[WH Fantasy Mod AAR] The Rise of Ind

Played this AAR during the holidays.

The people of Ind are said to worship thousands of gods. They're led by Akabar, a leader famous for both his generosity and his desire for more and more wealth.



The history of Ind starts with the city of Karabad, which is located next to the lakes, marshes and spice-rich jungles.



Akabar was not pleased to discover that Crooked Moon Goblins were spotted next to the Indic lands. Still, they sounded quite stupid. Perhaps it would be possible to manipulate them.



The city of Tibal was founded next to the fertile land which was suitable for growing Yams.



To the West of Ind laid the domain of Emperor Takagura.


At least, trade with him proved useful.



But the most strange of peoples surrounding Ind were the Ratmen.



Maynar was founded next to Silver deposits. More precious metals in Indic treasury is always good.



And Sambhai penetrated further into Northern jungle.


The dark realm of Chaotic Dwarves was to the north of Nippon.



Despite their sinister manners, their knowledge was certainly welcome.


Akabar always welcomed merchants and scientists from other lands who introduced new technologies to his court.

"More friendly neighbours", snickered Akabar as he was eating delicately furnished peacock brains.



At least, now Akabar's exploits could be immortalized in Chronicles.



The city of Mahaba was founded in fertile floodplains.



Akabar was quite interested in exploring the occult forces, instructing Indic sages to do their research wisely and diligently.



Fort of Thatta was founded in the jungle, next to the borders of the Orc kingdom.



And Crooked Moon Goblins' borders could be seen from Visaha.


"Knowledge should have no boundaries", proclaimed Akbar. "Even the Greekskins and the Dwarves may have something useful for us".



At least, the Dark Elven emissary tried to be civil.


Akabar really disliked these rude extorting emissaries. But he knew that he'll have his revenge. As long as they're not demanding his peacocks...



Good thing that the Hordes of Chaos were quite far away from the Indic kingdom.



During that time, the Indics met more and more exotic tribes.


And traded with slightly less exotic ones. Say what you like, but these Nipponese were human.


Haruppa in the mountains would never be a large city. Still, it claimed some territory.

Moooore!!!!!!!

Moooore!!!!!!!

Click to expand...

Thanks, glad you enjoy the story.

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The Indic land had learned about the Wood Elves and the Albionese.



And continued to trade with the Druchii and the Chaos Dwarves.



When Akabar heard that a distant nation had completed a Great Library, making Ind no longer the most learned nation, he was furious. But Kislev lay far away, and Akabar was powerless to do anything.



Indic explorers visited faraway waters, bringing new knowledge to Akabar's court.



Akabar was pleased to hear about the founding of a new fort next to Nippon.



The Wizards of Ind were powerful and crafty. Working tirelessly in their towers, they designed a new weapon, the Fireblast.



Kashbar was founded next to the deposits of Warpstone for the Wizards to conduct experiments on and Gems to enhance the splendour of Akabar's Court.


Even the cold Dark Elves respected the knowledge of Ind, paying large sums for the privilege to learn it.



The Great Bazaar of Karabad was a marvel to behold. Merchants from Nippon with their fine products of Imperial artisans, the Dark Elves with their excellent steel weapons, the Goblins with their less excellent, but cheaper weapons - all that and much more could be seen there every day.

The Great Bazaar gives Marketplaces to each city in the empire



Finally, the army Akbar prepared in secret was ready. It was sent to the Northern jungles to annex the Orcish lands.

These were the primary defenders of Orcish cities.



The battle of Karag Oran was bloody. Indic Swordsmen, supported by the Magicians, were a scary sight to behold. Yet after the city was captured, Akabar mercifully refused to raze it, allowing the Orcs to continue living here in return for their submission to Ind.

I don't usually play mods or read stories about mods, but this is actually quite interesting. Keep it up!

After Karag Oran, the Orcish capital, was captured, Orcish warlords, in a bid to return it, desperately attacked Indic troops with their Boar Chariots.

Orcish Boar Chariots are 5.3.2, and receive an additional +2 HP.



The Orc Archers, who attempted to plunder Thatta, saw fiery Fireblasts raining at them from the skies. Primitive Orcish Shamans couldn't do anything against the sophisticated magic of Ind.



