Gandhi The Conquerer

[SarahEspresso]

Gandhi The Conquerer - A Five Part Chronicle of Civilization V

Introduction

Gandhi is notoriously designed for peaceful, cultural play. The idea of Gandhi fielding a huge army and conquering the entire world is absurd. This is an attempt at that absurdity.

The goal is a conquest victory as Gandhi (with Giant Death Robots!). The original version of this was posted in Steam at http://steamcommunity.com/app/8930/discussions/0/828933455758505306/

Part I - The Birth of India

The Setup

Gandhi, Earth, Standard size, King, Quick.

The goal is first to make India a strong enough nation to cope with a world war, then engage in a full invasion of the entire planet on civ at a time.

Science and city growth will be emphasized in the first stage of the game. Most conquered cities will be razed due to the unhappiness penalty. The first wars will be intended to thin the competition. Then technology will be the focus until nuclear weapons and giant death robots are ready. Eventually I plan to build a squad of GDRs to accompany the navy and ground troops in a massive end game, possibly backed with nukes. This depends on the availability of uranium.

The Birth of India

The city of Delhi was founded next to a lake, with some ruins just outside its borders. The city itself is on top of a salt mine, just waiting for technology to catch up with it. Pottery was chosen first, to promote religion. Religion is an important part of the intended strategy here.

The warriors quickly explored the ruins, gaining new technology and culture, then engaged in an epic battle at a barbarian camp.

The camp battle did not go as planned. While they fought valiently, and Honor was adopted, the barbarians spawned too quickly for them to heal. They were surrounded and pinned in a corner, heavily wounded. The first Indian warriors were killed.

Back in Delhi, the city borders quickly grew, and many nearby luxuries appeared. Salt, citrus, silk, and marble all within reach.

In an unusual step for me, but important for this strategy, I trained a settler to expand closer to the marble to the southwest.

The Faith of The People

India quickly declared the first pantheon. The chosen belief was Goddess of Love, to help offset the massive unhappiness.

The second city, Mumbai was founded soon after, and it contributed to the growth of the religion. In another unusual step for me, I chose to build a shrine first. The development of the first religion was essential for my strategy.

After finishing the scout, Delhi started work on the first wonder of the world - Stonehenge. The scout located a nearby city-state, Jerusalem, which contributed religious relics, speeding the birth of the first religion. They quickly became friends with India, contributing more directly. When Stonehenge was completed, India was on track for starting the first religion.

With the gold saved, a war elephant was trained, and began hunting the barbarian invaders.

Mumbai grew quickly, and its nearby hills provided a huge production boost. This made producting the Pyramids much faster, while Delhi focused on the Statue of Zeus. Unfortunately, someone else got to the statue first.

The Prophet Appears

In 880 BC, before any other pantheons were founded, the great prophet appeared in Delhi. The first religion was declared.

Hinduism was designed to negate the unhappiness from India's unique ability. Now that India could overcome the massive unhappiness from spreading out, I could conquer without concern over rebellion. This is the heart of my strategy, to encourage India to spread out.

The Prosperity of India

India grew after this, and with the religion and luxuries, people were happy. Mumbai started work on the Temple of Artemis to help grow the nation, however that too was intercepted.

Meanwhile, the War Elephants purchased with the nation's gold took the battle to the barbarians, avenging the fallen and gaining favor with the nearby city-states.

India would then expand north and west, near a silver deposit and some pearls on the coast. They also were introduced to their first neighdor, William of The Netherlands.

Soon, Hinduism was enhanced with additional beliefs, further countering unhappiness, and adding Just War. The strategy would then be to spread Hinduism to nearby cities, then invade them. Missions will go into the battlefield along with soldiers and generals to help with this conversion. It was time to begin training the army of India for war.

Preheating The Dutch Oven

A missionary converted The Hague to Hinduism. A Great General was spawned by a social policy, two catapults were almost ready to deploy, two swordsmen were on the way (limited by the 2 iron available, a 6 iron desposit was found to the northeast). Two elephants stood at the border, waiting for orders.

As soon as the army is gathered, the attack will begin. If successful, the Hague will be captured and puppeted for the copper deposit. Then the invasion will move south.

 

[SarahEspresso]

Part II - The First War

Recap

The Indian Empire had claimed most of the land in North America. Their only known neighbor was The Dutch, to the south. The early game was spent developing Hinduism to combat Gandhi's happiness penalties. This allowed a good bit of expansion. The Dutch had built The Hague on Florida's peninsula, next to a copper deposit India had been eying since the early stages of the game. This clearly was a cause for war, and the Indian army was being assembled to the Northwest of The Hague.

