The Mayans, an Industrial Start, and Artificial Incompetence

As a bit of a gambler, I get my jollies from using my King units as free scouts. Mass Regicide is a very useful mode in this regard since it puts you on a level footing with the AI in terms of exploration.



We settle and pop a village on Turn 1, which gives us some maps and informs our next move. The start position’s a bit mountainous, but y’know what? A challenge can’t hurt with how incompetent the AI is with its fetish for wonders. We send a Settler to go and take a hill on a river with some grassland to the West. Our worker meanwhile is going to build a road through those mountains so expansion east and southward is more feasible.



By Turn 4, we’ve discovered the French, and have also found a vast expanse of rivers and grassland to our West. It’ll be a race there against the French.



We found a new city on Turn 5, which puts us in a position to keep France from obtaining Iron. They’ll have Saltpeter, but a lack of Iron will seriously hamper their ability to modernize.



Turn 23 we found Erizeus, giving us control of the river valley between France and the Dutch to the West.



Turn 25 ends with the Maya Empire being tied with Russia in cities, power, and overall economic potential. France and Zululand continue to decline with no settlers, but fortunately most of the AI players have avoided this result. A roadway through the hills and mountains between Ogilvine and Mauricia is steadily progressing with two workers doing their best, and before long the entirety of the continent will be discovered.

Currently the greatest concern is that Russia has Steam Power, but that can be addressed in due time. For now, grabbing as much land as possible is the top priority.

Turn 33, not only are Ogilvine and Mauricia connected by a road, thus facilitating expansion westward, but Quillport is founded. Our empire now has a seaport, which will be useful in later turns for acquiring goods from overseas.

Turn 39, we get a source of Gems linked up with the capital, which helps keep a lid on dissent. We make Ogilvine gun for the Pyramids so as to stimulate our granaries; everyone else is busy focusing on the religious wonders. Our workers are religious too, in the art of building mines at least. Saying the least productive worker doesn’t get to eat is actually fairly effective at stimulating their work ethic. The beautiful souls.



Turn 51 we found Thylacine in honor of our Australian overlords. It is also a place to settle the anthropomorphic marsupials of the Empire. The Krome Clan enjoys great status in the city and its suburbs, and due to their insistence on the weapon, the area’s boomerang crime is abnormally high. It is also punishable by death to reside in the city if you are of Cassowary heritage.



We manage to complete the Pyramids, granting us a huge boon to growth. Ogilvine immediately shifts gears to produce Sun Tzu’s Art of War; it will be a close race with the Persians but the ability to win is still there, especially with many workers tirelessly improving the mining infrastructure around the city.



Looking over our options, we buy Steam Power from the Americans, as they are the weakest by far of the countries with it; we want to avoid giving money to Persia or Russia as much as possible. As luck would have it, there’s a spot of Coal right outside the capital. Railways will soon be a reality! But first, road construction is of greater import. Once Sun Tzu’s finished, construction of a military is a must; the Mayan Empire currently rests on the stunt doubles of the Emperor to protect itself.



Immediately we flip Steam Power over to the Persians in exchange for Enlightenment. Now, the idea of Immortals on Trains is kind of terrifying (and amusing I must admit), but they’re on the opposite side of the continent so frankly I can’t be bothered to care.



Our spies over in Persia (as in the King unit that got the snot knocked out of it by some barbarians) report to us that Persia is definitely our top rival. They have 21 population units, compared to our 20. However, our population base is growing far more quickly, so we stand at 7% of the population to their 6. Either way, they will be our main rival, at least until Russia …



Well. Russia’s in the crapper, to put it lightly. They have 10 pop units, and half their empire is arid or semi-arid. They do have a supply of coal and iron, however, so that gives them an economic edge over Persia. If the dumb dumbs will utilize it remains to be seen.



Let’s review how we’re doing. We have the Great Jungle on our western border, and as a result don’t need to concern ourselves with an invasion there mostly. We have Coal, with Iron in reach; Erizeus has Saltpeter but needs to be linked up first. Now that we’ve got Enlightenment and Steam Power, we’re ahead of the pack, albeit by a small margin. This will undoubtedly grow, and I may need to edit the save file some so my rivals get off their butts and actually start being, well, rivals (I’d rather not have to restart).

As an example, Japan has 3 Settlers that we’ve seen on the move, but none have been deployed. If nothing else this will help me with coding future scenarios since I’ll be able to try and locate what causes some civilizations to expand like mad whereas others are complete imbeciles who don’t utilize their settlers.

We’ll see how things go. See you next time!

I’ve upped the difficulty to Regent and have given anywhere from 1-4 Archers (they can upgrade them on their own time) to all the AI nations to stimulate their settling efforts. Fingers crossed it works.



