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[ENG] Campaign: El Dorado #2 Zipa and Zaque · Start the game already!

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And we are back with mission number two of the Mwiska
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campaign that's called El Dorado.
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After the first mission, Nemecane was made the new Zippa,
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the leader of the Southern Whisker.
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The bloodthirsty Quemenchatocha was made the next Zaki, leader
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of the Northern Whisker. At the end of the first mission,
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we, playing as Pakanchika, had to make a choice, continue
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serving under Quimenchatocha, who was with no honor, saw
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Pakanchika as a mere tool and wanted war at all costs.
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But if I would serve him, at least I was able to stay with
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Azai, the love of my life, whom I want to marry, or change sides
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and fight for the South, be a commander for Nemekene, who I
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consider to be much wiser and more honorable.
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But that would mean that Pakanchika risked his
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relationship with Azai, and I chose the latter because I felt
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like the protagonist Pakanchinka would choose exactly so.
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I say he was not happy with my choice.
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How could she be? I did what I believed was right,
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but I did so without consulting her.
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Still, she understands that it is the right way, the only way.
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We will spend more time apart. From now on, I will be in the
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field spearheading my master's quest for domination while she
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remains in the Zaki's palace. I wish she would simply bite her
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time until we can marry, but I know her too well for that.
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She will play the loyal de mule courtier she despises while
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secretly providing me with intelligence on my enemies.
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It is a great risk, but, as she often reminds me, no greater
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risk than the one I take by leading men into battle.
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No matter what happens, we must both play our part.
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It is the only way, the only way.
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When Kewencha Torcha stepped off the coronation raft, he declared
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the dawn of a new golden age. The gods had blessed him with a
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vision, he said. He is to rule from a palace made
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of gold, a palace he intends to build.
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As new actors step into the same old roles, the ancient rivalry
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between Sipa and Saki continues, and I will be the tip of the
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spear in their conflict. It's very clear that Pakachinka
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and Azai are living a dangerous life, especially Azai if she's
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working as a semi spy, and I was curious to find out whether her
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role would be only reduced to the narrative or actually be a
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part of the mission. Maybe with a creative game
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mechanic like extra Intel on army positions or even an
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explored map. A palace made of gold come when
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to torture grows more delusional by the day.
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We must find a way to stop him, conquer the neutral Whisker
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States, and bring the battle to his doorstep.
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You already lost that Toronto, and now you want to squander
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your few remaining kernels of pride on this folly.
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The only madman here is you, Nemecane.
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We have been tasked with subjugating the neutral Muiska
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states in the area for the Zipa. However, the new Zaka has the
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same goal, so we are basically fighting for power over neutral
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ground. Our enemy is trying to expand
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from the north and we will start our expansion from the South.
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Most of these states are minor ones that have no interest in
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the conflict, and they will easily fall to either the Zipa
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or the Zaka's forces. But the Iraka are the most
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powerful state in the region and oppose both sides, so swinging
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them to our favor will be crucial.
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The divine dance of death between Sipa and Saki goes on,
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yet the Temple of the Sun must remain sacred ground for all.
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The Holy state of Iraka will not pick a side in this conflict.
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All these states are located high in the mountains and they
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are fortified by walls and castles.
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I can get control of that state by damaging its castle.
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There are also fortified towers between these States and open
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field which can be controlled as well by damaging them to 500HP
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or less. Basically, this mission is the
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ultimate map control scenario. Our wind condition is to control
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all 10 states at once, and we have to have control over at
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least one of them at all times. Iraka is located at the center
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of the map, and the 10 city states are located around it,
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starting off with a couple of villages farming around a
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settlement and another few villages chopping wood.
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There's no way of creating more villages, so resources are very
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scarce. This mission is going to be all
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about taking careful fights and not wasting units while I'm
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under time pressure. Thankfully though, we're in the
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castle age already and we have 500 food, wood and gold which I
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instantly spent on getting bosal and heavy plow to get the most
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out of my few villages. Also, I can't build anything
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with my villages except for new settlements and farms, so I
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can't get a blacksmith for upgrades, TCS, or more military
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buildings. These have to be fought for by
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conquering the city states. Luckily these States and
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fortified towers are visible in the fog of war, so at least I
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know where to go. Without wasting any time, I went
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for an instant attack on the closest fortified tower and the
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state E to it with my army, which is made-up of crossbowmen,
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guayupa Bowman, champi warriors, slingers and two battering
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ramps. Well done, keep this up and
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every whisker state will be ours before the new moon.
