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

The Mayans

Military Analysis

The Mayans have their own style of play, subtlety different from other civilizations. This results from the units that are and are not available to them.

The Barracks

The Mayans have a complete barracks through the ages until they reach Imperial Age. They are able to research the halberdier (essential for defense against heavy cavalry) but do not get the Champion upgrade. This means that if they pursue plain infantry, they are only capable of getting the Two Handed Swordsman upgrade. While this unit is useful, it is largely inferior to the Champion. As a result, Mayan players will avoid throwing infantry up against other infantry in Imperial because they will more than likely lose. The Mayan substitute here will be Elite Eagle Warriors, also researched and built at the Barracks, likely backed with either cheap archers, Plumed Archers or heavy scorpions when facing enemy infantry.

The Archery

Mayans receive the full compliment of foot archers all the way up to the Arbalest in Imperial Age. Since they have no horse units they do not get Cavalry Archers (nor the Parthian Tactics upgrade). Because Mayans do not get gunpowder units, they also cannot build hand cannoneers. This limits their archery options, and as such the Mayan has no replacement for the raiding capabilities of cavalry archers. This may not be a huge loss however since cavalry archers still remain expensive and not hugely improved.

The Stable

The Mayans do not receive cavalry units, and similarly cannot construct a stable. This is a significant point when playing Mayans - their lack of cavalry units means they must find a replacement for the roles cavalry usually occupy. In general the Eagle Warrior does this. While this is reasonably well done once the unique technology is researched, the Castle Age Eagle Warrior is rather weak compared to the knight of other civilizations (although substantially cheaper), which makes it less appropriate for a role similar to the knight in Castle Age attacks. It is more suitable as support in such an attack. Due to its base piercing armor of 2, the Eagle Warrior can survive some town center fire, but its lack of hit point's make it unsuitable for a pure Eagle Warrior attack.

The Siege Workshop

The Mayan siege workshop is fairly well stocked, missing only the siege onager upgrade and bombard cannon upgrade. Mayans rely reasonably heavily on siege in Castle Age, both on attack and defense, since they lack the power of the knight in these roles. Their lack of Champions means that elite Eagle Warriors will be prevalent, which are vulnerable to enemy champions. This can be offset with the use of heavy scorpions, one of the Mayan siege weapons available.

The Monastery

The Mayans have a reasonably substantial Monastery, with most of the technologies available to them - they miss only Redemption (conversion of enemy buildings/siege) and Illumination (regeneration). Their monks look different from those of other civilizations (aside from Aztecs) but function the same. Missing Redemption can be something of a loss in a monk heavy Castle Age attack, but is generally not as useful as Sanctity or Fervor (and is more expensive). The loss of Illumination is not hugely concerning.

The Dock

The Mayans have a range of warships identical to the Briton navy - they can build every ship except for cannon galleons. This puts them at a disadvantage on water-based maps, as they have no way to remove coastal castles without landing first. This means that galleon fleets will be largely employed by the Mayan to make space for landings in Imperial if the Mayan cannot land earlier. The Mayans receive no naval bonuses at all, making their navy not particularly strong.

Technology Analysis

The range of technologies available to a civilization is as important as the military units it can build. The Mayans, despite their lack of stable units and technologies, have a substantial number of other technologies available.

Economic Technologies

The Mayans do fairly well in this department, gaining every economic upgrade except for gold shaft mining. The lack of this is slightly offset by the fact that Mayan resources last 20% longer and so mining is more efficient for longer.

Military Technologies

While the Mayans do not receive any of the stable unit technologies, they receive every other upgrade at the blacksmith. This means their main units are fully upgradeable. They also receive every technology at the university aside from bombard towers and siege engineers. The loss of siege engineers is significant, making them far weaker in trebuchets wars, which is quite a telling point in Imperial Age, and especially so in deathmatches where large numbers of trebuchets are employed.