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!

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.