New World Warrior
New World Warrior
New World Warrior
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Other army list books in this series:
Biblical Warrior, Armies of the Bronze and Early Iron Ages
Classical Warrior, Armies of the Hellenistic World and the Punic Era
Imperial Warrior, Armies of the Mediterranean Basin and enemies of the Roman Empire
Dark Age Warrior, Armies of the European Dark Ages, the Earlier Byzantines and Muslim Expansion
Holy Warrior, Christian and Muslim Armies in the era of the Crusades
Feudal Warrior, Armies of Feudal Europe
Oriental Warrior, Armies of Eastern, Central and South Asia
technology over time, even when the extended periods in question are too little known to justify their own lists, or to show how
things turned out after the Spaniards had taken control.
Other books in this series will include CLASSICAL, IMPERIAL and ORIENTAL WARRIOR. Each book will contain 36-42
armies organized along the lines you see here. Please dont hesitate to post questions or provide additional research on these
or any other army in the period via our web site at www.fourhorsemenenterprises.com. And dont forget to purchase the first
three books in the series, BIBLICAL, DARK AGE and HOLY WARRIOR, and watch for the soon-to-be-released FEUDAL
WARRIOR.
LIST RULES
In order to provide some historical flavor to the period, we are including list rules that are not contained in the WARRIOR rule
set. Such rules are designed to correct problems that crop up in a single set of rules covering 5000 years of warfare. The
specifics of each list rule are outlined in the appropriate army list. These list rules, and the armies affected by them, are:
SPECIAL INFANTRY ARMAMENT: 6, 8.
ADVANCED ARTILLERY MOBILITY: 1.
COMMAND POINT VARIABILITY: 1.
CIRCULATING COMBATANTS: 1, 2, 3, 6, 7.
WEAPON COMBINATIONS: 1, 2, 3, 6, 7.
TEMPORARY FORTIFICATIONS: 2, 3.
ABBREVIATIONS
1HCW=One-Handed Cutting Weapon
2HCW=Two-Handed Cutting Weapon
2HCT=Two-Handed Cut & Thrust Weapon
Sh=Shield
Pa=Pavise
HK=Heavy Knight
LHI=Light Heavy Infantry
HI=Heavy Infantry
MI=Medium Infantry
LMI=Light Medium Infantry
LI=Light Infantry
Reg=Regular
Irr=Irregular
P, A, S=Personal, Army, Sacred standards
D=Dart
B=Bow
S=Sling
CB=Crossbow
HG=Handgun
LTS=Long Thrusting Spear
JLS=Javelin or Light Spear
P=Pike
GENERAL CONCEPTS
The point cost is shown by ELEMENT, as are minimums and maximums. All fractions are in elements. All fractional ratios are
for purchased troops (e.g., if 0-1/2 of a troop can be upgraded and you purchase 12 elements, 6 of those could be upgraded).
If different named troops are given the same fractional upgrade ratio on the same line, then such ratios apply to the total
number of elements purchased, not for those of each named type. The rounding concept applies only to upgrades that are
separately stated to be available to a proportion of troops.
Generals' elements may be in a mixed unit with troops of the same Training (Warrior 2.1) and Order (Warrior 2.21), and in
addition Knights and Cavalry can only be mixed with troops in the same Troop Category (Warrior 2.23) and Transport can only
be mixed with troops of the same Troop Type (Warrior 2.22), except where an army list specifies that such troops can mix with
others in this list. Being "Mounted" does not count as being in the same "Category" for these purposes. A general's element in
a mixed unit does not prevent troops otherwise entitled under a list rule from fighting 1.5 ranks, provided the general's element
is of the same nationality and armed the same as those troops. A general's element can be included in a detachment only as
specified by a list. Generals' elements do NOT count toward the minimum or maximum of any troop line in a list except their
own. Generals' elements count toward fractional or other numerical limits as they pertain to fractional upgrades in a list only
when they are part of a unit."
The placement of immobile TFs must abide by the terrain positioning rules of Warrior 14.31. For this purpose, open spaces
are still considered to be in place though deployment..
Unless otherwise specified in a list, troops listed as bodyguard must be in a unit with a general AND can only be used if the
general is the same troop type as his bodyguard troops. Troops listed as guards or guardsmen, however, can be in
separate bodies.
Some armies are arranged by time periods. In such lists, troops that can be used in any period are listed first, followed by
troops allowed in a given period. Troops or upgrades listed in a given period cannot be used in another for which they are not
listed, and in some exceptional cases troops from the main list are not allowed during a given period.
Generals are treated as having the morale grade of the troops listed on their element or model. Unless otherwise specified in
a list, Ally-generals of a specified nationality can command only troops of their allied contingent, and only an Ally-general of
that nationality can command such troops.
Unless otherwise specified in a list, troops on different lines cannot be organized into the same unit or body. Upgrades
allowed for troops on one line do not prevent mixing of such troops where some are upgraded and others are not.
Sacred standards are costed as if they were upgrades to whatever standard is listed for a CinC. For example, if a CinC
carries a PA standard and is then given an S standard, the CinC is considered to be carrying a PAS standard for visibility and
eagerness purposes.
Unless otherwise specified in a specific list, no army can have more than 4 generals regardless of how many are listed as
available overall.
A weapon combination (e.g. 2HCT, JLS) that is expressly permitted by a list is AUTOMATICALLY a list rule allowing
combinations not otherwise permitted by WARRIOR (2.32).
ARMIES INCLUDED:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
If CinC is Huexotzincan
Extra to upgrade Knights to Reg A @ 4 pts......................................................................................................................................0-1/3
Extra to upgrade Warriors to Reg B as Veterans @ 4 pts ................................................................................................................0-1/2
Extra to upgrade entire units of Irr C Subject Warriors to Irr A as Otomis @ 6 pts...........................................................................0-1/2
Subject Sub-general as LMI 1HCW, D, Sh with P standard + 3 Reg A LMI 1HCW, D, Sh @ 81 pts..................................................0-1
Mixtec Ally-general as LMI 1HCW or LTS, B or D, Sh with P standard + 2 Irr B LMI 1HCW or LTS, B or D, Sh @ 90 pts ................ *1
Mixtec Warriors Irr C LMI 1HCW or LTS, B or D, Sh @ 12 pts ....................................................................................................... *6-18
Mixtec Skirmishers Irr C LI B or D @ 4 pts ..........................................................................................................................................0-6
Extra to give Mixtec Skirmishers Sh @ 2 pts ...................................................................................................................................... any
Extra to give Mixtec Skirmishers 1 HCW or JLS @ 2 pts ................................................................................................................... any
Extra to upgrade Irr C Mixtec Warriors to Irr B @ 3 pts .................................................................................................................. 1/2-all
Extra to upgrade entire units of Irr B Mixtec Warriors to Irr A @ 3 pts.................................................................................................0-4
Extra to upgrade Irr Mixtec Warriors to Reg @ 10 pts if Irr A, @ 9 pts if Irr B, @ 8 pts if Irr C.........................................................0-1/2
Extra to upgrade Mixtec Skirmishers to Reg C @ 2 pts ...................................................................................................................0-1/2
Extra to replace Mixtec Warriors 1HCW or LTS option with just LTS @ 0 pts............................................................................... 1/2-all
Extra to replace any Mixtec D with JLS @ 0 pts......................................................................................................................0-1/4 or all
Tlaxcallan Allies (but no Spanish).