A Real Coup

Early on, Jerusalem was friends with India. They aided the development of the religion, but over time their friendship faded. India chose to devote their attention to Florence instead. This gave William the chance to ally with our immediate neighbors. This was a real threat that had to be addressed.

Fortunately, we got our first spy at this point. While we finished training our invasion force and positioning them, we placed our spy in Jerusalem. A few turns later, we attempted a coup to displace The Dutch as allies. It was successful.

Storming The Hague

Finally, with the Dutch allies displaced and my army in place, I was ready. The attack was quick and more or less flawless. A single catapult was attacked during positioning, and stuck in a marsh. Rather than abandon my plan, I chose to sacrifice the catapult for an attack on the city. A new catapult was on the way to replace it.

In 1100 AD, India would declare their first victory. This battle was short and simple, only taking a few turns. This would be the last simple battle in the Dutch-Indian War of 1040.

After the battle, William offered a generous peace treaty to end the war. Of course we declined.

Nice Neighbors

While battling The Hague, our composite bowman/former scout encountered Suleiman, who had a city next to the barbarians they were fighting. In the turns that followed, The Ottomans were asking for a treaty of friendship and being very neighborly. This certainly sealed their fate as future targets.

The Gulf War

While battling The Hague, our composite bowman/former scout encountered Suleiman, who had a city next to the barbarians they were fighting. In the turns that followed, The Ottomans were asking for a treaty of friendship and being very neighborly. This certainly sealed their fate as future targets.

I had to change my strategy here, and put all units into service. The composite bowman/former scout was sent from Alaska to the battlefield. I was getting a bit worried, although I've handled such battles before, I also know how easily they can fail if troops are not strong enough. The land layout of Central America is not fit for a ground war. So I knew I had to build a navy. The problem is that I only had one coastal city, and it was on the wrong side of the battle!

So I annexed The Hague. The happiness drop was significant. I was able to purchase a trireme, and start production on another one. This trireme was short lived, of course. It was meant to be, I only built it to draw the fire from the ground troops I was churning out. I was finally able to get a trebuchet and war elephant on the ground in reach of Breda. Once I positioned them correctly, they would slowly drain the hit points of the city, while the triremes and ground troops from the conintent were drawing all the fire. Even the composite bowman was killed in action.

Then I decided on the winning strategy. While the ground troops were being used for target practice, Pataliputra would keep churning out triremes. Then I put these triremes south of Breda. They were being fired on, but they managed. The trebuchet and war elephant took Breda's HP completely down, and the last trireme in the south captured the city.

I did not raze Breda, it was too valuable strategically. It was the canal that would allow my navy to take over the world.

A Man, A Plan, A Canal - Panama!

During the Battle of Breda, another city was revealed, Groningen. This city was also surrounded by ocean tiles and was larger and better guarded than Breda. Fortunately, the Battle of Breda had only left me stronger, because I was churning out troops still, and finally had a navy.

I also had a second great general.

So to make this battle short, I decided I wanted ground troops to get close. I sent the first great general right outside of Groningen, where we built a citadel. I was careful not to destroy the incense there. Then I sent my trebuchet and war elephant to siege the city, while I prepared my triremes to invade. It was the same strategy I used to take Breda.

Well the War Elephant was badly wounded, with no real bait to draw the fire. So they pulled out, and I was able to put some longswordsmen next to the city. This turned out better than the original plan.

We now had control of a second canal, as well as two nearby luxuries. That's two cities I failed to raze. Happiness wasn't going well.

I sent a peace offer to William. I would make peace, if he would surrender Groningen and Rotterdam. He refused, so I took the city.

Tell Me of Your Empire

During the recovery after the battle of Groningen, while my navy was recovering and my ground troops were being replaced, a ship came into the contest waters, introducing us to Arabia. They were friendly on sight. They will also be destroyed.

The Battle of Rotterdam

Now my navy had wiped out the Dutch navy, and there was enough units to surround the coast of Rotterdam. Rotterdam only had one tile we could land on, due to the mountains, which also blocked a ground invasion from Groningen. A single opening allowed a war elephant (the same one who helped sack the last two cities) to enter to the south. A second war elephant was shot down in the water on the way to an eastern attack position. Still, the battle was brief, and gave me a chance to test out the new galleas. This was a victory for the Indian navy, but it also shot down our happiness. The people were miserable, so we burned the city down.

After the battle, we agreed to a peace treaty with the Dutch. They gave us the city of Haarlem, which didn't help out happiness problem. So we burned it down, too.