The founding of Kurashuku by Japanese expatriates not only grants a second port to the Mayan realm but also cuts off the northeastern corner of the continent. The city is primarily inhabited by looney bandicoots who like breaking any container they can find, thus proving broken window economics.



Tired of theocracy and not having any plans on war, the Mayan Empire ditches the Theocratic Monarchy, places the King’s head on a pike and elects itself a new President for Life. Almost immediately the government faces a massive deficit, but reducing research some alleviates this.



Turn 76, the new Republic goes to war with the Cherokee in the East. Muskets clash with axes, and open the forests and hills of the eastern tip of the continent to Mayan settlement. The tribe’s bounty of 25 gold is greatly appreciated in an era of deficits.



Turn 79, with the extermination or expulsion of the Cherokee resistance, Slykal is founded, named after the legendary leader of the raccoon thieves that live in the forests around it. The government also comes up with a bold plan to balance the budget: while deficits are accrued annually, large lump sums are acquired from foreign powers for travel rights through the Mayan Empire. As a result, the deficits can be continued into infinity.



Around turn 80, the Persian Emperor Xerxes, seeking to show superiority over his Mayan rival (both for the simple fact both powers are on top of the pile and the fact both powers are closely tied in the race for the Statue of Liberty), demands a small tribute. Rather than yield to the Persians’ demands, we get them to declare war on us. As a bonus, this might obstruct their efforts to build the Statue of Liberty.



Against all odds, the Statue of Liberty is Mayan, not Persian. Xerxes is sent a polite message to go bite a tree, because now technology will flow freely into the Mayan Empire. With Encyclopedia’s construction elsewhere, it is decided that the Mayan realm will take the initiative and curtail research somewhat, while granting technologies to the other nations so they can do the work for us.

A new Settler is produced on Turn 90, but they’re merged with the capital because we have enough cities as is, and the world’s kind of dangerous right now. A larger military must be built before we pursue anything else.

Turn 91, we inherit Nationalism from our Persian foes, while also finishing our Intelligence Agency. We can now field agents against them if they make us mad. Which safe to say they’ve done a good job of.



Turn 100 ends with the Mayan Empire reaching whole new levels of prosperity. Quillport, in its infancy considered a town doomed to remain backwater due to being surrounded by deserts and mountains, has become the most productive city in the whole Empire. Analysists predict Ogilvine and Erizeus could one day surpass it with sufficient railways, but for now, the port city embodies the Mayan ideals of economic power and personal freedom. Most importantly, a single band of Cavalry has been trained, not much on its own but definitely a means to throw out weakened invaders.



While the country industrializes with the northeast on top in terms of production and population and the West showing great potential for growth, a peace accord is signed with Persia. The Persians were willing to grant a small tribute, but it was instead decided to use the leverage to more cheaply buy their knowledge of the planet’s geography and nations.

A deal with the newly-encountered Aztecs (courtesy of the Spanish, who had attempted to conquer them but soon found out that a two-city empire doesn’t really amount to much) greatly enriched Mayan knowledge of the continent. New civilizations were discovered, and the western border of the vast continent was discovered at last.



In the 108th period, a Korean galleon was spotted offshore, and the explorers were quite friendly despite initial fears. They established an embassy in Mauricia almost immediately, and within the year the Koreans and Mayans had a grasp of eachother’s languages. A treaty was soon signed where the Koreans and Mayans exchanged geographical knowledge. The Korean Expedition was to be the first of two motivating factors in the construction of the Mayan Navy; Russia was the other.

When news spread of the Russians having overseas territory, the President did not hesitate to send a package to Congress that appropriated funds for the construction of a navy. Not only would a fleet increase influence and protect trade, but it would also enable penetration into the unknown lands far beyond the Mayan coastline. The colonial race was on.

Russia’s role in global affairs was immediately displaced by the Mayan Republic, which exchanged communications and maps with countries all over the world. Nations between all three continents gained knowledge of each other solely because of the efforts of the Maya.



Perhaps the greatest of the foreign exchanges was the one with the Mongols, however. Vast quantities of information were exchanged between the parties, and Mongolia now had a great understanding of the world despite turning over only a handful of its own knowledge.

As the years went by, the Mayan Republic became more and more concerned about its declining military power. While economically and technologically the power was ahead of its competition, militarily it was behind many of its rivals. Many debates were had behind closed doors how to best solve the issue. What won out over all the proposals was the “One River, One State” plan. It addressed one thing and one thing only: France.



With Paris wide open to direct attack thanks to the encroachments of border villages, and tiny Orleans just a stone’s throw away, any war with France would be quick. It would be cheap as well; France had few resources of its own, and was an ideal target for this reason, being unable to field any defenses that could hinder Mayan Cavalry for long. As a result, a plan was hatched; open borders would be inked with the French people, thus allowing workers to build roads in the nation’s impoverished deserts and floodplains. Then, once enough time had passed, a Cavalry force would be able to invade the country and quickly terminate the capital’s defenses, then make use of the infrastructure built by the Republic itself to finish off the remainder. The plan required a military buildup, but it was hoped a show of force would be enough to dissuade any ambitious nations from attacking. Paris would be taken, with Orleans to quickly follow; Lyons was on another continent and would become the center of a French rump state.



