In this update of the Aztecs, Arrow Knight was changed to Heavy Infantry, which is very confusing. In previous games, the Aztecs relied solely on Coyote Runner as a means of restraining Skirmisher, making it difficult to deal with Skirmisher clusters in the later stages
Native Americans, especially Aztecs and Incas, often face difficulties in the later stages of the game due to their fewer units compared to other civilizations. After this update, Aztecs have been restrained by Skirmishers in five out of the seven commonly used units of this civilization. However, Otontin Slinger is more likely to lose members due to its lower health, and it is also difficult to win against stronger Skirmishers, This further expands the dependence of this civilization on Coyote Runner, and the ecology of this civilization is very unhealthy
I hope the authorities can take this strange and worrying structure seriously. More than half of the Aztec units have become heavy infantry, and more than two-thirds of the troops are restrained by Skirmishers. This can at least strengthen some of the Aztec’s means of countering Skirmishers in the middle and later stages, or give them a medium level Archer-Skirmisher unit to deal with Skirmisher confrontations
My personal suggestion is to add cards like “Belanda Hitam” and “Bashkir Rebellion” to their third or fourth era, to unlock unit training similar to “BlowGunner” (in a sense, the Aztec’s main city also has “Blowgunner” training decorations), or have other better suggestions. I also hope other players can explore them
Current Aztec unit who didn’t take bonus damage from skirmisher is their Warchief, Eagle Scout, Coyote Runner, Slinger, Villager, Canoe, War Canoe, Tlaloc Canoe, Warrior Priest, and pet Jaguar.
Other than Coyote and Slinger, looks like we need to include 4 or 5 pet Jaguar in deck to enable training them, since they are not countered by Dragoon or Musk.
The biggest problem with the Otontin Slinger is that due to their low health, they are more likely to lose units in Archer Skirmisher battles, resulting in fewer units on the field than the opponent’s Skirmisher, significantly reducing their firepower. This problem makes it difficult for Aztecs to rely on them when fighting Skirmishers
Under the existing Aztec branch system, they heavily rely on Coyote Runner to counter Skirmisher. As long as the opponent can protect their Skirmisher troops, Aztecs find it almost difficult to solve this problem. Pet Jaguar cannot cope with the gradually expanding enemy army, Ships are not common and feasible units either (Pet Jaguar, as a melee unit, although not restrained by Skirmishers, its low health is very easy to lose a considerable amount due to range issues from the first strike, especially when Skirmisher clusters reach 20-30 or above, and pet Jaguar itself has a quantity limit of 12)
True, there’s a reason the Aztecs are one of the worst civs in the game…they could be more useful if the units had more HP…there’s a reason they’re an early game civ…because otherwise the other civs run over you (the same thing happens to the Lakotas)…
The problem is that in some games, Aztecs were an undrainable civ. now way to kill arrow knights because the eagle’s knights, the eagle’s knights made them unbeatable against the cavalry, plus the slingers are so cheap that no matter how many you lose you never get drained, in at least a decent treaty game there was no way to counter the arrow knight. It eliminated the possibility of using any type of cannon so the Aztec ended up winning by resources.
Aztec cannot win with resources. His advantage in collecting gold resources is insufficient (Native Americans themselves lack 30% of economic farm collection technology)., and in many cases, additional farmers need to be brought to the square to work. Due to Otontin Slinger’s insufficient health, he is very prone to losses, resulting in a shortage of units on the front line, further expanding the losses. Moreover, compared to traditional countries, due to the limited number of units bound to all Aztec barracks and watchtowers, It is more afraid of mortar strikes than normal countries, further limiting the speed of unit replenishment to frontline combat. Due to this version of Arrow Knight being changed to heavy infantry, as long as the opponent piles up enough scattered soldiers and uses a small number of anti light infantry units to limit the Coyote Runner, it can cause a very large difference in unit consumption ratio. With the economic level of Aztec, it is completely unable to maintain the high intensity Coyote Runner and Otonin Slinger losses.
Moreover, the economic gap between the two factories of European countries and indigenous peoples itself determines that relying on economic advantages to defeat opponents is a non-existent option for indigenous peoples
Nothing about aztec looks rewarding after this patch. Its just going to be a civ that is permanently handicapped for as long as arrow knights are heavy infantry. I’m not sure why they made the “artillery” countered by skirms and not by dragoons. It would make way more sense to me to have ranged cav act as a counter to a “soft artillery” unit like arrow knights (and by extension, huraca)
Everyone can play with goon + skirm combo but if aztecs play with ERKs + AKs is monocombing and its OP. Come on!!
What about grenadiers and ulufelis?? When you want to counter them they have taken down half base but they are Ok. Asian cav is not effective vs them for example. Or what about 700HP massable highlanders and so on. Aztecs are the OP when nobody play them
not as heavy cav. I think infantry cosplaying artillery should be tagged with its own shock infantry tag “soft artillery” or something, to replicate the role of artillery counters (goons, heavy cav, culvs). Just like coyote runners are cosplaying cavalry and are countered by goons, pikes and muskets, i think arrow knights should be treated like artillery. I’d throw grens, huraca, flamethrowers on the list, probably a few others here and there. (The siege unit tag is currently a dumpster fire of mishmashed units, i dont think thats the place to start)
