Montezuma

[Willem]

I suppose that's one way of looking at it, but coming that early I quite often don't have much of a military either, so I might end up really suffering from one of his attacks. Though that hasn't been a problem for quite some time now. I've become so paranoid about Barbs that I'm typically the most powerful civ in the game early on.

[Theben]

I think I know why I like the Native Americans so much. The Dog Soldiers means I can skip archery for a while and not worry about getting copper, and still not to have to worry about barbs.

Last week I played Darius and was attempting an early Immortal rush of Brennan, but before I could really get going my lone warrior got killed by 3 barb warriors and they razed my 2nd city. By the time I recovered I wasn't in any position to do the rush. OTOH with FIN/ORG traits I still managed to become the most powerful civ on the continent, but my friend elsewhere was #1 overall.

[Hauptman]

Im pretty sure it is Monties goal to become a vassal. Ive beaten the snot out of him before and ended the war before annihalation due to overextending or war weriness, expecting to finish him later only to watch him declare on the most powerful civ the very next turn.

He's someones vassal by the gunpowder era in 75% of my games.

Tokugawa is a GREAT friend as long as you join him in his first war. Then you just make sure you drag him into your wars after that instead of having him drag you. Before you know it he asks to be your protecterate and whalla, perma allied.

[rah]

I play vassels off, so I can nibble, take all his money, and repeat. He'll keep declaring war every 10 turns. Eventually he'll be so weak that you can finish him off. If he's close I like to do it early since it's rare that he's into infrastructure, so might as well get the cities early so you can get something out of them later in the game.

In one game he surprised me by wonder whoring in his cap. I was shocked, and pleased when I took his cap.

[Krill]

Monty and Toku just can't cope on low levels; give them the bonus on high levels and they actually become a threat. Never great threats though, unless they find someone to beat the snot out of.

Shaka is actually a capable opponent on lower levels though because he does tech trade with the other AIs IIRC, and so keeps up in tech then kills/vassalizes them.

[Blaupanzer]

Monty is extrovertly insane. He's mad as hell and everybody else is going to have to take it. Like most bullies, his core is hollow once you get past his SOD. Toku is introvertly insane. He wants everyone to leave him alone and seems to regard the act of border touching as an assault on his personal honor. He falls behind quickly and stagnates.

Taking Monty as your own civ permits very serious war-mongering, especially if you have your own religion. His is the champion slaving civ with his UB. His UU is only really useful if the starting map location has a lot of forest or jungle. Gliding thru the jungle to pick off a city on the opposite edge is fun and repeatable. I've had good luck with Monty.

Toku as a civ has a very late, not clearly useful, UB and a magnificent UU. All that unit promotion screams out for war early and often. Difficult to manage financially.

[wodan11]

Monty and Toku just can't cope on low levels; give them the bonus on high levels and they actually become a threat.

That's why they usually do well in my games, that and I have tech trading off which negates the benefit more friendly AIs get.

[Blaupanzer]

What civ/leader do you usually play as, wodan11? I tend toward organized and creative civs, but lately have been trying different leader/civ combos for a series of games (3 or 4), to get a feel for that leader and civ combination.

[wodan11]

What civ/leader do you usually play as, wodan11?

Random. I enjoy variety. Same is true of game strategy. I don't favor specific strategies; rather, I usually try to get the most out of lesser known or lesser used strategies.

[joncnunn]

Would anybody else be tempted to DOW someone if they granted a landmass independence and it turned out that either Montezuma or Tokugawa was the new leader of it?

[prelynmax]

I know Monty is a raging lunatic, but if you spam your religion early and give him an occasional gift/tribute he will like you.

[Blaupanzer]

Just because he likes you, you are not safe. A low bribe from someone else will trigger him into war against you.

[Hauptman]

I know Monty is a raging lunatic, but if you spam your religion early and give him an occasional gift/tribute he will like you.

I played a OCC game a while back, in wich i shared a minor isle with Monty. I gave him EVERYTHING he asked for, joined him in every war (even if he didnt ask) and stayed friendly the entire game. Then towards the end having only the negative of close borders, his choppers came and pillaged my fat cross and killed my chance of a win. That rat bastard. He was pleased with me still even during the war. Smiling at me as he lost the game for me. Insult to injury.

[joncnunn]

Montezuma
Aztec Empire
Aggressive, Spiritual
fav. civic: Police State
fav. religion: none
favors: military, religion
builds wonders: never
trains units: very often
aggression level: very high
espionage level: moderate
tech trading: willing, 50%
base peace weight: 0
peace probability (%): 0/30/80/100
attack courage: very high
will raze city: often
refuses to talk delay: long
warmonger respect: 2
base: –1, share war: +1 (max. +4)
favourite civic: +1 (max. +2)
same religion: +1 (max. +2)
different religion: –2
close cultural borders: max. –4
worse/better rank difference: –3/0
technology: annoyed
strategic bonus: cautious
happiness bonus: annoyed
health bonus: annoyed
maps: pleased
open borders: annoyed
declare war: annoyed, declare war on X: pleased
stop trading: annoyed, stop trading with X: cautious
adopt civic: cautious, convert religion: cautious
defensive pact: pleased
permanent alliance: pleased
vassal state: pleased

[joncnunn]

What's worse than Monty is when Monty wins a war against another AI that would normally be peaceful and drags him in on his next war.