Cool, I’m glad there’s creativity around AoE 4’s play style to create Mod civilizations. Personally, I’d also like to see more empires with their unique historical buildings and unique units. Además, resulta que soy Peruano y me agrada la cultura de mi paĂs.
Until now there are 3 versions of the Incas in the Age Franchise:
- The one from AoE 2 DE: with capayuk and slingers and strange eagle warriors (I don’t think the Incas knew what eagles were, maybe if they were condors, it would be condor-warrior).
- The one from AoE 3 DE: with chimu maceros, jungle archers, aclla priestesses (historically correct, because the Inca empire recruited soldiers from the jungle, coast and all other subject civilization).
- The one from the AoE 3 Mod, “Wars of Liberty”, with Inca riflemen, cannons and the legendary “Manco cavalry”, as master of that unit. I liked the defensive Tambo and the Inca loaded on a throne as a scout.
If I compare the version from 1500 to 1800 of AoE 3, my favorite version is the one from Wars of Liberty, it represents well both the periods of the Incas in confrontation with the Spaniards up to the viceroyalty with the revolution of Tupac Amaru. Of course, I like the AoE 3 DE version, but I think it needs to better recreate the period time of the game. WoL does it well since his troops represent both the troops of the Incas of Vilcabamba, those that the Incas had in the viceroyalty and those of the revolution of Tupac Amaru II. I´m either am very grateful that in the AoE 3 DE he finds a letter to reach the time of Tupac Amaru II.
And about medieval to renaissance versions, 400-1600… well, I think the AoE 2 DE version is in desperate need of a remaster for AoE 4. The one from AoE 3 DE for example is fine to represent the charm of this civ. in the medieval period. Of course, I loved that in AoE 3 DE they used the Tambo as a Trading Post, in WoL it replaces the Tower + Smithy, which is also valid since it is a multifunction building.
About Arquitecture, the Aoe 3:DE Win, and is beautiful. They represented very well how a Inca city could look. Even in Peru, there are very few artists who have bothered to recreate, even with drawings or animation, what the Inca cities were like; even in educational texts they only know how to take photos of ruins, so, im very gratiful with the work of AoE 3:DE Incas.
Now, about your idea, many things seem fine to me, although some could be reconsidered:
1.- I think that the nomadic mode could be a bit forced: except for their beginning, the Incas were not as nomadic, let’s say, as the Mongols. In fact, even for its 2 origin stories, that consist of the Ayar brothers and the couple of Manco Capac and Mama Ocllo founding Cuzco, the Incas Inca culture begins as a sedentary tribe, in fact all of their known buildi### have foundations.
- The Acllawasi can´t replace the university, because that building was only for acllas, beautiful womens educated to be priestesses or wives of nobles. The Incas nobles boys go to the Yachaywasi, that can be the university instead.
2.- ABOUT THE UNITS: I think it is very well written. About their ages:
- 1rst age: I would put the Hatun Runa/macana soldier (Inca weapon par excellence), curacas and the chasqui in the 1st age.
- 2nd age: the Inca slinger, bolas and noble spearman/Rinriyoq in the 2nd age (base units in the beginning of the empire)
- 3rd age: the Antisuyo archer (jungle archer), wooden swordsman and/or maceman, (troops from other conquered states) in the 3rd age, with the priestess.
- 4rd age: the handcannonerss, cavalry and cannons in a fourth age (Rebellion of Manco Inca and Incas of Vilcatoma). In fact, these units of gunpowder and cavalry could been created in some unique building (“Kallanca of stolen goods” for example).
If the Mongols have gunpowder (in the Mongol khanates of Kazan and the khanate of India), why would the Incas who obtained it in the last years of the empire not have it? Also, It is not that the Incas disappeared with the fall of their empire, they were only absorbed by the Spanish empire and most of their soldiers simply now served Spain, therefore they also had gunpowder, cannons and horses, only that at one time more peaceful (except for the English pirates).
- I would also add or modiffy some unique units:
2.1.- The “Caballito de totora” (cheap fishing boat).
