Power Rankings: Episode 44 – S4

Leman:

Mogadishu is dead now, and I am sad about it.  

Mogadishu came into the royale as my pick to win it all. I believed in them. Mogadishu has absolutely busted uniques. They spawn livestock like Faroes do, their UU generates food by existing and they have a UA that gets even more food from trade routes than a normal civ does. It's huge, and I expected, or hoped, it would power a massive, tall, Indian-Ocean spanning empire the likes of which CBR had never seen before.

But Abu Bakr ibn Umar had other plans. He decided it would be cool to not do that. I don’t really know why. It might be because Saba D’mt popped off instead and made the AI too defensive, or Mogadishu rolled poor AI bonuses, or sheer bad luck. Regardless of what it was, instead of being the hero I hoped for, Mogadishu spent the early game being a lazy, boring, weak little mid-tier that honestly looked like it was just waiting for death.

But then, somewhere around turn 375, Abu Bakr ibn Umar woke up. He didn’t wake up like other civs woke up, but he woke up. Mogadishu cleaned up and eliminated Eswatini. They pushed Palawa out of the Indian Ocean. They seized Zheng colonies, participated in the Qarmatian Partition, and fought several, scrappy, and ultimately victorious wars with Saba D’mt. It wasn’t a lengthy list of accomplishments – Goguryeo probably accomplished more in single parts – but for a civ that most, if not all of us had completely written off as a nothing-civ, it was incredible.

Mogadishu’s final feat was persisting. Before the declaration of Total War, Ndongo and Singapore were doing serious damage to Mogadishu’s humble East African Empire, but they were holding on. They held on against Sierra Leone’s onslaught, they pushed away Ndongo, and they defended against Singapore for 15 full turns until they finally succumbed in 15th place. (It’s fifteenth, ignore the number up in the corner there)

15th is a far cry from the first place I had hoped, but it’s even further from the 40th-ish place I had assumed Mogadishu was going to receive back in episode 20, when they were languishing in the middle of the pack, doing nothing of sorts. I’m proud of the way Mogadishu handled the back half of the game. F

Lasqueto:

Welp. That’s it for Ume Sami. I think I’m one of approximately 3 people that even gave a shit about these guys, and that was mainly cuz I did the art for them. I can’t blame the rest of y’all though. What a flop. Even their death was uninspiring. I loved the Sami in X1 and was so ready for another performance in line with that. Despite that Ume decided to show me up by doing sweet fuckall all game. It’s actually kinda impressive considering how decent they were even up until the end. Their stats never really fell off. I guess you could argue they didn’t have many expansion options due to strong neighbours, but come on, they could’ve at least tried. What a disappointment.

It’s been so long since we last had a good Scandinavian civ. Sweden flopped, Anglo-Norse flopped, and now Ume too. Hopefully X5 will be less of a snoozefest for the peninsula.

Nathanmasse:

I do not like you Siam I am.

I do not like you on the land.

I do not like you in the sea.

I do not want you in Phra Nakhon

Or in Ratchaburi.

Your city is so small

With no troops defending at all.

But still it stands there mocking me

Oh please Siam just die already.

reformer:

oh how many of you are there. this is truly miserable. man-made horrors before my very eyes. the pestilence is upon us. we will not live to see spring.

Orange:

When I was writing the part I had to do a solid double take when I saw the Mamluk forced war declarations to realize that they were in fact alive and that the city that I had initially thought was something the Afsharids took was in fact a liberated Mamluk city. So they’re back, and they are still stuck in that one shitty city, and others are gonna fall before them because it’s somehow a hard city to take.

Cloudy:

Like a horrifying revenant, the Kalmyks just won’t stay dead. And in fact as long as total war continues and their religion continues to spread, they will keep coming back, over and over and over. There is nothing to be done about it. The Kalmyks are inevitable.

Msurdej:  

Roughly a third of the remaining civs are resurrected civs. Eswatini is one of them. I vote that next CBR, we turn off the ability for civs to be resurrected after 100 turns. All in favor?

ECH:

The end of the road has appeared for Ulmanis. Boxed into one final city just next door to the shenanigans of the Kalmyks, there is always the chance that no civ gets around to eliminating them for a few turns and they climb the ranks a tad bit more. However, to be frank, this well could have been their eulogy and it’s taking a lot of power for me not to treat this write-up as such. You need only look at some of the reactions in the discord to see others are starting the funeral march early, haha. So I’m going to leave it here, giving next week's Power Ranker some room to give them a genuine send-off.

Lasqueto:

Time’s run out for Pontus. I suppose it was inevitable; they survived 3 parts of total war but they were never gonna last. At least they managed to tie Wahgi’s shoelaces together before they collapsed. Shame they weren’t able to nail the Faroes too. Oh well.