Extra to replace generals element 1HCW with LTS @ 0 pts, or 2HCT @ 3 pts ................................................................................................ any
Extra to replace other non-Spanish 1HCW with LTS @ 0 pts ............................................................................................................................ any
Extra to replace other non-Spanish 1HCW with 2HCT @ 4 pts if Reg, @ 3 pts if Irr........................................................................................0-1/4
Extra to replace other non-Spanish 1HCW with 2HCW @ 0 pts .............................................................................................................0-1/4 or all
Climate: Dry.
Historical Opponents: 1, 2, 3, 7 (Successor States Epilogue); Feudal Warrior: 34.
Boats: Yes.
List Rules: 1) Warrior Priests with an S standard may be a single element body or a multi-element unit. No command points are needed for
Warrior Priests with an S standard in a body with two or fewer elements. 2) Spanish Wheeled Guns are not subject to the restriction in the
third sentence of the second paragraph of Warrior Rules Section 8.84, which states that bombards that moved last bound or just forced
marched cannot shoot. 3) Appropriate troops may use the Circulating Combatants rule. 4) 2HCT, JLS combination is allowed as an exception
to Warrior Rules Section 2.32 and the JLS bonus applies only at first contact (9.22, 9.3) if used with either 2HCT or 1HCW.
Notes: An army must be designated as Aztec, Tlaxcallan, Texcocan or Huexotzincan, and then must contain at least one command
including only troops appropriate to that group (where appropriate means troops allowed by the main list, as modified by the
relevant sublist, plus any additional troops listed only in that sublist). An army may include one or more allied contingents of the
type specified in its sublist. Any such allied contingent must be commanded by an Ally-general and may include only troops that
are appropriate for that group. Troops designated as Subject may be commanded by any general, but a Subject Sub-general may
only command such troops. All troops of the same type (e.g., Knights or Subject Warriors) count toward the minimums and
maximums specified in this list, regardless of the contingent in which they are included.
Aztec armies may have one Texcocan Ally-general, who can command only troops appropriate for Texcocans. Minimums marked
* in the Aztec sublist apply only if a Tepanec Sub-general is used, who can command only Tepanecs and Subject Warriors. An
Aztec army that includes both a Texcocan and a Tepanec command represents the full muster of the Triple Alliance of Tenochtitlan,
Texcoco and Tlacopan.
Only Tlaxcallan armies may have Spanish allies. Tlaxcallan armies may also have one Huexotzincan Ally-general, who can
command only troops appropriate for Huexotzincans. Tlaxcallans may also have one Cholultecan Ally-general, whose troops
come solely from the main list, downgraded as specified in the Tlaxcallan sublist to reflect the complicated and sometimes hostile
relationship between Cholollan and Tlaxcala. Minimums marked * apply only if any Spaniards are present. If the Spanish Allygeneral is upgraded to CinC, to represent Cortez leading a Tlaxcallan army, then no other CinC is allowed. Even if the CinC, the
Spanish general cannot command any troops other than Spanish. Minimums for non-Spanish troops in an army commanded by a
Spanish CinC are halved.
Texcocan armies may have Aztec and/or Huexotzincan Ally-generals, who can command only troops that are appropriate for
them.
Warriors may fight in mixed units with a single element of Eagle/Jaguar Knights. Aztec Novice Warriors may fight in mixed units
with a single element of Otontin. Any such mixed units must have at least three elements of Warriors or Novices. Generals
elements cannot upgrade to 2HCW unless the all option is taken. Different weapon types may be combined in the same unit in
any proportions. Aztec Novice Warriors may be in detachments of Otontin/Cuachicqueh.
Background: Nahuatl-speaking nomadic tribes, traditionally under the leadership of the Chichimec hero Xolotl, migrated from the northern
deserts into the then-verdant Valley of Mexico or Anahuac (present-day Mexico City) and adjacent areas to the east and south around 1200
AD. Taking advantage of (and contributing to) the disintegration of the Toltec empire, most of these groups rapidly adopted the more
advanced culture of the peoples of these areas, emerging as (or reinvigorating) the states of (among others) Texcoco, Huexotzinco, Chalco,
Cholollan (Cholula) and the Tlaxcallan Confederacy. (The x that so frequently appears in Nahuatl words and names is sounded like sh or
tz.) Their leaders were assimilated into the local ruling classes, but remembered their origins and continued to refer to themselves as
Chichimecs (calling those who remained in a barbarous nomadic state Teo or true Chichimecs). Any of these groups could, in a sense,
be referred to as Aztec (referring to a legendary origin in an idealized place called Aztlan), as their provenance and mode of life were similar,
but we use that term to refer specifically to the Mexica or Tenocha, who were in fact among the last of these migrating tribes to arrive in the
Valley. Initially scorned by earlier arrivals for their savagery and uncouth manners, these Aztecs were driven to the swampy islands of Lake
Texcoco, where they subsisted by hiring themselves out as mercenaries. Skillfully exploiting the ongoing factional fighting of the settled
Chichimec and Toltec successor states, the Aztecs had firmly established themselves as a major force in the Valley by 1325, founding their
capital Tenochtitlan (place of the Tenochas) on one of the islands in the Lake in that year. By the time the Spaniards arrived, Tenochtitlan
was the largest and perhaps the most beautiful city in Mexico, rivaling the great cities of Europe in size and civic organization. During the next
century, the Aztecs fought in support of various city-states in the Valley, slowly gaining in power and resources. Their principal deities were
the tribal god Huitzilopochtli (Humming Bird on the Left) and the warrior god Tezcatlipoca (Smoking Mirror), as well as the goggle-eyed,
fang-toothed water god Tlaloc and the ghastly vegetation god Xipe Totec; like their neighbors, the Aztecs engaged in extensive human
sacrifice to propitiate these and many other gods. Their leader or king was known as the Tlatoani (Speaker), whose principal advisor (and
sometime war leader) was called for unknown reasons the Cihuacoatl (Snake Woman). When Azcapotzalco threatened to unify the Valley
by force, the Aztecs responded to a call for help from the dispossessed poet-king Netzahualcoyotl of Texcoco, joining with other city-states to
destroy Azcapotzalco and forming the Triple Alliance with Texcoco (1428 AD) and the Tepanec city of Tlacopan (1434 AD). This list
represents the height of Aztec power between that date and the fall of Tenochtitlan to the Spaniards. The settled Chichimec states soon had
cause to regret their support for the Aztec upstarts. Under a strong central Aztec monarchy, the Triple Alliance subjugated Chalco and
Huexotzinco after bitter fighting, encircled Tlaxcala, and forced tributary status on the other city-states around the Valley. Eventually, the
Triple Alliance conquered most of central Mexico from the Gulf to the Pacific, with garrisons located as far away as Mazatlan in the north and
Guatemala in the south, under the warrior kings Itzcoatl (1427-1440 AD), Moctezuma or Motecuhzoma I (1440-1468 AD), Axayacatl (14681481 AD) and Ahuitzotl (1486-1502 AD). Only the central zone of this empire was administered from the capital, with the rest retaining a large
degree of local autonomy but paying a heavy tribute to Tenochtitlan. Blocked on the west by the strong Tarascan Kingdom, the Triple Alliance
established a fortified line on that frontier and there maintained an uneasy peace until the Spanish Conquest. Under Moctezuma II (15021520 AD), the Triple Alliance was on the verge of crushing the Tlaxcaltecs to the east and completing the territorial consolidation of their
empire, when Cortez and the Spaniards arrived in 1519 AD. The Tlaxcaltecs joined with the Spaniards, after an initially hostile reception,
while the Tarascans ignored Aztec calls for help. Moctezuma II at first gave the Spaniards a guarded welcome, despite Spanish outrages at
Cholollan and elsewhere, and Cortez entered Tenochtitlan peacefully. In time, resistance hardened. Moctezuma was killed by his own people
as a collaborator, and the Spaniards were driven from the city in a bloody retreat remembered as La Noche Triste. Cortez returned the next
year with significant Spanish reinforcements and a much larger native contingent, much of the empire then being in open revolt. After 2 major
battles and a three-month siege of Tenochtitlan, in the course of which the city was virtually destroyed and the population annihilated by
smallpox, deprivation and slaughter, Cortez and his Indian allies defeated the Aztecs under Cuauhtemoc in 1521 AD, thereby erasing their
power forever.