2.2.- Totora Warship/Ch1nch4 warship.- Warship that throws stones from slingers.
2.3.- Tupac Yupanqui Float.- Big Warship that throws arrows and stones.
2.4.- Noble spearman/ Rinriyoq (Orejon).- spearman with good armor (2/2) and increased attack and hitpoints. Get more bonuses from technologies of inca nobles (Inca’s halberd, Hualcana, Golden weaponry)
History: Life in the Andes was anything but peaceful, the Incas were born as a military society, and the Inca nobility, the rinriyoq, were not exempt from military service. Their number was not low, it is narrated that Pachachutec created a personal guard of 10,000 men, all nobles. The battalions of nobles stood out in the Inca army for presenting decorated helmets, gold and silver weapons, elongated ears due to the use of heavy earrings, and the exclusive use of heavy metal breastplates. Likewise, they enjoyed better military training, being educated in the Yachaywasi from a young age. Many Spanish chroniclers even compared their prowess to that of European knights, and each Rinriyoc kill counted as a kill of an elite enemy soldier.
2.5.- Hatun Runa warrior.- cheap infantry (no gold) with star shaped Macanas and light armor with some arrows resistence (0/2). History: Because the Mita, every men from 25 to 50 years old had to do military or domestic services. Usually at a ratio of 1:50 were choosed to military service. The common men (Hatun Runa) recruited in the army had to serve at least 6 or 7 years, after that they returned to their ayllus. The most common equipment of the Cuzco Hatun Runa ethnia, usually was rectangular shield, an escaupil armor, a wood helmet, and a macana or a axe of stone, bone, copper or bronze.
2.6.- Chimu maceman.- chimu soldier with a big mace and a small shield. Fast infantry with a great attack (15-20), light armor (0/0) and a little bonus aggaints heavy armor. History: The Chimu was a great empire in the northwest coast of the actual Peru
2.7.- Curaca (Urban Center): economic unit with great combat stats, he acts as a “Chinese Imperial Officer”, but instead of Gold he collects “Food” generated in the colcas, and can supervice building to improve their production. Limited in number by age (2, 4, 8, 16)
History: Leader of an Ayllu (monophyletic family), in charge of taking care of the huacas of their families, managing workers, resuply the colcas, maintenance of roads and buildings, and enforce the law. In war, he leads the force of a batallion of his own ethnicity. For his service, he was allowed to have multiple wives, lands, many workers at his service, and be carried in a litter.
2.8- Sun Priestess/ Acllas of the Sun (Temple): Collect relics and conquer sacred sites. She can shelter in the Temple to provide extra food (they made textiles and chicha de jora, an alcoholic beverage of ceremonial value). With Ucchu technology she can ever sacrifice itself to bost military or economical units (human sacrifice)
History: They were virgin women of great beauty, who were given technical and religious education, to become priestesses or wives of high nobles. In case they became priestesses, they had to conserve their chastity for life.
Trivia: It’s funny, I didn’t know that the Inca empire had priestesses instead of priests (I found out when I saw the Inca design in AoE 3 DE). The head of the religion was the Inca, and there was a male high priest with 10 assistants, but after that they were all priestesses.
2.9.- Siegue weapons.- I can’t think of siege weapons, maybe it’s best to do as in AoE 3 DE with the american natives, limit them to their infantry units and archers but give them a certain siege damage bonus, or at least build rams without cover to destroy stone walls. The can either change their ability of make siegue towers to make traps of pits, or at leat sigue-stairs.
2.10.- Another units in common with other civs:
– Slinger/Huancana warrior.- ranged unit with great attack but low range. Shared with Mapuches (if they invent that race in a future) History: The sling is a weapon that has been reinvented many times and used by hundreds of civilization, usually to hunt and control livestook, but even for the war. The inca sling (huaraca) was not the exception: It was a weapon of the highlander ethnias, of two metters of lenght that can shoot rocks enough powerfull to kill a horse or break a steel sword in two pieces.