Discovery of The Old World

Our naval technology finally caught up, and we sent our caravels east across the Atlantic Ocean, where we knew of Arabia, and little else. We encountered China there, and a few city-states. All were friendly with us.

Cooking The Dutch Goose

The treaty gave the Indian units time to heal, while I worked on fixing the happiness problem. Perhaps I should have rebuilt my army more, but I wanted to make sure people were happy, and that we would get the Giant Death Robots.

So at the first moment we could, we broke the peace treaty.

The battle was not easy. There were only two way to get to Amsterdam. We could go through the mountains, which would be slow and vulnerable, or we could go through the ruins of Rotterdam. We did both. Now we were churning out units again, while I surrounded Amsterdam with troops. They were constantly being attacked, there were several casualties. I expected it, though.

I did something I don't think I've done before. I captured a Dutch worker, and kept him in the battlefield. When a soldier would be wounded, I would have them pillage then fortify. Then the worker would move in, and repair the pillaging.

The majority of the battle was positioning. A few trebuchet shots were fired, of course. Mainly, it was a matter of waiting. The Indian units were fortified outside of the city, and just taking damage while the reinforcements arrived. Once all the troops were in place, the battle was short. Three trebuchets survived for the final attack, and took down the city.

Once the battle was done, peace was made with The Dutch, for a price of 5 gold to aid our now flailing economy.

New York State of Mind

Now that we had the technology to build frigates, one of our galleas units was upgraded and sent to explore the west. While scouting out Ottoman lands with an open borders treaty, and saw that Istanbul was on an exposed peninsula, surrounded by water. We also ran into the city of New York, who was neutral to us instead of friendly. They were at war with the Ottomans, who were invading New York at the time.

Future Plans

The Dutch-Indian Wars spanned almost 7 centuries in game time. They are still unfinished business, but the vital cities of The Netherlands are now in possession of India.

The missionary strategy had to be revised, because as were were attacking the Dutch, they founded their own religion, which was strong enough to resist our conversion. So instead, we sent the missionaries east to Arabia to begin converting that continent. We might just send an inquisitor to Amsterdam as well. The religious aspects of the strategy are being rethought. Instead, this is quickly becoming a naval game.

The next attack will be on The Ottoman Empire. We will build an even bigger navy, which will attack Istanbul from both sides of the water. No ground forces will be used at all. Hopefully the Ottoman-American War will keep them occupied during this time.

After the Ottoman capital falls, we will move East to Arabia, our other friends. We will storm Mecca. This will not be too easy, because they have a vast navy. The attack will be done in two waves. First, the navy that fought the Ottomans will come through and take on the Arab navy. Then our ground forces will march in and attack the city. Once we've established a presence in Africa, we will stop. No wars. Instead, we will go scientific.

We will also work on spreading our religion to the other continents.

 

[SarahEspresso]

Part III - Betrayal and Quagmire

Recap

After a peaceful start, India invaded The Netherlands to the south, claiming a vital canal and finally sieging Amsterdam. Gandhi was victorious in his first conquest, and after claiming Amsterdam, peace was made.

Unfortunately, the price of peace was economic ruin. India was a few turns away from a debt crisis which would disband the army and destroy our science. In this moment of peace, we had to fix our struggling economy before it was too late.

Fortunately for us, we had recently made contact with another continent, which would be willing to lend a hand...

Fund Raising

We decided to fix our money crisis by exploiting Arabia's friendliness. We sold off our excess luxuries to the Arabs for gold per turn, and researched banking. It was not an instant recovery, but within a few turns, we were no longer deficient.

The rebound was astounding. We were happy and had a surplus of gold suddenly. A golden age helped even more.

The Great Betrayal

From the day we met them, the Ottomans were our friends. It was always our intention to backstab them, of course. The Dutch War left us with a strong navy, and our ships had already scouted out Istanbul and I determined a good strategy for attacking. The problem was still economic. We had the technology for better ships, but we were still raising the gold for upgrading the army. This gave us a respite from war while we improved our cities.

The Ottomans stayed happy with us, and we kept an open borders treaty with them. We also had a treaty of friendship. While we feigned peace, our navy was being assembled to the east of their lands.

Rome asked us to join in a war with Washington, and we declined. In retrospect, I think I should have accepted, but I didn't want to risk an unplanned war yet.

Turkish Delight

An Ottoman settler had entered India, hoping to settle the snowy lands to the north. I couldn't have that, when I was eyeing those lands myself. So I used a blockade of missionaries and workers to corral the settler into a forest in my territory, so they couldn't claim the lands I wanted, while I settled those lands myself.

