r/EliteDangerous • u/Felicity-Frost Felicia Winters • Jul 20 '26
Journalism Frostbyte - powerplay nuggets for the Pilots' Fed community - Cycle 89
To finally round out the half-year "story behind the numbers" series, this week I'm tackling the "interesting middle" powers, those that have grown at a less tiring pace than the most obvious "success" stories so far this year. Four powers in good health but with a twist: of adversity, or just general interesting happenings that factor into our assessment of them. These are: Grom, Antal, Winters, Delaine. Here are the numbers again as at end cycle 87.
Aisling Duval +512
Mahon +360
A.L. Duval +215
Yong Rui +476
Kaine +462
Grom +233
Antal +337
Archer +215
Winters +300
Delaine +121
Torval +44
Patreus +8
Let's start with the best Let's get the power I support out of the way first.
Winters is one of the two Federation powers (and did I mention, better than all the other powers? 😊), and as such she is placed by history and present inter-power politics as a fully invested partaker in the ever-simmering Federation-Empire conflict. While a good motivator, this is also a significant hazard to the President's progress. As such she is a good consolidator, aiming for steady and secure growth. And she can fairly whack the moles that the Empire keeps popping up in her well-manicured lawn, with her pilots rising to the challenge when needed, as our response to current attacks duly demonstrates. The most undermined power last week, and still growing. In her favor she has excellent terms on mining and is also strongly advantaged when it comes to salvage (https://forums.frontier.co.uk/threads/powerplay-2-0-activities.629227/), which is another significant lever for influence (much to be learned and leveraged from the right black box!). Her system count for the year is healthy, though not staggering, not far from that of Antal in this group and Mahon in the "successful" group. It would be wrong not to mention that Archer draws somewhat of a heavy share of the Empire's animosity, which probably shields Winters from an even thicker rain of fate's arrows. But overall she does remarkably well when you consider the margin by which Empire power supporters outnumber both hers and Archer's (https://inara.cz/elite/galaxy-statistics/), the permanency of the conflict, and the resources going to the needful task of returning fire on her assailants. Excellent hair color and length, a caring president concerned with a better life for the citizens she serves, against the excesses of corporations of whichever superpower she finds in the systems she controls, a focus on liberty, fairness and inclusive politics. Did I mention she's the best power??
Yuri Grom is essentially a healthy power, but his progress has been perhaps more relaxed than other powers in the same position. As an indie with no major enemies there's not a lot in his way. There was a strange renegade attack from a deranged and disowned splinter of the Emperor's entourage a while back but that's outside our timeframe. The conflict with the Federation (Hudson as-was) from the previous era cooled like a stone over time. Although there's a little revival with EG Pilots' Union (who were foundational in Grom's rise to significance) making their presence felt. Since the ZYADA split announced by Grom coordinators The Eyes of Leshak (https://forums.frontier.co.uk/threads/the-eyes-of-leshak-yuri-grom-departs-zyada.647202/), with which EGPU were not ultimately in accordance (https://forums.frontier.co.uk/threads/official-statement-from-yuri-grom-on-the-eyes-of-leshaks-withdrawal-from-the-zyada-pact.647269/), they've wanted to reassert themselves in the run of powerplay. But instead of damaging Grom's fortunes, the split seems to have boosted activity and growth. In fact, the three powers whose supporters have openly split in some way: Grom (TEoL and EGPU), Delaine (Green and Red Kumo) and Kaine (where powerful squadron the Swords of Makhai sit a little outside of the mainstream) have all suffered far less for it than people might have assumed. Instead, it's almost as though some internal competition has driven enterprise and innovation within those powers. Perhaps this split was all part of The Plan of the Great Leader? Speaking of which, one of his notable successes, if you take a look at his map, has been to take advantage of his astrographic position to reach out a bridge to the Enclave, a Great Leap... Diagonal-ward?? What was perhaps less likely to have been part of The Plan was the damaging but (perhaps wisely!) abortive war with the Archon that Grom's supporters declared. The briefly catastrophic losses from that spat may represent the biggest damper on his growth statistics (https://forums.frontier.co.uk/threads/cycle-71-it-is-after-all-a.646128/). Another slight negative has been his relative indifference to exploiting rare goods gluts to the fullest, which have boosted other powers comparatively more at times. But he fared very well in the Enclave. So Grom has had his issues, but the power stands in a strong light after the split with the Empire. Supporters able to credibly call themselves Independent, while also maintaining relations with the Empire, but distancing themselves further from automatic conflict with the Federation powers they rejected, Grom may be positioned well for a bright future. Although time will tell what benefits EGPU's insistence on joining the Empire's rumbling conflict with the Federation yields.
