Is Japan the best warmonger civ hands down? or what is your favorite?

[Evangelion2014]

Just as a side note here, I constantly hear about how absurd Keshiks and (often upgraded) cho-ku-nu's are, but I hear nothing about upgraded mandekalus. I haven't tried this myself, but if you upgrade them to tanks and Modern armor, you have 50 and 80 strength units that don't suffer any pentalties for attacking cities. In many ways they become the ultimate all around unit. However, I think that the Cho-ku-nu's ability is better throughout it's lifespan and arguably better even in the mandekalu's modern incarnation. Though the mandekalus don't match the sheer absurdity of the mongol's and chinese unique units, I think they are overlooked to a certain degree. In a general sense I think that Songhai is the most balanced warmonger civ. They have a solid plunder bonus that works even peacefully fighting barbarians, and a stellar cultural building. They would also be easier to switch gears into another victory condition, whether that's dumping that plunder money into allying city states or just purchasing things in general. I don't think they can stand toe to toe with Mongolia, Japan or even China in a purely military sense, but they have a bit more flexibility.