~:cheers: These look great! I agree with Matty that it would be great if the Aztecs could reach the Old World. Though I really don't know how they would be able to invade European countries.
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~:cheers: These look great! I agree with Matty that it would be great if the Aztecs could reach the Old World. Though I really don't know how they would be able to invade European countries.
They wouldn't.Quote:
Originally Posted by Hepcat
That's why it's such a bad idea that it makes me cringe in horror whenever it's mentioned. ~;)
The aztecs (mexicas) were not steamrolled by (actually) 500 spaniards, they fought a very hard war against a coallition of spaniards, texcaltecas (most of them), texcocans, and many others. They were sometimes forced to join that coallition, but others joined them in order to get rid of teh mexicas. And it was a biological war too, dease was an important factor in the spanish victory.Quote:
Originally Posted by holybandit
The warriors suit were strange for the european eye, but they had a purpose. They used a cotton armor that could stop arrows (not fired by a crossbow), and the most important of all, those were ceremonial suits. WAR WAS SACRED, so they had to wear good quality clothing. Also the suits indicated the "chivalry order" they represented. Every order (eagles - cuauhtli, jaguars - ocelotl) used different clothing, but they used the same equipment. Other warriors used more simple armor or non at all.
I can write a lot about my country (Mexico), I'll only say that there are no jungles in the valley of Mexico, that was the place the Mexicas (real name of the aztecs) lived. But in the coast (to the east of Mexico City - Tenochtitlan there are a lots of jungle areas and swamps).
The mayans fought in Mexico, but the aztecs too (some one wrote here they didn't).
Regards
Personally I'm looking forward to kicking Cortez's backside all the way to Madrid, on behalf of Catalina and the Mexica.
Me too Send them back to hell, specially Pedro de Alvarado (alias: Tonatiu) :skull:Quote:
Originally Posted by Tamur
Don't discount Mother Nature, disease killed far more indigenous peoples than the efforts of all the conquistadors combined.
The martial abilities and military equipment of the Spaniards of that period were impressive but it was not nearly enough to overcome the ridiculous odds stacked against them. There is also nothing to suggest that Cortez's forces were of the same legendary soldiering 'stuff' as Leonidas' 300 Spartans who epitomized the image of elite professional soldiery. Cortez's expeditions were at best a hodge podge of professional soldiers, mercenaries, sailors, indians, slaves and opportunists of every persuasion.
Cortez was extremely lucky in that he had a number of external factors which contributed heavily to his success. First and foremost was the fact that his arrival coincided with a particularly auspicious year in the Aztec calendar, lending an otherworldly, divine element to the equation which probably weighed heavily on the minds of impressionable and ultra-religious natives. Secondly Montezuma was about as lame duck an emperor as any enemy of the Aztecs could hope for and Cortez about as opportunistic and ambitious as they come. Last but not least Cortez, after nearly signing his own death warrant by committing a cultural faux-pas, was able to secure an alliance with a sizeable indian nation whom the Aztecs had previously neutralized through their regional dominance. Marching into Tenochtitlan with only a few hundred Spaniards is one thing, doing it with tens of thousands of Indian allies at your side is another.
I agree 100%. Have you read The Conquest of the Incas: John Hemming, as well as Prescotts works on both Perú and Méjico? There are some striking differences between Prescotts version and later works such as those by Hemming.Quote:
Originally Posted by The Blind King of Bohemia
Hemming doesn't exactly go all out in the favour of the Incas but he does write more critially and points out some of the possible exaggerations made by the Spaniards, in that they would inflate the numbers of their enemy and reduce their own numbers.
The problem is that, for the most part, events from the battles were recorded by Spanish soldiers, not by independant journalists. These were glory seeking soldiers of fortune, that hoped to gain more power and position back in Spain as well as in Nueva Castilla/España, so they did make full use of poetic license.
At the party of Toxcatl in Tenochtitlan, Pedro de Alvarado (The captain of death), killed hundreds of unarmed people. 20 horsemen and 50 to 70 infantrymen made the deal. Cavalry was the cutting edge and infantry just finished the wounded.
Cavalry was important also at the battle of Otumba.
Actually, I've personally seen coyotes, and I live in Northeastern Texas. They do occur in North and Central America. I'm not sure about South America.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tiberius
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Originally Posted by Publio Cornelio Escipión Africano Mayor
Yes the battle of Otuma was a very decisive battle. If the Aztec armies had not attacked the Spaniards in board daylight and on a flat plain, they could have picked off Cortez broken force at will before it would have got to allied territory. The plain of Otuma saw the devastation that cavalry could do to the Indian armies and definetly saw the turning point of conquest.
Caravel, yes i have read hemmings book, very good stuff. Picked it up in a bookshop in the welsh borders for about 7 quid
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Originally Posted by econ21
Well, John Milius did give credit to Ghengis during the director's commentary in the special edition of Conan.
a little off topic but does anyone have a picture of the new world?
I wouldn't worry about going off-topic, since this topic seems to be from oh... last year! ^_^