Cloudy:

The only reason the Selkups aren’t even lower is because they can’t die until Goguryeo abandons its current siege of Hsia. Until then they will be stuck in limbo. Their other cities don’t have long left. The question is, will Gwanggaeto drag this out until the end of total war?

Orange:

Wahgi should still be lower they are gonna get wiped out within a couple turns max lmao. Get fucking wrecked.

[Editor’s note: We thought about giving the Wahgi a super long detailed write-up analyzing their fall, but then we decided treating them like any other rump was way funnier.]

Msurdej:  

Peters is starting to circle the proverbial toilet.  Between the hammer of the Faroe Islands,  the anvil of Ndongo, and New Holland coming in from the west with a steel chair,  it's not looking good for Sierra Leone. Nowdown to only ten cities (half of which are capitals), Peters is doing anything he can to keep alive. But while he might be going down, it was a good run for Sierra Leone.

Orange:

Well, that was a commendable stand. The Afsharids did try to break out of their position before it was too late, but alas, it was always in fact too late. They retook a lot of cities, pushed against Pontus and the Selkups, but now they have Singapore and Gogurt knocking on their door and they do not have the means to fight. So next part is gonna be a slow fall for Nader Shah as he slowly succumbs to the failings of “not quite being good enough”. Maybe he should’ve done more earlier on instead of only coming into action during that Khoshuts war.

Nathanmasse:

It took nearly 30 turns of brutal back and forth fighting but Palawa has finally gained the upper hand against Wahgi and driven a deep wedge into their core.  The arrival of the Yellowknives to this theater is a bit of an unwelcome surprise but the close proximity to their core could give Palawa the advantage even if they’re outclassed in techs.  In the west, fighting in Australia continues along the Pataway-Nipaluna-Laylatiya line—this time starring Singapore—with no signs of either side breaking through, as is tradition.

All said, things are still okay for Palawa but not great.  Their core seems to be producing enough melee units to at least take back anything they lose in the short term.  With Waghi finally out of the picture, we’ll have to see whether these combatants continue the attacks into Palawa’s territory or simply fight among themselves and give Palawa some much needed breathing room.

Leman:

Ndongo rockets up the rankings to the highest spot they’ve occupied all game. They’ve been sixth twice before, once in episode three and again in episode five, but only now found themselves up here again. This is because they are part of an ever-shrinking middle group of civilizations that are not crushing civs or being crushed. Sierra Leone, Ndongo’s chief rival finally completely collapsed this episode, under the weight of the Faroe Islands, and Ndongo was there to reap some of the spoils, and getting that much closer to claiming the title of strongest African civ. That being said, I think Ndongo’s time in the spotlight is probably not long for this world. When Sierra Leone is gone, and they will be gone soon, Faroes will not stop. They will continue moving southward and Ndongo will be right in the crosshairs. Despite surviving longer than Sierra Leone, Ndongo is weaker than Sierra Leone ever was and I expect them to crumble quickly. Let's celebrate while we can.

Msurdej:  

Singapore had another strong episode this part. They managed to pick up more cities, while only taking slight hits to their military might and production. However, those slight losses are the difference between this and the next rank. Singapore is the only Top 5 civ not to have positive army growth, and their production is languishing behind the other Top 5 (The next highest production is three times Singapore's). At this point in the game, that's important enough to make Singapore lose a rank. But with all the cities they gained (roughly a third of their old count), they have a shot to make up lost ground.

Nathanmasse:

Another episode, another huge swath of North America wiped off the map.  But despite the horrific destruction, the Yellowknives seemed to be making some progress.  The fighting between Goguryeo and New Holland was mostly a draw which doesn’t bode well for the Yellowknives long-term prospects but there was also a bit of good news. The Faroe Islands’ icy grip on Labrador and Hudson Bay has finally been broken and there’s a real threat of Yellowknives making landfall on Greenland next episode.  

The most surprising development was the flotilla that managed to slip through Goguryeo’s blockage and seize several cities from Wahgi in what was formerly Bora-Bora’s core.  This speaks more to Wahgi’s weakness than to the Yellowknives’ strength but they need every win they can get at this point. It’s not clear yet whether they will be able to maintain control of these cities so far from home but for now they’re on the offensive with only open ocean in front of them.

Cloudy:

New Holland holds onto third place after continuing to make gains, kicking Wahgi and most of Palawa off South America while holding the line in North America and capturing the Sierra Leone capital in Africa. Their South American core is still pretty badly nuked out, but with no more immediate existential threats, they may have time to rebuild. The stats bear this out, showing that New Holland gained 8 cities and 88,000 troops this episode. That’s the largest absolute troop gain of any civ in part 44. So while they’re nowhere near the level of the Faroes or Goguryeo, they’re the best of everyone else.

ECH:

Faroes moving firmly into North Africa - Good!

Goguryeo thundering across the heart of Eurasia - Better!