The Golden Age of the Maya Republic was inaugurated with the establishment of universal suffrage, a revolutionary principle at the time. Anyone of military age was granted the vote, regardless of sex, color, creed or species.



Once again the Persian government felt inadequate and demanded goods from the Republic. Persia, as a fellow democracy, was widely discredited in Mayan society as a result. “We shall fight them on the beaches, on the mountain tops, and in the oceans … if they ever reach us,” noted Chancellor von Kidna. All ships of the Mayan Navy were ordered to head to Persian territory and shell the daylights out of it regardless.



France tried to propose a Mutual Protection Pact and was rejected; they were even more appalled when one of their engineers sold his architecture designs to the Maya, thus enabling the city of Erizeus to build its greatest structure yet. The new tower oddly became a center of finance, to the point that the new centralization of the financial system essentially erased the costs of managing banks and stock exchanges for the government.

Meanwhile, the first Ironclads opened fire on Persian Saltpeter reserves; there was no effect, but it did nonetheless establish that this time around, the Maya intended to inflict damage on Persia before going home.



The founding of Burramudgee in an island to the northwest of the Mayan homeland represented a triumph for Mayan exploration. As a frontier town it naturally had the protection of two Riflemen instead of just one. The town was rich in Iron and Saltpeter, and it was hoped some other luxury goods would be found on the island with some exploration.

Persia convinced the French and Ottomans that the Mayan Republic was a threat, as the latter two signed a trade embargo. It was determined the French government was clearly insane, as their wealth had gone up a fair amount ever since Mayan workers began tilling their fields for them. It mattered not, though; as soon as the treaty expired, France was due to be wiped out, now that the Mayans had a casus belli.



The modern constitution was inked after much debate, in an attempt to keep the war out of the public consciousness. The many guaranteed freedoms of worship, speech and others went a long way to curb dissent.

The Battle of Slykall in Age 129 was definitely cause for concern. Many citizens panicked at the idea Persia was landing ground troops; fortunately for the Mayan Republic, however, said troops were poorly-trained volunteers. The Partisans lacked the discipline to be a real threat, and a combination of the nation’s first Arquillery unit (famed for hardening porcupine spikes into incredibly sharp lances of death before firing them at foes) and Cavalry pushed the invaders out with minimal casualties.



Even as skirmishes between the nations persisted, the Olympic Games were held in Erizeus in the hopes of promoting international peace. Attendance was lower than expected not because of the war, but the prevalence of the Bubonic Plague in the nation’s most powerful city.



The Persian Republic suffered serious economic damage as a result of its war against the Maya. It was clear the Mayans were the victors of the skirmish, and with Cavalry forces being rapidly assembled back in the Mayan homeland, there were fears the conflict could easily escalate. However, the President did not entertain Persian offers; he made it very clear that the time had come for the Republic to prove it followed the doctrine of “peace through strength.”

In the city of Thylacine, in a soundproofed building in the suburbs, a special military training program was taking place, also highly secretive. As would later be declassified, all the young recruits who entered the building were taking place in a training regimen that would turn them into Colonial Infantry.

The sinking of a Persian Galleon removed the threat of another amphibious landing, and ran the point home to Persia how serious their condition was. Regardless, the Persian government did not feel the need to offer concessions just yet.



In the last of the Native Wars (or the Great Wars of Integration), a tribe mustered a few thousand warriors to go against the Mayan Army in Age 133. Unfortunately for them, artillery and cavalry made mincemeat of anything they could throw at the forces of Greater Mauricia. In later years it was claimed the war was incited by the government on purpose so as to use the tribesmen as test subjects for artillery; not a single of the numerous howitzers missed their mark, demonstrating their effectiveness and long range (they never ventured into the mountains the tribes called home, remaining at a great distance).



Just as the natives in Mayan territory were purged, natives in Dutch territory became a new problem. The cities of Eindhoven and Arnhem were expensive to acquire and improve (at the cost of 600 gold altogether), but it was assumed it’d be well worth the investment after about 20 ages or so. In the meantime, the Dutch citizens pleaded for help from their new suzerains, who had granted them self-government but had not provided any better security than the Dutch. This was where the Colonial Infantry brigades came in, immediately deploying onto the continent mere days after the region was acquired.



