Based on what Kerk has been fiddling with, I bring you: the ITCH.
This is a strategy for India which basically puts a timer on your life, but hopefully will win you the game before that and extend the time before your fur trade runs out. I fought a port with this earlier today, and might've won had my teammate not been fighting kerk, and had I managed a few things better.
Ok: after my standard boom (trade arrives at 37) and training all of my troops, I then delete about 20 villes off of food, and maybe a few on wood. With this space, I make a good deal more gurkhas and sepoys (still backed by 4 siege eles, 3 mahouts, 15 gendarmes, and tigers). With this army, I press hard, putting them on the defense. My main force is gurkhas (about 50 or so, with mansabdar) with a few sepoys, some howdahs, some siege eles, and mahouts if i need them. This in tangent with tigers and two shipments of natives makes for a very strong army.
This is still in the testing stage, but what do you guys think? The 60 villes on food is enough to maintain your current standing, but not really enough to split should your coin run out, thus "timing" your life.