Goguryeo stalling a bit in Alaska amidst mutual nuclear hellfire - Not Great

Faroes getting their Canadian secondary core they’ve had the whole game shunted off them - Worse!

Faroes and Goguryeo are a small wasteland or an Afsharid away from having borders for the first time - Oh my…

Reformer:

Who else? Goguryeo, of course. The indomitable. Everything is continuing to come up just right for Goguryeo. Firstly, Goguryeo had the greatest net gain of cities this episode - though a whole ten of those were newly-founded cities, in all fairness. Secondly, Goguryeo continues to have the largest military on the cylinder by a sizable margin, with no one particularly able to challenge this dominance. And thirdly, Goguryeo has the greatest stockpile of nukes, by an even bigger margin. We mustn’t forget that Goguryeo is not losing on any front, either, unlike a 𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 other top-two civ. Most pertinently, Goguryeo made massive strides in Asia this episode, pushing past the Urals even, leaving Selkups a city-state. Afsharids likewise suffered defeats, and soon enough, Goguryeo will be reaching the Afsharid capital. Remnants of the Wahgi imperium clinging to power in South Asia were devastated likewise, and nothing beside remains. Singapore, despite equal tech, is no match in terms of raw industrial capacity, and thus they too are being pushed to the sea. Only Yellowknives are giving trouble, and it is understandable…North America is a fortress, after all. It is of no worry- the Americas can be taken once the Faroes are dealt with. Speaking of, let’s do a quick comparison. As mentioned above, Goguryeo is leading in almost all meaningful categories. Only one sticks out: production. Obviously, production is immensely important- perhaps even the MOST important- but despite the Faroes’ sizable production advantage, they have been unable to capitalize, even losing ground to the Yellowknives. The Faroe military barely grew last episode, compared to Goguryeo, NH, and YK, who all gained tens of thousands in military power. Who knows what those vikings are doing with all that production, but it ain’t anything useful. At ZERO deviation, the rankers agree: Goguryeo is all but guaranteed to win the game at this point, and what remains is merely a victory parade. All obstacles have been overcome.

𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕙𝕤𝕚𝕒    𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕙𝕤𝕚𝕒         𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕙𝕤𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕙𝕤𝕚𝕒   𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕙𝕤𝕚𝕒                        𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕙𝕤𝕚𝕒  𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕙𝕤𝕚𝕒 𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕙𝕤𝕚𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕙𝕤𝕚    𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕙𝕤𝕚𝕒 𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕙𝕤𝕚𝕒 𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕙𝕤𝕚𝕒    𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕙𝕤𝕚𝕒         𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕙𝕤𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕙𝕤𝕚𝕒   𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕙𝕤𝕚𝕒                        𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕙𝕤𝕚𝕒  𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕙𝕤𝕚𝕒 𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕙𝕤𝕚𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕙𝕤𝕚    𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕙𝕤𝕚𝕒 𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕙𝕤𝕚𝕒 𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕙𝕤𝕚𝕒    𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕙𝕤𝕚𝕒         𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕙𝕤𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕙𝕤𝕚𝕒   𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕙𝕤𝕚𝕒                        𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕙𝕤𝕚𝕒  𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕙𝕤𝕚𝕒 𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕙𝕤𝕚𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕙𝕤𝕚    𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕙𝕤𝕚𝕒 𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕙𝕤𝕚𝕒 𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕙𝕤𝕚𝕒    𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕙𝕤𝕚𝕒         𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕙𝕤𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕙𝕤𝕚𝕒   𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕙𝕤𝕚𝕒                        𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕙𝕤𝕚𝕒  𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕙𝕤𝕚𝕒 𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕙𝕤𝕚𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕙𝕤𝕚    𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕙𝕤𝕚𝕒 𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕙𝕤𝕚𝕒 𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕙𝕤𝕚𝕒    𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕙𝕤𝕚𝕒         𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕙𝕤𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕙𝕤𝕚𝕒   𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕙𝕤𝕚𝕒                        𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕙𝕤𝕚𝕒  𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕙𝕤𝕚𝕒 𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕙𝕤𝕚𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕙𝕤𝕚    𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕙𝕤𝕚𝕒 𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕙𝕤𝕚𝕒 𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕙𝕤𝕚𝕒    𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕙𝕤𝕚𝕒         𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕙𝕤𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕙𝕤𝕚𝕒   𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕙𝕤𝕚𝕒                        𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕙𝕤𝕚𝕒  𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕙𝕤𝕚𝕒 𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕙𝕤𝕚𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕙𝕤𝕚    𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕙𝕤𝕚𝕒 𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕙𝕤𝕚𝕒 𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕙𝕤𝕚𝕒    𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕙𝕤𝕚𝕒         𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕙𝕤𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕙𝕤𝕚𝕒   𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕙𝕤𝕚𝕒                        𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕙𝕤𝕚𝕒  𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕙𝕤𝕚𝕒 𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕙𝕤𝕚𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕙𝕤𝕚    𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕙𝕤𝕚𝕒 𝕦𝕟𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕙𝕤𝕚𝕒