[C3C] COTM146 Aztecs Deity -- Spoilers

[Più Freddo]

COTM146 Montezuma of the Aztecs Spoilers

Now, this was a conundrum! Young Montezma had just acceded to the throne after his uncle Itzcoatl. This uncle had had a certain weakness for tobacco and had led his people to a rich valley full of these leaves. Indeed, he and many of the people had of late become all but addicted to the drug. Vague was among the Aztecs now the memory of the Golden Land they had previously known, where Gold and Wheat were plentiful. Only Montezuma had some notion of where it had been, and he feared what would happen to his race if another one would colonize this Eldorado, as he called it. But what to do first!

His was an Agricultural and Militaristic people with knowledge of building Granaries as well as Barracks. He was sure his powerful Jaguar Warriors, known to no other people, could conquer any land. But he was afraid the military conquest of Eldorado would cause a Golden Age for his people at a very unripe stage of its perhaps long and glorious history. On the other hand, would Rapid Expansion be enough to secure Elodrado? So, Barracks or Granary, or perhaps both?

Starting Location

Rule Changes

For this game, the Jaguar Warrior has an improved attack strength of 2 instead of 1. Therefore, it's also more expensive at 20 instead of 15 shields.

Revelations

I just noticed that there is a function in the editor to reveal or conceal any tile on the map. How stupid we have been with our Outposts and Radar Towers! I have used this function to reveal parts of the map which may be interesting for the pre-game discussion.

Game Release Page

After the game is released, the start file will be available here

Spoiler Limit

(This limit will be changed as the game progesses.)

Industrial Times or Game Submitted

Spoilers are allowed covering the game up until reaching Industrial Time or having submitted the game. The results of getting and trading bonus technologies at this stage are a permissible topic as well.

No spoiler information from after fulfilling the spoiler requirement is allowed!

 

[Captain_Jack]

I, Montezuma, plan to scatter my jacked-up Jaguar Warriors over our lush valley like cacti on the desert hills. After settling in place I will send these Jackguars south and east to explore and keep our valley clear of invaders. A second city will be founded in el Dorado and I will eventually erect my Forbidden Palace there. The lands in between will be soon be settled with smaller towns in a tightly concentrated array allowing rapid inter-city movement for strong defense and potent counter-attacks. My two initial towns will become the cultural centers of my empire; the surrounding towns will serve their needs and the needs of the empire.

 

[Cotta]

After settling in place ...

Sure? Furs on plains will give you 2s without any improvement. So, it's obvious moving the settler maybe NO...

 

[Più Freddo]

Sure? Furs on plains will give you 2s without any improvement. So, it's obvious moving the settler maybe NO...

But you get 2spt also in the Capital if you settle in place.

 

[Cotta]

Yes, okay. Enough forests around so it's not bad to settle in place.

 

[Captain_Jack]

I'm only now learning the nuances of the game, but this seemed like an ideal spot to settle in place. It's on the river, cows are in reach, and there's plenty to smoke. Two additional bonus tiles are in the inner circle, and there are hills that might hold iron or some other resource. So unless I'm missing something it seems like an almost perfect starting location.
Am I missing something?

 

[templar_x]

reasoning seems absolutely alright to me
t_x

 

[templar_x]

with a Firaxis score of 17660 for a dom victory in 250bc, i think this was my highest scoring entry for an XOTM ever... nice, dirty and fast domination game here.
and there i even needed to poprush an ultra early defender for the first barbs... so probably it could have gone even way better.

Edit:
i settled in place, built a granary, nearly lost it to the very first barbarian that immediately entered my cultural borders. went for that combo factory that i set up a bit too complicated, but do not think that really mattered. when i got Philo first, i could trade for Poly and pick Mona. fair enough. i revolted and stayed a Monarch for the whole game. no FP, no research any more, only pop growth and and loads of these dirt cheap enhanced Jaguars that i solely relied on. only for my single army (no luck with the elites this time... ) i used swords and built 3 MIs in case i would get another one. did not happen.
when i found out about the shape of the land, i prepared for domination parallel to further conquest. it turned out it was possible way before i could have eliminated everyone.

Basic Facts:
1575 slingshot to monarchy
1550 Revolution
1425 Monarch
1025 just when i am about to declare on them, the Japanese declare war themselves
730 they are out
630 Russia out too
570 GA ends
550 Egypt out
430 Arabs meet their fate
270 reach 67% land mass

t_x

 

[Più Freddo]

OCN or Metropolis

Spoilers are allowed covering the game up until reaching the optimal city number, i.e. being allowed to build the Forbidden Palace, or reaching the size 12, Metropolis, in one of your cities, whichever comes earlier.

