Incas (Age of Empires III)

The Inca are a minor Native American civilization in Age of Empires III. Like all native tribes, they can be allied with by building a Trading Post at their Trading Post site.

The Inca are available on the Andes, Araucania, and Pampas maps. This makes them one of the most widespread of the minor civilizations, as most only appear on one to three maps.

Units

 * Inca Huaminca: Similar to the Maya Holcan Spearman, however it has higher melee damage, resistance and it has better siege damage. It suffers from the slow siege attack (4.0 vs. 3.0 for most units), so like the Holcan Spearman some units may deal better siege damage over time. Otherwise it is more potent than a regular Pikeman. Up to 13 may be trained per tribe.
 * Inca Bolas Warrior: They are the only ranged infantry units to possess splash damage. This can quickly kill their favored enemies if the opponent does not activate stagger mode on the units. For civilizations with aura effects such as the Japanese (Golden Pavilion, Daimyo/Shogun bonuses), or the Spanish (unction card) they can become a very powerful addition to an army. Up to 6 may be trained per tribe.

Upgrades
Incan upgrades are some of the best in the game. They focus on boosting an allies economy, and troop training and movement speed.

Usefulness

 * Incan Metalworking can be quite powerful for civilizations who send home city cards to stack with the upgrade, or civilizations which already have superior mining rates (French due to Coureurs, Germans due to Settler Wagons, or Dutch due to bonus in mining speed). However this upgrade is of limited usefulness if the map does not have much mineable coin available.
 * Incan Chaquis Messengers is possibly the most important upgrade for a Treaty game, allowing instantly trained units more easily and significantly improving artillery train times. No civilization should pass it up in long running games if they have the resources and trading post needed.
 * Incan Road-building is useful for civilizations which have home city cards boosting their infantry units speed. The Japanese can boost their Samurai speed by 10% with a card, purchase the upgrade and switch their Golden Pavilion aura effect to one which increases infantry movement speed even further, the Germans have a unique church technology after a card shipment which gives infantry 20% more speed, and Dutch Halberdiers move quite fast (mitigating their primary weakness) when this improvement is combined with the HC card "Military Reforms".
 * It can also be useful for the Spanish, whose church upgrade Corselet lowers heavy infantry movement speed by 15% in exchange for 25% greater hit points. With this upgrade the penalty is countered completely and the units still gain a small speed boost.
 * Civilizations with access to Arsenal upgrades can further increase the speed of their units by 10% with "Military Drummers".
 * Inca unit upgrades cost more than other minor civilizations', this is for balancing purposes.

In-game dialogue
They speak one the several varieties of Runa Simi (Quechua Language).
 * Ari (Yes!)
 * Gorriya
 * Chjaaku
 * Jai (What?)
 * Aytippe (Attack!)
 * Qu'utiya (Attack)

History
"The civilization we now call the Inca appeared as a small tribal group in the southern Peruvian Andes around 1200 CE, possibly migrating from Lake Titicaca. They emphasized community responsibility and mutual aid in the face of recurring wars with neighboring tribes. One of these struggles in the early fifteenth century led to the beginnings of imperial conquest. Two successive strong Incan leaders rapidly expanded their empire, which at its peak stretched over thousands of miles in mountainous terrain, from Ecuador along the Peruvian coast to southern Chile. The empire was spread less by war than by negotiation, alliances, and even bribery. The Inca seem to have been driven by the desire to spread their religious belief in a Sun cult. The Inca were remarkable for their system of roads and couriers, and a complex irrigation system that made extensive farming possible in remote locations. Without writing, they did develop a complex counting system that used knots in colored threads called quimpos. Their cities and architecture were astounding, especially the massive stonework of incredible precision, assembled without metal tools. The Spanish under Francisco Pizzaro appeared at a time when the Inca had just resolved a civil war between two brothers. The new emperor misjudged the small Spanish force and was captured. He offered a huge ransom of gold and silver, but Pizzaro reneged when the treasure was delivered, and executed his hostage. In a brutal campaign, the core of the Incan Empire was quickly overrun. By 1540, most of Latin America was in Spanish hands. The Inca were largely subjugated and forced to work on Spanish estates."