– Bolas’s warrior/Liwi warrior.- ranger unit with low attack and range. Their attacks can slow down enemies and has a bonus aggaints cavalry. Shared with Mapuches. History: The liwi/Bolas was a weapon of the sout of the empire (Collasuyo) usually to hunt and control livestook. It was used in the early stages of combat, to slow down and weaken enemies. During the Spanish conquest it found a better use, “stopping horses in full cavalry charge”, being applied by the Incas, and extensively by the Mapuche to repel the Spanish Cavalry.
– Archer: Represent the Antisuyo archer, only visual diferences (clothes) and began as elite archer. It get poison weapons as unique tech… UDDATE: With Malians, (and maybe Mexicas/Aztecs), now every civ. with Jungle archers share this technology.
– Spearman.- A normal spearman, and began as a elite spearman (3rd age). Represent the lancer of many ethnias of the Andes, can be the Cañami sperman design or the coast feathered versión.
UPDATE: I think instead of only 1 units for Orejon/ Qinriyoc, it can be two units: 1.- Hatuchak Chuki Rinriock/Long spear Orejon, with the 6 meter spear, and 2.- Kunca ####### Rinriyoq, with the short halberd (was short, but lethal) and bonus aggaints heavy armor. And both reemplaces either the Spearman and Men- at-arms, respectively.
UPDATE-2: The Hattun Runa can be either a unit shared with mexicas, as a “axeman” or “maceman”, and only change stetically: the Mexicas use a Tepoztli or a Quauholōlli and Inca version use a Chaska chuqui or Chambi, and the clothes.
2.11 ELITE VERSIÓN.- As the other civs, every unit of the army that get elite visually changes. History: Although military service had a minimum of 6 to 7 years, any soldier who stood out or considered working full time was promoted through the ranks. He was usually given an ax or a star club with 6 spikes, instead of the usual 5 spikes. The best soldiers could even receive titles of “privileged nobility”, even allowing them to wear metal alloys in their armor that included gold and silver, or ceremonial symbols of their ethnicity.
3.- UNIQUE BONUSES.- About unique bonds, I can think of good synergies, the curious thing is that I agree a lot with the “network of roads” and the Calpas. I have some unique ones:
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Gold without commercial value (New): Almost none of the technologies or military units of the Incas costs gold, only food, wood and stone, but not gold. Only Temples, Landmarks, Wonder, Priestesses, Rinriyoqs and nobility technologies cost gold.
History: The Incas did not see commercial value in gold or silver, since by religious tradition, these were considered the tears of the sun and the moon, and were only reserved for temples, religious artifacts, accessories and weapons of the nobility. Nor did they mint metal coins, most of the merchandise was exchanged using barter, both food and everyday objects (glasses, utensils, accessories, clothing, firewood, construction materials, etc). Some ######### merchants began to use sea shells as their first attempt at money, and did not mint coins until the Spanish arrived.
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Network of Inca roads (We agree): Infantry units and archers near a Tambo, Fortress or Urban Center receive a speed bonus (same as the Mongols but in infantry).
History: “All roads lead to Cuzco”, the Inca network of roads is even remarkable when compared to the Roman network, they covered hundreds of kilometers of extension, connecting the capital of the empire to the different points of conquest and population expansion. Since there were no horses and they depended only on their legs, the physical exhaustion of the military or even of the chasqui messengers was inevitable, the empire built thousands of inns and military shelters, the tambos, on the different roads. These had beds, spare weapons and even dry food, which could feed the empire’s troops on their journey to the borders of Tahuantinsuyo.
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You will never starve/ Food Emergency Supplies (This is new): The colcas are buildings that collect food every time a villager deposits resources in them, while the Curacas are in charge of collecting that food. You should never lack food, we suppose.