The war against the Natives of the Mayan Mountains and the Sarbadar in the Dutch territories, both so conveniently used to test out new weapons, gave credence to conspiracy theorists for generations to come. Regardless, it was shown that Mayan Artillery and Colonial Infantry were both forces to be reckoned with. The Mayan economy was rapidly being utilized as a weapon, much to the fear of Persia and other powerful nations. As the Colonial Infantry celebrated the loss of but a few men in New Netherlands to achieve their victory with fine Dutch beer, war plans were being drawn up that sought to make full use of the Republic’s potential.

In age 135, the President phoned his Persian counterpart personally, and informed him a new weapon was headed his way. Its codename? The Dreadnought, the most powerful naval vessel on all the seas. And it was headed right for Persepolis.



Age 136 saw the uprising of another band of tribesmen, this time from the Great Jungle. As with the prior tribes, they were swiftly decimated despite the predictions of their shamen for divinely-inspired victory. It was obvious the Mayan military machine was effective, but would it be as useful against an actual state?



Jakarta’s founding in the Spice Lands during Age 138 represented a profound change in Mayan society. Exotic spices were now available at cheaper prices, no longer being artificially inflated by the greed of foreign merchants. While the price they fetched was still fairly hefty, the fact Mayan citizens now enjoyed just a bit more economic independence sent some shockwaves through global markets. In truth, Jakarta, named after a famous pointy-eared soldier of legend, was part of a new state policy: self-reliance. The oversaturation of the global market with trade embargoes made many Mayans distrustful of foreigners to a point that trade for resources was seen as something to be avoided if possible. This would compound with the One River policy to lead to the rise of a militant democratic state.

The Navajo outside Jakarta, while ferocious, were destroyed by a combination of Mayan and Incan arms. It was the Mayan forces that eventually seized the Navajo villages, however, burning them to the ground and taking everything of value. Jakarta could now focus its full attention on developing the local infrastructure to a point spices could be shipped home.

Meanwhile, a band of Colonial Infantry, six divisions strong, loaded itself onto a fleet of transports, and sailed west towards Persepolis…

The Aztecs demanded knowledge of Steel, thinking they’d fare better than the Persians, and were rejected. Seeing the hell that hath been wrought on the Persian coastline, however, they reasoned it was best not to press their threats and quietly returned home humiliated.



Operation: Venganza went ahead full steam in Age 141. Divisions tore through Persepolis’ streets, causing considerable damage to garrisons, but not going inland further than a few hundred yards. Regardless, the people of Persia were left terrified at the prospect of Mayan invasion.



The Persians tried their own invasion, however, sending two divisions of Cavalry against the Mayan Republic in the Battle of the Kyoto Forest. Due to Mayan artillery, however, the Cavalry forces practically evaporated, with what few survived the initial bombardment being cut down like dogs by their Mayan counterparts. The Mayans were superior, both at home and abroad. The Japanese contently drank their tea in peace as the two strongest nations on Earth threw slugs at each other on their border.

The fall of Persepolis sent shockwaves throughout the world. The Maya, once seen as rich but weak, had managed to conquer the capital of their enemy despite it being on the other side of the continent. It was apparent the Mayans were deadly on land and sea, as much as they were deadly in the fields of finance and research. The Persians lost tens of thousands of men in the battle, whereas the Mayans lost only a few hundred. Persepolis was a catastrophic defeat for the Persians, who lost their capital, the Black Stone, and a great chunk of their economic power as much as their troops. The Persian President, having fled to Gordium in the far west, decided it was time to kneel.



The Treaty of Mauricia, specifically held in Mayan territory to show just how far the Persians had fallen, was humiliating. Persia had to renounce its claims to Persepolis, surrender all its knowledge of the world as well as all government assets, and on top of that had to pay 13 billion gold per age to the Mayan Republic in reparations; this amounted to 8% of the state’s total revenue. Persia’s misery would not end there; of the 310,000 people who resided in Persepolis and its suburbs, all but 10,000 of them would perish in the coming years under the brutal grip of the Persepolis Military Administration. The establishment of the military government in the area was a means to not only restore order, but to create a new order entirely, one that was free from the corruption of Persian democracy.

Reports in Age 145 showed France to be guarded by only 11 divisions, with 7 divisions that guarded body doubles of the country’s First Consul. As such, the decision was made to attack France once and for all, with the full force of 8 Cavalry and 15 Artillery. With the Crossbowmen being the rank and file of the French army, heavy resistance was not expected.



Paris fell more as if it were an outpost than a capital city. The French military would become the butt of jokes around the world as a result of the horrific failure to defend Paris. The French government fled to Orleans, but then took note of something: they were traveling along roads that had been built during the Mayan and French friendship. It then struck the Consulate like a brick: the Mayans had built up this great infrastructure specifically so the French would be easily integrated into the Mayan Empire.

