The Mayans

[axxessdenied]

My current emperor game is with the mayans and they are just an insane powerhouse when it comes to production. Keeping up in research has been no problem at all through trade. I didnt do the democracy switch which I think might have been a mistake, might have to fall a bit behind right now and do the switch, but I'm going to be doing some serious conquering so I'm gonna stick it out in republic and then go to communism once my campaign for world domination begins

You can't argue with a food bonus and a shield bonus and with faster workers. Even if industrial has been toned down in C3C, the combo of agri and indus is a powerful combo.

 

[troytheface]

this one was indeed interesting as I have had terrrible success with the Mayans. (emperor/huge/continent) I have won with almost every other civ on this level , but not with the Mayans. Rather have the Babyonian Bowmen as a UU. Tech was the issue with this civ i think. They are listed as a first tier civ... i would have placed them as a third.

 

[Longasc]

I remember, you were the one that was so fond of the Hittites, right? Always swimming against the stream, eh?

 

[troytheface]

yeah i like to test things out, i prefer spain and its crazy uu but suspect i may have just been tryiny to pull off a win with them (Emperor/huge/cont) But Hittites are like having panzers early-i can just plow thru the ai civs when i use them...i usually get a leader so i have an army led stack of three man ...i was not purely being a provocatur
with the ol Hittites. I wrote on the Roman thread about my war mongering theory which has to do with attack uu's with a defensive bonus.- which i contend make the best attack force and best war mongering civs-a thorough explaination for the Hittites strength is on the Hittite thread..yes derided in the review i have a compleltly different evaluation- and with these mayans as well, yes.

 

[Zardnaar]

yeah i like to test things out, i prefer spain and its crazy uu but suspect i may have just been tryiny to pull off a win with them (Emperor/huge/cont) But Hittites are like having panzers early-i can just plow thru the ai civs when i use them...i usually get a leader so i have an army led stack of three man ...i was not purely being a provocatur
with the ol Hittites. I wrote on the Roman thread about my war mongering theory which has to do with attack uu's with a defensive bonus.- which i contend make the best attack force and best war mongering civs-a thorough explaination for the Hittites strength is on the Hittite thread..yes derided in the review i have a compleltly different evaluation- and with these mayans as well, yes.

The UU with the higher attack value of speed usually make better defenders as well.

 

[andy80]

The Mayans are also a good Civ to start next to, at least on Monarch level. If you lose a battle to the JT's, there's a 1/3 chance you'll capture it as a worker later on.

 

[Zapp Brannigan]

Freakin' Fantastic!!!!

From Civ I, through my Civ Career I have always been a Rome snob. I had played as England Germany, and Greece once or twice, but 99% of civ games I've playing the past 13 years have been Rome.

That’s all about to change.

After reading your review I start a game as the Mayans on Saturday, and I am thoroughly blown away. They are AMAZING. The industrial/Agricultural combo is the best in the game.

The enslavement feature cannot be overlooked. I have about 40 slaves working my land, and have by far the best land improvements in the game.

Unfortunately I am a bottom tier civ in this game right not, due to an ill-advised war around 500 AD. After making peace, I went into a peaceful building mode, and it was then that I was sold on the Mayans, I quickly went from a poor, unadvanced civ, to having the best infrastructure in the game, and being in the top 3 scientifically, when I was previously the dumbest civ.

I am currently embroiled in the annihilation of the treacherous Hittites (who have now taken the place of the Zulu as my most hated civ). I am bogged down with war weariness, and I am falling behind in scientific advancement, and other areas. But I am confident that once I destroy the vile Hittites I will be able to catch up quickly due to the Mayans advantages.

Thanks for bringing this civ to my attention, and great review!

 

[dgfred]

Though never playing the Mayans, they seem extra tough. In my current
Emp game as Iroquois, I have only 5 cities on a continent with Spain and
Portugal. I checked F11 to look at top 5 cities in world---their capital is
size 11 already , my capital is size 5!!! They also already have the
Pyramid. Man, what a powerhouse .

 

[Helton]

I'm a builder player, and I've never seen a Civ better at making high shield and growth like the Mayans can. With an abundance of rivers, they're almost unstoppable.

 

[Darkness]

I agree! The Maya are a great civ (though not the best IMHO)...
Negative points of the Maya:
- Automatic (early) GA upon building Pyramids. The Pyramids are the best Great Wonder in the game, so you want to build it ASAP, but not before you change your government to republic. Balancing these two is difficult in some games.
- Slow UU. Enslavement is nice and all, but I'd take a two-move UU over the JW anytime.

