The maya - versatile science civ?

Lately I've been playing as Korea and I have been amazed at the raw science power generated in mid-late game, but I generally finish the game on turn 900-1100 (out of 1500 on Marathon). This means I need a civ more suited for Early to mid-game.

For this period two civs come to my mind; Babylon and the Maya. I think the Maya could be a scientific power. If you have 4 cities by the mid-classical era and purchase or build a pyramid in all of them, you would be generating 8 science, equal to the benefit gained by Babylon's GS. Plus when you enter the Medieval era (with theology), you can get a GS, at a similar time to Babylon's second. The Maya's UA also allows you to get a more diverse array of GP than Babylon, although GP production is reduced due to the Maya's UA.

This is my thinking on the Maya, I would appreciate any information on the features of the Mayan civ.

EDIT:

Also, last time I played as Korea, the Maya (AI) had a camel archer (Arabia was NOT present). How could this happen?

Moderator Action: Moved to G&K.

There IS another option - Carthage, upon researching the Wheel and getting the Messenger of the Gods Pantheon, will also get the same amount of extra science. Along with a free harbor.
As for the Maya - there's a downfall to their ability. Each GP you pick with their Long Count (After beelining to Theology) WILL increase the time it takes for your next GP's to arrive. Meaning that the Non-Great-Scientist-GP's will get in the way of your Great Scientist production.
Furthermore...the rest of the civ isn't spectacular. That's to say, their UU is...too early outclassed. But it's there, I guess.
Either way, you'll get 6 GP's that don't bring you towards your end goal but will make it take longer for your GS to arrive. Figure out how to play around that, and you should be good. The 2 science a turn early on is nice, but in the end, Korea out-sciences the Maya.

Loucypher said:

The 2 science a turn early on is nice, but in the end, Korea out-sciences the Maya.

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Well, I can see that the Koreans generate more science than the Mayans, but I usually don't get past turn 1200, which with Babylon or Korea I have the full tech tree filled out. This leaves me wanting to have a tech advantage earlier in the game. While Babylon gives this, there UU and UB is not very usefull in G & Ks. While the Mayans UU is only good as a Barbarian hunter, their UB is more useful than Babylon's UB.

Loucypher said:

There IS another option - Carthage, upon researching the Wheel and getting the Messenger of the Gods Pantheon, will also get the same amount of extra science. Along with a free harbor.

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Carthage has always interested me and I would like to know more about them. ON the topic of Messenger of the Gods, I always use it, no matter the civ.

in the Game of the Month section, the newest one, 42, is a diplomacy victory using the Maya. Diplo of course needs rapid science progression to get the earliest time. you could give that a try. its normal speed though, not marathon.

NaiveMelody said:

Also, last time I played as Korea, the Maya (AI) had a camel archer (Arabia was NOT present). How could this happen?

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Unit gift from a friendly cs. I saw this many times. But i still don't understand why

Tabarnak said:

Unit gift from a friendly cs. I saw this many times. But i still don't understand why

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Just random picking by the game, I got 3 Landknechts for free in one of my later games and Germany wasn't on the map. And I was Siam.

I don't mind that though, a little blend in "your hired" army wouldn't kill your game, would it?

And to OP: How can you play Marathon, really? I've tried it a few times, but I get so bored after 2-300 turns, I can't find an excuse to continue the game?

Tabarnak said:

Unit gift from a friendly cs. I saw this many times. But i still don't understand why

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The military CSs will now gift you a UU from someone who is not in game if you can currently build that type of unit. You can mouse over them in their info screen to see what they will give.

NaiveMelody said:

Also, last time I played as Korea, the Maya (AI) had a camel archer (Arabia was NOT present). How could this happen?

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It's gifted by one of the militaristic CS in your game. In fact that's how you check which civ is not in the game in the early stages of exploration - by seeing what kind of unique unit the CS gives.

I think Madjinn's LP did demonstrate that the reason Mayans have a strong science lead is by spamming pyramids, as in an ICS. That way you don't have to care about running specialists like in a tall empire. You can rest assured building free-GP wonders like HS, Pisa, PT, Louvre, Brandenburg, Hubble, etc because those GP costs wouldn't affect you anyway. Plus more faith means more GP purchases. It's quite a refreshing way to play a wide empire yet get more GPs than other civs.

budweiser said:

The military CSs will now gift you a UU from someone who is not in game if you can currently build that type of unit. You can mouse over them in their info screen to see what they will give.

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yup^

I got Khan's from one CS on a recent game, not like they were any help though, because 1. Great Generals suck and 2. I was going for a Diplo victory

Great generals suck? What game are you playing?

In my current game, great generals is all I want! The more, the better.