Civilisations of the ages: The Aztecs I'm aware some of you may have seen my posts at Age of Kings heaven. Basically, this is a saf sorry excuse for a comprehensive civilisation guide series for lesser skilled players who want to find out a bit about a civilisation they aren't familar with, or possibly, the forumer with way too much time on his hands and who needs something to read. I tend to be a bit longwinded, but at the same time I hope these are fairly comprehensive articles. While I don't anticipate a huge response on this, as naturally the majority of forumers will see the heading and assume I'm an idiot newbie but hey...it might get a few positive hits. Anyways, enjoy. Or not. Your choice. The Aztecs by TheShadowDawn A mighty empire that spanned much of central America, the Aztecs were a unique civilisation with advanced techniques in stoneworking and other areas but primitive to the point where they lacked simple technologies like the wheel and ironworking. Well known for their bloody beliefs where they sacrificed prisoners, criminals and unwilling citizens to their gods often, the Aztecs were an isolated, unique society in the view of medieval Europe and Asia. The Aztecs of Age of Kings make a single-dimensional civilisation, yet diverse and powerful in their own right; with powerful Infantry and a similarly powerful economy. --Aztec Bonuses-- - Relics gather gold 33% faster - Start with Eagle Warrior instead of Scout - Villagers carry +5 resources - All military units created 15% faster - Monks gain +5 HP for every monastery technology researched Relics gather gold 33% faster This one is valuable in any game. In a 1v1, this will give the Aztec [obviously] more gold for his relics than his opponent. Considerably more in fact. Whereas on a team game, the advantage is still applied to whichever ally had the sense to grab the relics. While there are only 5 relics on every map, they can make all the difference for economic strength. Start with Eagle Warrior instead of Scout As with their meso-American counterparts; the Mayans, the Aztecs start with an Eagle Warrior instead of the ordinary Scout Cavalry. This has merits and disadvantages. The Eagle Warrior has double the line-of-sight as a regular scout, the same as a Mongolian Scout�s LOS in the Dark Age. However, unlike the Scout Cavalry, the Eagle Warrior�s LOS does not improve as you advance through the ages. So while the EW has a better LOS in the Dark Age, in Feudal it�s the same, in Castle the Scout has better. And, of course, Scouts move faster so cover more ground in the same time, so after the initial Dark Age period, the Scout Cavalry is a superior scouting unit. Another point to note is that the EW, being slower, is a lot more prone to TC and tower arrows and can�t be replaced during the Feudal Age, where a Scout can. In the end it all comes down to a matter of personal preference as to which is better. All villagers carry +5 At first appearance only a minor bonus, this has fairly significant implications for the power of the Aztec economy. In early game it makes them more efficient hunters, towards the Feudal/early Castle age, they have notably faster farmers, and in the Imperial Age they indubitably have the most efficient lumberjacks. However this bonus can be a minor irritation, because in the first few minutes of the game, you will be required to �force dump� resources far more often than other civilisations. All military units created 15% faster On the military outlook this one has automatically given the Aztecs a huge advantage on everyone else. Where an ordinary Champion (with conscription) takes 16 seconds to produce, an Aztec Champion takes a mere 12 seconds. This applies to all units save villagers, including the Aztec Monks, which cuts production time significantly. Monks gain +5 HP for every monastery technology researched As said, your Monks gain an extra 5 HP for each monastery technology you buy. So with a couple of hundred gold you can double the strength of your Monks, which when coupled with the new technologies like Theocracy, makes a terrifying force to deal with. A Monk with all the monastery technologies will have an amazing 95 HP and will convert a Paladin before it even gets close to dying. --Aztec Strengths-- Champions, Jaguar Warriors This one�s pretty damn obvious. Captn_Kidd rated Aztec Champions as 13 out of 10 in his �quick and dirty� civilisation overview. Not only are they produced faster, but with Garland Wars they have a terrifying 21 attack fully upgraded. Phew. Alternately, Aztec Jaguar Warriors are a beefed up Champion that moves faster and slaughters other Infantry units by the droves, but at the same time are less viable as they require to be produced at a castle and cost more. Pikemen Many have lamented the Aztecs� lack of the Halberd upgrade. Though it�s fairly obvious why. If they got it, the Aztecs would have a �trash� or gold-free unit that not only produced faster than everyone else�s� � a powerful enough advantage in its own right - but have a staggering fourteen attack when fully upgraded. Even so, Aztec Pikemen have twelve attack, but lack five hit points on everyone else�s Halberds. Still, Aztec Pikemen are indubitably one of the better �trash� units. Monks With more HP than a Champion when fully-upgraded, Aztec Monks are likely the most