No spoiler information from after fulfilling the spoiler requirement is allowed!

 

[Più Freddo]

@templar_x: Your spoiler post has been deleted for now, as it didn't comply with spoiler limits at this time.

 

[Captain_Jack]

4,000 B.C. > TABACA VALLEY is founded.
The Aztec appoint me absolute leader and I command we settle in place on the banks of the Rio Tabaca. My people celebrate with an all-night bacchanalia; fealty is sworn to me by all, a wild boar is roasted, and three virgins are sacrificed. It is good.

There are rumors of roaming barbarians and I begin the formation of crack fighting units to called Jaguar Warriors. I send my workers north to irrigate the pastures and domesticate the native cattle.

3,600 B.C. > I establish contact with Japan, and to my dismay I see that the el Dorado valley is already settled by the Japanese! WTH? Our ancestral home is lost. There are HORDES of Japanese warriors wandering the lands. Hordes! My mind is troubled. The initial plan to build a ravenous pack of Jaguar Warriors and attack a weak neighbor has gone up in smoke. It is defense time for the Aztecs.

The Japanese are willing to trade. I give them Warrior Code and Pottery for The Wheel, Ceremonial Burial, and their treasury of 10 gold. I don’t know if this is a fair trade, but I do know that I usually don’t have anything to offer in trade, so I had better make good use of my talents while I can.

3,000 – 2,500 B.C. > I build a second worker and command the erection of a granary in Tabaca Valley. In 2,900 BC I found my second city, CABALLERO, downstream on the west banks of the river and just east of horses. I hope to build horsemen eventually and the river will help in defense against the inevitable Japanese invasion. Caballero begins construction of a barracks.

2,500 – 2,000 B.C. > In 2,430 BC I make contact with Egypt. I am able to trade with them also. I give The Wheel in exchange for Bronze Working and 20 gold. Is this fair? I don’t know.

Tabaca Valley falls into civil disorder! I am forced to create an entertainer, and I set the city governor to direc t affairs with attention paid to citizen moods and emphasis on production. My capital must be a Jaguar Warrior factory. I build a few more workers, but no other fighting units. No spearmen, no warriors, no archers; only Jaguar Warriors. Such was the folly of Montezuma.

2,000 B.C. – 1,500 B.C. > I create my third city, RISING SUN, farther east towards Japan and el Dorado. This location gives me access to wheat and is on the river, but it will certainly be considered a provocation by the warlike Japanese. I am untroubled; war is inevitable. Soon a fourth city, TABASCO MOUNTAIN, is settled in the north, also on the river and by the mountains. This location will attract the peyote-smoking malcontents of my kingdom and this city will be difficult to govern.



By this time I have made contact with Russia to my west. There are a worrisome number of their brown spearmen wandering around and I am alarmed to find that they have created the Statue of Zeus. Will the valley soon echo with the hoof beats of Ancient Cavalry?



1,400 B.C. > Russia demands 14 gold. That’s all I have, but it is a small price to pay for peace. Tribute is given to Catherine.



1,350 B.C. > CATALINA is founded where the River Tabaca meets the sea. My cities form a rough cluster around the river, and I now have a potential harbor town.



1,275 B.C. > el NORTE, my last town, is founded on the northern reach of the river completing settlement of the readily available land. My neighbors border me closely and I will settle no more for the time being. I have six towns and with this core the Aztec finish the land-grab phase.



1,175 B.C. > I give Cleopatra Polytheism in exchange for Iron Working and 32 gold. It is only right that they worship our gods and I will soon need swordsmen. At first I see no iron and I am dismayed, but just south of Tabasca, partially obscured by the town legend, I have a handy deposit of iron ore. I promptly dispatch workers to build a connecting road.



The swordsman costs 30 shields for values of 3/2/1 versus 20 shields for the Jaguar warrior at 2/1/2. They seem comparably priced, but the ability of the Jaguar to retreat might allow them to live to fight another day. I think the two units will be potent fighting in tandem and I immediately cease production of Jaguar Warriors and switch to swordsmen. Am I too late? (I entirely avoid production of horsemen. At 30 shields for values of 2/1/2 they are equal to the Jaguar warrior but 50% more expensive.)



1,100 – 1,000 B.C. > Japan sends two warriors over the border into my land. How should I respond? My military advisor says I am outnumbered, and that is obviously true, but it is unmanly to acquiesce to this impertinence. I hesitate, but finally demand they withdraw. To my relief they do. This happens twice more over the next few turns. In 1,000 B.C. Japanese trespass for a fourth time and finally JAPAN DECLARES WAR when I demand their withdrawal.