Finally, my navy was ready. I had decided to change my strategy slightly. It was supposed to be purely a navy battle, but I wasn't confident in the strength of my navy. I also noticed the strength of Istanbul was much more than my strongest units. So instead, I wanted to test my troops out, and Samsun was the perfect testing ground.

The frigates moved in first to take out the unsuspecting Ottoman navy. They also killed off the Ottoman units that were embarked. Once that was done, it was easy to start sieging the island city, and no means for the Ottoman army to send aid. Samsun fell in a matter of about three turns, from an invading musketman.

We burned that city to the ground, after the naval units were healed.

We lost one ship, a caravel, during the attack. It was our last casualty of the Ottoman War.

In the time it took to burn down Samsun, we were ready to invade Istanbul. My new strategy was to back the navy with a ground invasion, three musketmen who would disembark next to the city and draw fire.

The appearance of an Ottoman galleas slowed the attack for a few turns, but not significantly. The Battle of Istanbul was finished when I decided to risk the safety of my frigates my ordering a simultaneous attack from all of my units. It worked, and Istanbul was captured. The musketman north of the city, which had been assailed by the Ottoman army and the city itself, had fortified and was standing guard outside the city. I put another unit next to him to help defend the new territory, and another musketman in the city itself. Then we made peace.

Yeah, About That Invasion...

The war with the Ottomans had some not-so-unexpected consequences. Our treaty of friendship came back on us, when all the nations of the world except China became angry with us for breaking it. No one was angrier than the Arabs. They went from friendly to hostile instantly.

There were problems with my original plans. I was aware that Arabia has beaten us to almost every wonder, and that Mecca was a haven for world wonders. I was also becoming aware that they had much better technology than ours. In fact, we had been stealing their techs for many years before we were caught. This didn't help our relations.

The combat strength of Mecca was outrageous, so the original plan to storm the coast was not going to work. So I looked elsewhere for my foodhold into the east. The city of Kufah was poorly guarded and right on the coast. I made a new strategy - invade Kufah, then take down Baghdad with ground forces after I secured the city, then invade Mecca from both the ground and the sea. Simple enough.

Meanwhile, I wanted to boost my technology. I was starting to worry I might not be able to get those giant death robots.

I also realized that I couldn't use simple missionaries to convert Arabia to Hinduism, so I sent a Great Prophet along to the battle.

While we were positioning our troops, we met Napolean. Napolean was friendly, and also concerning. He had a higher score than we did, and we hadn't even been to his land. Whatever was happening in France, they were likely a formidable threat.

Desert Storm

The Ottoman War was a simple exercise. The Arab-Indian War was not. Our first step, before declaring war, was sending in the Great Prophet to convert the city. Which was a good thing, because Islam gave the cities a ranged combat bonus.

The first priority was to destroy the Arab navy outside the city. There were Arab frigates nearby which would destroy our invasion if we didn't stop them.

While the frigates battled each other, the cannons and musketmen touched down outside the city. This was when I saw how bad things really were. We had musketmen. They had great war infantry. They were several stages ahead of us in technology, and they kept sending troops in.

We stood our ground, however. Once the navy was dealt with, our ships began attacking the ground troops. They focused the attacks on the musketmen, which was great for us, because reinforcements kept coming, and it took the fire off the ships. As soon as we could, the ships targeted Kufah itself, and we suceeded in invading the city. Then this happened: (Picture of a huge army of Arabian troops outside Kufah)

The Arabian army was huge and better trained. I knew any attempt at winning this war meant killing that standing army off. I fortified my ground troops, and used the ships and cannons to fire. We held them off, and thinned them out.

As important as the great general was for the battle, I knew I needed to push forward and get close to Baghdad. Anything to keep the enemy away from Kufah. So I cleared a tile just outside our new border, and built a citadel.

The citadel was not a perfect solution. It was in reach of Baghdad's attack, and they were still too strong. I kept rotating in new troops, because the ones who stayed near the citadel were killed quickly. It wasn't what I had in mind, but it was working. We kept Kufah safe, at the cost of the entire ground army.

At least we were able to send the great prophet to convert Baghdad.

Quagmire

The war dragged on and on, with nothing changing. Troops died. No new ground was gained, nor was old ground lost.

I changed the emphasis of my technology to compete. We trained great war infantry. They trained infantry. Kufah became a troop factory, just to watch the troops get executed. Arabia trained air units to fight us, many stationed in Baghdad.