The people of Westerland were experts in seafaring. Akabar was proud that his scouting boats found them before they found his realm.



Every Orc had scrambled to defend their settlements - even those who normally did only grunt work.

Orc Workers have a defensive strength of 1.



The people of Kislev, who live in cold lands north of Westerland, were said to be harsh and un-sentimental. Yet their Tsar, Zoltan, had a rather un-Kislevite affection for that animal in his hands.


Fegg, finally, fell to the Indics.



Indic explorers continued to meet new peoples.



While Indic society was slowly reaching its Feudal stage.


Asmur was founded on the ruins of an Orc encampment.


The Orc hill town of Skabbad turned out to be well defended and repelled Indic attacks. However, the defeated orcs agreed to cede Skabbad and a faraway fort of Bruglodd to Ind.

The two ceded settlements are circled in green in the minimap, the remaining Orc city is circled in red.

Indic sailors saw large Estalian armies on the coast and thanked their thousand gods that Estalia is far from Ind.


Akabar was very pleased to learn from his wizards that Indics can achieve power unheard to this day if they manage to lay their hands on the Artefacts of Power.

It's the equivalent of Apollo Project in WH. In this mod, the Quest for Power - the Space Race - starts early and ends late.



The Dark Elven emissaries were struck-up, but learned. And they were willing to share their knowledge with Ind - for a price, of course.



The Vampires of Lahmia were masterful alchemists.



Maynar was a relatively quiet city - certainly quieter and more provincial then Karabad. But Indic scientists began their search for the Doomfire Ring artefact from there, away from the big cities where even the walls have ears.



In Karabad, Indic priests were developing the concept of Holy War.


In the North, a large army quickly got rid of the remaining Orc settlements.



And the Orcs were no more.


And after further trades with faraway empires -



Akabar declared war on the Ratmen.



Akabar's emissaries travelled far and wide, speaking about the ridiculous mockery of nature that the Skaven were and asking for help in the war against them.



The army crossed the Skaven border.



Most Skaven settlements were defended by Clanrats.

A short update this time.

Another Indic army Akabar sent to the Skaven settlement known, somewhat pretentiously, as the City of Pillars.



Concentration of Chaos Dwarves' armies next to Ind alarmed Akabar. He had paid the Dwarves to declare war on Skaven, insisting that the Ratmen are so vile and treacherous, eliminating them should be the first priority of anyone.



The Dwarven emissary seemed to agree. But next year the Dwarves broke their alliance and wrestled Skabbad from the Indics:



Their armies were composed of dreadful Tenderisers



Sneaky Hobgoblin Wolf Scouts



And armor-clad Chaos Dwarf Warriors.



Takagura agreed to support Ind against the Dwarven treachery.



Indic troops in the North continued to fight the Skaven. After some skirmishing next to Black Chasm -

The city fell easily. But the Dawrven threat still remained.

The Estalians were also persuaded of the Chaotic Dwarven evilness.



Battles for Skavenblight were fierce. The screeching of Ratmen and the merciless fire of the Indic spells will be forever entrenched in the Indic warriors' memories.



The army which captured the City of Pillars was forced to turn back as battles were raging next to Skabbad.



Akabar was pleased to hear that his wizards finally obtained the Doomfire Ring.



Other Indic wizards provided support for the troops fighting the Dwarves.


Many times it seemed that Skavenblight would fall.



But the Night Riders of the Skaven continued to inflict severe casualties on Indic warriors.

Hmm, maybe try putting the pictures in spoilers? It's taking a bit long to load and the screen is jumping back and forth when pictures are loaded.

I might just try the mod but not at the moment as the computer with CivIII is out of order.

Hmm, maybe try putting the pictures in spoilers?

Click to expand...

Request granted!

Much better, thank you!

While Indic warriors were busy on the front lines, Indic alchemists were founding new ways to turn copper into gold.

Alchemists' Guild is the Wall Street of the mod.



Orcs were swarming around Eastern Skaven cities. Nevertheless, it was sturdy Indic infantry that defeated the last defenders of Mount Silverspear.



Indic troops rush into Skavenblight.



Soon, they are repelled again.