The Aztecs and their neighbors fought wars in essentially the same way, and were armed and organized along the same lines, except for a
heavier reliance on bows by the Acolhuas of Texcoco, the Tlaxcaltecs and possibly others of the settled Chichimec group, and perhaps a
higher emphasis on training among the Aztecs. The Tlaxcallan Confederacy was a group of 28 cities and towns with 4 regional capitals, forced
to combine to resist outside encroachment and to assert themselves against their neighbors.
Huexotzinco and Cholollan (actually better
known as a religious than a political center) vied for leadership in the Puebla Valley, until the Aztecs subjugated the former and Tlaxcala
superseded the latter. Cuauhnahuac (Cuernavaca) was the principal site in the Morelos Valley to the south, having supplanted the older
trading center of Xochicalco, and Tulucan (Toluca) was the leading city in the Matlatzinca-dominated Toluca Valley to the west. The Aztecs
kept themselves well informed of local conditions in these and many other areas through reports by long-distance merchants and traders
(pochteca), who played an important part in Aztec military affairs by providing access to obsidian and the luxury goods necessary to equip the
knights and elite warriors. While the Aztecs did not maintain standing armies, since they were almost always at war the military had regular
characteristics such as uniforms, military training schools, unit standards and organization, and the ability to conduct coordinated land and
water operations and maneuver by ranks. Elite military orders included the Eagle and Jaguar Knights, members of religious warrior-societies
who fought for spiritual as well as temporal reasons, plus (at least in the case of the Aztecs) the Otontin (Brave Ones) and the Cuachicqueh
(Shorn Ones), the last of which were recognizable by a distinctive mohawk hairstyle. Membership was based on military prowess, primarily
(at least in the case of Otontin and Cuachicqueh) in the ability to take prisoners for sacrifice to the gods; other criteria, including noble birth,
may have played a part in the case of the Eagle and Jaguar orders. The Eagles (Cuacuauhtin) and Jaguars (Ocelomeh) were mostly
indistinguishable except for their warsuits (tlahuiztli), such that they were sometimes referred to as Eagle-Jaguars (Cuauhtlocelotl), with
Eagles probably having a somewhat higher status since there seem to have been far fewer of them and since most of the surviving depictions
of eagle warsuits show them being worn by rulers or chieftains; they usually fought in their own units, but could also sometimes be found
leading companies of common warriors. Otontin were distinguished by having taken 5-6 captives, and sometimes fought in units with Novice
Warriors. Cuachicqueh had the most captives, and were used as shock troops, often being the first into battle and the last to leave, fighting
not in units but in pairs. Warrior Priests accompanied armies on the march, and while their actual battlefield role remains debated the codices
display the same type of hierarchy (based on the number of captives taken) as the elite warriors, which suggests they did participate in
combat. The captive hierarchy was sophisticated enough to distinguish among various sources, with greater merit attending the capture of a
famous enemy warrior, and with additional captives from the formidable Huexotzinco being regarded as particularly noteworthy while those
from the Huaxtec lands didnt count. (The latter may reflect the large number of Huaxtec captives taken in the many Aztec attacks on them,
rather than any reflection on their martial prowess, as other sources speak highly of their discipline and courage, and as the warsuit adopted
by the Aztecs for those who had taken 2 captives in battle was of Huaxtec design.) Common trained men were organized into units based on
clans or neighborhood groups known as calpulli (or callopi). Tequihuahqueh were veteran warriors with previous demonstrated skill who
remained part of the calpulli organization. The same organization applied to the Novice Warriors, who usually fought with Otontin or
Cuachicqueh leadership. Those that we here designate as Peasants or Yaoquizqueh were predominately farmers, usually armed with slings
and sometimes darts, but bows were also used (particularly by the Tlaxcaltecs). Subject Warriors represent any of the subjects of the Triple
Alliance, typically not very enthusiastic supporters, with Irr types representing the semi-civilized groups to the North, including the Otomi, and
the Reg types representing the many cities under Aztec control, including the Huaxtecs and the Totonacs of Gulf cities such as Cempoala.
The Matlatzincas occupied the Toluca Valley. Lying as they did between the Aztecs and the Tarascans, they could be found fighting for either.
They were famous for their use of the sling, but are depicted with the usual macuahuitl and shield. An Aztec battle typically opened with a
barrage of missile fire from the Yaoquizqueh. (The Spaniards particularly feared Aztec slingshot barrages and Tlaxcallan bowfire.) The shock
troops then moved in, usually led by the Cuachicqueh, then the Otontin and Knights, and finally the Tequihuahqueh, Calpulli Warriors and
Novices. It has been said that the majority of an Aztec army would ordinarily have consisted of untrained missilemen. While this may be so,
this list adopts the view that most of these shooters would have been of minimal military value, and can be thought of as essentially camp
followers that need not be represented. For those who disagree with this interpretation, a large number of Yaoquizqueh are allowed. Ranks
and units were cycled to the front lines in order to keep fresh troops always engaged, a striking example of superior training and battlefield
coordination.
Virtually every warrior above peasant status was trained in the use of the macuahuitl (or maquahuitl), an obsidian-edged wooden slashing
weapon virtually always depicted being held in one hand with a shield in the other but which could also be found in a two-handed version. The
one-handed version was clearly heavier than the Toltec slashing sword, but probably not heavy enough to qualify as 2HCW. We classify the
one-handed version as 1HCW, and allow a limited number of upgrades to 2HCW to allow for the presence of the two-handed version and the
occasional use of the cuauhololli, a heavy two-handed club or mace-like weapon. The all upgrade option is for those who prefer the older
interpretation of the one-handed macuahuitl. Another common weapon was the tepoztopilli, a polearm 7 or 8 feet in length with a stone point
and a lateral obsidian cutting surface up to 18 inches long. Versions of this weapon with the longer cutting surfaces were clearly thrusting and
slashing weapons best represented by 2HCT, but other versions are shown in the codices being used strictly as a thrusting weapon and so an
LTS option is allowed. Warriors also regularly used several types of dart, thrown with the help of a dart-thrower known as an atlatl. One such
dart, the tlacochtli, could be used in hand-to-hand combat as well as thrown, hence the option for JLS. They were strong enough to pierce
Spanish armor. However, it is clear that by this period warriors did not carry tlacochtli darts as a primary weapon, and they are available in
this list as JLS only as an either or option with D.
