TYOV: Gabriel Sol

[Excerpts from Thousand Year Old Vampire]

We were hunting for the creature that destroyed the village, but it found my squad first. I managed to only wound it before it used its incredible speed to crush my chest with a simple punch. As I crumbled before it, I remember looking up at its terrible visage as blood from its wound dripped onto my face.

After learning about the incident from Cortes, Catalina sailed across the sea to try save my soul. She didn’t accept what I had become, kept wishing for her old husband back, kept calling me a monster. It was too much, so just for her I became the monster she saw me as.

No way I'm getting anything historically accurate. :P

Now I set forth alone to track down the beast again, abandoning Cortes and the rest of the conquistadors in hopes that succeeding in this quest would absolve me of my trespasses in the eyes of God. The duel was more  more even this time until the beast broke my blade and fled the battle, leaving me equally broken. The only thing I gained in this fight is that I now can more easily blend into the shadows. A new gift from my sire.

I use it to defeat Ohtli, an Aztec warrior who was as equally cursed as I - taking his axe and eating his heart in victory. As my humanity continues to fade the church sends Cantor Infierni of the Iscariot Division to investigate. It is too dangerous to stay so I slip away far to the North and join a New French colony called Canada (now known as Quebec).

Civ VI: Aztec Protest

[Part of the Civilization VI story]

Knowing I would need to up my game against Montezuma and his Protestant Aztecs, I allied with the nearby city-state of Toronto and formed the Riders of Sumeria - warriors who fought on horse back, which are pretty close to the magnificent beasts that were donkeys. As expected, Montezuma rallied forces from the city-states of Hattusa and Stockholm to flank my troops but the warriors and archers of Toronto out matched them, somehow capturing Hattusa in the process!

For Quetza-Jesus-lcoatl!

Much respect is to be given to Montezuma's Eagle Warriors though, as they took to school everything I sent at them, including my new horsemen. However, since he spent so much time training Protestant preachers, his forces were again badly outnumbered and once forced to retreat within city walls we had them. Even hiding his capital behind a mountain range protected by the city-state of Valetta wasn't enough for him to hide as we soon captured both. Montezuma perished on that final battlefield with a small victory, he killed so many of my archers that it became a cursed profession and was made obsolete.

Still I was now in control of most of the known land, so I recruited the scholar Thomas Aquinas to found a new religion to combat the Protestant plague... Crablantisism! Yes. The worship of the mighty crab is a sure fire way to win the peoples hearts, minds and souls. Alas, it doesn't really gain any traction as the merchant Jakob Fugger informs me of yet another civilization nearby which gets all my attention... Greece.

Insight: Trade routes can also spread religion!

Civ VI: Carnival Science

[Part of the Civilization VI story]

With the North completely under control I now focus on the Southeast of the continent where my scouts had found the current scientific leaders of the world, the Brazilians led by Pedro. It takes some time to get all my forces in position along his border, including mercenaries from Zanzibar which gives him time to bolster his crossbowmen defense no doubt introduced to him by the great writer Qu Yuan, which individually out do my own archers.

However, upon declaring war by marching into his territory they are ill prepared for the numbers that come crushing into their cities all at the same time. The Zanzibar catapults certainly help bolster the battering rams and after a short and fierce battles all their cities become mine. I have to admire Pedro who didn't beg and plead for peace at the end like all the previous leaders and simply took that catapult thrown boulder to the face like a real man.

A saying spoken by those who have never been beaten by sticks or stones.

Meanwhile Qu Yuan fled to the neighboring territory to the South East, where we found him already killed by the Protestants there (or perhaps he killed himself?). That faith is quite problematic actually, as it is currently ranked number 1 in the world and backed by the huge and not so peaceful Aztec civilization.

Insight: Cities can be tough but will be overrun by superior numbers. You'll need more numbers if you are behind on the tech curve however.

Aztez

Can you change the fate of the Aztecs?

In this mostly black an white game with stylized art, you play as the Aztecs who are trying to change their fate against the Spanish invaders. Interestingly, there are two parts to the game.

The overland map plays much like a board game, where you are trying to strategically expand the empire to earn more resources that provide boons that can nullify negative events that pop up. Lose the capital and it's game over.

You can trap the conquistadors forever with some luck and some ruins!

The second part is a side scrolling brawler where you can send your chosen warrior(s) - the titular Aztez - to sort stuff out; Violently. This part is much harder and losing all your Aztez also results in a game over.

This makes for an interesting blend of strategy and action, and thankfully the game provides a training arena where you can practice your brawling skills against any enemy you've encountered. Some are really tough and none of them ever come alone.

It took a bit for me to get into this, and I did need to practice a bit in the arena but it is a pretty fun little game to occupy a day or afternoon. Just want to point out it's also rogue like, so don't think you can load a save game when things don't go your way. I give Aztez 3 festivals out of 5.

Insight: Always check the price of losing  a mission as warriors are not very easy to replenish.