Incense is exported from Ungolia in order to sooth the disappointment of Indic people.



After another fierce battle, the Ratmen capital is finally captured again.



Skaven North is under attack by Imperial troops.



The Dwarves are being battered by Westerland cavalry, which joined the anti-Dwarven alliance. But they still have the strength to launch a counterattack.



The Empire consolidates its conquered territories.

When Westerlander cavalry captured the City of Pillars from the Dwarves and refused to hand it over to Ind, Akabar was outraged. But he realized that sometimes, you've got to be pragmatic and subdue your rage.



Instead, Akabar redirected his rage at propagating the Holy War concept.

Holy War gives a Holy Warrior (8.3.1) every 4 turns. I forgot to build a Barracks in Karabad for a long time, and received units with 1 hp less without being aware of it.



The Chaos Dwarves still made raids on Indic territory, capturing Akabar's recent conquests.



But on the Skaven front, everything went well.



And the Dwarves were soon turned back, allowing Akabar to go on the offensive.



The honor of delivering the final strike to Skaven belonged to the Loren.



Though the soldiers of the Anti-Skaven Coalition were merciless in exterminating the Ratmen, it was said that some still survived, hiding in the vast underground sewers. The survivors were probably responsible for a lot of strange assassinations and sabotages. But they never could pose a threat to any empire anymore.

Unfortunately, the Goblins did the same thing to Black Chasm the Westerlanders did to the City of Pillars. But it didn't matter much to Akabar, since he was preoccupied with leading a huge force of Infantry and War Elephants to the Dwarven lands.

The city of Fester Spike, half-hidden in the fog, was the last Skaven stronghold. The sentient tree there is the Dryad, a unit the Wood Elves can build in the beginning of the era the majority of the planet is currently in.

The Holy Warriors of Karabad were the source of pride for Ind and a source of fear for lands surrounding Ind.



But the War Elephants were even scarier for the Chaos Dwarves. Their Tenderisers and other Chaotic creations couldn't stand to the large grey beasts.



That fort would never be a prospering town, but it ensured Indic control over what were southern domains of the Skaven.



Some said the Goblins were stupid. But they were probably mistaken, as they still had some knowledge Indic researchers hadn't.



Dwarven field army was definitely no more. They could only defend in cities. Their end was coming.



The splendor of Akabar's court taught the Dark Elves some approximation of proper manners.



And Indic researchers had obtained another Artefact necessary for Akabar's world domination plans.



The Dwarven empire was collapsing...



And, with the capture of their last holdout of Nnbarak was finally no more.

The Nipponese Shogun calmly received the news of Ind declaring on his realm. He was sure that his Samurai, supported by the Dog statues of Nipponese temples, would repel the invaders.







Akabar was pleased to hear about the fall of the Kumanashi exclave. But the main front lay elsewhere.



Each Samurai by himself was really hard to defeat. But the Nipponese didn't seem to master the Indic concentration of troops. Each of their Samurai sought, first and foremost, glory for himself, while the Indic troops were harshly disciplined by Akabar's professional and ruthless generals.



Fall of Shotokun opened the path to Hyudo, the Nipponese capital.



Uzkulak, a former city of Chaos Dwarves, was taken with the help of Indic Wizards, who were sending massive Fireballs from the spelltowers of Zharr Drakh.

Akabar was fascinated by visions of his troops riding on Griffons. He ordered his sages to quickly figure out how to tame them. Also, Indic knowledge of Creature Control allowed them to receive the technologies of Education and Engineering from other nations.



Nipponese resistance was harsh, but finally, the victorious thrumping of Indic Elephants was heard at the streets of Hyudo.



The famed orded of the Hyudo Celestial Dragon Monks had agreed to serve Akabar.

These Monks treat all terrain as roads and are auto-produced by the Nipponese-built wonder in Hyudo, unique to the "Far Eastern" nations



Jihangir, Akabar's son who distinguished himself in the Battle of Hyudo led his armies south.



Fanatical Imperial crusaders had eliminated one of Ind's best trade partners. Akabar had decided that this Imperial fanaticism is intolerable and that it, sooner or later, needs to be destroyed.