terrifying unit in the entire game. The two techs that prevent one�s wholesale destruction at the hands of these units � Faith and Heresy - are both extremely expensive, and not even available to all civilisations. An Aztec player is wise to invest in Monks. While one does not necessarily need the expensive technologies, some, like Fervour or Sanctity are very cheap, and getting these cheaper ones can effectively double the Monk�s HP and with it their endurance and usefulness in intensive combat. --Aztec Weaknesses-- Cavalry Cavalry fills many roles - no matter what civilisation you are. Mainly, cavalry is used for destruction of siege, raiding enemy farms and trade routes and nullifying archers. To fill the role of siege destruction, and for spearheading anti-archer attacks, the Aztecs have Eagle Warriors, but in battle Eagle Warriors lack the sheer power of Cavalry and the ability to take the hits while dealing them out. With a paltry 60 HP, Aztec EEW can be brought down in a handful of hits from units such as Hand Cannons or Paladins. As well as this, the Aztecs lack the practical gold-less raiding ability of Light Cavalry and Hussars. Navy The Aztec navy is absolutely pitiful. Lacking Cannon Galleons, Demo Ships and most importantly *Galleons*, the Aztecs can hardly hope to compete in drawn out naval battles and on water maps in general. Their only hope is to win water control early and leave it to their allies to retain control. --Common Misconceptions-- The biggest misconception relating to the Aztecs is that they are totally useless on naval maps; however as I mentioned above, this is not true. Their faster docks thanks to their all military produced faster bonus make them exceptional at taking and retaking the seas early on, and throughout Feudal and Castle most civilisations have all the same options anyway. In Imperial, of course, they have Fast Fire Ships which are while considerably more costly in the later stages of the game, still effective naval combat units. The other misconception there seems to exist about the Aztecs is that their Archers are useless. This is not true, certainly they lack Thumb Ring and the final armour upgrade, but they are still Arbalests, and that�s what counts. --Through the Ages-- The Aztec Dark Age is little different from normal, save the initial ball and chain presented by the necessity to force drop food and wood much more often, and the later advantage when hunting so that less villagers are needed to fetch all the food back, or they get it more efficiently. Moving to the Feudal Age, the Aztec can try flushing if he wishes, being a more advantageous civilisation for this. His more efficient farmers are a good support for a skirmisher flush. And faster produced military makes Men-at-Arms and Archers more useful too. However, the Aztecs � in my opinion - have more potential using their own variety of the Mayan KLEW. While perhaps not as fast as the Mayan one nor quite fulfilling the �lightning� part of the Eagle Warrior rush, it�s still a powerful option. So the Aztec builds another barracks or two and prepares to Castle. So, having reached the Castle Age the Aztec begins immediate mass-production of Eagle Warriors funded by the gold-mining he thoughtfully strengthened in the Feudal Age. It�s important to keep in mind the longer production time of Eagle Warriors than ordinary Knights, which is why the Aztec made sure he had several barracks�s; so he field the EW�s as quickly he could afford them. While statistically weaker than Knights, the practical ability to field Eagle Warriors with such ease and so little strain on your boom makes them all the more powerful. Feudal Age armies have no practical counter to EW�s, so the Aztec uses this to his advantage as much as possible to harass his opponent as much as possible. When his opponent reaches the Castle Age, he will invariably attempt to use Knights to beat off the Aztec�s Eagle Warriors. This is why he is prudent to build Pikes, for while the EW�s can hold their own it�ll work to his advantage to use Pikemen in some key positions to discourage Knights. Moving into later Castle, an enterprising Aztec will begin taking advantage of the monastery bonus and buy up the cheaper Castle Age techs and begin using monks. Sure the Aztecs don�t get cavalry, but they can convert someone else�s! Now, having probably decided to jump to Imperial Age during a lull in heavy fighting that�s prevented the Aztec from annihilating his enemy by now, he upgrades immediately to Two-Handed Swordsman and begins his preparing his to Champ flood. Following a successful boom, he can probably field 30-40 Two-Hand Swords in two or three minutes and then follow up by giving them the Champion upgrade. If he begins to run into he wood and food surpluses, the Aztec is not unwise in using pikes along with his Champs, even if he is not playing a Cavalry reliant civilisation. Eventually, the Aztec either overwhelms his enemy with the sheer force of numbers his Infantry provide, or he loses. Either one. --Combined Arms-- Every civilisation in the game has some weakness in some form. Striking at these weaknesses should be a high priority of enemy tactics, as is the game�s nature. To prevent this you must cover these weaknesses at all costs. The best way to do this is by even more extensively accentuating