The Jaguar Weed Charis came to power (albeit somewhat in a stupor), he saw the
situation was indeed grim. His expert analysts did 'da math' and had a series
of recommendations. "To achieve your vision of ultimate glory for the Mayans, we MUST
eliminate from the face of the earth: the Incans, Aztecs, and Moche. Oh, and this must ALL
be done in the next 30 years."
The Jaguar Weed sentenced those analysts to cleaning the royal latrine for the next
30 years, but in his heart he knew their numbers were correct. (Incans had greater culture,
and the other two civs had a fair bit more than half our culture) So he began to look for
a plan B that could be done in 30 years. We had the single most glorious city on the planet,
Copan Olmeca, although Tenochitlan of the Aztecs was rather close behind. Palenque Inca and
Tula Tolmeca were not far behind. The nation's total culture was rated as 5129, and
each turn gaining 60 more. Without further sacrifices, this would take a tad over 30 years
to reach 7000. We have on temporary assignment 12 Olmecs and 1 Moche. Getting the
Oltec virgins 'home' to the altar would raise the city to 1734. Gaining 4 per turn would
not suffice. We needed to sacrifice 4 more Olmecs (one less for every ten turns taken).
Another analyst was brought into the presence of the Jaguar - though he was extremely
nervous he did his best to look at the situation. In 20 turns, if we did get 4 workers
we could have a fallback position of a 2K single city - At the same time the nation's
culture would be 7009.
This seems like the only face-saving scenario in this scenario -- survive to reach the
7K culture mark in twenty turns while we get Copan Olmeca to 2000 culture (sacrificing the
last slave when it would put the civ over the 7K mark!) In other words, we would reach
7K culture as promised, but the Mayans would impose their own 'tie-breaker' of a 2K city
instead of double foreign culture. Sure it sounded goofy, but in the stupor of the weed
this seemed quite reasonable to the Jaguar.
He looked over at the Incans to see if there was any other way. 13 cities, many size
7, 12 and even 13, in mountain terrain. Our military was WEAK compared to theirs,
and our army now only consists of 17 Silent Hunters, 4 Jav throwers, 5 bows, 7 TG's.
Even that tiny army was double what our nation of five cities could support.
The kicker... we could not even *REACH* Huamanca in 30 turns!!
The analyst reminded our leader of one other requirement for the glory of the nation...
we would have to see the rise of the blood cult. We'll know the ways of this cult in
about 8 turns, and a revolt will take up to 8 turns, leaving about a TWO TURN margin of
safety -- it will be that close. Getting a few extra slaves/workers will take the edge off,
unless Tenochitlan gets some boost.
The plan then -- get troops in position NOW to wage a final war against the Olmecs,
with a hard minimum of 3-4 workers/slaves from them. New production would have to include
several more jav throwers as the later units cannot enslave.
Looking at the tech situation, oh my goodness, the Aztecs are Waaaaaay out there, up
six techs! Fortunately, we have no need for any tech other than Blood Cult, although
truly... Mummification is so fitting that the Jaguar wishes to see our nation learn this
technique so that the last living Weed Jaguar might be immortalized as a mummy!
What about our alliances? 19 turns left with Aztecs/Moche. That will continue through the
end of time, practically speaking. It will be good at least to have them off our backs.
Are we allied with the Olmecs? No! Yeah!!! A virgin is sacrificed to honor the wisdom of
the previous Weed Jaguars!!
There is no benefit left to fighting the Incans with our fighters, other than the pure
glory of spilled enemy blood. It looks briefly like there are NO strong units back home
for the war, but there is a sleeping stack of nine on the Tolmec border. They are woken
up and swung around into position for the Olmec border.
The virgins are all lined up outside Copan. With the upcoming war there is no reason to
risk their capture or loss, and with Silent hunters around, they won't be out in the
open working. We sacrifice 5 immediately and bring the rest into the city.
[0] 1350 - The shifting mentioned above is done, and two cities are put on Jav Throwers.
IBT Holy cow, our stack in the mountains outside Lipaca are decimated. Two Hunters
retreat then we lose five in a row, 2 TG, 2 JT, 1 SH.
