Aztec SP advice

[Cavalyn]

Hi all,

I tend to play MP with a friend, we agree not to fight until later on, usually industrial. We play only on marathon, immortal, with raging barbarians. I'm used to playing OCC egypt or rushing babylon, but fancied trying a tall Aztec game..

Probabyl with 3-4 cities all with huge pop. I was wondering though, what social policies to prioritise? Normally i go tradition all the way, a single point in commerce, then rationalism... however aztecs arent great for wonders, and it seems a shame to miss ones like the hanging gardens, which i might be able to GE rush... from liberty

Any advice?

Is it feasible to finish liberty and THEN go do tradition? or is a tall empire perfectly possible without tradition at all? Also what would you aim for with your fre great person? I suggested the Gardens, but is there something more profitable to go for??

Looking forward to any advice!!

P.s. - For a tall empire, what kind of start terrain would you aim for? I don't restart often, but lately i've been getting to turn 400, then realising my production is so low that i'm doomed.... because surrounded by jungle seemed a good idea at the start

 

[Vordeo]

I'm no expert, but if you're playing Aztecs and going for tall empires, you have to abuse Floating Gardens, so try to settle on a river or near lakes. The gardens are the most powerful thing about the civ, IMO, and you can get insane pop numbers with the Aztecs.

 

[The Pilgrim]

Currently there are more reasons to choose Tradition over Liberty than ever. Your population will be high enough to hard build the wonders. Don't know if AI prioritizes HG in G&K, but you should at least try. If you beeline them before Philosophy, you probably can get them.

 

[Slvynn]

Very important note on religion choice:
Pick +10% Growth pantheon and one of follower beliefs take shrine and temple +1
This combo is very effective and helps with growing insane Aztec cities way faster, esp if you have alot of excess food, your 10% could be quite impressive number of

 

[Cavalyn]

Hmm, a problem is that on immortal a few pantheons go quickly... i'm often the 4th or 5th to get one... and fertility rites always seems to be one of the first to go... I rarely get swords to plowshares either, since sometimes when people dow me, even when they have nothing left, they simply wont accept peace...

 

[Slvynn]

Hmm, a problem is that on immortal a few pantheons go quickly... i'm often the 4th or 5th to get one... and fertility rites always seems to be one of the first to go... I rarely get swords to plowshares either, since sometimes when people dow me, even when they have nothing left, they simply wont accept peace...

Feed the World is much better for Monty
You will rarely have peace, you need to abuse your UA

 

[Gruminmor]

Personally I love playing Monty with raging barbs. Its one of the only times ill open and complete the Honor social path. The amount of culture you get from farming barbs is insane. I tend to spam 8-10 Jags early on and position them around barb camps and farm, farm, farm. Don't wipe out the camps unless someone else is close by and you think they'll try to take it. Following this stratergy you can fill out Honor in as few as 35 turns(quick game settings) and then move to Tradition. I've used this stratergy several times on Immortal with great success. Even if you won't fight your buddy for a long time, there's nothing stopping you from wiping out the AI or any other players. And then when you do finally go to war with him, you have a battle hardened army.

 

[Gruminmor]

I have to say that the biggest pain in the ass following that stratergy is that your turns will take much longer than the norm. The time it takes to manage your culture farming when you have 4x barb camps and 8x Jags is a sore point when it comes to MP. It's also important not to lose a Jag, because that self healing is vital for the constant farming. Oh, and FYI I've not tried this with G&K's.