Chandragupta simulates battles fought by the Mauryan Dynasty in ancient India, and in so doing, attempts to illuminate the features, challenges, and unique attributes of the Indian military system and culture during this period.

[1] Since little is known about the terrain, numbers of men or types of units engaged, methods of combat, leaders and so on, these games, despite their high level of detail, remain essentially speculative and fictional in nature.

One of the most distinctive features is the catarangubala, or the "four-fold" army consisting of foot-soldiers (patti), car-warriors, or chariots (rathin), elephants (hastī), and cavalry (aśva).

[4] The game simulates the catarungabala by representing the four divisions with distinctive counters whose use in play is governed by specific rules for movement, combat, and command-and-control.

At the apex of the hierarchy were the Maula or "hereditary" troops, who were professional soldiers and largely (though not exclusively) of the Kshatriya warrior-caste.

[5] The game Chandragupta attempts to simulate the differing qualities of morale, leadership, and fighting ability of these various troop classes.

Other sub-classes, such as Mitra and Amitra (deserters from enemy armies, prison conscripts and the like),[6] but for interests of playability and simplicity the designers chose not to represent these additional classes in Chandragupta.

[18] The game deploys Seleucus squeezed close to the sands and mud of the Indus River at his back, leaving him with little room to maneuver.

According to Sastri the Khashas' strongholds were West of the Jhelum ("Hydaspes") River, though the historical locations of these battles are not known.

Many such states, quasi-democratic oligarchies as well as republics, had been weakened by the wars with Alexander, and that weakness made possible the eventual hegemony of the Mauryan Empire.

[30] After the battle Ashoka ascended the hillocks to survey the field he had won; at twilight he saw heaps of dismembered bodies of soldiers and animals, heard the cries of wounded, witnessed the anguish of women searching the dead for their husbands and sons.

The terrain represented is based upon topographical maps of the area near Dhauli Hill, the historical battle site and now a Buddhist shrine.

Werbaneth, Jim, "Indian Armies at War: The Rise of the Mauryan Empire in GMT's Chandragupta, Line of Departure Magazine, Issue 64 (Winter 2008/Spring 2009).

Thaplyal, Kiran Kumar and Shive Nandan Misra eds, Select Battles in Indian History (Delhi: AgamKala Prakashan, 2002).

Welch, Stephen R., "Scenario Book," Chandragupta: Great Battles of the Mauryan Empire, India 319-261 BC (GMT Games, LLC, 2008).

Welch, Stephen R., "Rules of Play," Chandragupta: Great Battles of the Mauryan Empire, India 319-261 BC (GMT Games, LLC, 2008).