As I enter the final B.C. millennia I pull my Jaguar Warriors into Catalina for defense hoping to lure the Japanese into a kamikaze attack over the river at terrible odds. There is one straggling Japanese warrior whom I attack and kill with my unique unit triggering a Golden Age. Time to turn my plowshares into swordsmen.

1,000 B.C. - B.C. > The Golden Age of Culhua-Mexica and the Aztec People.

As we enter the golden age I direct all my city governors to emphasize production and keep my citizens happy. In this way I expect to maximize the benefit of my temporarily increased productivity. (nb. I have begun to learn the techniques of micro-management and I no longer use the city governor.)

My scholars scoured our War Academy and located an ancient prophecy from Ision that they bring to me: “The Jag is a multi-faceted unit – barbarian fighting scout, pillager, and future swordsman. However, let me start by telling you what the Jaguar is not – it is not a cheap ‘human wave’ attack unit. A player that uses the unit in this fashion (even if successful) will have wasted precious shields, units and most importantly ‘time’. The unit was never designed to build in mass as a primary attack force – this is simply not cost efficient. Its forte in combat is as an AI strangler, darting in and out of AI territory snatching workers, pillaging roads and terrain improvements while avoiding combat by using their speed advantage. Targeting any enemy horse resource is wise as it denies the majority of civs a unit capable of catching the Jag. The unit also works well in pairs – pillaging both the road and terrain improvement in the same turn – and then running away for a repeat performance in another square.”

This sage advice from the gods is welcome and I adjust my tactics accordingly.

975 B.C. – 695 B.C. (the First Japanese-Aztec War) > Almost immediately Tabasco Mountains falls to the enemy. My Jaguar Warriors are very fast, but they do not defend well and they do not attack well. The gods were right to say they are best used for destroying improvements behind enemy lines. I retake Tabasco the next turn with a swordsman – of course – and generate my first military leader. Excellent. I send him inland to make an army of swordsmen and he returns to wreak havoc. Very soon I get a second military leader.

After that the war goes well. I march to the eastern sea and raze Tokyo. I capture Satsuma and recapture Rising Sun. Catherine of Russia threatens me, but I pay her off with some luxuries. Finally I agree to Hirohito’s pleas for mercy. He gets peace, but it costs him everything he has, everything: Alphabet, Horseback Riding, Masonry, 53 Gold

630 B.C. > I discover Monarchy and am crowned king.

I trade monarchy with Egypt for all she has: Mathematics, Writing, and 259 gold.

550 B.C. > My golden age ends. That was nice.

430 B.C. > (The Second Japanese-Aztec War) Hostilities resume with Japan. I think I actually declared war on them this time. I retake Tabasco and then, gloriously, I take Osaka in our fabled el Dorado valley. I have returned my people to our ancient home and earned the respect of my forefathers. I rename Osaka el Dorado and we sacrifice many virgins to honor the occasion.

310 B.C. > I agree to another peace with Japan in return for everything they have:

Currency, Literature, Construction, 60 gold. Now we’re talking!

(I did not know it at the time, but this was the high water mark of my Aztec Empire. I should have eliminated the weakened Japan then when/if I was able. I could have gotten assistance from Egypt I’m sure and possibly England. But I didn’t, and Japan was ascendant from then on.)

********************* Eligible for Forbidden Palace **************************

 

[Più Freddo]

Jack, the Jaguar Warriors were pimped in this game and perfectly useful for head-on attack.

And never forget to build a Barracks before building units!

 

[bota156]

I've play it quite fast and aggressive.
move north west settler, irrigate cow
build 2 Jaguar warriors and conquer Osaka, kill all japan warriors defending city and have 1 leader.
Use exploit - set all citizen to scientizes and when capital produce unit - move to all cities and put all to work. It was very useful - use 2 times people and resources.

Play peacefully till monarchy - then war with Japan, then Egypt and stop playing in 570 BC - too strong for AI

 

[templar_x]

Use exploit - set all citizen to scientizes and when capital produce unit - move to all cities and put all to work. It was very useful - use 2 times people and resources.

i fear those exloits you describe here actually *are* exploits, and such that are disallowed under XOTM rules...
t_x

 

[Più Freddo]

Middle Ages

Spoilers are allowed covering the game up until reaching the Middle Ages. The results of getting and trading bonus technologies at this stage are a permissible topic as well.

No spoiler information from after fulfilling the spoiler requirement is allowed!

 

[Captain_Jack]

********************* Eligible for Forbidden Palace **************************The Aztec Saga Continues********************************************

10 B.C. > el Dorado defects to the Japanese!! I lose the many traitorous troops stationed there and all the work that I had begun on my Forbidden Palace. Disaster. I meet with my counselors to plan a new attack.

