This article is about the campaign scenario in Age of Empires II: The Conquerors. For the Age of Empires III mod, see Wars of Liberty. |
The Triple Alliance is the second scenario of the Montezuma campaign in Age of Empires II: The Conquerors.
Intro[]
Passed down to you by Cuauhtemoc, Jaguar Warrior of Tenochtitlan. The gods were still uneasy, for another omen appeared that same year. The temple of the demon Huitzilopochtli burst suddenly into flame, although it was made of stone. When the people hurried to pour water on the fire, it burned with even greater violence.
I asked our emperor Montezuma what we needed to appease the gods. His haughty priests made the predictable reply. The Aztec Empire needed more prisoners. The sun god, the rain god, and even the Feathered Serpent, Quetzalcoatl, were angry deities that required sacrifice.
Our city-state of Tenochtitlan is allied with two others, together composing the Triple Alliance. Montezuma intended for the Triple Alliance to attack our longtime enemies, the Tlaxcala.
I sent the traditional shield, arrows, and cloaks to the Tlaxcala, declaring to them that they would soon be attacked. Then we marched out into the forests, our jaguar and eagle banners ready to clash with the heron banners of the Tlaxcala.
Birds in the rainforest canopy took to the sky, eager to be away from the violence that was to come.
Passed down to you by Cuauhtemoc, Jaguar Warrior of Tenochtitlan. The gods were still uneasy, for that same year, another omen appeared. The temple of the demon Huitzilopochtli burst suddenly into flame, although it was made of stone. When the people hurried to pour water on the fire, it burned with even greater violence.
I asked our emperor Montezuma what we needed to appease the gods. His haughty priests made the predictable reply. The Aztec Empire needed more prisoners. The sun god and the rain god and even the feathered serpent, Quetzalcoatl, were angry deities that required sacrifice.
Our city-state of Tenochtitlan is allied with two others, together composing the Triple Alliance. Montezuma intended for the Triple Alliance to attack our long time enemies, the Tlaxcala.
I sent the traditional shield, arrows, and cloaks to the Tlaxcala, declaring to them that they would soon be attacked. Then we marched out into the forests, our jaguar and eagle banners ready to clash with the heron banners of the Tlaxcala.
Birds in the rain forest canopy took to the sky, eager to be away from the violence that was to come.Scenario instructions[]
Starting conditions[]
- Starting age: Feudal Age
- Starting resources: 1000 food, 2000 wood, 1000 gold, 500 stone
- Population limit: 75 (100 in the Definitive Edition)
- Starting units:
- Gaia units:
Differences between difficulty levels[]
- On Standard, the player receives Murder Holes for free.
Objectives[]
Main[]
- Deliver the summons of war to the Tlacopan Town Center.
- Deliver the summons of war to the Texcoco Town Center.
Then:
- Defeat the Tlaxcala by destroying their 4 Town Centers.
Then:
- Defeat your former allies, the Tlacopan and Texcoco.
Secondary[]
- Bring 10 Elite Jaguar Warriors to the Temple of Tlaloc and be rewarded.
Hints[]
- The Aztecs are restricted to the Castle Age and a population limit of 100.
- Use your Eagle Scouts to locate a suitable location for an Aztec town.
- The Aztecs have two powerful infantry units: the Jaguar Warrior, which can easily defeat other infantry, and the Eagle Warrior, which is a good counter for archers, cavalry and siege weapons.
- Be aware of Tlaxcalan warships on streams and rivers.
Scouts[]
Your scouts report:
- Montezuma's forces (1, Green) begin with only a few Eagle Warriors. These messengers must visit the other two members of the Triple Alliance - the Tlacopan (3, Yellow) and Texcoco (4, Purple).
- The Tlacopan train swordsmen and Eagle Warriors while the Texcoco train archery units and Mangonels.
- All of these troops will be needed to defeat the wicked Tlaxcala (red) who live to the north across the rivers. The Tlaxcala are known for their archers, infantry, and mad shaman.
Players[]
Player[]
- Player ( Aztecs): The player begins southwest, just south of Texcoco with four Eagle Scouts.
Enemy[]
- Tlaxcala ( Aztecs): Tlaxcala controls the western and northwestern part of the map, and also the center around the Gaia Monastery, though they won't send troops to the latter. They train Eagle Scouts/Eagle Warriors, Archers/Crossbowmen, Monks, as well as Galleys/War Galleys. They commit suicide after their Town Centers are destroyed, leaving behind only Houses, Lumber Camps, Mining Camps, Mills and Blacksmiths. Thus it is not possible to trade with Tlaxcala after Texcoco and Tlacopan become hostile.
