Indian Mahout FF

[murdilator]

I've had this strategy for a while and have used it since TAD came out, and it works great in team games. I know I've used it numerous times in team games with you and enjoyed its success many times again. I miss those days of company with such distinguished people. Its greatest strength lies in the combined power of Urumi and Mahouts, not to mention a powerful lategame if needed.

This will just be a brief run-through of the build order and strategy.

Necessary Cards:

- Exotic Hardwoods
- 600 Coin
- TEAM 5 Urumi
- 7 Urumi
- 2 Mahouts
- Elephant Combat
- Tame Elephants
- Dravidian Martial Arts
- Fencing School
- Riding School
- Foreign Logging
- Mughal Architecture
- Royal Mint
- 1300 wood (infinite)
- 1000 food
- 900 wood (infinite)
- Fur Trade (in case you have excellent mercenaries or need to get coin in a pinch, or in case you want to build Jat Lancers or Mamelukes)
- Extensive Fortifications

(This makes it 18 total cards necessary).

I suggest also including Professional Handlers (Though its not as important) and 3 Howdahs (Infinite). Sometimes 8 Jat Lancers may be hand as well, although sometimes I have included 9 Urumi. Be careful not to use too many Urumi, because they cost precious Homecity shipments, and this hurts India lategame more than anything. They also cost a lot of food, and Howdah are more cost effective.

Other recommended cards include
- Battlefield Construction
- TEAM improved buildings

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"TEAM Stampede"

Discovery Age:

- gather crates, put all your six starting villagers onto wood, and build villagers onto food.

- build one house after you begin sustaining villagers. (Probably 12 villagers here)

First Card: Exotic Hardwoods (+20% Wood Gathering)

-  Age with the Karni Mata with four to five food villagers and place it behind your town center a bit.

- keep a constant supply of villagers, begin herding back animals if you haven't; throw the new ones onto coin. You should have about 17-18 villagers now. (6 on wood, 4-5 on the wonder, 5 on food, 2 on coin)


Colonial Age:

- Throw back two of the Karni Mata Villagers to coin, the other two or three to food again.

Second Card: 600 Coin

- build another house

- build a market: get some of the early techs

- Keep pumping out villagers; you should have about 20-22 villagers now.

- Age with the Charminar Gate (ships 1 Mahout) with four coin villagers and two other villagers (food or wood). (it should be about 6:45 right now on the game clock)

- Build a Caravanseri

- Begin switching some of your coin villagers to food and wood, and leave maybe about two on coin until you reach fortress.

- Build one house (Now you should have 1 Town Center and 3 houses, giving you forty population)

- Stop queuing villagers once you have 25 population; (your 1 Mahout will make it 32, and building 1 mahout the moment you hit fortress is mandatory, making it 39)

Fortress Age (8:00 minutes or less)

- Queue one mahout immediately

Third Card: TEAM 5 Urumi (makes you have 49 population)

- build two to three houses (to give you 60 to 70 available population; 49 pop + 2 Mahouts is 63, and +3 Mahouts is 70. Might get).

- Raise the queue of Mahouts two three or four Mahouts if possible

Fourth Card: 2 Mahouts (You should have 5 Urumi and then 1+4+2 = 7 Mahouts then)

- start queing villagers again

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Be reckless in your attack. Your teammates will almost always follow your lead with the Mahouts. Be sure to protect them and when you see had infantry, rush up near them, retreat just before they come in contact, and blend your Urumi with your Mahouts. Then press alt and right click your Urumi and elephants right past the enemy - this makes them each attack the nearest enemy. So you will be done with their pikemen or whatever, and then kill the skirmishers and rush to their base. Mahouts are excellent building destroyers, with a starting 120 siege attack in Fortress Age. They are enough to beat any turtle and any age 2 infantry with the exception of Dopplesoldners and Samurai.

Make sure your allies use the Urumi correctly - make sure they use them to protect your Mahouts. Always keep your Urumi behind your mahouts so that they do not die.

Your fifth shipment should be dependent on what you need in your situation. I often ship 1000 food to keep a supply of mahouts in 3v3, or ship 7 Urumi in 2v2. If I have a rolling eco I ship Elephant Combat to shock their hand infantry; Mahouts are really strong with 37.8 attack in Fortress and 1237.95 HP.

Fifth Card: 1000 food, Elephant Combat or 7 Urumi

Sixth Card: Mughal Architecture or 1000 food

Seventh Card: Mughal Architecture if you haven't yet, then whatever you need from now on.

- build a consulate if you haven't yet. Ally with Portugal for cheaper buildings.

- Build two Town Centers and build more villagers, keeping about 23 on food and 20 on wood, with 10 on coin, and from then on, aim to a lategame economy.*

- Build a Sacred Field if you haven't gotten any trading posts.


*Lategame Indian economy should have 45 on food, 55 on coin. Also, it is best lategame to ally with Portugal or France, so that you either get Culverins or Grenadiers.

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Finally, go to Industrial Age with the Taj Mahal, which will give you 1500 coin. Aim to build Sepoys with some supporting Howdahs. Make sure to build and upgrade your Rice Paddies in this time, especially the food upgrades.

- Build a defense wall.

- Build a wall for your team if you have it; your teammates will support you.

- Ship Fencing School if you haven't.

- Ship Royal Mint if you haven't

- Turtle up with castles on a open map, and make sure they are out of mortar reach. India is one of the best turtling civs lategame, next to the Russian Fort Spamming.


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Now if everything goes well, the game should be over before 15 minutes.

If you are forced to go lategame, you have a considerable advantage and have a partial lategame deck. Also, since you have elephant cards, you can do the classic Howdah and Sepoy combination, which is especially powerful on lategame supremacy, because most players do not include all of the European military and economic improvements. India only has a couple good lategame cards, and you even have the Fur Trade if necessary.

This strategy does not work so well on 1v1, but it still can work. I have written the rubric for the naked mahout FF. I have defeated even some of the greatest experts with this strategy, and they told me in dismay that an Indian FF was not viable. But it is. Others have commented on the fact that Mahouts are amazingly powerful - when you ship two improvements for them - namely Elephant Combat and Dravidian Martial Arts (+15% HP and attack and +15% attack, making it 1237.95 HP and 42 attack x2 against Archers and Skirmishers).

Note: if fighting the Dutch on a 1v1, it may be worth while to attack, retreat, and return to the scene with 7 Mahouts, 20-25 Rajputs and 12 Urumi. This is a game-ender for a Ruyter/Skirm spammer.

Also the reason why this strategy works so well is that it is unorthodox. People do not expect it coming. They expect Sepoys. However, it is quite poor on chokepoint maps (I mean maps like Honshu, not Orinoco) and suffers when you cannot have space to move - this so that you can build up your economy. And it still works well even it people know its coming.




regards,



murdilator