Firaxis has announced Chandragupta as the new leader for India in Civilization VI: Rise and Fall . Chandragupta, founder of India’s Mauryan dynasty, is the second alternative leader for the Civ leader line-up. Alternative leaders allow players to utilize their civ’s strengths in different playstyles, but we have yet to see many of them enter Civilization VI.
India in the Civilization series is almost synonymous with Gandhi, whose hilarious nuke-dropping propensity due to a bug in the original game has reached mushroom-cloud memetic proportions. While Chandragupta may not be as memeworthy (yet), the real historical figure has a legendary resume -- and his abilities will allow you to take India in a whole new direction.
“Master strategist. Respected diplomat. Honored student. Chandragupta Maurya of India was all of those things and became legend amongst his people because of it. In his time, he toppled a corrupt empire, then succeeded in pushing the boundaries of his kingdom and worked to better the lives of his subjects. Then he voluntarily walked away from it all,” reads the official Civilization site’s primer on this extraordinary leader.
While Gandhi is a leader for times of peace, Chandragupta is a leader for times of war. He gets India’s unique ability “Dharma” as well as the ability to build Stepwells and Varu units. “Dharma” allows India to get the follower beliefs of all religions present in their cities, not just the one from their own religion. The Varu unique unit reduces the combat strength of adjacent enemy units, while the Stepwell unique tile improvement provides housing and food. It gives bonus food if built next to a farm and faith if built next to a holy site.
However, Chandragupta’s unique ability is called “Arthashastra.” After researching the Military Training civic, Chandragupta can declare a War of Territorial Expansion, with additional Movement and Combat Strength during the war’s opening turns.
Chandragupta is an expansionist leader, and his elephant-powered army can lead India to vast and fruitful new territories. (It’s a bit of a shame that Chandragupta’s turn to Jainism at the end of his life has no in-game reflection, but my bounteous new elephant-riding war machine makes up for it.)
Civilization VI: Rise and Fall also welcomes three new civs (Korea, the Netherlands and Mongolia) as well as a slew of new features, all of which you can read about here. Will you be giving Gandhi and his nukes a rest in Civilization VI: Rise and Fall ? What do you think of India’s new leader? Feel free to let us know in the comments section below.