the strengths of the civilisation in question. This reinforces my law of AoK: A unit is only as good as your ability to back it up. In doing this, we create what are commonly called �combos� or using multiple units in our tactics to cover the weaknesses of one with the strengths of another. Response unit: Eagle Warriors While Aztec Eagle Warriors are expensive and impractical as combat units past the gold-plentiful era of the Castle Age, the Aztecs need these right through to late game as their response unit to unexpected threats, archers and siege primarily. General combat unit: Champions, Jaguar Warriors Always the greater part of any infantry-reliant civilisations military complement, Champions are hailed as *the* unit of AoK. They cost 20 gold, have no counter that costs less gold, and are produced in a handy 16 seconds; and dole out 17 attack fully upgraded. Aztec Champions are extra powerful with the extra attack given by their unique technology, Garland Wars, and have been proven the most effective in combat. Jaguar Warriors, combined with Champions are especially effective at combating enemy Infantry such as Champions, Teutonic Knights and Woad Raiders. They are faster and tougher than Champions, but do unfortunately require to be built from a Castle, which makes massing them almost out of the question when compared to the versatile Champion. Support unit: Monks The power of the Aztec Monk discussed earlier in the article proves the Aztecs the most practical civilisation to employ Monks against the enemy, possibly in the minds of many; the *only* civilisation to practically employ them. As well as the convenient boost provided to your own army and the chunk take out of the enemy�s when you convert a unit, Monks have a huge psychologically disintegrating effect on many players. And of course, having Monks around keeps your units alive longer and thus your resources go further. --Advantageous alliances-- Persians Persians have a problem in their lacking of Champions. Aztecs have a problem with lacking both cavalry and navy. Seems pretty simple, the strengths of one account for the weaknesses of the other. Both are fairly good economically and apart from those minor discrepancies are both powerful military civilisations as well. Byzantines The faster monk healing bonus the Byzantines have is a nasty addition for those Aztec monks to tote around with them; and the Byzantine arsenal makes a good complement to the solid Aztec infantry, with some solid Imperial tactics and some creative ones earlier on� Spanish Similar to the Persians, the Spanish have strong cavalry and navy and benefit from the strength of Aztec infantry. Another interesting point is the Spanish team bonus will greatly benefit the Aztec in trade as the Spanish is benefited with relics. Goths One huge weakness the Aztecs have is when facing Archer-heavy civilisations. Goths, with their impressive Huskarls naturally excel at fighting these civilisations, plus the Gothic Barracks speed bonus will rub off on the Aztec and improve infantry production even more. --Key Technologies-- Champion unit upgrade The entire Aztec offensive capability is reliant upon their Infantry line, they lack any other practical strength. And their Infantry�s power is reliant on getting the upgrades. The Champion upgrade costs a fair bit considering you�re trying to buy it basically 3 minutes into Imperial, so even if you�re forced to sell or buy resources to afford it, get it as quickly as possible. Blacksmith upgrades, Garland Wars As said in the previous; Aztec offensive capability is pivotal on their Infantry, so getting them to full power should be a priority. Critical to any civilisation�s continued success, blacksmith upgrades provide small but significant extra power to your units. The Aztec player should first get the two attack upgrades, then the armour, then the necessary techs as resources allow. Garland Wars isn�t cheap but then 4 more attack is nothing to laugh at either. The difference between a fully upgraded Champion and one lacking upgrades is quite vast. Onager unit upgrade The Aztecs have the unfortunate weakness against Archers and Hand Cannoneers. Onagers are the practical solution, and thinking ahead and upgrading and building *beforehand* will give one a large advantage when combating civilisations with a slight strength in the Archer area. Basically Onagers kill Archers and HC�s, and Champions kill everything else. It�s a pretty simple equation and while you might discredit the real value of the Onager, expensive to upgrade and build, you�d be surprised at how more effective you are against certain civilisations. If the game draws out enough, you may be inclined to upgrade further to Siege Onager, but it�s an expensive upgrade for a small advantage and I�d be disinclined to recommend getting it. --Conclusion-- The Aztecs have an excellent early game economy thanks to their extra carry bonus. Overall, the Aztecs are a competent early game civilisation, excelling in the Feudal and Castle Age, with a unique range of options available. The faster produced military makes many options stronger for them; their drawbacks being a lack of real options in the later game stages and are not very competitive on naval maps due to their complete reliance on Fire Ships for effective later game combat.