But despite these the Maya are a great civ, with the two best traits in the game...

 

[Longasc]

I would say, the Mayans have a sexy trait combo and enslavement has its uses, too!

But I would say: Celts! Or even the Arabs!
Not only sheer production and enslavement for cheap workers, but discount on the cheap early temples and offensive UU's.

So I would say they are really good, but their leaderhead is ugly, their city names terrible, and they are so goddamn popular!

Enough reason to hate them, hehe...

I like Bach's and the Sistine Chapel btw most, I usually never build the Great Pyramids, sometimes I capture them.

 

[Mad2rix]

The Mayans might have been powerful during the early through middle part of the game, however their UUs could trigger a wasteful Golden Age in which it's consider useless in my IMO. If you wish to enslave more workers, try to lure your Javelin Throwers near the barbarian encampment by not allow other AI from destroying it but defeat as many wimpy barbarians to produce free cheap workers. If you choose to build The Pyramids to trigger early GA, it's up to you whether you build Statue of Zeus if you have ivory, or pump more UU, Horsemen, or Swordsmen for temporary use to defend or harass any annoying neighbors standing your way.

 

[Pfeffersack]

IMHO, the problems with early GAs are overrated... Ok, having an GA in despotism isn't ideal, but it is far away from being useless.You will get the shield and commerce bonus on most of the tiles (the only important exceptions are mined bonus grasslands for shields or river tiles for commerce and some ressource/terrain combos).The second point is the number of cities.If I have one or two cities, someone attacks me and my UU triggers the GA, I agree it is wasted.But how often does this situation happen? Stay away from ultra early wars, pay tribute if necessary...and about the pyramids...I think in most cases you will have more than a few cities if you manage to build a wonder.And a last point: later golden ages will bring of course bigger absolute reward, but the early earned shields and commerce have a greater impact on the game.

 

[Nell2ThaIzzay]

I've normally found myself using the Persians as my civ, but I recently tried out the Mayans. I've been doing pretty good with them (I'm in right now what is quite possibly my best game ever on the Regent level), but I never thought they'd be so widely praised.

I still don't know which civ I like best between the Persians and the Mayans, tho. I'm enjoying them both.

 

[Nergal]

I've been playing through some of the Civs, trying various techniques. Thought I would give the Maya a go and boy was I surprised. The map seems ideal, plenty of rivers, a cosy clump of 5 elephants and a nice chokepoint to hold of the Iroquois while I enslave the Russians who appear to be cowering in a corner. I'm impressed at their production speed without going for all out for it. Definitely a thumbs up from me.

 

[Zardnaar]

Wow I'm surprised people still read these old things. Long time since Ision and myself done them.

 

[Optional]

Wow I'm surprised people still read these old things. Long time since Ision and myself done them.

Don't be so surprised! They still have their value, they're not out dated, or are they?

Not a lot of people dare respond to an old thread like this, and that poster - what was his name - probably didn't realise he was thread bumping; it was only his first post.
But I'm not playing Civ for that long myself, and it's even shorter that I discovered this site, so it's really not that long ago that I read those civ reviews, and I can tell you: they're great! Why would I care if they were written in 1957?

 

[Zardnaar]

Don't be so surprised! They still have their value, they're not out dated, or are they?

Not a lot of people dare respond to an old thread like this, and that poster - what was his name - probably didn't realise he was thread bumping; it was only his first post.
But I'm not playing Civ for that long myself, and it's even shorter that I discovered this site, so it's really not that long ago that I read those civ reviews, and I can tell you: they're great! Why would I care if they were written in 1957?

I don't think they were ever completed as there were a few civs that weren't done. Ision left and I done a few more but kinda ran out of juice as I stopped playing Civ3 so much and it became a bit repetitive . The articles could amost be condensed to a single paragraph.

XYZ Civ is a good civ beause they have stong traits or the traits have synergy. Their UU is weak/goo/strong etc.

 

[shinsei]

These articles are great,since i've just recently started playing civs,these were still new to me.but again,i think most people are playing civ4 by now,which my computer can't run normally because my graphic card isn't enough for it.

 

[Nergal]

I do play Civ4 but the current spec of trhe pc I'm using is on the edge of it being usable. Frequent crashes due to virtual memory getting stuffed etc. I deliberately hunted for the guides to see what other people thought. And they are well done and much appreciated.

On a side note, after playing the Mayans a few times I've found that the javelin thrower, while interesting, isnt really worthwhile as a unit but the Mayans production ability makes it a star for the swordsman rush.