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When I start out at the mission, it's actually capped at 100 pop
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space, and controlling a city increases the cap by 10
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population each, so it's vital to try and keep the states in my
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control in order to maintain a large army.
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The state in the east gives me control over a siege workshop,
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where I can upgrade my Rams to cap Rams despite being stuck in
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Castle H. In my castle I can create
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Gwetcha Warriors, my unique units, which is by the way the
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only skirmishers unique unit created from a castle in the
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entire game. More importantly though, I can
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create a diplomat for 350 gold. The high priest in Iraq is no
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fool. He knows what Kim Winchettocha
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is after. We must send a diplomat to
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convince him to join our side. This is a high-ranking official
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entrusted to conduct diplomatic negotiations.
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If I can keep this unit under the Golden Temple for a set
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period of time, I can secure an alliance with Iraka.
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This seems awfully useful, but also very expensive, especially
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since my gold income is only a small trickle depending on how
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many states I'm holding. Still, I'm taking the gamble and
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create the unit and at the same time try to secure a way to the
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map center with my army, then a message.
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Our enemies advance on every front.
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Deer my. Spies can show.
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You their army movements, but only for a brief time.
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I cannot risk them being discovered.
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This is an interesting way of including as I into the mission.
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Basically she's signalling me what state the enemy is taking
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on the mini map and letting me know.
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It's nice from narrative point of view, but also a little less
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exciting than what I expected. Also, it doesn't really work
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because I just couldn't figure out for the life of me where
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exactly she's signaling my diplomat had been created and
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has safely reached the city of Iraka.
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When sent to the Temple of the Sun in the center of Iraka, he
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automatically starts negotiating, which takes 3
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minutes. In the meantime, I'm heading
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further to the east and committing to take state by
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state. Going counterclockwise around
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Iraka Kuomen Chatopja has taken a second state just when I was
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taking mine. The Empire of the Saki expands a
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few more and Nemekenny will have nowhere to hide.
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This state has sided with Nemekenny.
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But at least I didn't see him negotiating with Iraka.
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My negotiations went pretty well though is I have convinced the
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Iraka to support my cause. Your cause is just and your
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army's fearsome. You have our support so long as
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you keep the fighting away from the Temple of the Sun.
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Our engineers have constructed these war machines for you.
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I will provide the blueprints as a token of gratitude for your
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protection. This turns out to be a very
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important alliance because I can take control over 3 monasteries,
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the university where I instantly research Ballistics and also
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plan on researching murder holes for protecting my states, and
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probably most importantly, I can train siege ram and trebuchets
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from a siege workshop located in Iraka.
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All these buildings are in Iraka and just when I realized how
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important this alliance will be, all hell broke loose.
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I was taking my third stage in the east when at the same time
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Kwamencha Tocha tried to take the same state.
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We both had capped Rams attacking the castle at the same
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time, but I was able to clear his army and the state went into
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my hands. This felt like an important win,
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but I soon realized that Kuomen Chartocha was actually sending
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troops and his own diplomat to Iraqa at the same time the
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battle over the state in the east was happening, so I had
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only two minutes time to send my own troops back to Iraqa and
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deny the negotiation. I'm not going to lie, that was a
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very cool moment. I was like ha ha gotcha, and
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then immediately realized that I might have been the one who has
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been played. Thankfully my army was close by
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and I was able to kill the diplomat in time, so the
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alliance was upheld. I was continuing my conquest on
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the neutral states in the east when the priestesses of the
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decrepit temple in the very E suddenly reached out to me.
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It is not easy running a temple in Edaka's shadow.
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They gobble up every artefact from here to the Sunset Sea and
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leave only crumbs for the rest of us.
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If you could bring us one of their relics, we would gladly
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support you. So there's another choice to be
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made here, and it's going to have consequences.
