Big fan, have played it a lot of times with france and India.But I love playing the one without korea, khmer etc. I mean Civ4 1000 AD not bts 1000 AD
Have won on "noble" level a few times. Just love kicking saladin's ass.
My India strategy:
The oracle is still not built till 1000 AD. I just try to pop printing press/education thru oracle and then pop democracy/rifling with liberalism.
Dont forget great wall, its a sure shot way to get a great spy and then use the massive EPs it gives to steal techs like gunpowder, guilds etc. from china.
After getting oracle, great wall, just storm Indochina with a small army. Take hanoi, pagan, angkor etc. Then be diplomatic till u get rifling. Saladin's camel jockey's suck big time in front of your riflemen. Dont open warfront with China till u conquer Baghdad and have a few oil tiles under your control. Make a vassal of Saladin. Dont leave a weak arabia to be devoured by europeans.
Try taking jerusalem if you can, having wall street there ensures that u have enough money for unit upgrades in the late game. But then jerusalem is too close to your late game rivals, Benares with its two shrines is also not a bad choice for wall street.
Let mongols weaken china before you wage a war for its china's massive coal reserves. If you can afford, send a settler to south africa and a couple to australia. You will need the gold/silver/gems to keep your massive cities happy.