At one point, I trained a large number of cannons and riflemen to storm Baghdad. They were killed in about two turns from the air strikes. The Arabian battleships attacked, so we overtook them with our frigates.

Meanwhile, back in India, our economy was thriving. Our science was growing rapidly. Happiness was a problem, though. While we were defending our gains in Kufah, the Ottomans captured Washington. That was one less problem to worry with.

When the war with Arabia began, we lost our exports, and this was a hit to our economy. Fortunately, China still loved us, and had a thriving economy, and was willing to buy off several of our luxuries for 30 gold per turn (5 luxuries at 6 GPT each). After that deal expired, they were so satisfied, they agreed to pay 7 GPT instead. It helped that they were also at war with Arabia.

After many years, around 1930, we were offered a truce, along with a generous payment of gold, just to end the fight. Seems we suceeded in stopping the Arabian army in Kufah. Finally, we had peace and a foot in the door of Africa and Europe.

Playing Catch-Up

We took this peace treaty to give us time to train better troops. In particular, we wanted artillery. We got this, and began positioning them safely away from Baghdad, but within attack range. The tiles next to the city were covered in great war infantry, while we researched infantry. We had learned flight, but lacked oil.

We were almost ready. When the next shots are fired, they will be aimed directly at Baghdad. When the city falls, should we succeed, we will not raze the city. It is surrounded by luxuries we don't have back in India. It's just a matter of turns before this war resumes.

The Shape of Things To Come

The Battle of Baghdad will be bloody. We will have to be swift, or we will get crushed by the air units. Once we have the city, our unhappiness will skyrocket. We're going to work on that back in the mainland. Once we've secured Baghdad, we'll proceed with our joint ground and sea attack on Mecca. Once we have Mecca, we will attempt peace. If Arabia will not surrender, we will continue to attack their cities until they stop. Meanwhile, we will concentrate on getting those Giant Death Robots as soon as possible.

Three capitals are gone now. Rome, Paris, Bejing, and Mecca are still up for grabs. The game from this point will not be peaceful or quiet, although the mainland will be pretty safe. Reprisals from the Dutch and The Ottomans are still a threat, and the cities are poorly guarded.

As soon as possible, we will take Autocracy to aid our bitter conquest of the world.

To be continued...

 

[SarahEspresso]

Part IV - An Empire Falls

Recap

Gandhi has proven to be quite the warmongerer, but he has maintained a good reputation in Europe. First came the invasion of The Netherlands, followed by a betrayal of The Ottomans, culminating in an invasion of the Arab lands in Africa. The Battle of Kufah resulted in a seemingly endless quagmire, as neither India nor Arabia could gain any ground. Arabia had better technology, but their army was decimated by the defense outside Kufah.

At the end of the prolonged conflict, a shaky peace was made. Peace that India had no intention of keeping. With a white flag raised, the newly advanced Indian army were positioned for a swift attack on Baghdad.

The Calm Before The Storm

The new, untested artillery was in position to siege Baghdad safely from our territory. The Great War Infantry surrounded every possible tile around the city. The navy was on standby, with two frigates capable of extended range. The treaty would soon expire, and shots would be fired.

Our long-term friend China asked us for a research agreement. Seeing this as a way of getting out of our technological mess, we agreed. Then, the most frightening even in the game happened. France conquered Beijing, and both France and Arabia had completed The Manhattan Project. We knew if we did not finish off this war, we would be fighting against nuclear weapons. We also realized that France would be the ultimate threat, and it was in our interest to stay on their good side.

In Delhi, we purchased a Great Scientist with faith. While the other nations declared war on each other, we kept calm. We finished learning Radio, then used the Great Scientist to learn Plastics. Now we could finally compete with the Arabian Army.

We had enough gold saved up to upgrade the entire army outside of Baghdad to infantry. At last, we were ready. Right as the peace treaty expired.

The Battle of Baghdad

The Battle of Baghdad went exactly as planned. The fighting resumed in 1944, after over a decade of peace. I opened fire with all of my artillery at once, and ended up taking more than half of the city's HP in the first turn. A few infantry were left vulnerable, but I had enough to spare. Enough to withstand the air strikes sure to follow.

Follow they did, as triplanes fired on my soldiers. As it turned out, Arabia concentrated their entire attack on a single infantry that turn. That infantry was killed by Arabia cavalry, but our extended range frigates helped out. Some of the artillery were redirected to take out the enemy units.

In 1946, the city of Baghdad fell to Indian troops.

There was little time for rejoicing, however. The triplanes and great war bombers attacked the navy. A wave of reinforcements from Arabia arrived immediately, and reclaimed Baghdad before the year was over. The city was liberated. The death toll was significant. The city went from a population of 17 to a population of 4 after liberation.

