The Boiling Lake is the fifth scenario in Montezuma campaign in Age of Empires II: The Conquerors. It is depicting the Battle of Otumba.
Scenario instructions
Starting conditions
- Starting Age: Imperial Age
- Starting resources: 500 wood, 1,000 food, 1000 gold, 400 stone
- Population limit: 150
- Starting units:
- 15 Eagle Warriors
- 11 Elite Jaguar Warriors
- 10
- 4 War Galleys
- 4 Villagers
- 2 Fire Ships
- Gaia units:
Objectives
- Defeat the Tlaxcalans and Spanish.
- OPTIONAL: Bringing captured Spanish units to the plaza (inside the torches) will allow you to create new units.
Bringing horses will create cavalry.
Bringing Trade Carts full of gunpowder will create Bombards.
- OPTIONAL: Bringing captured Spanish units to the plaza (inside the torches) will allow you to create new units.
Hints
- This far from Tenochtitlan you are cut off from your resources and will have to search for additional gold and stone.
- Spanish Cannon Galleons are deadly. Do not lose your navy on Lake Texcoco or risk shore bombardment.
- Tlaxcala Jaguar Warriors are adept at defeating Aztec infantry. A pity the Aztecs have been unable to domesticate horses….
Scouts
- Your scouts report: The Aztecs (green) begin on an island in Lake Texcoco in pursuit of fleeing Spanish (blue) and Tlaxcalans (red).
- The two enemies have a combined fortress to the north of the lake that will require a considerable army to penetrate.
- Additional resources can be garnered east and west of the lake, but if you do not focus enough on a navy the Spanish will be able to level your entire town with their ships.
Players
Enemies
- Cortéz (Spanish) has his base at the northern tip of the map. He has a band of army outside the player's military island (on the right) initially, which the player's army may opt to charge. He has four horse pens which the player may destroy them to take out the horses. They would actively attack with Conquistadores, trebuchets, Battering Rams, Cannon Galleons and galleons. Destroying their town center would force them to resign.
- Tlaxcala (Aztecs) has their base in the north, surrounding Cortéz's base. They would actively attack with crossbowmen, Jaguar Warriors, and petards.
Strategy
The player starts on two islands at the southeast, the left one being a civilian island with navy, while the right one being a military island with ground units facing Cortéz's army. As there is neither Gold Mine nor Stone Mine on these two islands, the player may need to quickly build a market on the military island and sell food and wood, which can be easily gathered on the civilian island. The player should get their Fire Ships ready to defend against Cortéz's navy, especially on the fact that Spanish Cannon Galleons fire faster than other civilizations.
There are gold mines and stone mines across the lake, at the western part of the map, and the player possesses three Guard Towers there in the beginning. The player should venture there as soon as possible, while preparing to defend against the enemies.
The player may collect Horses and Trade Carts across the lake to create Xolotl Warriors and bombard cannons, respectively. Note that the New World civilizations are normally unable to create cavalry and gunpowder units. Place a horse or Trade Cart into the space within the six torches outside your Castle to create the wanted unit. There are horses within Spanish horse pens in the west and the northeast, while there are two Trade Carts in the east, a few at an abandoned Spanish depot in the west near the mines, and a few more in Cortéz's base.
Trivia
- This scenario is loosely inspired by the Battle of Otumba, a decisive Spanish-Tlaxcala victory against the much numerically superior Aztecs. The most decisive action was a cavalry charge that succeeded in killing the Aztec commander, Matlatzincatzin, and seizing his banner. After this, the Aztec army retired and disintegrated. The Aztecs were unable to respond to the charge because they had never seen the Spanish using their horses in battle and thought of them as pack animals only before then.
- The secondary quests about capturing Spanish horses and gunpowder and using them to create cavalry and bombard cannons may have been instead inspired by the rebellion of Manco Inca against the Spanish in 1536-1540, during which he besieged Cuzco and Lima and was said to employ captured Spanish horses, swords, armor, and at least one culverin. Alternatively, several other Amerindian peoples would later adopt horses and gunpowder and use them to raid Spanish colonies, like the Chichimec, Apache, Comanche, and Mapuche.