With the loss of el Dorado I have only seven cities; not enough to make my second army. I have a second military leader sitting idle so I form three towns on the border with Japan: Amy’s Ass, Hillapulco, and Luscious Lori. I create a second army of swordsmen, but I wondered if that was the best use of my leader. He might have been better used making a Great Wonder in el Dorado earlier, but there were rarely wonders available to me to build, I was that far behind in tech. (Only now I know he was not able to rush a wonder in Conquests)

50 A.D. > (The Third Japanese War of Attrition) I send my troops back into Japan led by the First and Second Army of Mexica. I retake Tabasco and el Dorado, then I raze a few other Japanese cities. I lose most of my jaguar warriors in the engagements, but I do not genuinely mourn their loss. I am left with only two elite units of Jaguar Warriors, my personal escort.

150 A.D. > Another peace with Japan, but this time on not very favorable terms.

190 A.D. > Lovely Linda deposes to the Japanese. What is with these people?

340 A.D. > The Aztec Republic is established.

Russia requests a mutual protection pact. She is strong, so I foolishly agree. Next turn I am forced into war with Arabia and within four turns I am swarmed with Ansar Warriors! I hadn’t seen an Arab all game! This is disaster. Cities go back and forth, improvements are destroyed, but I eventually get back to parity and buy peace for only 20 gold.

540 A.D. > (The Final Japanese-Aztec War) Luscious Lori defects to the Japanese. This is intolerable. I declare war again on Japan and send both my armies to retake my city. They are both destroyed! By spearmen!! Finally it is I who must sue for peace with Japan, and I give them Invention. Though I don’t know it at the time, my troops will not fight again.

700 A.D. > Cleopatra demands, and gets, tribute. Not much, but I am humbled. At this point I also withdraw some of my troops from one of my border towns, Hillapulco, and abandon it in anticipation of it defecting to the Japanese.

1355 A.D. > I have Musketmen. Russia has Infantry! Then the ultimate humiliation. I see that el Dorado is surrounded by the Japanese and will turn themselves over to the enemy. I pull my armies back and abandon my ancestral home just before the defection.

1520 A.D. > Russian tanks come into view. I still have Musketmen.

1585 A.D. > Egypt builds the Manhattan Project. I am SO far behind.

1660 A.D. > Still alive, I suffer “ an embarrassing Domination defeat”. I admit that I don’t even know for sure to whom I lost. It looks from the demographic that it was Greece, but I don’t recall now meeting any Greeks.



My knowledge of the outside world was woefully inadequate. I never built a ship and never explored beyond my borders. The cost of a World Map was exorbitant, and I didn’t want the game to run as slowly as it does when the whole world is visible. Still, this ignorance was an error and should not have occurred.

I did better than I expected and I am looking forward to applying the lessons learned to future games. I stepped up my military game and I am proud that I survived to the end, but I suffered culturally. I still don’t know why the Japanese were so alluring to my border cities. I certainly spent time and money on cultural improvements.

The demographic sheet showed that my people were happy. We didn’t rule the world, but is that really the point? I guess so.

 

[Più Freddo]

Industrial Times or Game Submitted

Spoilers are allowed covering the game up until reaching Industrial Time or having submitted the game. The results of getting and trading bonus technologies at this stage are a permissible topic as well.

No spoiler information from after fulfilling the spoiler requirement is allowed!

 

[templar_x]

Do you still happen to have my post, Piu?
t_x

 

[Lanzelot]

As I had spent lots of time for the Sid space race game, the first two games of this year needed to be quick and dirty ones. So with a Domination achieved in the Carthage game, I had to go for Conquest in this one, even though Domination would have been easier: first of all, the map was not very suitable for Conquest, and second I was able to capture Artemis early on in Moscow. With that, Domination would have been possible in BC days, and in fact, I had to start disbanding towns here and there in order to avoid tripping over the dom limit, but it took quite a bit longer to eliminate all AIs: in 310AD Conquest was finally achieved.

I built a Forbidden Palace in second ring distance down by the Wheats and researched all the way to Military Tradition in order to get units to England faster, but perhaps both were overkill?! At the time it seemed a good idea, because I expected the Deity AI to put up a decent fight (especially the far away civs, which I would reach later, when they would probably already be far advanced), but perhaps it would have been better to restrain myself to Knights and put the money into units instead?!

 

[Più Freddo]

Do you still happen to have my post, Piu?

I forgot about this, sorry. I'll ask Alan. He said then that he could reinstate it, I think.