The city was still surrounded by our artiller and infanty, so recapturing Baghdad was easier the second time. In 1948, the city was finally captured. The population dropped even further, down to 2. The battle was not over, however. Arabian units were still coming, and there was sight of some Arabian artillery on the way. Some battleships were spotted near Mecca. The simple plan of attacking from ground and sea at once was in jeopardy.

Still, we won the battle of Baghdad.

That Sinking Feeling

The Battle of Mecca was not started in the city itself, but in the waters to the west. There the navy gathered to sink the battleships of Arabia. One ship was sunk the first turn, but at a great price. The combined attack of battleships, air units, ranged city attacks, and artillery shredded the Indian navy. We watched helplessly as our units died one by one, sinking into the sea.

With the enemy focusing on our navy, which had already fired a few "warning shots" at Mecca, India positions the artillery to attack the city and the battleships. The infanty and great prophet surrounded the city itself.

Our army took down Mecca's defenses. This time I ignored the Arab units, and instead went offensive. Any tile that opened up near the city, I occupied. A great general had joined in the fight, which helped, and the great prophet converted Mecca to Hinduism. Both our navies were destroyed in the battle, while my artilleries bombarded the city, and soon it was over.

I decided to look at my prize and see how many wonders Arabia was hoarding there. There were only three, I was mistaken about the wonder spamming! So using espionage, I found the real wonder city: Paris. I knew the next battlefield then, I would have to invade the European superpower. The superpower which had just completed The Apollo Program.

Funky Cold Medina

Arabia wanted peace, but refused my very generous offer. I only asked them to surrender all of their gold and the city of Medina, but they refused. So I kept on fighting.

This turned out to be a problem, because while my navy consisted of a single ship, trained after the coastal massacre, Harun had been able to construct a battleship and a caravel. I had moved some of my artillery north outside Medina, and left the ocean unprotected. In Mecca's wounded state, retaking the city was easy. There was nothing I could do in time. Fortunately, the artillery was still in reach of Mecca, so I was able to liberate Mecca from it's evil Arabian captors, into the hands of its evil Indian captors. Like Baghdad, it was a massacre, as the population fell down to 3 in what was one of the most populated cities in the world.

The Battle of Medina was fought on two fronts, the southern front being the same army that took down Mecca, while the northern front was fought by reserves who waited in Baghdad. A mountain range separated the armies, but the artillery didn't care about that. Medina fell quickly, while inflicting a few casualties. With the capture of Medina, Arabia was more than willing to accomodate our demands for peace. Medina was not razed because of the luxuries it provided.

You Mean You're Not At War?

After years of warfare, we took a break. Public schools became the civilization's focus. We stopped training autocracy, and focused on rationalism again. Our science output doubled. Oxford University was built, giving us another tech boost, and another Great Scientist arrived. Our focus now was on nuclear weapons. We knew we had to destroy France, which would not be easy.

We started work on Great War Bombers which we stationed in Medina. Our first air unit was killed in the retaking of Mecca years before, but the new wave of air units was being prepared for the next attack.

Our happiness was on the border, I knew we needed more happy people. Back in South America, The Dutch were becoming more aggressive toward the city states. They had a civil war-era military near Amsterdam. So I upgraded the longswordsman we kept there to a great war infantry, while I worked on sending some air units to guard the city. I annexed Amsterdam so I could control its production. This is what killed our excess happiness. So I ordered work on a courthouse as soon as possible.

I sent a few infantry across the Suez to investigate French lands, using our open border treaty. I wanted to know the shortest military route to Paris. It wasn't time to destroy our friendship yet, but it would have to happen soon. The Suez was controlled by Lhasa, who were not to happy about my infantry marching on their land. They were willing to pay tribute, though. They were under the protection of Arabia, but what were they going to do? Bleed on us?

I successfully got my infantry to Paris and found two routes for battle. I also found France did not appear to have many air units. So when I pull this off, it will be the first air war. Before I pulled that off, I wanted a test fight. And there was one city in my sights. I wanted to control the Suez. I wanted to capture Lhasa.

Trouble In The Suez

My soldiers began to march into Lhasa's borders. I stationed my artillery three tiles from the city, and I had placed some great war bombers in Medina. My infantry who weere scouting France were sent back to take on the northern part of Lhasa.

I decided to try something in the game. I wanted to see how far I could push a city-state without them declaring war. So I occupied every tile I could with military units. They were fully angry, there was no way I could be more hated in Lhasa. And they did nothing.

