Anyone here use India?

[kirbdog]

Just to add that India is not totally terrible, there was a Deity Challenge with India which some people solved in different ways

I participated. You can do any victory with any civ on Deity. Some are just easier than others.

 

[Fire0rb]

I participated. You can do any victory with any civ on Deity. Some are just easier than others.

Yes i know I just wanted to add this to help the OP to see some different strategies you can do with Ghandi, even on higher difficulties

 

[BrokTheFanatic]

I personally love India, early on you can make 4-5 cities big. I find with these big cities it is easy to make gold and science, and otehr stuff, so I usually win out on city-state quests and that makes it easy to have 3+ allied CSs after awhile. Then I expand via settlers or conquest to about 8-10 cities, then build up big and get the massive Ghandi war machine ready for steamrolling.

Keys at high difficult levels (emp+):
a) need at least 4 good spots for city growth, if you have a desert start you will lose, so just restart
b) early DOW is doom. I find most civs (if you trade resources with them) will not make an early DOW, unless you are really close. If someone is really close, just restart.
c) Once you can make comp archers, make enough to stop attacks. Sometimes you get attacked because of proximity or 'weak' army. With some swords and CAs, you can stop the attack and eventually they offer you gold and stuff for peace, which is a funny feature. On Diety, this attack can sometimes bring the end of your game, c'est la vie.

Once you get to mid-game, it is home free and fun. You just start consuming and razing weaker enemy targets, or you can go for culture or science or UN victories, because you will have this great base of big cities churning out everything. On Diety, you can still lose because sometimes on Diety some civ has consumed 2+ civs and is huge, but that scenario makes for an awesome end-game. A David verse Goliath, just incredibly fun as walls of units march at your borders, just have to hope you have enough late game resources inside your borders .

India is riskier than other more popular civilizations but it can win on any difficulty. I like it over other civs because it is less war oriented.

 

[Kazdum]

I personally love India, early on you can make 4-5 cities big. I find with these big cities it is easy to make gold and science, and otehr stuff, so I usually win out on city-state quests and that makes it easy to have 3+ allied CSs after awhile. Then I expand via settlers or conquest to about 8-10 cities, then build up big and get the massive Ghandi war machine ready for steamrolling.

Keys at high difficult levels (emp+):
a) need at least 4 good spots for city growth, if you have a desert start you will lose, so just restart
b) early DOW is doom. I find most civs (if you trade resources with them) will not make an early DOW, unless you are really close. If someone is really close, just restart.
c) Once you can make comp archers, make enough to stop attacks. Sometimes you get attacked because of proximity or 'weak' army. With some swords and CAs, you can stop the attack and eventually they offer you gold and stuff for peace, which is a funny feature. On Diety, this attack can sometimes bring the end of your game, c'est la vie.

Once you get to mid-game, it is home free and fun. You just start consuming and razing weaker enemy targets, or you can go for culture or science or UN victories, because you will have this great base of big cities churning out everything. On Diety, you can still lose because sometimes on Diety some civ has consumed 2+ civs and is huge, but that scenario makes for an awesome end-game. A David verse Goliath, just incredibly fun as walls of units march at your borders, just have to hope you have enough late game resources inside your borders .

India is riskier than other more popular civilizations but it can win on any difficulty. I like it over other civs because it is less war oriented.

Really? I just try anyway, sometimes I even win I think thats when we learn to improvise.

 

[guinsoo]

Agree with the "spam size 12 cities like Hiawatha on crack" idea. I hate India's UA, it's the only kiss curse mechanic for a UA, but it's how to make the best of it IMO.

 

[Captain Fargle]

I used to think this.

And I think there are almost always better option than India in gneral, but my recent immortal OCC with India was one of my favorite games of all time. A city of 55 with 50+ hapiness per turn and Golden Ages out the wazoo, left me with numerous victory option available to me by the end.

India is actually great for OCC games as you eliminate ALL unhappines from population by taking Hereditary Rule. You'll be amazed at how absurdly fast your Golden Ages are popping up.

 

[Kazdum]

The thing is, I don't think its impossible for India to sustain more than 4 cities, mathematically speaking a regular 8 pop city will produce 3+8=11 unhappiness, while a 16 pop Indian city will produce 6+8=14 Unhappiness.

With that being said, I think its very possible to try a wide India.

 

[Unresolved]

Possible to play a wide India? Of course. Nothing is impossible, I'd wager you could do a semi-successful ICS game with India if you so choose. But whether or not doing so is more effective than playing a different civ is what the question is. And I don't think it is in any situation.

 

[Vintage Port]

India is actually great for OCC games as you eliminate ALL unhappines from population by taking Hereditary Rule. You'll be amazed at how absurdly fast your Golden Ages are popping up.

I've never really had happiness problems in my OCC games. I find I'm swimming in happiness and India's UA is kinda useless/wasted.

I had an OCC game as the Aztecs where I had a city at pop 54 and 67 happiness. I also had an Incan game where my pop was 50 and I had 97 happiness.