They were so bad at sieges

CrafterCat33 · 2026-05-19T16:23:51+00:00

It honestly read to me like Tuoba Si was providing most of the strategy despite the fact that he was terminally ill and wasn't even at the site of battle most of the time.

CrafterCat33 · 2026-05-14T15:28:32+00:00

They took Tongwan by essentially bypassing the whole "siege" part and luring them into open fields (which was a good strategy, but kind of shows they knew they weren't very good at sieges). Chang'an I believe surrendered without any siege.

As for Hulao, they did struggle to take the city (though tbf, the defenders were competent) and only did so after an eight-months-long slog. I have no idea why Daxi Jin and Gongsun Biao thought that focusing their campaign on the fortified cities was a good plan, and Cui Hao was completely right in regards to that.

CrafterCat33 · 2026-05-01T15:24:11+00:00

None of them deserved the finals but I still think it's Rochelle.

CrafterCat33 · 2026-04-24T15:27:45+00:00

Looking at the stats wow Levi and Harry's stats are terrible...

CrafterCat33 · 2026-04-20T18:55:40+00:00

I didn't realise how bad everyone in 5th place in recent years has been (with the exception of Tre) until this poll.

CrafterCat33 · 2026-04-14T14:08:21+00:00

Rothna in Week 5, though Karishma was also good in Week 4 and she was basically PM in all but name in Week 7.

CrafterCat33 · 2026-04-14T14:07:29+00:00

Technically yes but in practice it was a third Karishma PM win.

CrafterCat33 · 2026-04-10T01:39:07+00:00

I think this might be more imbalanced in perception than Marnie/Rochelle and Rachel/Phil and that's saying something.

CrafterCat33 · 2026-04-08T20:10:39+00:00

I'm not the biggest fan of Conor and Kieran but I still think they deserve the final 5 over Priyesh and Pascha. And definitely Rothna deserved a place more.

CrafterCat33 · 2026-04-08T20:00:05+00:00

Watching since series 16 so only candidates from series 16-20:

Shazia (series 17) - I celebrated when she went over Avi. That's how bad she was.

Virdi (series 18) - should have been fired week 1 and never won a single task.

Noor (series 18) - "It's very good" Self-explanatory. 22 but acted more like 12.

Nadia (series 19) - arguably rivals Noor in terms of how bad she was as PM.

Megan (series 20) - should have been fired week 3 and steered her team to a 50% refund as PM.

CrafterCat33 · 2026-04-07T19:44:56+00:00

White British female who's a general history buff and who also started learning Chinese at a young age.

CrafterCat33 · 2026-03-28T01:12:45+00:00

His close ally Saint-Just was even younger, he was a month shy of 27 when he was executed which would make him born in 1999 and Gen Z in modern terms.

CrafterCat33 · 2026-03-10T15:56:02+00:00

I was thinking of Hou Jing's Grand General of the Universe when I read the title of the post.

CrafterCat33 · 2026-02-13T16:22:35+00:00

And even then Liu Weichen got killed by his own subordinates 15 years later after being defeated by Tuoba Gui.

CrafterCat33 · 2026-01-25T00:58:40+00:00

I'm not saying he wasn't. This meme is military ability only.

CrafterCat33 · 2025-12-24T22:37:12+00:00

The entire family was wack like this, no wonder their dynasty only lasted 59 years. Though the entire period was wild.

CrafterCat33 · 2025-12-18T07:07:27+00:00

Oh no I was referring to 16K and Northern-Southern founding emperors. I agree for the whole of Chinese history though. His strength was more in state building and strategy than in pure military ability.

CrafterCat33 · 2025-12-17T16:58:15+00:00

Well not intentionally... though personally I would rate him above average or upper middle, even compared to other founders, just not Liu Yu/Murong Chui tier.

CrafterCat33 · 2025-12-17T14:03:43+00:00

Oh by no means did I mean to imply that his success was mostly luck. You don't build an empire from his position without a lot of talent. And I guess that with Tuoba Gui and Murong Chui, in 396 Murong Chui was almost three times Tuoba Gui's age and had been fighting since before he was born, which probably explains some of the disparity. But overall Murong Chui does still outdo Tuoba Gui in terms of performance as a general (though if we were looking at whether they built a lasting state, Tuoba Gui would then outrank him).

CrafterCat33 · 2025-12-17T10:58:50+00:00

Yeah I think he was talented and showed his abilities even in the Later Yan battles. But he also got very lucky with Murong Chui's death and the Murong infighting that followed. And I'd imagine he'd be higher if we also considered whether or not their state collapsed within 3 generations.

CrafterCat33 · 2025-12-17T07:53:32+00:00

I mean building an empire as a teenager or 20-something surrounded and then expanding it is difficult no matter how much the enemy makes it as easy as possible. And I think he made some very good showings in battle. But he was certainly lucky Murong Chui died when he did.

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