Finally, I opened fire. I knew they were under Arab protection, but I didn't care. The Arabs were helpless at that point. The battle took about two turns. The bombers and artillery did the bulk of the work, and the ground units finished it off. We now had a city on the doorstep of France, a perfect location to launch an air war and a way to send ground troops into their land.

This was not ignored by France. Our longstanding friend denounced us after the capture of Lhasa. Suddenly, we had massive tensions with our oldest remaining friend. And it would just be a matter of time before we would terminate that friendship once and for all.

Same Bat Time, Same Bat Channel

All but three civilizations have fallen. India in the west, France in the center, and Rome to the east. Three well-matched world powers all looking for a fight, all taking autocracy. This means the rest of the game will be the bloodiest fight of all. The peace that held the world powers together is about to be ripped apart.

I don't plan to attack France just yet. I want nukes first. So we'll pretend peace, and I'll keep my army near Lhasa in case of invasion. I would like to get Augustus Caesar to declare war on France and keep them busy, but I don't know if that will work. In a sense, this part of the game is an arms race. Even without an arms race, our units are strong enough for the fight.

Mainland India is doing well. Very well. People are happy again, and production is very high. I can raise up a new army to supplement the current one easily enough. Our science keeps growing and growing. Africa is starting to modernize. Kufah is growing now, and becoming an important production city in the east.

The spectre of old wars still haunts us. The Ottomans in the northwest, and the Dutch in the south could all strike back. For those fronts, we left units to defend, but those units were pulled from Amsterdam to support the Battle of Kufah. Amsterdam is very poorly guarded now, which will need resolved.

Once the shots are fired, we want to lay waste to as much French land as possible. It may be necessary to capture Beijing, in case China tries to liberate it while we distract France. We won't mess with Rome yet, we need our friends where we can get them.

While we cause bloodshed and horror in France, we're trying to rush technology to get those giant death robots. Our war with France is delayed for that reason, we have a research agreement in place. We won't strike until that is finished.

Once we have giant death robots, no one will be safe. The main army will go to Rome, but additional armies will be sent to wreak havoc and hell on our surviving enemies. I hope to declare a second Dutch-Indian War, and I want to eradicate Arabia as repayment for the horrific quagmire outside Baghdad. No more cities in those nations will be spared, I want to wipe them from the map. No more puppets in those civs.

I think our friendship with China will survive all this. We'll see. Meanwhile, there's some nuclear war to think about.

 

[SarahEspresso]

Part V - The Brightest of Dark Days

Final Recap

I had set out to play a conquest game as Gandhi. Beginning first as a peaceful game of expansion, I utilized religion to nullify the unhappiness penalty of Gandhi. Then came an endless outbreak of war and betrayal spanning the ages. Through it all, a few nations remained friendly to Gandhi despite the obvious warmongering.

The world was divided into 4 super powers. India controlled North America, Arabia controlled Africa, France controlled Europe, and Rome controlled Asia. A devastating invasion and seemingly endless war lead to the fall of Arabia's capital, Mecca. Now only the three superpowers remained, while the remnants of the old nations posed a threat. Arabia was defeated, but not destroyed, and they were still quite powerful.

After the Second Arabian-Indian War, India turned their aggression toward Lhasa, which was placed on the Suez. This was the most vital spot in the game, being in reach of Paris and Rome. It was now the center of the world, where the Arab, Indian, French, and Roman nations met. The invasion of Lhasa was unpopular outside of India. It was the breaking point for all diplomacy. Now the friendly reputation Gandhi had been waving around was destroyed, and outside of Lhasa was the army of the most powerful nation on Earth: France.

The Happiest Place On Earth

The invasion of France was waiting on two things to occur. First, we needed to finish our research agreement with Napolean, and second, we needed nukes. It was a bad situation we were facing, as our infantry in France discovered an atomic bomb in Marseille.

Back in India, the focus was on less horrific things. Neuschwanstein was nearing construction in Mumbai. There was a newfound focus on happiness and culture in the mainland. Then in 1989, we got the message we didn't want to get. One that changed the game.

Showdown At The Apollo

Arabia has just completed the Apollo Program. Now Harun was once again a major threat. He had a large amount of cities in South Africa. So I decided, while I waited for the atomic bombs to nuke France, I wanted to finish off the new capital of Arabia. I knew I could never actually defeat them, not in time, but I wanted to punish them for completing the Apollo Program, the biggest threat to our global domination.