IBT Holy cow #2 - An Aztec ARMY is on the move, filled with four units (2Jag,Bow,SH)
not far from Yaxchilan, but hopefully heading down South to the Incans. If they don't
have an RoP I might give them one to get that puppy past us ASAP.
IBT Holy cow #3 - The Olmecs, blissfully unaware of what's going on have 3 exposed,
unguarded workers, AND parade a settler in our territory!! That's our quota right
there. And they're in terrain with no protection. Very unwise move on their part.
[1] 1355 - The time has come to bring glory to the Mayan people. We declare war vs the
treacher Jaguar-hating Olmecs!
In Incan land our troops are hemmorhaging and in too small a number. They begin
a retograde advance back to Moche land. One brave and slow JT runs a delay tactic,
striking a hurt Incan hunter in the open. He wins, but he knows his days of breath
are numbered.
Up North we kill three of the settler defenders leaving a QBowman. A JT hits him
and not only wins, but enslaves. We also capture the three loose workers.
IBT - Holy cow continues... Toltecs are signed up by the Incans in an alliance
vs us. Apparently, also against the Aztecs!!? That's nice, as it will further
keep the Aztecs busy. In other news, our JT is killed by Incans, the Olmecs kill
a JT but our workers escape unharmed in their retreat, and they land a TG.
[2] 1360 - We give the Aztecs a free RoP with which to trash the Tolmecs. As they're
already at war there is no need to ally. That army is going to chew them up, so
let's speed it down there. A few of our advancing hunters now hang tight on our
two Southern cities. The Tolmecs are now in a two front, three enemy war with the
Moche on their other flank.
We move a half dozen hunters outside Tapijulapa. Lux tax can go down to 0% for now.
IBT - HORDES of Aztec Hunters streak through our land. Thank GOODNESS we don't have
to fight them, as they would wipe us off the map.
[3] 1365 - We bring it to Tapi. The Stealth Attack feature is wicked, as we can now
see exactly how many defeners and what type: 6 TG, 1 QB, 1 SH. We target the SH
first, losing one ourselves. Then the QB's. Not enough forces on hand, but we put
some hurt on.
IBT - The Olmecs managed to scrape together some new hunters, and even landed a foursome
via boat. The Stealth Attack cuts both ways. An Olmec SH killed our red SH that was
'protected' by a TG.
[4] 1370 - Four TG's left at Tapi. Our Stealthy Weed Hunters let loose the dogs of war
and... two retreat but the city is razed. We only have a few attackers left for the
landing party, but our SH choose and kill their SH. Our JTs were lucky to find a red
Olmec SH and garnered a new slave.
IBT - Moche and Toltecs come to peace, as the great Green Army comes into range of
a Tolmec city. Speaking of which, it's now an Aztec city.
[5] 1375 - Our SH loses vs SH but hurts him enough a JT wins. The people are so happy
that five of the waiting Olmec slaves are sacrificed! It's now 1704, civ culture is 5829,
and we have... 19 slaves still left!! The razing of Tapijulapa was a big boon in
that department
We already have enough for 2K right now, and I can finally see the
source of "cultural win is so easy!" comments in the pre-game discussion. If they
all came under the knife immediately that would put civ culture at 6589. That's seven
slaves or about seven turns from our condition. The Incans have *ALREADY* surpassed
7K btw, they're at 7392, so we're not even first ones there. Tenochitlan is at 1215.
IBT - Nada.
[6] 1380 - Movement. IBT - Almost nada, several Aztecs head back home.
An Incan TG arrives via boat about 4 steps away from our border.
[7] 1385 - Last round NO one would talk. Now the Incans will, 'close to deal' for free peace.
The other tribes won't talk yet. As we're mid-alliance and no pressure, no deal yet.
At the other Olmec city of Chilapa there are just four TG defenders. We send in the
Hunters and do well, but not enough on hand.
Down South or returning stack comes across the Tolmec town of New Tomina. It had just
one TG defender and it was a light snack. Behind the city are five Tolmec SH's.
