Most powerful nation

[Micah]

Using Palankashas against Steel Warriors seems like a pretty horrible idea though. Their protection value isn't really meant to take the beating dished out by a strong enemy with a 2-hander, and they're too expensive to use in a phyrric battle. The longbow apes with a screen of the Bandar warriors backed with wind guide (they have godawful base precision) would be a much better choice for dealing with Steel Warriors, at least from the looks of it. The Asaras also look like a better match, since their initial javelin volleys would do extensive damage, and they'd get to lob both of them before melee with their crazy 20-square range (beats prot by 11 points vs a unit with no shield. Ouch.) They'd have trouble against lots of other units (especially Ulm's archers), but again...monkey screen of arrow catchers. And arrow fend later.

I haven't played Lanka though, so this is just on paper, I could be mistaken. Just seems like you benefited from really good unit matchups in your example.