GOTM 64: Mexican Mulligan
Prologue
It had been many generations since the gods first spoke to Axolóhua’s people and sent them in search of the fertile and productive land of their destiny. They had traversed blistering deserts and suffered life in sweltering, feverish jungles. Now, at last, they had seen signs that they were close to the sacred site that had been prophesied.
Axolóhua stepped out of the forest and walked to the edge of a lake, his eyes scanning the sky. Then his gaze fell on the center of the lake, where he saw a rocky crag of an island. On the island was a prickly pear cactus. Perched on the cactus was a golden eagle. Grasped in the eagle’s talons was a writhing serpent. This was the foretold scene that would mark the site.
Axolóhua ran into the lake, threw his arms upwards, and shouted to the heavens, “Oh, great Tlālōquê, I have seen your sign! At last our search is over. I do not know how, Tlālōquê, but by my blood and by the blood of my ancestors, I swear to you: Here, upon this lake, my people will settle. We will build our homes on rafts or drain the waters by hand, if we must!”
The golden eagle shrieked, and Axolóhua lowered his gaze. The bird was now silent. The serpent no longer squirmed, but swung its head up calmly to meet Axolóhua’s eyes, and in a raspy hissing voice it said, “Don’t be so literal. You need not settle right in the middle of the lake! Anywhere along the shore will do.”
Axolóhua stood in shock, then cupped his hands and dribbled water onto his overheating scalp.
Now the eagle cocked its head and cried: “Listen closely! Far across the big water, beyond any shore you have ever glimpsed, is a land of tribes that are great in power and in knowledge. I have seen the future. These tribes intend to invade this sacred land. I have seen your people’s glory turned to ruin and seen their blood spilled in the name of a false and foreign god. You are warned, now you must prepare.”
Axolóhua bowed to the eagle and the serpent, and said, “I will carry your warning. I will see that our warriors sharpen their blades and prepare for glorious battle. Let these infidel invaders come. We will slit their throats and eat their hearts and . . .”
The skies suddenly darkened, and lightening flashed. “Heed me!” interrupted the cactus. “I break divine law with every word I utter. Do you think gods deign speak with ephemeral men just to invoke your bellicose bluster?! The forces that will come are nothing like Cópil's sling throwers or the Colhuas warriors you have faced. These men will glisten with armor stronger than stone, they shackle themselves to massive four-legged beasts that obey their every command, and they wield rods of fire and thunder that can shatter a man from great distance. They will think of you as inferior beings and will not hesitate to slaughter you mercilessly. You, too, must be merciless . . . and cunning. From this moment, every step your people take must be in anticipation. See as I see!”
Then a vision came to Axolóhua : Moving across the water, no land within sight, was a great canoe. It was as long as a tree’s trunk and many times as thick. The canoe seemed to be tethered to the clouds themselves. Its bulk was cutting powerfully through the waves, and Axolóhua understood where it was heading.
The vision lifted. Axolóhua saw an ordinary cactus, but the eagle and serpent were gone. Trembling, he turned back toward the shore and ran to deliver the news, both good and bad, to the Aztec people.
Set Up
In this game of the month, you play as the Aztecs and are tasked with preserving the glory of Central America and preventing one of history’s greatest cultural destructions. You begin with a technological disadvantage, but, fortunately, your conflict is not directly with the nations of Europe, only with their colonists. They bring with them superior knowledge (Monarchy, Compass, and Theology being the most advanced), but not the technology to build the galleons in which they sail to the new world or the weapons the original colonizers wield.
The AI is set to aggressive, and, although the game is set to “No Barbarians”, the surrounding jungles and forests are home to vicious tribesmen and melanistic jaguars from the very beginning.
Notes: The pelagic panther you will find when you load the game is dysfunctional, except as a means of revealing Axolóhua’s vision (only a few turns’ sail from your shores). You will need to delete him to avoid paying maintenance. Also, please overlook the historical anomaly of a 4,000BC start, and imagine that the cows are really bison, the sheep are llamas, alpacas, or vicunas, and the bananas represent generic jungle fruit.
Game settings:
Civilization: Aztec (Leader: Montezuma; Traits: Aggressive, Spiritual)
Rivals: 4
Difficulty: Prince
Map: Great Plains (radically modified)
Map Size: Large
Climate: Temperate
Starting Era: Ancient
Speed: Normal
Options: All huts removed, No Barbarian generation. Agressive AI.
Victory Conditions: All enabled
Montezuma:
Montezuma is Aggressive and Spiritual; starting with Mysticism and Hunting. The Aggressive trait grants Free Promotion to Combat1 for melee and gunpowder units and allows double production speed of Barracks and Drydock. The Spiritual trait provides no anarchy during civic changes and double production speed of Temples.
Unique unit: Jaguar (replaces Swordsman)
The Jaguar replaces the Swordsman. It has a strength of 5, instead of 6, and its special abilities include +10% City Attack and +25% Jungle defense. To build Jaguars requires that you have discovered Iron Working but the iron resource is not needed to build them.
Starting screenshot
This is the start of the game (click for a bigger image):
Adventurer Class bonuses:
Noble: You play the game at Noble difficulty, AI will receive the same starting units as are in the Contender save.
Challenger Class Equalisers:
Monarch: You play the game at Monarch difficulty, AI will receive the same starting units as are in the Contender save and you will score as if playing on Prince.
To Enter the Competition:
This competition will open on 1 March 2011. From that date, you'll be able to get your chosen starting save >>>here<<<.
Submit the save after your victory (or defeat) here, by 1 April 2011.
Software Versions
Windows: This game MUST be played in Civilization 4 (NOT Warlords or BTS), patched to version 1.74, and with the HOF mod version 1.74.004 installed. You can download the HOF mod here. Players using Windows Vista are encouraged to read the notes on Vista fixes here.
Macintosh: This game MUST be played in Civilization 4 (NOT Warlords), patched to version 1.74, and with the Mac HOF mod version 1.74.002 installed. You can download the HOF mod here.
While playing...
Remember - for your entry to be accepted, it MUST be your first attempt to play this game, and you MUST NOT replay any turns. If you make a mistake while playing, you have to live with it, learn from it, and carry on the game without replaying.
We will open 'spoiler' threads during the month for players to discuss what happens in their games. Do not discuss any details of the game outside those threads while it is in progress.
Please write here or send me a Private Message for any technical queries, eg. if you have trouble opening the game. Do NOT post in this thread once you have successfully opened the starting save.
Looks interesting, and looking forward to playing. Wish it wasn't 3 days away with no active games ongoing now that TSG8 has been delayed for so long...
) I also wonder if anything can be deduced from the AI scores. England and France both have 126, Spain 139. So either Spain has a higher population than the others, or more techs. CP hasn't given any indication that the colonists have any settled cities, so maybe it's a tech difference?
for pelagic and melanistic. Could you add agressive AI to the options for completeness?