History: The Inca empire was not free from natural disasters. Droughts and floods caused by the El Niño phenomenon were a constant fear. To defend against possible droughts, the Inca empire ordered the construction of thousands of dry food warehouses, known as Colcas. The content of these colcas could vary from region to region, depending on the food of the area, they could be full of potatoes or just dry corn. Although ceramics, wood or construction materials could also be deposited, food could not be lacking: every time someone took food from a Colca, the local Curaca of that person’s ayllu was in charge of replenishing what was taken in the future, so that there would never be scarce. This system allowed that there were no famines in the empire.
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Hanan and hurin (New): The Incas create their units in pairs of 2.
H: Duality was an Inca concept that applied to the fact that each thing had its counterpart. This was applied with greater visibility in the army, where each batallion was divided into 2 groups with 2 captains for each of them, one represented the hanan, and another the hurin. It is said that even the Inca had his counterpart with the High Priest, either the Curacas has their counterpart with an assistant, the yanapaque.
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Human Sacrifices(New): Like the Mexicas (let’s imagine they exist), the Incas can also make sacrifices of units and cattle in the Ushnu. They generate temporary bonuses in productive or military units depending on the amount sacrificed. History: Yes, there are too many historical records that prove that the Incas sacrificed people, especially in times of famine or war, in religious festivals such as the Cápac Cocha. Usually they burned vegettables and animals, but either boys and girls, and even acllas were sacrificed, above all to scare the conquered peoples, who are the ones who supplied the children of their own peoples.
4.- UNIQUE BUILDINGS.- If I had to add unique buildings (not to advance in age, but unique to Incas) they would be:
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Kanchas: rectangular neighborhoods, they give you 10 or 15 population.
History: What seems curious to me and that I recently found out with the AoE 3 buildings, is that the Incas built their houses in rectangular “inner neighborhoods” called Kanchas, with a central plaza and the houses built on the walls of the rectangle.
I still don’t understand the food bonus over time in Aoe3DE, I guess it’s a way to compete with the Japanese shrines that produce free resources just for the sake of it. As I understand from the Letter “Distillation of Chicha de Jora”, they refer to this process in the Kanchas, although this work was generally done by the Acllas in the Acllahuasi or in temples. I guess they didn’t want to give the community center “priestess” unit even more powers, so they considered just including it in the house.
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Colca/Qullqas: Replaces the mill, logging and mining camp (we agree on that).
History: The Incas did not have mills to grind the grain, they kept the food by drying or fermenting it, generally in Tambos or Colcas. However, the Tambos were exclusively for military use, while the Colcas were food stores for the people. These stores were in charge of the heads of the Ayllu (families) and had to be constantly replenished in case there was a famine due to droughts or heavy rains. They were created specifically so that the people would not starve, in a kingdom where the wheel and carts did not exist, keeping supplies stable was the best way to avoid losing workers who traveled far.
Note: As in AoE 3 DE there are no food, wood or gold camps, no Colca camp was implemented, but now that AoE 4 is back, the characteristic deposit is needed. I hope they add it.
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Tambo: Inca Surveillance Post. It has the speed bonus of Inca roads. (*Already explained in Colca)
History: The dairy farms were warehouses and military and administrative shelters. They served as checkpoints and shelters for soldiers, nobility and especially chasqui messengers. Apparently they were not available to the common people.
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Yachaywasi.- Act as a University that can be build in 1st Age. Have many unique technologies of the Inca empire. History: It was like a European high-school, teaching young male nobles trades to get degrees to perform future work in the empire. Religion, art, history, grammar, and mathematics were taught, using quipus as reading and writing material.
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Temple: I can think of 3 versions (In AoE 3 it seems that they chose the Ushnu):
– Ushnu: Pyramidal temple with only 5 steps, where religious rituals were performed, offering food or even human sacrifices. It had a special seat for the Inca to preside over the most important annual religious ceremonies, or family gatherings.
– Acllahuasi: Sacred residences of the acllas, where they trained and lived, distilled chicha as an alcoholic ritual drink, as well as performed mysterious rituals in the sun.