The Spanish allies represent Cortez and his men, who landed in Veracruz in 1519 AD. They were supremely confident, hence the Reg A
designation for the force. Spanish Infantry combine the small numbers of available crossbowmen, arquebusiers and swordsmen into mixed
units. After defeating a Tlaxcallan army under Xicotenga the Younger, a fierce and capable commander, the Spaniards enlisted them as allies
against the Aztecs. The 1HCW reflects the Spanish expertise with the long doubled-edged sword and buckler used so successfully in Europe.
Spanish artillery were actually light wheeled guns, treated here as a mobile type of bombard; they were actually a more advanced type of
weapon from the early Renaissance, and though they would have had the same combat effectiveness as a medieval bombard, they were not
as cumbersome and their crews were more accustomed to moving them in battle. While there may have been limited instances in which the
Spaniards assisted their Indian allies in a supporting role, which is why this list allows for an allied contingent, for practical purposes Cortez
was always in command of any combined force and the Spanish Ally-general should ordinarily be upgraded to CinC.
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Background: The Tarascan kingdom, centered on the capital at Tzintzuntzan on Lake Patzcuaro, lay to the west of the Aztecs and was their
most powerful enemy at the time of the Spanish Conquest. From the time when they first coalesced into a state around 1370 AD, the
Tarascans succeeded in creating a multi-ethnic empire that inflicted one bloody defeat on the Aztecs in 1479 AD, and fought it to a bloody
draw in 1514 AD. The Tarascans built a series of fortifications along the frontier that were designed to delay and give early warning of Aztec
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incursions. However, these fortified areas were eventually bypassed and surrounded, as the Aztecs expanded during the early part of the 16
Century AD. The term Chichimec is used almost generically to refer to the nomadic and semi-nomadic peoples who occupied the vast desert
areas to the north. They were viewed by their settled neighbors as living in a state of barbarism, and were considered to be fierce and hardy
fighters. They sometimes fought pitched battles in alliance with the Tarascans, and both were characterized by unusually heavy reliance on
the bow, and hence they have been combined here into one list. The Tarascans did not come to the aid of the Aztecs when Cortez attacked,
and shortly thereafter a smallpox epidemic swept through the region, killing the king and crippling the state. His successor submitted to the
Spaniards. The Chichimecs fought on for many years, ultimately adopting Spanish arms (when they could get them) and fighting vicious
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guerilla wars until late into the 17 Century AD. They were never completely subdued, but the Spaniards ultimately achieved control over the
areas they cared about and the free natives in inaccessible places were left to their own devices.
Elite warriors used impact weapons and darts like those used by the Aztecs, in addition to their bows, and Tarascan bowmen could be armed
with macuahuitl, tepoztopilli and probably the cuauhololli. Reference is made to List 1 for a description of these weapons. The Tarascans are
also credited with having used copper weapons to some extent, and 1HCW and 2HCW may also be taken to represent them as well, although
the earlier view that it was only by virtue of such copper weapons that the Tarascans were able to resist the Aztecs seems now to be largely
discarded. The Chichimecs were semi-nomadic and fought mainly guerilla actions when alone. They were less likely to be well supplied with
impact weapons, and never adopted regular fighting formations or tactics. Of all Mesoamerican peoples, the Chichimecs were most closely
associated with the bow, which may be regarded as their national (if one may use that term for such a disparate group of peoples) weapon.
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Notes: An army from this list must be designated as either Zapotec or Mixtec, and then must contain at least one command
including only troops appropriate to that group (where appropriate means troops allowed by the main list, as modified by the
relevant sublist, plus any additional troops listed only in that sublist).
One or more commands of a Mixtec or Zapotec army may be designated as an allied contingent made up of the other. Any such
allied contingent must be commanded by an Ally-general and may include only troops that are appropriate for that group. Troops
designated as Subject may be commanded by any general, but a Subject Sub-general may only command such troops. Weapon,
morale and training upgrades specified in a sublist for Warriors do not apply to Warrior Priests or Subject Warriors. Any Zapotec or
Mixtec command, allied or not, may include Warrior Priests, Peasants and/or Subject Warriors. Mixe or Chontal may be included in
any Zapotec command. Any Huexotzincans in a Mixtec army must be in a separate command, which may not include any Warrior
Priests or Subject Warriors. Huexotzincan or Novice Warriors may fight in mixed units with a single element of Huexotzincan
Knights; any such mixed units must have at least three elements of Warriors. Minimums marked * apply only if any Huexotzincans
are used. Minimums marked ** apply only if any troops of that nationality are used. All troops of the same type (e.g., Warriors or
Subject Warriors) from the main list count toward the minimums and maximums specified in this list, regardless of the national
designation or the contingent in which they are included.
Background: The two principal peoples of the large and mountainous province of Oaxaca were the Mixtecs and the Zapotecs. Of the two,
the Mixtecs entered Oaxaca from the north about 900 AD, and were full participants in the Central Mexican Great Tradition from which they
sprang; their art and iconography were similar in many respects, particularly with those from the area around Cholollan and the Puebla Valley,
although their armaments and political structures differed in some respects. The Zapotecs, on the other hand, had their own tradition, at this
time stretching back over 1400 years, and viewed themselves as autochthonous and the rightful lords of the Valleys of Oaxaca. The great
ceremonial center at Monte Alban was built by the Zapotecs, and for long represented the focus of their political as well as religious system.
Speaking very broadly, the Mixtecs, as perhaps befits invaders, tended to be more fierce and aggressive, while the Zapotecs tended to be
more urbane and sophisticated in their dealings with one another and the outside world. The principal god of the Zapotecs was not a tribal or
war god, but Cocijo, a fertility god of lightening and rain.
At all times, both the Zapotecs and the Mixtecs lived in a large number of autonomous city states, each under its own lord and essentially selfcontained, which tended to combine against one another amid a never-ending kaleidoscope of dynastic, lineage and territorial alliances and
struggles. While there was an element of national or ethnic animosity between Mixtec and Zapotec, cities of both freely joined with and
against one another when their interests dictated. The Zapotecs usually had a central authority regarded as their king, although not always
obeyed as such (first at Monte Alban, then with divided political authority at Zaachila and religious authority at Mitla, and finally at Tehuantepec
in the south), while the Mixtecs were usually divided into a number of independent senorities, usually consolidated into a northern kingdom in
the mountains centered on Tilantongo (Black Town) and a southern kingdom in the lowlands towards the Pacific coast centered on
Tututepec. Cutting across national and dynastic loyalties was a common religious structure, manifest in three powerful oracles at Achiutla,
west of Tilantongo, Chalcatongo in the south, and the Zapotec great seer at Mitla, The oracles played a role in mediating disputes and
maintaining a sense of national identity. Among the Mixtecs, the oracle at Achiutla appears to have had some special role in matters of war
and peace; the Zapotec oracle at Mitla was supposed to have a direct line to the Lord of the Underworld.
Political conflict among the Mixtecs was dominated by noble houses or lineages, which vied with one another for precedence, wealth and
power. Wars among them were frequent, but typically on a small scale. During the eleventh century, the established order was upset when
the lord of Tilantongo died without an heir, and an ambitious and capable usurper, named Eight Deer Nacuaa (1011-1063 AD), seized control
of the city and launched a war of conquest unparalleled among his people. The Codex Zouche-Nuttal tells his story, and records the names
of scores of Mixtec towns taken by him and many incidents in his career. The empire he created, however, did not survive his death, as the
network of fear and obligation that he controlled was essentially personal and passed with him. The codices depicting events of this period
make it clear that the principal weapon of the nobility at that time was the dart and atlatl combination, but one- and two-handed cutting
weapons, long thrusting spears and the bow are also shown.
