As my comrade has already stated the game has significantly changed since the VietFan war. Furthremore now days sanction isn't really a good guide as to how strong an alliance is. Take TOP and Gremlins as an example. Neither were sanctioned yet they dealt devastating amounts of damage to the higher ranks of other alliances. SDIs make a huge difference, I think Wonders just came out around when I was fighting during VietFan, not sure.