– Inca Temple/Temple of the Sun: A Kancha building but with golden decorations in its walls. The Incas had a polytheistic religion, but their main god was the Sun, there were many temples dedicated to him, with mummies of ancient curacas, which were preserved as well and cared for as if they were alive.
History: Religion in the Inca empire was complicated: It was established by the Incas as a polytheism whose main god was the sun, however, many of his servants from other conquered peoples had their own pantheon, beliefs and superstitions . The Incas precisely called “Huaca” the symbols, deities, temples, cemeteries or statues that each of these people worshiped, having a certain “religious tolerance”. However, to show their power, the Incas also established solar temples, Acllahuasis and Ushnus in several of the conquered towns, as well as ordering the transfer of several of the mummies of the subjugated towns to Cuzco, with the threat of destroying them if they rebelled.
– Personally, I think we could choose the Acllahuasi, because is where the acllas were taught to be priestesses, and because there are many types of Acllahuasi in many Inca cities, some only for priestesses, example: . Also, “Temple of Sun”, which translation in quechua was “Qoricancha”, can be a Landmark, the most important was the Cuzco Qoricancha, but either was one in many conquered places, like Tumebamba (The Second Cuzco) or Pachacamac (with have even a uchnu and an Acllawasi).
-Other buildings without much difference:
-Barracks, Archery Gallery, University (Yasha Uasi). Pretty much all of these big buildings would count as “Kallancas”, which was like a “big” rectangular building (In AoE3 DE it acts like a super-headquarters, but in the long run it is just that, a “big” building), or even can be Kanchas.
-About the Blakcsmith: "they made foundries, large or small, in the open, in their patios or corrals, and never sheltered", so a Kancha with a foundry in the open place of the center. History: Inca Garcilaso de la Vega says that in “Comentarios Reales, book n°2”.
-About the castle/fort: Their castles were named “Pucaras”, they also had their “homage tower”, for this reason it is probable that the designers also named it “Fuerte/Torre de Homenaje(In Spanish)” or Keep (In English).
5.- LANDMARKS BUILDINGS.-
Other options of buildings to age up, with unique and special design: Huacas / Ushnu
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Huaca: It has several meanings, the best known are giant pyramidal buildings, used as palaces or citadels that existed in various cultures of Ancient Peru (Example, Huaca del Sol, Huaca de la Luna). The other is any object of religious veneration, you can even compare huaca with the word “sacred”. This includes talismans, statues, mummies, temples, cemeteries, etc.
Although it is an Inca term, it is not a particular building, and the “Huaca” buildings were generally not Incas, but temples of other conquered tribes (Moche, Nazca). On top of that, each huaca was unique, a wonder of a Latin American era or culture, or of a particular ayllu. I would put an Inca Huaca perhaps as a building to advance age, although in theory, the Temple of the Sun of Cuzco (Qoricancha) is a huaca, and if I agree that it seems a good option.
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Ushnu.- Allows you to develop unique technologies of Inca Festivals (in section 4) Another possibility: That it acts like the Communal Plaza (the one with the campfire) from AoE 3: that it serves to perform rituals, which curiously is what it was used for. On the other hand, the Ushnu could also be considered a building of “advance age”, since it was an epitome of the “Inca power” over the conquered peoples, a ceremonial temple where the Inca made pilgrimage and celebrated annual religious festivals . As they were one per town, I suppose it would make more sense that you could only build one (unlike the Acllahuasi that varied in size and quantity, depending on the number of acllas of the sun), so I think the Ushnu is good to advance let’s say 3rd age?
About your examples, I can think of some bonuses:
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Tambomachay/ Baños del Inca.- Hot springs that heals units. H: they were hot springs for noble incas.
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Qoricancha/ Temple of the Sun.- Reliqs garrisoned generate more 150%/100% more gold. ]
History: Although there were many temples of the sun, the main temple of Cuzco shone among them all, since relics kept here could include famous curaca mummies, the Incas themselves in mummies, and sacred statues of the sun god. This also served to highlight the glory of the empire, and to be able to transfer them to annual religious celebrations in Cuzco presided over by the emperor.
