Heavy sat the crown of "Honest" Abe the Destroyer, forced to bide his time within his own borders as his Masons puzzled out how to turn Washington's huge chunks of Marble into weapons of war. Mathematical models suggested they could be hurled from the sky like the wrath of the gods, but it would be years before they were beyond a prototype stage.
Rosalind Franklin, sadly born before the advent of the microscope, was forced to bend her genius not to the structures of DNA, but to those of war:
She founded the Academy of the Sacred Missile in 410 B.C.
By the late 4th century B.C., the haughty Inca arrived, their Scouts festooned with Gold and other riches. Theirs was an advanced people, offering to trade secrets of metalworking for America's progress toward the Catapult:
Huayna Capac was less willing to consider parting with Alphabet. He does have the New World dummy tech of Animal Husbandry, though.
A few quick decades later, and the Incas' contemplative faith spread to the people of Washington. Seeking to quell unhappiness in Washington, and for religious justification for the coming wars of conquest, Lincoln readily converted. Fortuitously, the Aztecs are among the faithful, while the Natives are not. This would result in just the war Lincoln would need to make his move. Though things might have been better had Sitting Bull been the convert.
There you can also see that New York has finally been founded, filling out America's territory and providing for our future. In 155 B.C., Lincoln awoke from a meditative trance (in which he was, honestly, thinking about how awesome siege weapons are) with the revelation that far-off Carthage was no more. Apparently, the peoples of the Old World are keeping busy.
In 125 B.C., the Aztecs asked us to join in their crusade against the Native Americans. Lincoln was tempted, given Sitting Bull's mean-tempered uselessness:
But he declined. Sitting Bull's cities would be a meat grinder, even with Catapults to soften them up. No, it was poor, innocent Montezuma that was, at this point, the easy pickings.
All was in readiness. Catapults creaked under the tension of their loads, and Axemen slavered at the thought of battle. All that remained were the orders to attack:
American warriors streamed across the border, siege engineers struggling to keep up with the Axemen. By the time we arrived at the outskirts of Teotihuacan, though, many were dismayed to see the enemies standing before us:
Montezuma has access to metals!
We let him expand unchecked for too long, and Sitting Bull apparently gave him free reign to claim the mineral wealth of the Rockies. No matter, though. There were only a smattering of Axemen, and, living in fear of American Buffalo Riders, the Aztecs had more than their share of Spearmen on call.
The city fell rather easily:
And was renamed San Antonio.
Of course, while we romped on the ground, we suffered mightily in the water:
No, I don't have any defensive Galleys because no, I don't know Sailing yet! Our Fishing Nets were ripped to tatters, and America learned to fear the dangers of the open ocean. Yes, Lincoln mused, the seas would need conquering. But Montezuma would need conquering first.
At this point Lincoln made what might be deemed a blunder, founding New Orleans in 85 A.D.:
New Orleans had some potential as a Cottage city, though, and would, eventually, become very productive indeed. Admittedly, with the army bleeding the treasury dry, this may not have been the time to invest in the future, though.
But enough of second guessing. America's army had arrived at the beating heart of the Aztec empire:
But Montezuma's army, long locked into a stalemate with Sitting Bull and thrown into disarray by the surprise attack, was finally ready for a counteroffensive:
The siege of Tenochtitlan was sped up considerably. No longer was there time to leisurely strip away the city's defenses and do things by the book (Er, clay tablet in those days).
Forces were thrown into the breach, and we came out victorious:
As it turns out, the Aztecs were kind enough to build us a very hand wonder of the world!
Blustering missives were sent to Montezuma's government in exile. America's strength was, obviously, exaggerated, as was our production capacity and the reinforcements we had arriving at the front. The impending Second Battle of San Antonio went unmentioned:
So the treaty was agreed on and peace once again returned to the land. Sitting Bull, now also among the faithful, continues to wage war on the Aztecs, and, soon, I expect that we will rejoin the fray.
Here is a look at our regrouped forces:
And our empire as a whole:
So should our next war objective be against Monty's Iron reserves in Texcoco? West, to drive him from Mexico and secure breathing space for Mexico City? Or should we let the Natives and Aztecs continue their war and turn our hungry eyes to Mutal?
Oh, and what should our next tech objective be?
I'm thinking the Cat has been let out of the bag concerning Construction (Get it? Cats? Catapults? I'm here all week!), so maybe I can swing a trade with the Inca there. Code of Laws should definitely be at least a medium-term goal. I know that I need more Workers, but I also need more troops. I look forward to your advice.
I forgot that it didn't have the deer in the beginning. When Neal attacks, should he raze and resettle?