This list begins in 1280 AD, at about which time Mixtec Tilantongo and Zapotec Zaachila formed a long-term alliance that was to affect political
alignment and military campaigns for the next 200 years. During that period, the Mixtecs continued to push south. Under pressure, the
Zapotecs abandoned their ceremonial center at Monte Alban and moved their capital to Zaachila about 1390 AD. The Mixtecs occupied the
old center by about 1420 AD, founding the town of Cuilapan near by, and enjoyed a brief but brilliant renaissance marked by particularly fine
Mixtec goldwork. Cuilapan became a center for Mixtec influence in the Valley of Oaxaca and, generally aligned with Yanhuitlan, a threat to the
Zapotecs at Zaachila. Both groups allied to resist Aztec expansion during the mid-to-late 1400s, and did so quite successfully through
political maneuvering and battles.
Coixtlahuaca in the Mixteca Alta was one of the largest and most important international trading centers in Mesoamerica. In 1458 AD, a group
of Aztec pochteca made unreasonable demands on its lord Atonal, who responded by massacring them. The Aztecs retaliated by sending a
large army against the city. Atonal was able to call on Mixtec allies from Tilantongo, and together they repulsed the initial attack. The Aztecs
returned, however, and captured the city by a ruse, despite assistance dispatched by Huexotzinco and Cholollan. Atonal was put to death,
and an Aztec garrison installed in the town, which thereafter became a springboard for Aztec attacks on both Mixtecs and Zapotecs. Shortly
14
thereafter, an Aztec punitive expedition was sent against Huaxyacac (Oaxaca City), in the center of the Valley of Oaxaca, at which it was said
that another party of Aztec pochteca had been murdered, possibly at the instigation of the Zapotec lord of Mitla. The city was razed by
Cuachicqueh, and an Aztec garrison installed there as well.
In 1486 AD, Cosijobi was the Zapotec lord of Zaachila. He was a descendant of Eight Deer Nacuaa and reckoned his alliances with the
Mixtecs through Tilantongo, and not with the lineage system that controlled Yanhuitlan and Cuilapan. Cosijobi made a temporary alliance with
the Mixtecs of Cuilapan and Yanhuitlan to resist an impending Aztec attack, thinking that the weight of the invasion would fall on them.
Surprisingly, the Mixtecs suffered great losses but repulsed the Aztecs, who then turned south toward the Zapotec territories. Unwilling to face
the Aztecs alone, Cosijobi made peace and the Aztecs passed on to the subtropical lands of the Xoconusco to the south, a rich source of
cacao and quetzal feathers. His successor, Cosijoeza, moved the Zapotec capital to Tehuantepec in the 1490s. In 1493 AD, the Aztec
tlatoani Ahuitzotl launched a major invasion, taking Jaltepec, Zaachila and Mitla. By 1494 AD, the Aztecs controlled the entire Valley. It is
said that Ahuitzotl took 20,000 captives from Oaxaca to be sacrificed to the Aztec gods. The Aztecs pushed on to the Xoconusco, where
fighting for control of the trade routes weakened them. At the fortified mountain of Guiengola near Tehuantepec, Cosijoeza blocked their return
with an army of Zapotecs, reinforced by Mixtecs sent through the Tilantongo alliance structure by Four Deer Quicuaa, Cosijoezas kinsmen.
After a seven-month siege, the Aztecs gave up and sought peace. An alliance was sealed with the virtually unprecedented marriage of an
Aztec princess, Ahuitzotls daughter Pelaxilla (Corn Flower, or Coyolicatzin in Nahuatl), to Cosijoeza in 1498 AD. Their son Cosijopi formed
a political alliance with the Spaniards when they arrived, eventually submitting peacefully to Spanish rule.
The Mixtecs continued to resist Aztec expansion. In 1502 AD, Jaltepec rebelled upon the election of Moctezuma II as tlatoani of the Triple
Alliance, as a consequence of which an Aztec army took that city plus Achiutla, Yanhuitlan and Cuilapan. The Tilantongo alliance structure
and the Zapotecs of Tehuantepec made a separate peace. The Mixtecs resisted the Spaniards when they arrived, but were subjugated by the
conquistador Pedro de Alvarado.
The Mixe and Chontal blocked the Zapotec route to Tehuantepec, and the Zapotec king Zaachila II fought a great war against the Mixe. The
Mixe were known as formidable warriors. Under their national hero Condoy, they resisted the Zapotec advance for many years, eventually
succumbing after a great battle at Zempoaltepec. The Chontal were equally fierce, if less numerous and more primitive in their ways. Both
were known to fight almost exclusively with an unusually long spear or foot lance.
Use of spears of up to 15 feet in length was common among all the peoples of Oaxaca, as was an obsidian-edged slashing weapon similar to
that used by other Mesoamericans. References to atlatls and darts predate this period, when they were heavily used. The Mixtecs early on
adopted the dart and atlatl combination, and their codices routinely picture their national hero Eight Deer Nacuaa as being armed in that
fashion, but they also made extensive use of an LTS-like version of the tepoztopilli and, apparently, some use of various one-handed clubs
and cutting weapons. The Zapotecs, on the other hand, seem to have taken more whole-heartedly to the more usual slashing weapon,
although they still made extensive use of an LTS-like foot lance. By the 1300s, the bow had probably replaced darts; however, as there is
considerable uncertainty as to the extent of that replacement, both options are allowed here.
15
Background: The Chanca were a confederation of tribes who dominated modern-day Peru, subjugating a number of Quechua-speaking
peoples, some of whom would eventually form the Inca empire. During an invasion of the nascent Incan state in 1438 AD, a Chancan army
was defeated at the Incan capital at Cuzco. The Incas then spent the next dozen years subjugating the Chanca and incorporating them into
their empire and army. The main weapon used was a spear and sling, as opposed to the Incas mace, javelin and sling. Shield usage
remains problematic, but has been included since the Incas fought several very bloody battles in the campaigns to conquer the Chanca and it
is possible that the Inca army was modeled to some extent on its imperial predecessor. Chancan infantry units seem to have been somewhat
brittle in combat against the Incas, and the B/C morale classification is intended to represent this characteristic. The option to upgrade a
Chanca army to regular assumes an organizational capability similar to that of the later Incas. Confederates represent Chancan city-states
independent of central authority but nonetheless providing reliable allies. They did not demonstrate the resistance to Inca rule that the other
Chanca did, and as such have no morale upgrades to differentiate their capabilities from their Incan conquerors and dominant Chancan
partners. They were armed with slings and darts, but also a mixture of one and two-handed clubs and bolas/rope weapons which are
classified here as HTW. The Quechua were always reluctant allies, and deserted their Chancan masters at Cuzco in 1438 AD, hence their
morale rating. The presence of a portable religious shrine reflects one instance in which the Incas attacked such a shrine, which was probably
carried by non-fighting priests.
