Do you think the Aztec faction will work?

[Shahed]

Yeah we should, I'd guess it's a non playbale faction in a large campaign and could be a playable faction in a mini campaign.

[Slasher]

Yeah, I suspect that they will be in a mini campaign as CA said and the main campaign will be with Europe only....unless they cut out the main campaign and just have a series of mini campaigns...which WOULD appeal to your casual gamer....oh the speculation

[Antiochius]

I would prefer perhabs the Hungary. Okay, they havn`t play a great role at this time (except the Hungary attacks on western Europe)
will there be Denmark or sweden? If no, i also would take one of this nations, but i havn`t the list of the nations in my head

[Doug-Thompson]

Well, as a cavalry fanatic, I can't wait to come to New World with horse archers.

[Spino]

No.

I was thrilled to see the official announcement for Medieval 2 but I really chafed when I saw the inclusion of the Aztecs as a faction (playable or non-playable). They are completely out of place in a game that spans from 1080 to 1530 and features empire building in medieval Europe, N. Africa and W. Asia. Rather than make the sensible decision and expand the map further east to include Asiatic factions/civilizations that were quite advanced for their time and who didn't get the nod in the original Medieval (Khwarazmian kingdom) it seems like CA has opted to ride the coat tails of Age of Empires 3 and give gamers some of that New World loving. Including the Aztecs seems so silly when you consider that the Spanish discovery of the New World is a scant 38 years from the conclusion of the campaign game.

[Midnight]

The Aztecs do look more than a little out of place on the faction list, and I'd also have preferred more notice being taken of the eastern nations, but I'd like to know exactly how they plan to integrate the Aztecs into the game before saying whether or not they'll work.

[Doug-Thompson]

... when you consider that the Spanish discovery of the New World is a scant 38 years from the conclusion of the campaign game.

Yes, but Cortez conquest was complete by the end of 1521, nine years before the game ends. It was an historical event of profound importance. Honestly, how could it be ignored? It will have to be part of the victory conditions of a Spanish faction, for instance.

The only part that bothers me is: Whether or not CA will modify plague rules severely enough to realisticaly model the effect on the Aztecs.

Two out of every five Aztecs in their capital city died, if memory serves, of smallpox pretty shortly after Cortez arrived. Frankly, it doesn't sound like a pleasant prospect to me to play a faction where you suffer 40 percent casualties before landing a blow.

[Brutus]

Yes, but Cortez conquest was complete by the end of 1521, nine years before the game ends. It was an historical event of profound importance. Honestly, how could it be ignored? It will have to be part of the victory conditions of a Spanish faction, for instance.

Hmm, I think Europeans at the time (especially in 1521) thought other developments much more important thant the conquest of Mexico. The main geo-political events concerning Europeans in the early 16th century mainly revolved around the Ottoman conquest of the Balkans, the Habsburg-Valois rivalry and (very quickly becoming important, but not really before the German Peasant's War) the Reformation. The Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire was far more important in the long term then it was in the short term, and the impact on Europe was very marginal in the 9 years between 1521 and 1530.

I hope they won't be included as a fully-fledged faction. They would be out of place.

[Kraxis]

Who says that we can only get here in 1492?

The capability to get the Americas was there since... well the Vikings to be honest. It was the will that lacked.
Sure it got easier with the compass and other inventions, but sailors were not bad at knowing which way was what even without them.

So I think it is going to be a case of certain requirements are filled for the chance to go to America is opened.
And I cincerely doubt the Aztecs will be playable in the normal sense. And I doubt that their lands are part of the main map. As they say, it is an extension of the map. That sounds like, a ship that goes [here] will end up in another map.

[Doug-Thompson]

Hmm, I think Europeans at the time (especially in 1521) thought other developments much more important thant the conquest of Mexico. The main geo-political events concerning Europeans in the early 16th century mainly revolved around the Ottoman conquest of the Balkans, the Habsburg-Valois rivalry and (very quickly becoming important, but not really before the German Peasant's War) the Reformation. The Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire was far more important in the long term then it was in the short term, and the impact on Europe was very marginal in the 9 years between 1521 and 1530.

I respectfully disagree. A few shiploads of Aztec gold would have made any of those tasks much easier.

As somebody is quoted in R:TW as saying: "They have an abundance of gold and silver, which makes war, like other things, much easier."

Also, Kraxis makes an excellent point. Columbus had been lobbying for the expedition since 1485.

[Antiochius]

Rather than make the sensible decision and expand the map further east to include Asiatic factions/civilizations that were quite advanced for their time and who didn't get the nod in the original Medieval (Khwarazmian kingdom) it seems like CA has opted to ride the coat tails of Age of Empires 3 and give gamers some of that New World loving. Including the Aztecs seems so silly when you consider that the Spanish discovery of the New World is a scant 38 years from the conclusion of the campaign game.

Yes that is a very good idea. One should include some asiatic factions, so it could be a mix of Medieval and Shogun