Age 146 saw Orleans continue to hold out, albeit with all of the standard garrison being slaughtered while the French Special Forces took up the defense; they protected numerous body doubles, making it hard to determine where the real First Consul was. However, the destruction of the French Navy made it so that the Consul was stuck in the city, hiding as all his men were slaughtered like cattle by the Mayan Military machine. Knowing that France would collapse entirely if he was captured, the Republic held off on taking Orleans, instead focusing on seizing Lyons in an amphibious assault.

In Age 148 the city of Persepolis and its surrounding countryside was finally integrated into the Mayan Republic as one of the constituent states. With the convenient demise of most Persians under the military government, the region was ready to become a full organ of the Mayan Empire.



More importantly, Lyon was easily acquired with the Dreadnoughts pounding the defenders into practical hamburger. As Colonial Infantry marched on the city, some were concerned the Swordsmen to the south might be of concern.



Such concerns were dispelled with the capture and surrender of the First Consul in Orleans. The French Republic collapsed, with most of its territory absorbed into the Mayan Republic. However, the French legacy did not end there: the government established a new district to govern the occupied regions, though it lasted far less due to the smaller population of the areas controlled, and the fact Paris was already primed for annexation. France, once inhabited by nearly 400,000 people, was inhabited by 20,000 people by the time the region was integrated into the Mayan Republic as a series of civilian provinces.

The blitz across France served as a demonstration of the efficiency of the Mayan military, much as the Persian War served as an example of the country’s power projection abilities. Regardless of the morality of the conflicts (which slaughtered hundreds of thousands of enemy civilians as part of the state’s organized machinery of death), one thing was certain: no one could dispute that the Maya had emerged as the world’s foremost military power.



Age 150, colonists were resettled in the ruins of Paris, which had been rebuilt but remained a ghost town. The city grew from a mere 22,000 to 122,000 in but two years, of whom only 11,000 were of French heritage. The deaths of tens of thousands of Frenchmen didn’t even enter the consciousness of the settlers, and many Mayans found a new living in the rebuilt city. Paris was soon rechristened Klonois, after the long-eared feline who had overseen its rebuilding. Klonois wasn’t a productive city at first (with some members of Parliament suggesting the city be granted independence as a client state), but with fertile flood plains to nourish the bellies of its people and vast plains that could be tapped for industry, it was presumed the city could become a productive member of the Mayan Republic.

Revisions in foreign policy followed the successful absorption of the French people into the Mayan citizenry. Even with the casus belli of the embargo, many nations now decried the Maya as bloodthirsty and warmongering, citing the annexation of three major cities, the destruction of another in Orleans, the convenient defection of New Netherland to the Mayan regime, and the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people, mostly civilians, due to the bureaucracy of the military regions. A major revamping in public relations was necessary, and it followed: the Republic established embassies in every nation to improve relations; only eight of the world’s thirty nations had been granted an embassy with the Maya, and two of those were because of non-Mayan initiative. Within a year, vast sums of money had been spent to position staff all over the world; only Rome and the Byzantines weren’t granted embassies, on the basis of their personal insignificance and the fact they often disputed which nation had the rights to the name “Rome.”

As the years ticked by, the government of the Maya gradually found itself without much to do. Most of the cities were well-developed, and military regiments were quickly and efficiently raised. The economy continued to grow steadily with each year, and world powers respected the power and influence of the Maya.

What remained an issue was the lack of luxuries. The only reason Mayans did not regularly protest, strike or riot was because of the government spending a gigantic 20% of the annual budget on social services. The standard of living for the Maya was actually abysmally low; there was plenty of money to spend but little to spend it on.

When President da Luca took power in Age 151, he said the time had come for revision of the government and its policies. He said he would get the ball rolling on a massive cut to the national bureaucracy; he said that opening up foreign markets for the purchase and sale of goods should be the top priority of the state. He requested that cities begin investment in labor forces… which would be sent overseas as part of the Mayan Peace Corps. The Peace Corps ostensibly was to serve the common interests of all peoples, but it was actually to cultivate trade routes and create economies that were viable partners; as it stood, there was minimal infrastructure in other nations, hence the Mayan domination of global finance.



The first target was the Netherlands. It had Dyes the Mayan realm would have loved to possess, but unfortunately had but a massive labor shortage to exploit said materials. Several groups of laborers were to be deployed to Holland and convert it into a cash generating machine that would buy and sell from the Maya.

Age 152, wary of the idea the Mayans might come knocking in a war of retribution, the Persian Republic signed a defensive alliance with the Turks. The Mayan President sent his Persian counterpart his congratulations on understanding that foreign militaries tended to be superior to one’s own.

With the signing of an open borders agreement (with a small lump sum fee for the Dutch), Worker bands began to pour across the border into the Netherlands. They were given orders to build roads to all sources of Dyes in Dutch territory, thus paving the way for a viable Dutch state.



To further friendship and protect the worker groups, Cavalry and Artillery destroyed Apache forces in the Netherlands; the Dutch approval of the Mayan state continued to increase exponentially with all these acts of generosity.