16
17
Extra to upgrade Quechua Levy or Awqas Reg LMI S, Sh to Reg MI P, Sh as Neo-Inca Pikemen @ 0 pts ....................................0-16
Extra to replace Reg LMI Quechua Levy or Awqas S, Sh with HG as Neo-Inca Arquebusiers @ -4 pts ............................................0-4
Extra to give 2HCW to Quechua Levy or Awqas without P or HG @ 4 pts if Reg, @ 3 pts if Irr ......................................................0-1/4
Extra to give HTW to Quechua Levy or Awqas without P or HG @ 4 pts if Reg, @ 3 pts if Irr ........................................................0-1/4
Extra to give JLS to Quechua Levy or Awqas without P, HG, 2HCW or HTW @ 4 pts if Reg, @ 3pts if Irr....................................... any
Amazonian Tribesmen Irr C LMI or LI JLS, Sh @ 9 pts if LMI, @ 6 pts if LI .....................................................................................6-24
Anti or Chuncho Jungle Archers Irr C LMI or LI B @ 6 pts if LMI, @ 4 pts if LI .................................................................................6-24
Extra to upgrade LMI Jungle Archers to Reg B LMI B, Sh as CinCs Bodyguard @ 14 pts ................................................................0-4
Extra to give Jungle Archers 2HCW @ 4 pts if Reg LMI, @ 3 pts if Irr LMI, @ 2 pts if LI ............................................................... 0-1/4
Extra to give Irr Jungle Archers Sh @ 3 pts if LMI, @ 2 pts if LI......................................................................................................... any
Almagrist Cavalry Reg B HK L, Sh @ 39 pts....................................................................................................................................... **2
Almagrist Infantry Reg B LHI, 1HCW, HG, Sh @ 32 pts ..................................................................................................................**2-4
Climate: Cold.
Historical Opponents: 4, 5, 8; Feudal Warrior: 34.
Boats: Yes (Late Period only).
Notes: Additional weapons other than JLS (2HCT, 2HCW, HTW and LTS) cannot be combined in a single unit. The Canari must be
in the same command as the CinC. A litter-born general in the Late Period requires 2 elements or an over-sized double element
(2.512). The S standard is carried in a litter and is covered by Warrior 13.311, Option 3. Should it be used, the CinC or Sub-general
must only be in a single element body (or the one required 2 elements/over-sized double element in the Late Period). Minimums
marked * or ** apply only if troops so marked are used. In the Post-Conquest Epilogue, no Noble Warriors or Quechua Commoners
from the main list may be used, and Jungle Archers may be upgraded only as a detachment to a single CinC staff element. Neo-Inca
Arquebusiers can fight in separate units or in mixed units with Quechua Levy or Awqas (but not with Pakoyuc Nobles). Canari
Guards (Late Period) or Reg B LMI Jungle Archers (Post-Conquest Epilogue) may be detachments of the CinC.
Background: The Incas were a Quechua-speaking tribe living in the Andean highlands centered on the area around Cuzco, whose ruler was
th
known as the Sapa Inca or just simply as the Inca. Until the early 15 Century AD, the Incas controlled little more than their immediate
surroundings. Some time during the 1430s, the Incas apparently encouraged other Quechua tribes under Chanca rule to rebel. In 1438 AD, a
Chancan army retaliated by invading Incan territory. The Incas son, Pachacutic, rallied the Incan nobility and, with the help of 25,000 other
Quechua, defeated the Chanca. Pachacutic then embarked on an imperialist expansion continued by his son Tupac Yupanqui, and by 1493
AD the Incan empire extended from south of modern Santiago north almost to the modern Columbian border. Tupacs son Huayna Capac
extended the empire north just into modern Columbia, but by the time of his death in 1525 AD the size of the empire had reached its practical
limits. Huayna Capac divided the empire in two, the southern half going to one son, Huascar, and the north to another son, Atahuallpa. The
resultant civil war lasted until 1532 AD, when Atahuallpa won. His victory was short lived, since the Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro
landed in the same year and captured and executed Atahuallpa in 1533 AD.
Inca success was due in part to their complex administrative system, through which virtually all aspects of society were centralized and
controlled, and their extensive road system, which enabled them to move forces quickly to trouble spots. Employment, dress and even
manner of speaking were subject to close regulation, and virtually all significant economic activity was controlled by the State. Arms and
uniforms were provided by the State, through centralized production and storage facilities, and were uniform within units. The Inca road
system included paved highways that spanned the empire, crossing deep Andean gorges via impressive swinging bridges and using masonry
steps to ascend steep places. An imperial post or messenger service, manned by barrel-chested highland runners inured to the thin
atmosphere of the high Andes, ensured that communications passed quickly from one end of the empire to the other. The Inca had no formal
system of writing, but information was captured and conveyed by use of quipu, which consisted of knotted stands of string of different colors
that carried coded information that could be deciphered by those who knew the coding system.
Early kings fought on foot, while later ones were carried in a litter by select members of the Rucana (or Lucana) tribe. These litters were
prized status symbols, and were not confined to use by the Inca. The Inca Tupac Yupanqui created the Canari guard unit from an Ecuadorian
tribe that apparently impressed him with its fighting spirit. The empire was divided into four quarters, and regiments raised from tribes within
each district had distinctive hairstyles and colored uniforms with a crest symbolic of their district. The Auquicona were made up of the Incas
nearest kin. The Mancopchurincuzcos were men from the royal ayllus or clans descended from former rulers. The Cacacuzcos were
probably personal retainers of the Inca. The Ayllucuzcos were Inca by privilege, or nobles of other tribes incorporated into the army. All
were armed with slings and most with a light spear, although by the Spanish Conquest, the latter had possibly been replaced with a spear 710 feet in length, hence the option for LTS in the Late period. A mace, treated here as SA, was part of the basic equipment of an Incan
soldier, as was less frequently the Inca equivalent of the macana, a 4-foot long weapon of polished black chonta-wood described as so
smooth and sharp that it cut as if it was of steel. While the cutting ability of such a wooden weapon may be doubted, especially against
metal-armored troops, it is treated here as 2HCW for its concussive effect against such troops as well as its undoubted effectiveness against
unarmored men. Darts were also used by the Incas, but more so by subject coastal and jungle tribes. These areas of the empire were usually
in revolt, hence their D morale, but could give good service when pacified. Tupac Yupanqui used a fleet of war canoes during one campaign
18
against the jungle tribes east of the Andes. The Chanca were allies after 1440 AD, and largely assimilated after 1450 AD. The 2HCW used
by the Amazonian jungle tribes are described as two-handed macana choppers made from ironwood or clubs up to 9 feet in length. The HTW
were bolas and other rope weapons, and were used with mixed results against Spanish horses.
The Post-Conquest Epilogue represents forces available to Manco Inca Yupanqui, also known as Manco Capac, during his rebellions against
Spanish rule, first in 1536 AD and later in 1539 AD, and those available to the lieutenants of Atahuallpa who held out in the north around Quito
until 1534 AD. Manco was a brother of the defeated Huascar, and had been installed by the Spanish as a puppet Inca. He showed himself
to be independent and ambitious by rebelling against foreign rule and seeking to restore the Inca Empire. In 1536 AD, he mobilized large
forces against the Spaniards, laying siege to Cuzco and some of the coastal cities, including the new Spanish foundation at Lima. However,
he gained little support from peoples outside the core Quechua zones, particularly in the coastal regions, and his risings ultimately failed. He
could still call on the Amazonian tribesmen and jungle archers for support, and eventually formed a bodyguard from the latter. The native
forces had access to a significant amount of Spanish equipment, a good deal of it as a result of the successes of Mancos general Quizo
Yupanqui. This equipment included a limited number of horses and firearms, but the Inca were never able to make very effective use of them.
