The way of the Macahuitl

A depressing sight to the West is Stone on Gandhi’s borders, and further West BW reveals Alex has 2xCopper; our closest source is in the Desert to the West of Teot. The Wheel is next on research, and then Agriculture; meanwhile Tenoch. doubles our forces with a second Warrior and also starts on a Worker. Around this time our Scouts are killed by a Barb city to the West of Gandhi:

and then I lose one of my two Warriors to Barbs in the South and am back to a single Warrior! Fortunately, Teot. finishes it’s Worker, and starts churning out troops. Judaism is founded in Bombay, and Liz settles fairly offensively on my borders:

A little try at Stonehenge nets us 36g when Gandhi builds it in 1180BC, which he then follows with the Oracle in 895BC, both in Dehli. The real goal is the Pyramids, however, which was started in the Capital once the Stone was linked there and have been aggressively chopping forests to speed it along the way.

Bugger! Alex must have been building that for a good long while, so hopefully it stunted his growth. The significant pot of gold for the failed attempt does mean I can run 100% deficit Science for a goodly period, though, so it’s not a complete loss.

Research has proceeded Agri, Pottery, Archery (thought some defence was in order!) then Iron Working. The Iron outside the capital was a nice bonus, but of course not necessary for the (mass) production of Jags. Writing & AH are next, so I can finally see the invisible Horses:

So who to attack; Liz is the long-term threat, being Financial - and squeezing my borders - but Gandhi is vulnerable, and I notice is still working on connecting his Copper at Madras:

I decide to take out the easy victim and target Gandhi, declaring war in 415BC and taking Madras next turn (losing a Jag & Archer). As we advance on Calcutta, I discover that India has been preoccupied with the Barb menace on it’s Western border:

A few more troops arrive, but it’s too late to prevent the capture of Calcutta:

Despite being a drain – and virtually useless due to Dehli’s borders – I decide to keep the city as it will allow me to watch over Gandhi’s Iron supply. Gandhi has nothing to offer for peace, so I just get him to convert back to Paganism (from OR) and sign the deal. I figure that Cats will be required for Dehli.

In retrospect, Gandhi was probably the wrong target for this war and I should have pursued Liz. Blunting the leading AI, would have been a better choice than targeting the weakest, especially since Gandhi had tanked his economy:

Ah well, we live and learn. Liz was proving a good trading partner though, and I nabbed her spare Spices, while Alex was building along in his corner of the World – scoring Great Lighthouse in 205BC.

I interrupt the Construction beeline after Maths to grab Priesthood for Temples and whip one into Tenoch to cheer them up! Meanwhile I find a use for my promoted troops; following a slow trickle of AI units down to the SE corner, where their softening allows me to take Yayoi, refilling my coffers and gaining me 2 free Workers for no loss:

With Construction in 65AD, Cats are ordered up, and I re-declare on Gandhi in 200AD, as the Hanging Gardens is completed in Tenochtitlan! I also notice something that my cash reserves have been concealing; I can only support a research rate of 0% with current conditions; Eeep!

Homer chooses a very inopportune time and place to be born, as I take Dehli in 275AD and he is killed in the crossfire:

Stonehenge, Oracle & Parthenon are now mine. Karachi is burnt in 305AD, and then Bombay falls. The Jewish Holy city – w/ Temple of Solomon – will come in useful, but Lahore and Bangalore are both too much, and so are burnt:

and India is no more.

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