Allies → Enemies[]
- Texcoco ( Mayans): Texcoco is by the coast to the east and fields mostly Plumed Archers and Mangonels.
- Tlacopan (Aztecs): Tlacopan is west and trains Militia and Eagle Scouts/Eagle Warriors. During the last objective phase, they train Battering Rams and Scorpions. Unlike Texcoco, it does not build Castles.
Neutral[]
- Cortéz ( Spanish): Cortéz plays virtually no role in this scenario and is represented for most of it by a lone Hunting Wolf hidden in the rainforest. Once all enemies are defeated, two Transport Ships and two warships spawn at the sea northeast and "unload" some Conquistadors (actually spawned after the ships reach the coast). Cortéz claims the land for Spain and sinks the transports to affirm his intentions, while the Aztecs mistake him for their god Quetzalcoatl. Afterwards the player and Cortéz are jointly declared as winners.
Strategy[]
To win, the player must destroy all four of Tlaxcala's Town Centers, and then must defeat Tlacopan and Texcoco when they betray the player. The player will lose if they lose all four initial Eagle Scouts before delivering summons of war. The player cannot advance to the Imperial Age.
The player starts with four Eagle Warriors that must deliver the summons of war to their Mayan and Aztec allies, Tlacopan and Texcoco. Afterwards, the player receives a Transport Ship with four Villagers.
A good place to start a base after receiving the Villagers is in the eastern part of the map, south of Texcoco. Once there, Tlaxcalans will tend to attack Tlacopan and Texcoco instead of the Aztecs.
There are three Relics near Texcoco, and since the player starts in the Feudal Age, it is advisable to guard each of the three Relics with an Eagle Scout since Tlaxcala's Monks will attempt to pick up the Relics.
Before defeating Tlaxcala, some defensive buildings can be built inside Texcoco and Tlacoplan, like towers and Castles, to both fortify them against the Tlaxcalans and put them at a disadvantage when they turn enemies.
If the player brings ten Jaguar Warriors to the hidden monastery in the middle of the map (guarded by Tlaxcalan gates, walls, towers, a jaguar and the Son of Ornlu), the player will be rewarded with the blessing of the Rain God rewarding the Jaguar Warriors will +400 Hit Points. However, it is not actually necessary to bring only ten Jaguar Warriors; they can be as many as they fit, and all will get +400 HP, but they must be brought at the same time.
All Jaguar Warriors that get +400 HP will not be able to receive any upgrades anymore, so it is recommended to fully upgrade the Jaguar Warriors (research Blacksmith upgrades, as well as Arson and Squires) before bringing them to the Monastery for maximum benefit. These Jaguar Warriors can be used to destroy Tlaxcala's Town Centers, provided the player is careful enough not to let any of them get converted by Tlaxcala's Monks.
Texcoco builds a Castle, but since they mostly train Plumed Archers, it will be easy to take the Castle as well as their Town Center with garrisoned Battering Rams.
Tlacoplan mostly trains infantry and does not build Castles, so it is easy to defeat them with Jaguar Warriors.
Outro[]
The first messengers to arrive to Tenochtitlan told of mountains or towers that floated on the sea. Each story told to Montezuma was more fantastic than the last: they could fire stone balls, shooting sparks and raining fire that could crack open weapons.
Huge deer with no antlers carried these gods on their backs. Their swords were iron, their bows were iron, their shields were iron, and their clothes were iron. Surely this was the return of Quetzalcoatl!
Montezuma heard these reports with growing alarm, as he shifted nervously on the icpalli, his legless throne. He ordered expensive gifts to be sent to the new arrivals, in the hopes that Quetzalcoatl would spare Montezuma when the Feathered Serpent came to Tenochtitlan.
'He has come back,' Montezuma whispered to me. 'He seeks his place on the throne, for that is what he promised when he departed.' I held my weapons tightly but said nothing. How could I challenge the word of our emperor? So says Cuauhtémoc, Jaguar Warrior of Tenochtitlan.
The first messengers to arrive to Tenochtitlan told of mountains or towers that floated on the sea. Each story told to Montezuma was more fantastic than the last: they could fire stone balls, shooting sparks and raining fire that could crack open weapons.
Huge deer with no antlers carried these gods on their backs. Their swords were iron, their bows were iron, their shields were iron, their clothes were iron. Surely this was the return of Quetzalcoatl!
