Aztecs

The Aztecs are one of the playable civilizations in Empires Apart. They are based on the Aztec culture in Central America centered around the lake city of Tenochtitlan. Formed in the 13th century, the Aztecs were known for their military conquests, economic influence and practical of ritual human sacrifice. The civilization peaked in the 1500s during the arrival of Spanish conquistadors from Europe, whom subjugated the Aztec Empire through strategic alliances with their enemies. The ruins of the Aztecs' island capital became a Spanish colony that would become modern-day Mexico City.

Gameplay

The Aztecs are described as an aggressive civilization with a rather unorthodox tech tree. The Aztecs do not upgrade their units at their production structures, rather their units upgrade naturally and for free through combat experience. This encourages them to protect their most valued units for later offensives. The Aztecs completely lack cavalry and siege weapons, however they make up for this deficiency somewhat with their elite units: the fast-moving Cuāuhtli and the Cuachic, which deals bonus damage vs. structures. Only a handful of economic and military upgrades are available to the Aztecs, and they lack towers and gates entirely, encouraging them to act early rather than build up.

Two Aztec infantry, the Telpocapiltontli and the Cuāuhtli, have the ability to capture enemies as prisoners by dealing the finishing blow while their Capture Stance ability is active. Prisoners are a crucial resource for the Aztecs: certain powerful units and technologies, including both the Aztec heroes, are only available by garrisoning and sacrificing a certain number of prisoners in the respective structures. Prisoners can be expended for free, instant-training villagers at the Tecpancalli or a number of powerful technologies researched at the Teocalli Quetzalcoatl and Teocalli Tezcalipoca. As such, the Aztecs must constantly be attacking their enemies to exploit their strengths and mitigate their weaknesses, creating a rather difficult style of play geared towards offense-minded players.

Heroes


 * Ahuitzotl
 * Acamapichtli

Units


 * Mācēhualli
 * Telpocapiltontli
 * Tepoztōpīlli
 * Tlaminani
 * Atlatl
 * Cuāuhtli
 * Cuachic
 * Tlamacazqui
 * Pochtecatl
 * Michmaliztli
 * Acalli
 * Acallaxtlahuiloni
 * Acalchimalli

Buildings


 * Tecpancalli
 * Calli
 * Tlaolcalli
 * Chinampa
 * Teocalli Quetalcoatl
 * Acalquixoayan
 * Teocalli
 * Tianquiztli
 * Tlachco
 * Telpochcalli
 * Tlaminacalli
 * Teocalli Tezcatlipoca
 * Mixtiani
 * Huei Teocalli
 * Caltepāmitl
 * Tepantli