Without a doubt, one of the best features of Firaxis’ Civilization games has been the large number of civilizations you can play as, including classic ones like Rome and more modern ones like Britain too…
However, there’s one civilization (civ for short) which has been available in the game since Sid Meier’s original Civilization game was released in 1991. This is India, which as you can expect is included in the latest Civilization game which launched last October.
And thankfully Civilization VI’s India (which is led by Gandhi as in earlier instalments) behaves more like you would expect from a civ run by someone famous for his pacifist attitudes. That is, it has a tendency to follow a peaceful agenda instead of attempting to nuke you with alarming frequency, something which sadly was common in the earlier Civilization instalments.
However, those who prefer playing more aggressively as India in Firaxis’ latest strategy game will be happy to know this civ will be getting a new leader in the upcoming Rise and Fall expansion.
This new leader is Chandragupta, and could be an interesting alternative to Gandhi when the Rise and Fall expansion is released this February.
This is because unlike Gandhi’s, Chandragupta’s special ability (known as “Arthashastra” in the game) allows him to engage in a war of expansion, with India’s military units gaining extra movement points and combat strength, although these bonuses only last for the first few turns of the war.
This should allow you to take advantage of India’s special unit – their fearsome Varu war elephants – which will now be even more deadly thanks to the war bonuses the Indian civ will get in the Rise and Fall expansion.
It’s clear then, that playing as India in Rise and Fall could be as interesting as taking command of the two new civs included in this expansion (Korea and the Netherlands), while we can also look forward to Firaxis’ reveal of the other civilizations included in Rise and Fall, which is slated for release in early 2018.
Note: Civilization VI: Rise and Fall will be released on February 8, 2018. Available on PC.