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There is indeed a relic conveniently placed right next
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to a monastery in Iraqa. I either collect that relic for
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myself and get a small trickle of gold, thus ignoring the
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priestesses request, or I hand over the relic to them, which
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means that I won't get the relic gold, but instead the support of
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the priestesses who will provide me with free units in this
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mission and the subsequent missions.
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Having some extra gold sounds very tempting, but I do want to
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know what kind of units they'll give me.
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So I decide to create a monk and hand over the relic to the
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Decrepit Temple, A splendid site.
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You can count on our Temple's support.
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I am pleased with this decision because they gave me Temple
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Guards and Monks, which I can send back to Idaqa and heal the
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units that I've stationed there to guard the Holy City.
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Temple Guards are a unit that the Muska can create from the
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barracks as well as from monasteries, and they are a key
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unit when fighting against Guerman Chatocha.
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Because Temple Guards are strong against Champion warriors, they
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also attack faster the longer they remain in combat.
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The amount of units that Quementia Tocha sends is quite
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frankly ridiculous. And the healing and the Temple
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guards will maybe help me getting more value from my
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units. Luckily, I'm also getting
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reinforcements whenever my unit count is running low.
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This is getting out of hand. I will send reinforcements so
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that you can push out and conquer.
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These include scorpions, ram crossbows and guecha warriors.
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I usually instantly send them to the middle to guard the temple.
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While I was doing all this, I realized that I can research
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spies in the castle to receive intelligence from Azai.
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So I take back what I said before and now I do feel like
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they implemented the spy mechanic well enough.
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It costs 300 gold and when completed it reveals the whole
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map. This is where our enemy will
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strike next. Use the information wisely.
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For the longest time I had the eastern part of the map and
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Kuomenschacocha had the western part and it really felt like a
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power struggle. Somehow my enemy always had more
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units than I, so I had to make sure to micro a lot and
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especially focus down the enemy's diplomat if he was
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sending 1 so I wouldn't lose the middle.
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However, revealing the map has also shown me that Quima
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Chatocha was in control of some gold mines in the very West and
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that was not acceptable. A decision needed to be made, so
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I left the most northern right state unguarded and sent those
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troops, along with five trips to take down a first state in the
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West. Another state walks the path of
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honor. Your days are numbered.
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Kemwen Chatocha. There were only two gold miners
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and they were guarded by a couple of towers, but I'm not
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sure it was actually worth fighting for those because he
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sent enough troops to kill off my traps after I had taken him
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off the gold and killed his villagers and he produced units
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not any slower than what he had already been doing when he had
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gold axis. Still, I was a head conquering
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States and this has completely shifted Quemancha Tocha's
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attention to the West, which meant that I could invest more
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troops into attacking and didn't need any army to defend the
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east. For some reason, conquering the
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7th state was the hardest part of this mission because this one
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was already close to Quemancha Tocha's more fortified initial
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states that he could send reinforcements very very
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quickly. The situation was actually quite
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annoying because well, this is what happened.
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I successfully deployed my traps to damage the castle well enough
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so it would turn over to me, but I didn't kill his army that was
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defending the castle and I did that on purpose.
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I thought well get the castle 1st and then it starts firing
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from my side and it'll help me destroy his army.
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But once the castle turned sides, Cuomencia Tocha instantly
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started to fully ignore my units and started attacking the castle
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with all his military. And despite having murder holes,
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there was no way I could kill his units fast enough to save
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the castle. So the castle goes back to the
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enemy, but unlike when I get control of the castle, the enemy
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instantly gets 20 champion warriors the moment the castle's
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back in his control, which then of course instantly started
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attacking my units. My trips however were still
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there and started damaging the castle again right away.
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And believe it or not, the castle was mine again, just to
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be overtaken once more by his military units who are more than
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ever, who then got another round of 20 or so champy warriors for
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free. By taking away his castle and
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him retaking it, he basically got an infinite army glitch.
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Once I realized what was going on, we already went through
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three of these mean cycles. I immediately sent back my traps
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and started baiting out his main many units so I could finish
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them and only then take the castle.
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But man, what a weird sequence of events that was.
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However, once I held the 7th state, there was no way Kuomen
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Chatocha could win this game. One by one I took possession of
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the remaining 3 States and finally won this intense tug of
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war. The cowardly sake runs away with
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his tail between his legs. Victory is mine.