While the Inca himself and some high-ranking officers wore captured Spanish armor, at no time did such armor constitute a significant element
in Inca armaments. After a civil war between supporters of Pizarro and his associate Diego de Almagro (1537-1538 AD), at the conclusion of
which Almagro was executed, some of the supporters of the losing faction joined forces with Manco and supported him until 1545 AD, when
they killed him. The Almagrist elements are intended to reflect their relative importance in the Neo-Incan forces, even though their actual
numbers were smaller than the number of elements allowed might suggest. The existence of effective Neo-Incan pikemen has been doubted,
but the discovery of a large cache of pikes prepared for a failed attempt at revolt by Mancos son in 1565 AD suggest at least that the idea was
current among the leaders of the Indian resistance to Spanish rule. After the collapse of the rebellion of 1539 AD, Manco withdrew to the
mountain fastnesses and founded a Neo-Incan state centered in Vilcabamba, which continued as an independent entity until the Spaniards
took the place and executed the last Inca, Tupac Amaru, in 1572 AD, at which point this list ends.
19
20
21
Around 1440 AD, a reaction to centralized Cocom rule set in, and a successful rebellion was initiated by one Ah Xupan of the Tutul Xiu clan,
which claimed to have ruled Uxmal in the distant Mayan past but which may actually also have been of Central Mexican origin. The Xiu
sacked Mayapan in 1441 AD, and virtually exterminated the Cocom. With the fall of Mayapan, centralized government ended, and the
northern Yucatan fractured into some 16 competing states. The fall of Mayapan, itself already in a state of cultural and material decadence,
accelerated the Mayan decline and constant warfare among the successors to Mayapan precluded any material recovery. By the time the
Spaniards arrived, Mayan political and military institutions posed no very formidable challenge. However, the strong traditions of the people
remained, surviving the abandonment of the king places of the Classic and the fall of the militaristic states of the Post-Classic, and popular
resistance to Spanish rule in the Yucatan was both tenacious and successful. Cortez sent Francisco de Montejo to conquer the Yucatan in
1526 AD, but the seven-year campaign ended in failure, despite support from the Tutul Xiu. In 1542 AD, Montejos son invaded again, and by
1546 AD much of the area had been taken and over 500,000 Maya sold into slavery. The Itza of Lake Peten, the last independent New World
kingdom ruled by a native dynasty, fell to the Spaniards only in 1697 AD, and some Quiche and Cakchiquel groups to the south never
submitted to Spanish rule at all.
The Toltec/Itza used canoes in combat and one ceremonial metal disc found at Chichen Itza shows what are possibly allied Maya pursuing
swimmers while casting darts at them. A professional soldier was a holcan, which were full-time Mayan mercenaries hired out by the various
city-states. In many cases they formed the core of Mayan armies; the local militia, represented here by the Mayan Warriors, were called out
only if too few mercenaries were available. Upgraded Irr A Warriors represent highly-motivated native Maya resisting foreign incursions, such
as those depicted fighting fiercely (if unsuccessfully) against Toltec invaders in temple art throughout Chichen Itza. Reg B Holcan
Mercenaries represent either Ah Canul elites employed by the Toltec/Itza earlier in the period or elite mercenary Mayan units later in the
period. (The Mayan term Ah Canul means protector.) LI armed with hurled hornets nests probably approximate the effect of early
combustible mixtures used in the Middle East.
22
23
Climate: Dry.
Historical Opponents: 1 (Successor States Epilogue only), 2 (Chichimec only), 6 (other than Successor States Epilogue), 7.
Boats: No.
List Rule: 2HCT, JLS combination is allowed as an exception to Warrior Rules Section 2.32 and the JLS bonus applies only at first contact
(9.22, 9.3) if used with either 2HCT or 1HCW. 2) Appropriate troops in the Successor States Epilogue sublist may use the Circulating
Combatants rule.
Notes: In the Late Classic Prequel, no troops designated as Toltec or any generals elements from the main list may be used; troops
armed with LTS and D may fight in mixed or separate units. In the Successor States Epilogue, an army must be designated as
Toltec or Tepanec, and neither may include any troops designated as the other. Troops designated as Subject may be commanded
by any general, but a Subject Sub-general may only command such troops. Warriors may fight in mixed units with a single element
of Knights; any such mixed units must have at least three elements of Warriors. A Toltec army in the Successor States Epilogue
may not have more than 8 elements of Knights, nor may it upgrade any Knights to Reg A. Teotihuacan (Late Classic Prequel) and
Tepanec (Successor States Epilogue) armies ignore Toltec minimums. Minimums marked * apply only if more than 12 elements of
Chichimecs are present. Minimums marked ** apply only if any Tepanec troops are used. Minimums marked *** apply only if any
Aztec Mercenaries are used. Skirmishers may be detachments of Knights/Warriors of the same nationality.
Background: Many if not most of the major themes of the Central Mexican Great Tradition were laid down by the Early Classic Period,
culminating in the rise and dominance of the great city of Teotihuacan, including the basic elements of its religion, iconography and political
order. Teotihuacan at its peak about 500 AD was by far the largest city in the entirety of the New World, unequaled until the final flowering of
Tenochtitlan at the very end of that civilizations life. Even today, its temples, palaces and broad squares constitute the most impressive
evidence in Mexico of the sophistication, wealth and power of the Pre-Columbian societies. Too little is known of the political, diplomatic or
military history of the period to justify a separate list of its own, but we have included a version of what an army of Late Classic Teotihuacan
might have looked like shortly before the fall of the City in about 750 AD, to illustrate the continuity and change in Central Mexican military
institutions. While the traditional view of Teotichuacan tended to view it as the head of a theocratic society, living for trade, the arts and the
gods, current thinking tends to see it as much like any other commercial empire, dominating its hinterland and in more distance places
imposing its will where necessary by force. Formative Period Warriors seem to have been armed with LTS and a large rectangular shield,
largely replaced by a smaller more maneuverable shield by the Early Classic. The Middle Classic Period saw the introduction of the dart and
atlatl combination, which became very widespread but never quite lost its early connotations as a prestige weapon of noble warriors. Body
armor and protective helmets completed the accoutrements of a Late Classic warrior. While there is no definitive evidence one way or the
other, it seems likely that early formations tended to be close order, and that the introduction of the dart and atlatl probably led to a looser
order.
During the centuries following the long decline and fall of Teotihuacan that began around 700 AD, many Nahuatl and Otomi-speaking groups
migrated from the north into the settled areas of Central Mexico. The Toltecs, under their great national culture hero Mixcoatl, were the most
successful of these groups. Including substantial elements of both language groups, and joined by an element of pre-invasion culture carriers
of somewhat obscure origins called Nonoalca, they established a capital at Tula or Tollan on the frontier between the nomadic and civilized
zones, and proceeded to extend their control over the Valley of Mexico to the south and beyond. The Nonoalca, who may have come from the
Gulf Coast and had affinities with Tabasco, seem to have controlled long-distance trade but not to have participated in military affairs. The
Nahuatl-speaking Toltecs appear to have been dominant in the capital, and the Otomis may have had their own center to the east at
Tulancingo. In time, the Toltecs acquired all the high arts of civilization and, by the Aztec period, were regarded as preeminent artisans and
builders and as representing the very highest type of culture and refinement, as well as being the heirs of the imperial tradition, such that the
despised Aztecs in the Successor States Epilogue sought out a Toltec prince to be their king in order to claim that inheritance.