As the Apache of the Old Netherlands became close friends with the Mayan Cavalry, Carib forces rose up against Mayan rule as settlers pushed deeper into the region. Cruisers, recently developed from the Ships of the Line, were to be used to put the backwards rebels in their place. There were no offensive forces in New Holland, but that would easily be remedied; Machinegunner nests also defended the entrances to the region’s largest cities.



As the economy of the Netherlands took up the national attention, bureaucrats, corporate board members, and stock exchange administrators worked together and formed a single major stock exchange for the Mayan economy; historically each Stock Exchange operated independently, centered on the major cities of the Empire. Now, the Stock Exchange of Ogilvine, the Empire’s most productive city and its geographical center, would become the national exchange.



While the Axumites threatened war if they weren’t granted the secrets of Marxism, they were dismissed by the President with but a wave of his hand. Predictably the Ethiopian regime did nothing but state that the Mayans wouldn’t be so lucky next time. The President simply replied for Ethiopia to put his money where his mouth was; some vacation property in Addis Ababa would surely assist his reelection bid. Meanwhile, battlefield medics were given their own formal branch of the military, which would come in great use in the future whenever wars were waged by the powerful Mayan military.

Age 149 saw the advent of aviation. While biplanes weren’t the most reliable method of transportation, they did open new possibilities to cover ground in ways never seen before. Most importantly, they were out of range of enemy fire; as a result the President approved the construction of several airports with federal funds. The goal was to stimulate the aeronautics sector enough that private companies could begin making use of the technology, thus expanding the economy.



By Age 163, the project to develop the Netherlands had been a massive success. A roadway now linked the entirety of the north, and besides increasing Dutch income by nearly 25%, it also opened the country’s Dye reserves to Mayan trade. No sooner had the roads into the Dye Plantations been finished that a treaty was immediately inked… or one would have been if not for the fact the Dutch had already sold their Dyes to another bidder. The President was very displeased, but he knew he couldn’t take it by force; he had a reputation to rebuild. He ordered all workers to carve a path southward into the Dutch extremities, so as to tap their Dye resources.



By Age 164, analysts had deemed that the Mayan Republic was so far ahead of its competition it was in its own era of scientific advancement. Mayan citizens took great pride in this fact, but the President told his people to not become complacent in the aura of superiority.

Even as the Black Death became rampant in Persepolis’ streets, the gradual development of the Dutch homeland continued unabated, as Workers carved a path through forest and jungle alike; the Dutch dye plantations would be open to Mayan markets, one way or another. Before long, however, the Black Death also made its way to Thylacine, sparking a panic of a pandemic. Such fears were partially justified, as the plague soon spread to Erizeus.

With Fission’s discovery in Age 169, scientists managed to guess how much power could be gained from unstable elements. The answer? A lot. However, no Uranium deposits were known; the Science Ministry proposed that the government fund an advanced flight program that could field airplanes capable of detecting the deposits around the world. The government most definitely agreed, and began pouring immense amounts of money into a new project.



Meanwhile, the Dutch Project was complete, and Dyes began to flow into Mayan cities. The government cut social benefits immediately, saving 10% of its annual revenue for other purposes. The private sector was now picking up the slack with all the newly-created markets for goods.

His reelection practically guaranteed, de Luca proceeded to comb his hair and find the best suit public money could buy; he had another election that was necessary to win.

Seeking to maintain goodwill around the world, the President authorized huge amounts of research and texts to be published around the globe, particularly details on Chemistry, Marxism and basic economic theories. The world saw a massive technological boom thanks to the Mayan diplomatic initiative, with some states also learning the merits of standardized, replaceable parts. It was hoped that these gifts would tide the nations of the world over, at least for a year…



The newly-established United Nations, after all, needed a leader, and the President figured greasing their palms a bit was the best way to convince them it should be him.



The strategy paid off; only Persia, hated enemy of the Mayans after their earlier humiliation, voted for the rival candidature of Abyssinia. The Mayans decreed themselves elected to serve the world and its people, and announced a plan to revolutionize the infrastructure of the entire planet with labor and capital.



The Mayan President celebrated his victory with a proud tradition: inviting all the other world leaders over to exchange kisses with extremely runny lipstick. Oddly all but Persia and Abyssinia agreed.

And so, the Maya had triumphed. Blessed with military power, scientific expertise, and economic reason, it was assumed the Pax Mayana would continue into infinity…

President de Luca sat in his office, forehead in his palm as he experienced the throes of a hangover from yesterday’s victory party. The United Nations had voted for him, and he was now the world’s nominal leader, responsible for keeping the peace, promoting economic prosperity, and ensuring social justice. With many of the world’s foremost powers on board with the ideals of self-determination and democracy, he reasoned his job would be more about number crunching than anything else. He sighed happily…

…and then fell over dead, a poison dart striking him in the side of the head, the chemicals within having rapidly made the gentleman’s gray matter deteriorate.