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With this, the mission has ended.
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It was an intense one that felt easy at 1st and then overwhelmed
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me a little bit. Well, actually a lot.
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Once I committed to the middle, the mission went into a
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stalemate for a while, until at one point it pivoted slightly
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into my favor. At last I've won the battle over
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the neutral States, and hopefully Comencha Tocha has
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learned his lesson. Although the conflict between
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Sipa and Zake has slightly altered the border, the two
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remain evenly matched. The greatest impact of the war
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appears to be on Comencha Tocha himself.
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He has begun hoarding treasures in the throne room, attempting
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to construct the Golden Palace from his vision.
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According to Azay's contacts, he now refers to himself as the son
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of the Sun Kimwenta Torcha, the son of the Sun God, would be
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laughable if he didn't genuinely believe it.
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I fear we have only witnessed the beginning of his madness.
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Cuominta Torcha is portrayed as being greedy, Fulham himself and
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almost mad. I have yet to find any reliable
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sources on that though. I believe that this campaign
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takes inspiration from the fact that he tried to hide golden
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treasures from the Spanish when they invaded, which he did in
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his fortress, but that doesn't fit the timeline of this
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campaign at all. I tried talking to some
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historians about the Whisker and their history, but it turns out
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they were all rather clueless. Most of them haven't even heard
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about the Whisker. It seems like there is very
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little historical evidence about the Muisca apart from
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archaeological findings and what the Spanish have told us.
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But if we've learned anything from the Aztec campaigns, it's
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that the Spanish conquistadors are not to be trusted when it
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comes to history. From what I can tell about
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what's happening in the second mission, there has always been a
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power struggle amongst the Muisca tribes looking to expand
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the territory of the southern Whiska.
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Nekene succeeded in the conquest of other areas in the central
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Highlands of Colombia or today's Colombia.
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However, it was never a clear victory as shown in this
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mission. It seems to be true that the
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Iraka in the center of the map was not an ally of either the
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North or the South, so they got that right.
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The Iraka was both a political and a religious leader, so
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basically the high priest of all the Muska people.
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The Iraka of the place that is depicted in this campaign, which
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is probably today's Sogomaso, lived in the Sun Temple, the
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most important temple of the Muska, built to worship the
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Muska sun God Sue decorated inside with golden figures,
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tunjos, and golden plates. Outside the Sun Temple is the
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wonder of the Muska, and it was at the center of Iraka, which
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means we pretty much know that Iraka is today's Sugomaso.
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Sadly, the Spanish had burned down the Sun Temple and replaced
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it with a Catholic Church, but it was reconstructed in 1942
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based on archaeological findings.
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Oh, and one more thing, because I brought the relic to the
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Decropit temple. I will begin each mission with
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extra monks and temple guards in the future, which sounds like a
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great bonus to me, especially because the temple guards seem
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to be the strongest unit I have. So how much did the decisions in
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mission 1 impact the second mission?
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Well, I'd say hardly. Let me give you an example.
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It seems like whatever choice you make in the first mission
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does not change the intro of the second mission.
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It is worded in a way that's fitting no matter what side
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you're on. This is somewhat disappointing
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to me, but I do understand why they didn't want to split the
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narrative. The mission itself had a nice
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start, but after a while I reached an uncomfortable
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stalemate that was very hard to break.
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I think it's a cool mechanic that conquering the state gives
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you access to certain buildings, more resources and more pop
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space. But it also makes the 1st 10 to
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15 minutes very important because this mechanic is very
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snowballing as you take your time understanding the mechanics
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and the map. The enemy might have already
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conquered the first few States and that can snowball quickly,
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especially since he's getting free units whenever he takes
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over a castle. That is also my main criticism.
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I hated that that was happening. Why do I not get free units and
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my opponent does? That felt so unfair in a mission
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where I already felt like the enemy was able to spam units
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much faster than I was, but maybe I was just too slow.
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Long story short, not my favorite mission, but a
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challenge nonetheless. I'm kind of hoping for a bit
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less stressful scenario in the next mission.
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Speaking of which, episode 3 of this campaign series is coming
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out tomorrow, so make sure to follow the podcast and enjoy the
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next episode when you're going to hear from me in 24 hours.