6.- UNIQUE TECHNOLOGY.- About unique technologies, some ideas:
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Kunca-Chukuna/Inca Halberd(Barracks):** Improves attack of Rinriyok by 2p. UPDATE: I just realized that this Inca halberd was in fact short and not for cavalry, but to break armor. Easy or creates its own unit, and separates from the spearman whose spear is 6 meters.
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Noblesse gold equipment (Barracks): Rinriyok get 2p of attack and 2p in defense.
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Curare (Archery): the archers of the jungle poison their arrows. History: Yes, it is a real poison from South American natives. UPDATE: With Malians “poison arrows” technology, this become a shared technology of civs. with jungle archers.
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Paracas Trephination Medicine (Temple): Priestesses heal 50% faster. History: Yes, there was the repair of bones, supplanting it with pieces of molten metal. We assume it was painful due to lack of anesthesia. Ouch.
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Violent Conquest (Keep).- Torch damage increased in 10. History: *"Like the Romans, the Incas also applied the principle of “peaceful conquest and violent conquest.” Any people who resisted tenaciously and whose leaders never gave up, genocide awaited them, the destruction of their capital cities to ruins and the enslavement of their remaining population. Peoples who surrendered only avoided the killing part, since any element of their previous culture was still destroyed, sending them to live in other areas as mitimaes, leaving their capitals as ghost cities (Chan-Chan) and replacing their original languages with que chua. As compensation, they were still allowed to retain their religious beliefs, their chiefs would be allowed access to the empire’s technology, and the people were promised they would not starve.
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Andenes (University): farmers work 20% faster (farms now have stone walls on their edges, similar to the English fence) History: The platforms were created to get the most out of a barren land and little arable that is Andean highlands, even taking advantage of irregular terrain for cultivation.
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Chimu Metalurgy (Yachaywasi): Improves gold gathering 10%/15% faster.
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Monolithic Masonry (Yachaywasi): Improves the resistance of buildings by 50% (Can be a unique feature of the civ. either, instead of a tech).
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Advanced Chicha Distilling (Temple): Priestesses produce food by sheltering in temples faster. History: The Incas got drunk to supposedly go into a religious trance. And it was a valued drink, it is until now, and in the Inca empire only the Acllas and acllas priestesses could distill it, which only increased its state value.
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Quipus (Urban Center): Doubles the food received by tribute in the colcas. H: Knowledge is power, quipus were used to make accounts and registers.
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Yupana (Yachaywasi): Doubles again, the food received by tribute in the colcas. H: “Mathematic is power, either”. Yupanas served as abacuses and ancient calculators for the Incas.
7.- UNAVAILABLE TECHNOLOGIES.
Same thing with the abbasid and sultanate issue of not hunting pigs; the Incas also had historical limits:
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Wheelbarrow.- The Incas have never develop the “Wheelbarrow”, so they cant research this technology in the colca. Still, they make up for it with the road speed bonus to improve the speed of their villagers.
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Blacksmith normal techonology tree.- They also do not develop the Euro-Asian blacksmith technologies such as “Decarbonization, Damacus Steel, Steel Arrows” (The Incas never developed steel or even iron, except after meeting the Spanish). As compensation, their military blacksmithing technologies follow the line of South American civilizations, as the mexicas, Tlaxcaltecs and mayans (Supposeddly when they make those civs either).
8.- Discarted ideas:
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Hualcana (Barracks): The thing is that in age III and 2, incas need a buff, so i suppose they refer to this shield as a tecnology and a card… but, this shield is that, “only a shield”, and worse, of wood. The inca infantry usually uses that shield to block rocks from slingers and cover their left flank, but even the man-of-arms uses their normal shield and is not a technology. It can be reemplaced by something more “unique”: “BackShield”, yes, the incas uses a shield in their back, but is cover with a cape, so its hard to see in the images recreation, but exist. it can either be a blacksmith technology in general, reemplacing for example, “iron undernesh”, because incas never developted iron, until spanish vicerroyalty.
