I think my lads in Zhao are being quite slept on. I originally posted this thread from this meme:
And this meme, while perfect, is also somewhat inaccurate because of course Houken was already dead when Prince Ka would have come to power.
But shit on that, let’s look at full-power Zhao vs full-power Qin with other enemies to worry about.
I think what some don’t seem to realize is that Riboku is fully capable of serving as both the head of the Zhao military and simultaneously one of the three great heavens at the same time. Some are acting like Shouheikun and Ousen together would be too much for Riboku, but Riboku is already facing the both of them by himself and winning anyway so that wouldn’t change here. So let’s look at some matchups:
Shouheikun vs Riboku: already Zhao has an outright advantage. Riboku has already scored multiple strategic victories against Shouheikun as things stand. He shut down Shouheikun’s initial invasion of northwestern Zhao three years ago, he already beat Shouheikun’s plan to capture Gyou before it had even began (Qin only won Gyou because of Ousen), he defeated Qin in the Gian campaign, etc…
Riboku is like 3/0 against Shouheikun in Zhao alone.
Ousen vs Riboku: let’s just ignore Ousen’s own words in the Gyou Campaign as well as the fact that the Zhao court arrested Riboku before the battle was over, and say Ousen did cleanly beat Riboku in the Gyou campaign. Well, Riboku also turned around and cleanly beat Ousen in the Gian campaign. So we could very optimistically say Ousen = Riboku, but I think we all here know the truth is that Riboku > Ousen.
So right off the bat, the most important aspect of this matchup, the strategic aspect, is won by Zhao. The Qin simply have no answer to Riboku’s own strategies. Ousen can give Riboku a run for his money in the right circumstances but Riboku is still just straight up superior most of the time.
Zhao: 1
Qin: 0
Renpa: this is the big problem for Qin in this matchup. Who on earth can the Qin trust to beat Renpa here. The answer is no one. He’s just too damn versatile and none of the Qin 6 can beat him outright. However, if there is one of the current Qin 6 that I think stands the best chance, it would be
Yotanwa.
Yotanwa really doesn’t have any weaknesses as a general. I think she is similar to Tou in that regard. Her army has overwhelming martial power and morale, her strategic ability is surprisingly underrated on WorstGen, and she has some awesome subordinates in Bajio/Danto/etc. She is probably the only Qin commander I think is versatile enough to face Renpa and his two surviving Heavenly Kings and stands the best chance at actually winning. But again, advantage Zhao.
Zhao: 2
Qin: 0
Now let’s look at
Shibashou. His power level is largely speculative, and theoretically out of our remaining Qin generals (Moubu, Tou, let’s just add Kanki back in, and the new Qin trio,) any of them could theoretically beat him depending on circumstance and depending on how strong Hara actually makes him.
However, if we assume that Shibashou is only slightly overall weaker than Renpa and Rinshoujou but overall is still 3GH level as Hara has portrayed him, then I think the best opponent to face him would be
Moubu. And there’s not much to say on this matchup as it would purely be a contest of martial strength without very many mind games being played, probably, and in that scenario I am inclined to of course favor Moubu. I do think Shibashou is stronger than Man’U and so probably this would be an incredibly hard matchup but we can ultimately bet on Moubu.
Zhao: 2
Qin: 1
So now we have Houken. And at this point I would like to remind everyone that
Houken does not automatically lose to any General who has weight. Houken killed Duke Hyou relatively easily, he beat Kyoukai, he killed Great General Kyou while singlehandedly plowing through 10,000 of her men, he utterly negged Gekishin, etc…Houken is not someone who automatically loses to anyone with Weight, it takes the absolute best warriors in the series with weight to actually be able to beat him like Ouki or Renpa.
And I say that because of the remaining generals Qin has, I’m not really sure any of them would outright beat Houken (Shin excluded).
Tou maybe. Maybe. But that is a huge maybe. Houken also can’t really command armies against Tou, but if Riboku or Kochou were in charge of a battle-line against Tou and Houken were involved, I think that’s probably how it would go down…
But something else to consider about Houken is that he comes and goes as he pleases and the Zhao can’t really control him. He is also notorious for attacking at night which can have devastating impacts on morale and the Qin’s ability to actually sleep.
Idk, it’s so hard to actually figure how Houken would play into this matchup. He might be Riboku’s sword as he was in the past, or he might just be a completely independent entity, idk…I’m effectively inclined to just nullify him for now. He could have an enormous impact on a battlefield, or he could lose a fight to Shin lol.
Zhao: 2
Qin: 1
Alright and that leaves Kochou for Zhao and Kanki for Qin……and…..
Zhao: 2
Qin: 2
I will say I think Kochou and his elite army could pose a much bigger threat to Qin with the aid of Riboku and other Zhao generals. He could be a much more enormous threat with the proper support, but for now let’s just say advantage Qin.
So from my perspective, this is a pretty even matchup which is how Hara has shown Qin vs Zhao in my opinion…two nearly equal powers except Qin has a glorious King and Zhao is ruled by the biggest dumbfucks in China. That only leaves the new Qin trio and the ex Zhao prisoners.
And while the new Qin trio are capable of huge upsets, this should not be mistaken for them being able to literally win every single scenario they come up against. They will have Zhao’s enormously OP generals to face, as well as the prisoners who also are an unknown threat level, but they must be OP in order for them to be direct political prisoners of the royal court.
Again, for now I am inclined to say
Zhao: 2
Qin: 2
Ultimately I think the biggest factor in this battle is Riboku whom the Qin truly have no answer for. Shin has his moments of glory but he is not the enormous threat that Riboku is, and I am inclined to say the Zhao win this just from Riboku alone.
Anyway. Here is me finally addressing this topic.
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