Aztec Review

[Crim]

I have always hated Aztecs because Montezuma is a jerk, but after reading the bonuses for Aztecs I became intrigued. I played a few games to give them a try. Overall I found them to be a fairly entertaining Early game Civ with good progression into the Mid to Late
Victory Condition -
Domination -
The famous Aztec Civ is known for its Domination victory, however it doesn't take long of actually playing them to realize that they are actually TERRIBLE at it. Their only military advantage is the Jaguar who gets outdated very quickly, I understand that you can upgrade them to allow them to keep their bonuses. However if this was enough to make a Civ amazing, the Ottoman with their Jannisary would be dominating.

Overall I rate them essentially perfectly average at Domination Victory, They need to be at constant war for their UA, but it doesn't mean they are actually good at war.

Culture -
While I am sure they had some advantages to Culture Victories before BNW due to their UA this benefit is basically completely gone within BNW. To make matters worse Poland was released with a better version of your UA. Finally even with perpetual non stop War and Slaughter of enemy troops, the bonus often amounts to only 3-6 Culture per turn.

Overall I rate them perfectly average at Culture Victory, Their UA no longer helps this victory condition.

Diplomacy -
They have no inherent bonuses to gold, trading, city states... again Perfectly Average

Science -
This one was a surprising black sheep Victory condition they actually EXCEL at. They have a few indirect but relevant bonuses to Science. The most signficant reason is the fact their cities have +15% food from their UB. The majority of Science comes from Population and Aztecs are one of the few Civs in the game that have bonuses to Food. The secondly is their Jungle Start Bias, this means that when Universities come along you gain a massive boost to Science. Finally their UA helps them get a few more Social Policies needed to fill out the Rationalism Tree.

Overall I rate them Slightly below Top Tier at Science Victories

Overall I found that Aztecs are slightly underpowered. Their UA has been basically dwarved by Poland. Jaguars are a fairly disappointing unit. Their saving grace the Floating Gardens are powerful but slightly limited by the fact that you NEED a River or Lake. However since Population is one of the most important factor in the game, and Civs that gain bonuses to population growth is extremely rare, this brings them to be rated slightly above average.

I give them a B-