Good timing. In fact they'll talk now. I can either let one SH and two slaves die then
hope for a big counterattack, or take peace now and spare them. They can't give up
much, but peace seems good (we have no alliances vs Tolmecs, and it will hurt the
Incan cause) I take the peace and force on them an RoP as well, to be able to get
our men home safely.
IBT - The Aztecs have the pleasure of killing the landed Incan TG.
Blood Cult arrives and I revolt mid-turn.
[8] 1390 - We drew 4 rounds of anarchy. That should do it. At Chilapa there are now
3 TG's and one SH. We may not have enough on hand, but let's try. Our first elite SH
goes first and dies but the rest of the round goes better. Elite JT vs conscript TG
yields us an enslaved unit. We have to pull a hurt SH hoping to rest into the fray,
and he kills the last conscript TG - razing the city nets *7* workers to sacrifice.
Olmecs are now OCC. Yet they STILL won't talk?!
IBT - Just one SH vs SH battle which we lose.
[9] 1395 - Their hurt SH is next to an elite JT. Still no leader, but another slave.
[10] 1400 - Scary screen IBT - check this out...
I saw the 'End of Game' title and gasped! It gives you a countdown, just 20 turns left
now. No time for Plan A, but Plan B is about to be completed.
The Olmecs won't talk. I move 6 Hunters next to their last city. Still no talk.
The game is one and a half round from victory, and we're in anarchy. I'll finish it up.
IBT - Inca and Moche come to peace.
[11] 1405 - Just 3 TG's at Olmec capital. R, W, W, will they talk? They will not.
In goes one more Hunter... they will not mock the Mayans!! Potonchan falls and
That's five more slaves. (We're doing much better on slaves than leaders this round)
It is time for the great bloodletting of history that will cause ALL nations to
bow down and acknowledge our greatness!! No less than 28 Olmec slaves are ritually
sacrificed at the altar of Copan. This is more than enough...
IBT - The Anarchy is over, and we select Blood Cult, on this most auspicious year!
As soon as we do, the cultural victory is ours. In Copan Olmeca, 2000 pts, and for
our entire civ, 7158 pts. Colmeca is the top city in the world. We're 5th in approval
rating, third in area and GNP, first in income. Palenque is #3 city, Tula is somehow #4,
while the capital of the Altec dogs is #2, and the Incan capital is #4. Hrm, there is
a cap of 2K period on the city culture. Copan is listed as having just 2K instead of
the 2145 I expected (city culture before/after: 1724/2000, civ: 5975/7095).
Fortunately the civ culture did continue to grow with the sacrifices.
Time: 26 hrs, 39 min, 37 sec. Final score: 2870 (Deity)
In Blood Cult, btw, our city support shot up to 40 units, more than the 35 we had.
Here is the
Pre-victory save file. Just hit enter and select Blood Cult.
Well played team, I'm sorry that a 7K victory wasn't possible - I underestimated
how quickly our foes would amass culture, although it was 'right on' to be able to
reach 7K civ culture with less than 20 turns to go until the time limit.
Charis
they dont have the knowledge. Remembering his fathers experience with the Incas, he wasnt in a hurry to get them after him again, and he knew he would need the help, or at least Right of Passage, from the Moche to get to the Incas, so they were out. He established an Embassy with the Aztecs (58g). Their capital was defended by 8 Temple Guards, 2 archers, and had four settlers. (Justus-Jaguar III looked at the pitiful band of warriors surrounding his palace and sighed). However, he did not yet have enough money to try and Carefully send a spy to get the information he needed, so he decided to wait and prepare. Meanwhile, the Toltecs had felt the brunt of his wrath (OK, Dwips wrath) long enough, and would teach us Pack Animals for peace, as well as giving us a Right of Passage through their lands (which we would need). Looking at his cities, he decided we needed at least two more Guards (Yax, Palen), while Chichen and Copan started building Tambos (actually it was secret training for Silent Hunters). 
Not sure if this is a good thing or not, it was part of Justus plan for later, but will it slow the Incas down or give them more sacrificial workers? Regardless, our military is weak compared to either of them, so we cant do much about it but watch.
Troops are still a couple of turns away frmo the Incans.
