Inca: What could i of done better

[Dragonstrike]

So I started a run with the inca, started as Cusco. I conquered all of the andes nations and formed the inca, i expanded as much i could with native settle mechanic. and while historical, the Spanish pulled up with 50k troops and just decimated me. idk what i could of done to progress faster. I was close to my 4th religious reform. Id like to try this again but I dont know what I could do to advance fast enough to not get beat by the European powers.

[Marquoz]

Did you take Exploration as your first idea group? It enables you to hire conquistadors to explore along the coasts much faster. Then you can leapfrog colonies to meet the Europeans the moment they arrive. You can even declare no-CB wars on tribes you've discovered within colonial range to speed the process up, or fabricate claims on them if you plop a colony adjacent to them first. The added colonial range and additional colonist are also a huge help.

[Dragonstrike]

no i didnt, took quality ideas and i took expansion after that. Didnt consider to take that aggressive of stance, tried to build up myself in hopes i could be strong enough to resist. Ill have to try that next time.

[AC Denton]

Conquer the other tribes as soon possible.
Pick the colonist reform first before anything else.
Pick expansion ideas first before any other idea, then exploration for even more.
Focus on colonising north, getting the best provinces - especially the coast - before the Europeans do.
Inca gets a LOT of gold, so Economic ideas can be good for deflation.
If Spain and Portugal are beefing, when they go to war, you could use that opportunity to attack and conquer a lot of the Portuguese colonies.

Originally posted by Dragonstrike:

no i didnt, took quality ideas and i took expansion after that. Didnt consider to take that aggressive of stance, tried to build up myself in hopes i could be strong enough to resist. Ill have to try that next time.

Military tech is FAR more important than ideas. You shouldn't take any Military ideas until you're on par with the Europeans, all your mil points should go into tech. Take expansion then exploration - colonise all along the coast to prevent the Europeans from getting through as much as you can.