well and continue to build up they will have a nice terrifying force in the east to fight off their similarly tough neighbors.

Emu

Mohave has no reason at all to be this good. We started them at 55th for a reason. But they've bucked expectations more or less silently and built themselves into a very strong position, proactively dealing with Central America and taking full advantage of Modoc and Comanche's incompetence. Their stats are good, settling is good, every move they're making is good, and they pulled off a Timor-Leste level rise. So why don't we see them talked about more? Well, North America is just full of interesting civs this game. Cree, Arapaho, Kwak, Comanche.... and that's just the ones in the West. Nevertheless, they're undeniably powerful, and despite who and where they are, it looks like they might just go all the way.

Cloudberg:

Arapaho has finally attacked the Comanche, which will probably net them at least one city if not two, consolidating their control over central North America. That said, we kind of want to see it actually happen before we raise them back into the top ten. There are several strong civs on the continent right now, and while Arapaho could be the strongest, they will have to prove it on the battlefield. Also, not gonna lie, their stats are kinda bad.

Emu

$KOK goes down a tad, but this high up the competition is so stiff that that doesn't mean much. Indeed, they held their strength this episode, only really getting bumped down due to a Turkish renaissance. They got into a couple nearby wars, but it's very likely they'll all turn out irrelevant. My main worry for them is that the very terrain that's now protecting them when they'd otherwise be fucked will fuck them when they'd otherwise be in a position for conquest. We already saw the beginnings of this during their war with Cambodia, where they rolled over Sieam Reap no problem but couldn't quite make their army stretch to Pnom Penh. All in all, they're still very powerful, but we'll need to see if they can manage this crisis before giving them a spot among the true heavyweights.

Leman:

Cree takes a bit of a slide but holds on to the top ten. They have the usual – impressive stats, room for more cities, and a large army, but we’re worried about all the other strong North Americans Cree will have to deal with eventually. Kwakwaka’wakw, Arapaho, and America are all no push overs and will be more than able to give Cree a run for its money. However, as of now, Poundmaker is still on top.

Orange:

Turkey finally takes a big step into the top 10 after many parts of us PRs keeping them low. They have set themselves up as the premier Middle Eastern Power as Egypt falls hard. With a lot of land to themselves and a strong base of operations, they might just be able to break out of the Middle East unlike many of those before them.

Shaggy:

So I’ll admit that I’m definitely the Power Ranker with the lowest opinion of Bengal so far. Sure, they have a big army and have definitively boxed out Pandya from becoming a major threat. But then what? They are stuck on the Indian subcontinent with two of the strongest civs on the cylinder as neighbors with less-than-ideal invasion paths to each of them and no major naval presence to compensate. Frankly, I see Bengal as a stat monster and not much more; they will need to really prove that they can expand past India for me to put them in the top 10. I am, however, close to alone in that regard so they only drop to 7th place this week after further solidifying their hold on the region and declaring war against Kokang to once again fight over valuable southeast Asian land with few units capable of fighting in the region.

Orange:

Lithuania continues to oscillate around 5th as they vie with Brandenburg for top spot in Europe, but for now they stay in second there. Brandenburg has more weak neighbors, more cities, and more production. But Gediminas isn’t too far behind. Just gotta play a little catch up now.

Altima

Inca hit top five on account of being clearly the strongest civ in South America and winning a war on the peace talks. Somewhat notably, unlike a lot of similarly positioned civs at this point in the game like Marajoara, they’ve also actually got pretty good stats independent of SA being a weak competition. Definitely a civ to watch going forward, even if it’ll take them a bit to meaningfully act on their advantage.

Rosay:

Damn Afghanistan really started popping once they needed too. Despite the scary neighbors of Bengal, Turkey and soon to be Palmyra, Afghanistan is appearing to be doing quite well for itself, overperforming its part 0 prediction by 28 ranks. The reason for Afghanistan being rated so high is actually fairly simple, their stats are great and they are settling in all the right places. Granted their defensive terrain is a double edged sword because it makes it difficult to send troops out but when your neighbors are armed to the teeth, thats a hinderance you are willing to take. All of is even ignoring the conflict in the room, that being that Afghanistan is currently fighting their much weaker neighbor of Pandya. If Afghanistan does even remotely well in this war, then that would be a huge boost to the empire at large. The one concern I do have though is Afghanistan growing “fat” and having more cities than it knows what to do with, but only time will tell if that come to fruition.

Cloudberg:

It’s actually kind of amazing that Tuva has made seemingly zero progress against Qocho in the last three episodes. Like, how hard can it be? That said, Tuva is leading in the stats, with the world’s second largest army, the most production, and a healthy nine cities, so overall, we’re optimistic. Just... don’t take TOO long now, okay?

CelestialDalek:

Barely behind 1st, Brandenburg takes up 2nd after explosive settling. Scandinavia is undeniably Brandenburgish, one of their neighbors is now neutered, and their other neighbors don’t look strong. Yugoslavia’s forces aren’t concentrated near their border, and you know how the Anglo-Dutch have been faring. All that could bring them down right now is a coalition war, and that’s not looking likely. Expect more from them, maybe even a catchup to the Permians.

Leman:

Permians are still on top, but only narrowly. Peek behind the curtain, the Permians and Brandenburg were tied up until the final ranker inputted their rankings. In the end Permians managed to make it out ahead, but only just.

It’s not so hard to see why they’re slipping. With population statistics finally available, we notice that Permians are noticeably less populated than most of their fellow top tiers, 20 population behind Brandenburg. While we praise Permians for their rapid expansion, that same expansion has probably resulted in the low population. They’re at -8 Happiness and suffering a huge growth penalty. It’s a solveable problem but it’s still a problem. On top of that their army is starting to look a little lackluster as well – it seems as though capturing Balanjar took a lot out of them.

That being said, Permians are still on top. Their war against the Khazars has gained momentum. Blanajar has fallen and Derbent looks like its going to go soon too. They still have a bunch of space left and a few weak neighbors to bully (Massagetae and Vladimir.) Their non population stats (culture per turn and production mainly) are still fantastic, and Permians are still leading in the most important stat: cities per turn! The gap between Permians and the rest of the field has absolutely narrowed, by Azykay’s numbers and actions show why he’s still #1.