Link to video.

Vice President Julian Kane Blake was notified of the President’s tragic assassination within the hour, and arranged a national day of mourning. Behind closed doors, President Blake met with several associates, none of whom were members of his Cabinet or Parliament. The time had come for the Mayans to assert their divine destiny over the world; his predecessor had serious creative differences with him, so his removal was a necessary evil.

With the discovery of Uranium just outside Ogilvine in Age 174, Blake became more convinced of Mayan destiny to rule the world. He immediately funded the secret development of a weapon that would be far more deadly than anything any power could muster for years to come… To ensure rapid deployment of his weapons, he upgraded the airforce; biplanes became extremely powerful and deadly fighter planes, while a fleet of bombers was amassed. Research was also being conducted into a hypothetical weapon called a “Tank,” which would allow rapid, safe penetration of enemy territory.



With the completion of the Manhattan Project and the testing of a bomb in the deserts of France, Blake was ready to set his plan into motion. Cities were to amass a stockpile of bombs, about sixty or so, before the plan would be ready. Immediately afterward, all Dreadnoughts were refitted, becoming the feared Battleships of the Mayan Navy.

In age 190, there were 190 cities in the world, 176 of them being held by foreign powers. With 69 atomic bombs, over one-third of the world’s cities could be vaporized in a heartbeat by Mayan arms.



As such, the President gave the order to attack Persia. Pre-war, the Persian Army stood at 50 divisions strong, some backwards and some advanced; either way battleships fired their slugs, only for nuclear weapons to detonate on several cities afterward, including the capital.



The Persian Army was reduced to 25 divisions, the bulk of them Partisans, and most of the forces heavily damaged as a result of the extensive bombing.

Declaring that the third time was the charm, President Blake told the world to submit to the full authority of the Mayan Empire, and not just its diplomatic authority; naturally all parties refused. Even the Dutch, trusted trade partners, betrayed the Mayan cause.

The Great War had begun, with every single nation on the planet firmly against the Mayans in what President Blake painted as a struggle for central authority. The global population stood at 66.5 million people, 19% of them Mayan. It was about to dramatically increase - the Mayan percentage, anyway.

Sidon fell without losses, the weak Cavalry being no match for the power of Colonial Infantry; the Colonial Infantry around the Empire were upgraded into Marines, making them numerous times more lethal.



As Kyoto was shelled by battleships and bombed by Fighters, a nuclear weapon went off in the city, vaporizing much of the Japanese military. Shortly after Edo was offered the chance to surrender, and the city took it, knowing how futile the struggle against the Mayans would be.



Osaka defected shortly afterward, with Kyoto being seized and the Japanese government fleeing across the continent to Satsuma south of the Persian Republic. Japan had been defeated; war was to then be pursued against the Dutch in Amsterdam, to secure Dyes for the Mayan Republic.



Amsterdam was captured at the loss of a Cruiser; having missed its shot, the crew were put on unpaid leave when a nuclear bomb detonated in Amsterdam, which they were just offshore from.



With dye reserves secured, the President gave the order to crush Russia. Russia had precious Tobacco, and large railways (built by Mayan labor) that would facilitate a blitzkrieg across the country. Troops rolled into a nuked Moscow without resistance. St. Petersburg, vaporized by a weapon just outside its city center, was also steamrolled by Cavalry. While the port of Novgorod was hard to reach, Cavalry covered the irradiated distance and seized the city. Nuclear weapons detonated all over the Russian homeland, with a final weapon dropping on Yekaterinburg and killing the entire Russian government. Old Russia collapsed, and New Russia followed without viable leadership. With all troops more or less used up, nuclear weapons were to be detonated on every city within reach.



The United States collapsed shortly afterward from the sheer power of the nuclear weapons on their pitiful population; the Iroquois joined them in the graveyard.

President Blake held a celebratory party in the depths of the Cyan House, commemorating his victory and the deaths of 13.2 million people in the span of but a few weeks.

Blake had shipped numerous atomic bombs to New Netherlands specifically to bring the Angel of Death the souls of the Korean and Turkish peoples.



Meanwhile, bombs destroyed the Great Spice Island, ruining the Roman capital and leaving the Incan colonies vulnerable; these cities were then used as launchpads for bombings of the Scandinavian homeland.



It was noticed the Mongolian democracy had been replaced by a Fascist regime; the Mongols being the main rival of the Mayan hegemony, spies were ordered to infiltrate the country and acquire a city for the sole purpose of destroying the entire country with nuclear warheads.



The Dutch were vanquished, thus ensuring their Dye plantations would stay in Mayan hands in perpetuity.