Najran was targetted by the same army that took out Lhasa. The Third Arabian-Indian War was declared. The main battle was swift, due to the bombers and artillery on hand. Najran was immediately next to Lhasa, so there was little travel time. It wasn't East Africa we had to worry about. While we were invading to the east, Harun's troops were starting to move west, toward Mecca. He was planning to liberate his capital.

I diverted some troops to intercept them, while I captured his new capital. The next few turns were both of us standing our ground against each other, my artillery doing damage to his paratroopers.

We had some unexpected aid, however. Sidon was angry at Arabia as well, and they were positioned between our lands and the remaining Arab lands. They aided us in the fight against Harun's units. Harun surrendered, giving us all his gold and luxuries.

I Am Become Death

This peace also marked our signing an uneasy treaty of friendship with Rome, who was afraid of us, and the discovery of nuclear fission. A great merchant gave us enough gold to immediately build an atomic bomb in Medina, which was then moved to Lhasa. France was getting upset. Our armies were stationed on the French border east of Lhasa, and Napolean requested they disperse. I assured him we meant no harm. I am such a liar.

Any chance of hesistation was thrown away when Napolean complete three pieces of the spaceship. It was now or never, the only chance we had to take over the world was to turn his attention away from peaceful pursuits, and toward war. Rome declined our offers to join in the glory of an unjust war. Stupid Rome.

Goodbye Blue Sky

In 2000 AD, the first nuclear weapon was exploded over Marseille. The strategic effect and diplomatic effect could not have been more different.

The diplomatic effect was dramatic. The blast spilled out past French borders, into Rome, where Roman units were stationed. Many city states declared war, and our diplomatic status was over. No one wanted any more to do with us again.

Strategically, the effect was minimal. Our entire plan was to detonate the atomic bomb on Marseille to explore their atomic bomb which was pointed at Lhasa. This did not happen. Their bomb survived...so did their other atomic bombs.

In the end of 2000, France struck with their retalitory strike. An atomic bomb was dropped directly on Lhasa. I could not have been more unprepared for this. All my soldiers were circled around the city, my entire airforce was stationed there. My nuke killed a lot of French people and a Roman unit, France's nuke destroyed everything it could. My citadel I had just placed was ruined, along with the unit inside. My great general, my artillery, my infantry. Gone. The entire air force was gone. Still, two artillery survived. I tried to hold the fort down, and keep Lhasa protected. Even though the main army was gone, and reinforcements were a few turns away. In 2004, France had taken Lhasa. We were deseperate. Everything we had went into another nuke, which was ready to go in 2005. It was dropped, not in Lhasa, but just outside Lhasa, where the French army was gathered. This was a pitiful attempt to stop the advance of their invasion, nothing more.

In 2006, France completed their spaceship, and launched it from Paris. Gandhi's dreams of brutal conquest had come to a bitter, radioactive end.

Conclusion

Gandhi proved to be capable of war on a grand scale here, the problem was not India, it was France. France was well-positioned and spammed all of the world wonders early on, getting a strong lead. Then they invaded their neighbors successfully. They were just too big and too advanced to beat scientifically at this stage. Perhaps I just took too long getting to them.

I was very disappointed in how it ended. Enough that I decided to reload the save game in the year 2000 and try for a diffrent ending. I may post the alternate ending later.

Had I not been frustrated at the end, I would have thought to continued on. Tried for a GDR game after all. I think it could have been done. We lost Lhasa, nothing more. We might have succeeded in a future conquest. I may go back and do that later. For now, I am finished with this game. It was a loss, but it was a great thing to have played. And somehow I am certain, India will rise again, and challenge France to another war, one far less friendly...

 

[SarahEspresso]

These are all of the save files from the Gandhi The Conquerer game. They require Gods and Kings and all DLC to work.

File 1 contains years 120 BC to 1875 AD. View attachment gandhi1.zip

File 2 contains years 1936 AD to 2000 AD. View attachment gandhi2.zip

 

[smallfish]

Tis was interesting. The only fault I have with dis is that tis was not titled "Gandhi de Terrible", and no pictures!

But other than that, interesting stuff tis.

 

[SarahEspresso]

Tis was interesting. The only fault I have with dis is that tis was not titled "Gandhi de Terrible", and no pictures!

But other than that, interesting stuff tis.

There's pictures on the Steam version, and a few hundred pictures on my Steam profile.

 

[Socratatus]

Nice read.

 

[LiamNosliw]

Very nice read! I enjoyed this a lot you should definitely do more

 

[SarahEspresso]

Very nice read! I enjoyed this a lot you should definitely do more

I am just about to start a new one, called Celt Fight.