Unfortunately, Jihangir's military career was cut shot when he was impaled on a Nipponese pike in the battle of Sado. He didn't die in vain - Sado was taken. Akabar greatly mourned his death and didn't eat peacock brains for a whole month.



Akabar comforted himself by conducting more trade with remaining nations.





The Goblins were much better trade partners then the actually quite backward. but very struck-up Ultuan and Loren.



After Takagura retreated to southern mountains, Nipponese resistance, strangely, became stronger. A large Indic army perished when attempting to take the fortress of Ishiguchi. But in the end, Ind prevailed.

The Ogres that moved next to Hyudo soon after Ind conquered it, enabled Akabar to enlist the Irongut Ogres in his armies.

The Ogre Kingdoms are a resource with a disappearance/appearance probability. With +1 hp and an attack of 12, these units are a bit too powerful, since they sort of overshadow your other units, including unique ones, for quite a long time. They need a slight reduction in power, while some nations need an unique unit roughly in that part of tech tree to counterbalance the reduction.



The Estalians had enlisted the help of a renegade Indic Wizard, that knows the spells to create Earth Elementals. Akabar was furious about it, but for the moment, his priorities lay elsewhere.

That was another wonder that grants units after a number of turns.



Many other kingdoms agreed to help Akabar in the upcoming struggle with the Empire.



The assault on the Imperial positions started well.



Karl-Franz attempted to breach the Indic ranks with Leadbelcher ogres (not shown) and Pistoliers.



But they attacked in a disorganized fashion, and soon the Indic armies were at the gates of Altdorf.



That was the only large Imperial victory in that war.



The Indics continued their attack.

Griffon Riders treat all terrain as roads



After the loss of their capital, the Empire started to collapse. And finally, Indic Griffon Riders reached the last cold outpost Karl-Franz was hiding in.



Meanwhile, the mythic island of Cathay was finally discovered by the Big Continent.



And Ind was another step closer to Mastery.

Switching to present tense, just for fun.

With the discovery of Awakening, Ind can now train Dragons. Cool. Pity that their animation is slightly underwhelming, though workable.



The Goblins were powerful before, but they're not so powerful now. Time to eliminate the last Greenskin nation. And Akabar wants these Gems at Dakabad, anyway.



The only remotely dangerous unit the Goblin have is the Troll.



And they're quickly no more. The Kislevites delivered the final blow.



A Palace Fortress is the Forbidden Palace analogue.



The Estalians, second most powerful nation on the planet, are fighting the Dwarves. The Estalians are also technologically advanced and have more Quest artefacts then the Indics. We need to do something about it.



Here Be Dragons.



The Estalians are also seeking to annex the Loren. Also, note that our Dragons and Griffon Riders are travelling towards Estalia.



Here's the secret rally point. Just outside the Estalian border. The plan is to do a raid on Estalia, capturing their capital. However, the cities on the way to the capital contain a lot of "cruise missile" Spells. So, our armies can't just rush to the capital while ignoring the other cities.



Meanwhile, the Loren receive technology and a generous gift from me to help them resist the Estalian aggression.

And yeah, for all their Elven snobbery, they are not very cultured.



But the treacherous Dwarves decided to stab us in the back while we're preparing for war on the other side of our realm.

Excellent mod (gg to the creator) and interesting story. But there's an issue with it: the massive amount of graphics you've put in.

There are about 150 images, each of them being 500-600k on average. That sums up to a number near 100 megabytes of data in a single web page. Such a huge amount is causing problems, both with the size itself and with the fact that there are 150 http requests being executed asyncronally, each of one goobling up around half megabyte of stuff.

In short, combining the fact that Photobucket isn't exactly fast, it may take several minutes before one can actually read what's going on. Moreover, if some of the bandwidth is used by other tasks, it may be filled up completely.

For the reader's sake, you should take your time to fix the problem. Many of the images could be eliminated at all, and the story would be still readable and understandable. If all you want to tell is that you traded X with Y, then a pair of lines of text would do the job just fine.

The other images may be cropped, rescaled and turned into jpeg. A 600 kb PNG may be turned into a 100-150k jpeg without actually losing much. I use Paint Shop Pro for such task, but any half-decent graphics program can do the job. As an open-source alternative to buying or pirating, i suggest you to use GIMP.