With Age 194, the Mongol capital saw itself hit by a nuclear weapon, the first of many. The beginning of a new era was at hand, though the Mongols refused to surrender until enough of a blow had been dealt to their forces.



Persia, the catalyst to the conflict, was finally destroyed by a well-placed bomb destroying the government at Gordium. The traditional enemies in both Persia and Russia had finally been defeated, leaving the Maya as the supreme power of the Western Continent. The fight would now advance to the East. The world population was now 46.5 million, with 29% of them claiming allegiance to the One World Government of the Maya.

While the Koreans and Ethiopians launched skirmishes on land and sea, all were repelled by superior Mayan forces with no losses. The base in Mongolia had held despite the desperate Coalition Offensive; it was now armed with several atomic bombs.



They were used to great lethality, leveling most of Mongolia, ruining its economy and military. Meanwhile two cities were persuaded to join the Mayan cause rather than continue down the path of defeat; even if the Abyssinians and Mongols took the cities back they could be easily taken back through popular riots.

Meanwhile Cavalry forces were pushing into Babylonian territory, nearing the unification of the Eastern and Western halves of the continent at last. In Egypt battleships and bombers were shelling the capital in the hopes of forcing the government to collapse.

Age 196 saw Almarikh being taken by the Ethiopians; the Axumite government was very effective at blocking propaganda efforts, so an amphibious assault was launched instead. Meanwhile, Darhan was fortified by troops from the homeland, thus allowing it to be used as a forward base for the bombing of nearly all of Ethiopia; Axum was just barely outside of range.



Meanwhile the Vikings were terminated, adding another power to the list of vanquished nations.



The taking of Addis Ababa in an amphibious assault put many cities in range of nuclear warheads. Korea would be easily vanquished with the new bombing range.



The Mongol surrender gave great breathing room to occupied Mongolia, which now didn’t have to worry about divisive sentiment; full effort could be focused on destroying Abyssinia.



The destruction of Egypt marked another victory for the Mayan Revolution. Meanwhile, much of the airforce was relocated to the homeland for repairs; ground troops would have to go without air support for a brief period. The new Heavy Bombers would be especially useful in destroying the enemies of President Blake and the Mayan regime.



The Ottomans were no longer a threat thanks to some judicious use of atomic bombs. President Blake then initiated Operation: Endgame, which required the workers and the military to join forces to build a route into Korea; from there an atomic bomb could be dropped on Seoul and end the Korean menace. With the city of Wonsan’s fall, Operation: Endgame would be able to go into effect within a few months.



Meanwhile, a massive bombing attack was launched against the Habsburg Empire. Small and all within range of Caesarea, the country was a tempting target. While Austria wasn’t completely destroyed, Operation: Richelieu nonetheless left lasting scars on the nation. Less disappointingly, Ellipi was destroyed in the West, and with it Babylonia fell.



Korea managed to withstand the blow to Seoul; the government still had effective leadership elsewhere, but the clock was rapidly ticking. Meanwhile atomic bombs dropped on Athens and Mecca, destabilizing Greece and Arabia. Even if Korea was destroyed, however, the government questioned how to tackle Abyssinia; Blake had an easy solution: several divisions would land in the Korean ruins north of Abyssinia’s isolated colonies (where some of their government resided), establish an airfield, and from there nuclear bombers would be able to wipe out the last parts of Ethiopian civilization.

Age 203, there were protests against the war in Klonois; while the President raised social spending as a bribe, it became apparent the destruction of Korea and Abyssinia was necessary immediately.



The destruction of Austria left a gigantic void on the Eastern continent, further securing Mayan possessions there.



Korea was destroyed, but the ever-defiant government (which survived several nuclear blasts in a row) relocated to the new settlement of Kaesong. Regardless, Korea’s vast wastes were now open to conquest, and thus, Abyssinia’s days were numbered. Massawa, Lalibela, and Dese held the three key figures of the Ethiopian regime; if they were all killed or captured, Abyssinia would fade away.



The final mission against Abyssinia was nearly ready to proceed. A beachhead was established near an old iron mine, and an airfield would soon be deployed.



Always seeking to outdo the atomic bombers, conventional bombers destroyed Massawa and Lalibela’s forces without any nuclear weaponry, and Abyssinia collapsed. The world’s stubborn resistance quickly faded; Abyssinia was the only country capable of matching the Mayans technologically. Within two years, every other nation on Earth admitted defeat.

President Blake soon merged the Secretary of the United Nations post with his own office, and the President of the Mayan Republic was henceforth President of Earth. Blake would pass away twenty years later, having built a state on the deaths of tens of millions of people, but he did set the stage for a unified sentient kind. In the meantime, the world would have to deal with rampant pollution and ecological degradation as a result of the war; President Blake’s successor Maurice Grimes, however, was instrumental in bringing all people together to build a better world on the ruins of the old.