Montezuma heard these reports with growing alarm, as he shifted nervously on the icpalli, his legless throne. He ordered expensive gifts to be sent to the new arrivals, in the hopes that Quetzalcoatl would spare Montezuma, when the feathered serpent came to Tenochtitlan.
"He has come back," Montezuma whispered to me. "He seeks his place on the throne, for that is what he promised when he departed." I held my weapons tightly but said nothing. How could I challenge the word of our emperor? So says Cuauhtémoc, Jaguar Warrior of Tenochtitlan.Trivia[]
- The optional objective says that the player will have to bring 10 Elite Jaguar Warriors, despite being unable to advance to the Imperial Age. The trigger actually works with non-elite Jaguar Warriors.
- Bringing the 10 Jaguar Warriors to the Temple triggers a dialogue saying that those Jaguar Warriors "will fight with the skill of ten normal men". This is mathematically inaccurate since those Jaguar Warriors have 9 times the hit points of an average Jaguar Warrior (450 instead of 50) and not 10.
- When delivering the summons of war to the allies, neither seems to like it and reluctantly comply, hinting at their future betrayal.
- The Transport Ship carrying the Villagers from Tenochtitlan, actually belongs to Tlaxcala in the beginning and switches to the player after delivering the summons of war.
- The player can betray the allies before they do so by changing diplomacy to enemy. They will reciprocate, forcing to fight them at the same time as Tlaxcala (not possible anymore in the Definitive Edition; It is, however, still possible to "betray" the allies through force-attacking Mangonels near their buildings and units in order to force them to resign).
- If the Hunting Wolf belonging to Cortéz is killed before the enemies are defeated, the Spanish ships never spawn and the player is declared sole winner.
- In The Conquerors, it is possible to walk into the area where Cortéz lands, build over, and even attack his troops without penalty. In the Definitive Edition, this is initially not possible as the area is changed to an island not connected by shallows and surrounded by cliffs and reeds to stop the player from landing there. But a player might chop the trees in there and send Transport Ships with Villagers to the landing area, build a Siege Workshop, Palisade Walls, and Mangonels, and attack ground when the Spanish arrive to kill Cortez, the Conquistadors and to destroy the Spanish ships. It is, however, not possible to change diplomatic stance towards Cortéz, as they are always set to Ally.
- In the Definitive Edition, one of Cortéz's Elite Cannon Galleons is replaced by a Caravel, and the landing Conquistadors include Cortéz himself, represented by a renamed Gonzalo Pizarro.
Historical comparison[]
- Like its predecessor, this scenario is more symbolic and intended to introduce elements relevant later in the story (e.g. Tlaxcala's enmity and the Aztec Empire being loose and prone to rebellion), than based on an actual historical campaign.
- Montezuma fought a war against Tlaxcala, but it was early in his reign. By the time of Cortéz's arrival, Tlaxcala was under economic blockade instead. The scenario plays somewhat more like the Spanish-Tlaxcala War, where the Spanish razed several Tlaxcalan settlements before Tlaxcala offered to join forces against the Aztecs.
- Though Texcoco is represented by Mayans, in reality it was a Nahua state like Tlaxcala, Tlacopan, and Tenochtitlan. Tlacopan was on the western shore of Lake Texcoco, and Texcoco on the eastern shore.
- Neither Tlacopan nor Texcoco rebelled against Montezuma prior to the Europeans' arrival. Rather the king of Texcoco spurred Tlacopan and other cities to disobey Cortéz when he was in Tenochtitlan. For this, he was imprisoned in Tenochtitlan and executed when the city rebelled in La Noche Triste. Cortéz later used Texcoco as his main base to retake Tenochtitlan.
- In The Conquerors, Cortéz claims the land for "Ferdinand of Spain", but by this time (1519) Ferdinand II had been already succeeded by his grandson, Charles I. This is corrected in the Definitive Edition.
- Cortéz being represented by a lone Hunting Wolf before his arrival could be an allusion to the Lebrela de Términos ("She-Greyhound at Términos Lagoon"), a hunting dog left behind by another Spanish expedition years prior and that was found by one of Cortéz's recoignaissance ships. The dog recognized the ship as Spanish and came to greet it with a freshly caught rabbit on her teeth.
- The four Tlaxcala Town Centers are likely an allusion to the four member states of Tlaxcala: Tepeticpac, Ocotelulco, Tizatlan, and Quiahuixtlan.