At its height, the area of Toltec authority encompassed central Mexico, bounded to the north by desert, El Tajin to the east, Cholula to the
southeast, Xochicalco to the southwest and possibly an early Tarascan kingdom to the west. Their foreign interests seem largely to have
been based on the need to control long-distance trade routes, like Teotihuacan before them, and they used merchant enclaves and Toltec
settlements to dominate outlying routes and areas. The Toltec military was well organized, and they faced few external competitors. In
particular, it appears that they had no trouble with controlling the Chichimecs, and their capital was unfortified despite being located on the
very edge of the nomadic zone. (There is some basis, however, for believing that the great fortress at La Quemada in the north was occupied
by the Toltecs and used to control hostile Chichimec groups.) While the traditions have preserved few details, it appears that Tollan declined,
perhaps in part due to internal discord and in part to a long period of desiccation felt most keenly in the north, and was destroyed in about
1179 AD by a combination of famine, rebellion and massive Chichimec invasions. Toltec arms and organization reflect a large state-controlled
system, and the presence of military orders such as the Coyote and Jaguar knights further suggest a highly organized army. Toltec soldiers
carried round shields and used the atlatl and dart as their primary missile weapon. The principal Toltec military innovation was the
development of a curved wooden slashing weapon set with obsidian blades to provide an efficient cutting edge, represented here as 1HCW,
and the adoption of the light round shield pictured in battle murals at Cacaxtla near Puebla. (The weapon and its combination with the round
shield may actually have originated with Olmeca-Xicallanca groups from the Gulf Coast, but its use was certainly greatly expanded by the
Toltecs.) The sword and shield combination enabled Toltec soldiers to slash and parry without otherwise exposing themselves to
counterblows. The presence of slings is conjectural but likely given their prevalence throughout the area. Despite their living on the
24
Chichimec frontier, and their close and not always hostile contact with those nomadic groups, they do not appear to have adopted the bow.
While there is no direct evidence for the use of Chichimec mercenaries, given their proximity and warlike nature it seems likely that they would
have been available for such purposes.
At one point, it appears that factional fighting, which may have had religious or ethnic roots, resulted in one Toltec group being expelled from
the capital, only to wander for years under a second Toltec culture hero, Quetzalcoatl. This group appears to have been associated with the
Nonoalca, and some portions of it may have found their way back to Tabasco. Whether this event occurred early on or very late in the history
of Tula (or, indeed, whether the traditions have any historical basis at all) has been debated at length, but what is clear is that significant Toltec
elements were well-established by about 1200 AD at Culhuacan, near Chapultepec, at the opening of what may be regarded as the period of
more securely known historical fact, and that Toltec influence is predominant at Chichen Itza in the Yucatan after about 980 AD. The
considerations that bear on this subject are numerous and often obscure, but Culhuacan was regarded as being ethnically and culturally
Toltec, and the successor to the Toltec heritage, and Chichen Itza was built on an architectural plan, and with artistic and architectural
elements, that mirror similar elements at Tollan to a remarkable degree and are unmistakably Toltec in character. The identification of the
Toltecs with the intruders who refounded Chichen Itza is furthered by the identical meanings (feathered serpent) of the Nahuatl Quetzalcoatl
and the Mayan Kukulcan, who was one of the leading gods and legendary leaders of the Toltec/Itza in the Yucatan.
In keeping with a familiar pattern, the invaders who swamped the Toltecs and destroyed their state settled down and eventually adopted many
of the ways of the local population, emerging in time with their own city-states and aspirations to dominate others, some even attempting to
replicate Toltec rule. These city-states formed compact little powers, contending with one another for mastery in their own regions before the
rise of the Aztecs, and are represented here by the Toltec Successor States Epilogue. A Toltec remnant occupied Culhuacan, and for a time
asserted a right to lead the others. The Otomi had a center at Xaltocan in the northeast, and important Chichimec elements appeared at
about the same time at Tenayuca on Lake Texcoco, as well as in the cities on Lakes Chalco and Xochimilco to the south and those of the
Puebla-Tlaxcala Valley to the east. The most important of these city-states, however, proved to be Azcapotzalco, at one time a cultural
successor site to the fallen Teotihuacan but at this time occupied by Tepanecs from the Toluca Valley to the west. During the long reign of
Tezozomoc (1363-1426 AD), a brilliant if unscrupulous politician and soldier, the Tepanecs overcame all the other cities of the Valley and
established if briefly a local empire of unrivaled power. Part of the secret of their success lay in their judicious use of Aztec mercenaries, at
that period fierce and still barbarous warriors with little claim to high culture and no fixed abode, originally working primarily for the Toltecs in
Culhuacan but then shifting their allegiance in time to catch the rising Tepanec star. Acting under Tepanec auspices (and, despite Aztec
claims of conquest, probably as a subordinate part of a larger Tepanec army), Aztecs from Tenochtitlan played a key role in the capture in
1367 AD of Culhuacan from the Toltecs, and other Aztec groups from Tlatelolco in the capture in 1371 AD of Tenayuca from the Acolhua
Chichimecs, who thereupon removed their seat to Texcoco. For as long as the wily old brute lived, the Tepanec mastery was unchallenged
and, at the end of his reign, Tezozomoc finally took Texcoco, the Acolhua capital, and killed its king, Ixtlilxochitl, sending his young heir,
Netzahualcoyotl, into exile. Upon the death of Tezozomoc, a succession struggle broke out among his sons, out of which the ruthless Maxtla
emerged the victor. However, his success in unseating the heir apparent undermined his authority, and a Tepanec faction headed by the city
of Tlacopan under another son of Tezozomoc supported the Aztecs and a resurgent Texcoco, under the returning Netzahualcoyotl, in
opposing and ultimately overthrowing Maxtla and the rule of Azcapotzalco. The Triple Alliance of Tenochtitlan, Texcoco and Tlacopan that
emerged from these events went on to form the Aztec empire, which ruled Central Mexico until the Spanish Conquest.
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Veterans wore sealskins of many colors, and their helmets were colorfully decorated with flowers. Other warriors most likely wore the
traditional thigh-length white shawl around their waist, although black, orange and brown were also used. Bows were favored weapons,
ranging from a weapon 3 feet in length shooting short, poison-tipped arrows, to a 6-foot longbow used by some northern Chilean tribes. (The
latter apparently did not have the characteristics of an English longbow, and so are considered B here.) Araucanian weaponry included
javelins and spears reportedly up to 16 feet in length. There is considerable Spanish testimony as to the Araucanians fighting in close-order
formations in the later period; while that practice may have been simply a reaction to the threat posed by Spanish cavalry, the ease with which
the Araucanians adopted such formations suggests that they may well have done so earlier. Accordingly, we allow both close and loose
order, and treat Araucanian spear as LTS evolving to P in the later period. The 2HCW was a 6-foot long club that the Spaniards referred to
with the generic term macana. Various types of rope weapons including lassos and bolas were also used, and have been classified as HTW.
Shields were noted in later battles and were probably used earlier. The Araucanians quickly adapted to Spanish weapons and tactics. By the
1580s AD, Spanish accounts describe Araucanian armies as marshaled on the battlefield in manner like the Christians, and their infantry
packed together like Germans. Captured Spanish troopers taught them how to ride and fight from horseback, and sizeable bodies of
cavalry were to be found in their armies by 1568 AD. Handguns were never numerous, and ammunition always scarce, but those they had
were used effectively. The few captured cannon they possessed, however, were never used in the field.
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