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Age of Empires 2: The Conquerors Tactics & Guides -> Civilization -> The Aztecs -> Page 3

The Aztecs

Military Analysis

The Barracks

The Aztecs receive every Barracks unit aside from the Halberdier upgrade. Lacking Cavalry, and having a Unique Technology that benefits all Barracks units, expect to see a lot of infantry from an Aztec player.

The Archery

The Aztecs get Arbalests and Elite Skirmishers, but since they get no mounted or gunpowder units, they are missing Cavalry Archers and Hand Cannoneers. They are missing a few critical archer upgrades as well - Thumb Ring and Ring Archer Armor. Nowhere near as good with archery as their Meso-American brothers, and with their ability to counter infantry with infantry, the only unit that should see action here is the Elite Skirmisher, but even that will not see quite as much action, since Eagle Warriors also counter archers.

The Stable

Just like the Mayans, the Aztecs cannot even build a stable. Is this a problem? Not likely, as the Aztecs have many other weapons they can use.

The Siege Workshop

The Aztecs have a decent Siege Workshop, with the full line of rams and onagers, only lacking the Heavy Scorpion and Bombard Cannon. Having Siege Onagers allows the Aztecs to effectively counter archers and other siege weapons and should be researched against civilizations using either of the above. Having Siege Rams makes rams + infantry a very enticing option for leveling towns.

The Monastery

The only thing missing from the Aztec Monastery is the Missionary, but who needs that when the Aztecs have super Monks? If the Aztec player is going heavy on Monks, then all the cheap technologies will probably be researched to add hit points, with only the prohibitively expensive technologies being left untouched. 5 hit points can go a long way, especially when it is cumulative. Spending gold on Monastery technologies is even easier with the lack of gold-intensive cavalry to waste gold on.

The Dock

The dock is by far the Aztecs' weakest point, since they are the only civilization to lack the Galleon. The only Imperial Age ship they have access to be the Fast Fire Ship, which while having its uses at times, is generally a waste of time to build. At all costs an Aztec player should avoid playing on water (or equally, a water player should avoid playing Aztecs). Unless the sea is taken early, it will be next to impossible for the Aztec to gain control in the later game. They do have access to Dry Dock and Careening, which means that their transports will be fairly effective in launching surprise landings, or in evacuating to an ally's town in island games once the enemy has surrounded their island with superior ships.

Technology Analysis

The Aztecs, like the Mayans, are fairly lacking in the technology department, which means that what they do have is fairly important to have researched.

Economic Technologies

Economically the Aztecs aren't missing much, and coupled with their +5 carrying capacity, this allows them to collect resources more efficiently than most other civilizations. The only technologies they are missing are Guilds and Two-Man Saw. Neither is extremely important, but Guilds can be nice to have at times.

Military Technologies

Besides missing every cavalry technology there is, the Aztecs also manage to lack the upgrades for some of the more important ranged units, as previously mentioned. Add on top of this their very poor ship line, and you see how they are balanced with the other civilizations, considering they have such a strong infantry line.

They miss out on Masonry and Architecture, two semi-important technologies that usually aren't researched by most players. These technologies do make a difference however, as Aztec buildings won't stand up as long as those of other civilizations which have these technologies.

The Aztecs' wooden buildings won't be the only things falling, as they also miss out on hoardings, allowing their castles to fall more quickly than other civilizations' castles which do have this technology. This is not too critical most of the time - when the enemy has six trebuchets firing on your castle it is doomed anyway - but in certain situations, those extra hit points can turn a game.