The Boiling Lake is the fifth scenario in Montezuma campaign in Age of Empires II: The Conquerors .
In this scenario Montezuma is dead now. Cuauhtemoc is now the emperor of Aztecs. Cuauhtemoc must make sure that the Spanish never set foot into Tenochtitlan ever again. To win, the player must defeat both Tlaxcala and Cortez. One of the player´s starting Islands has a Town Center and villagers, the other contains Military Buildings. The player may move captured Trade Carts with Gunpowder to their Military Island to make Cannons and captured Horses to create Cavalry Units, things the Aztecs cannot use normally.
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.
Gameplay and strategy/tactics
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 Elite Tarkans 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.