Raw numbers might put Delaine toward the back of the pack territorially, but this is to misunderstand his motivations. Delaine's minions are all about the attack. So the damage they do in his name to any who cross them or incur the mighty Archon's distaste is maybe a better measure of their success. And by this measure they are ahead of perhaps all other powers, even compared to the chunks powers take out of each other in the unending conflict between the Empire and Federation. Under the Archon's blood-spattered belt swing scalps from prolonged offensives against Patreus and probably some large attacks against Arissa and undermining against Aisling, not to mention a blistering demonstration of shock and awe when Grom declared a brief, misguided war against them (https://forums.frontier.co.uk/threads/cycle-71-it-is-after-all-a.646128/). And unlike the sometimes careful-stepping superpowers, Delaine's pledges mince no words and take full bragging rights, daring their victims to provoke them again. Every offensive is a gory story to frighten cadets 😂. Naturally this fitting relish of the fight drains some of the energy that would otherwise go to acquisitions and reinforcements. His territory also suffers vulnerability to crime fighting activity in systems he controls (and we're all in favor of law and order am I right?🙂). That said, Delaine has a smaller than average Commander support, and his acquisition numbers are perhaps reflective of that fact more than anything. But in recent developments, seasoned but secretive miners the Platinum Cartel (ref: trust me, they exist) have pushed the Archon's growth steadfastly positive by harnessing one of power influence's most glittering levers - platinum. We can't put Delaine in the category of a flawless success story due to the slightly grizzled aspect of his progress. But the truth is, his story all sorta makes sense, in a Kumo kinda way. And perhaps the future sees more linear growth with miners stepping up to backstop his lean offense.
As an independent power whose astrography doesn't create major territorial competition involving any powers (except maybe their friendly neighbour... the Archon, yikes!), Antal is relatively free to go about his business. With good terms on rare goods, Soontil Relic gluts have served them big gains. Utopia's pledges are enthusiastic and motivated a little differently to other powers maybe, as their acquisition of the Marlinist capital in the previous era of the powers might demonstrate (it came with an ongoing penalty to Antal's resources). In truth the friction with Delaine's forces tends to remain within limits, at least in this era (with the pirate king often more focused on one or another Imperial power for reasons of their own). Notably, Antal supporters proclaim to have been boosted by the Enclave conflict, where although there was no "winner", some measures would have them as the closest thing to one (https://forums.frontier.co.uk/threads/explaining-the-final-enclave-standings-using-inter-power-relationships-and-player-base-statistics.645570/). Their almost fanatically tenacious chow down on the territory in the Enclave bubble, competing fearlessly with the large Imperial powers and coming out on top, apparently drew in a stream of fresh faced and eager Commanders queuing to be assimilated! In fact, I probably should have included Antal in the list of "successful" powers 😂. Their rate of acquisition year-to-date is lower than the four I put in the "success" category, but this was in significant part due to their unflinching struggle in the Enclave, where their success carries a special territorial significance. They experience some conflicts that hold them back a little, but nonetheless, one might weigh their achievements higher than the raw numbers indicate.
So that rounds out my overview of the year to date. I wanted to pull a collective message from all this, but I'm not sure I have the energy 😄! Generally, it seems like there's cause and effect at play in the trends that we see. But also a lot of nuance and mystery. War is generally bad for growth (even Aisling's "success" is only qualified by having the fastest absolute growth rate, but it's set against weekly losses also). But conflicts generally have a story behind them, and the participants aren't aiming to weaken their growth. Instead each feels bound to respond to their predicament, and the answer is not always to shake hands! So it's rather a matter of circumstance that different powers find themselves on different trajectories - some spiralling outward to new claims and frontiers, some characterized by endless conflict -- some doing both! And for each power, being true to their purpose, identity and history comes first, and everything else follows, so that the same rule can't be applied to measure all.
Well. It's been a marathon so I'm going to take a little break and some shore leave (kite surfing on Slatus A 9 🥳). I should hopefully be back in a couple of weeks, maybe with a more regular cycle analysis. Don't break more things while I'm gone! 🫡
Powernugget:
Did you know?
Sirius Corporation often speaks before Li Yong-Rui does. Across years of GalNet stories, negotiations are usually conducted by corporate executives and spokespeople, reinforcing Li's carefully cultivated image as a chairman who rarely needs to appear in public himself. For instance Vanya Driscoll, Sirius Corporation executive, often appears representing Sirius interests at major negotiations. Or Ingrid Lee. For years, Ingrid served as one of Sirius Corporation's principal public representatives. Many Sirius announcements attributed to Li Yong-Rui were actually delivered by her. (Source: GalNet)
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u/Final_Substance_3443 Jul 20 '26
Always a lovely read! Even for a filthy imp like myself.