I find a lot of people naming mayans the worst nation but I gotta say I like the mayans a lot.
I share the same philosophy as Pimp and think its about how a player uses a nation that matters, not the nation itself. I wanna start by saying the 20% faster building times are excellent in the fact that you can develops your nation's industrial capacity much quicker. Also this applies to military buildings like forts and towers and the right situation 20% can mean the couple yards away a rushing heavy infantry squad has to foil your plans.
Also because mayans also get 25% less wood building costs you can make farms and mines cheaper and faster. On the note of military and defense, mayans get 25% more hitpoints for every building they have (even wonders such as the red fort). And they get the added garrison without people to occupy. This means that mayans can protect new cities in the early game with much less resources. If built in the right position, mayans can continue working when being attacked because they are safe from invading ground units. And siege machines have to work extra long in taking buildings down. This gives more time for mayans to develops a standing army and make new cities.
Also mayans are great for coastal defense because the invaders need time to produce sufficient navy whereas mayans get the time to build towers across the borders without even garrisoning them, what would have cost 100s of resources to properly garrison towers now means nearly nothing to upkeep. It is also a good idea to remember the offensives capabilities of mayans. The ability to make almost everything faster than your enemy allows you to expand quicker and in this case defend new positions to really resource choke the enemy.
All in all I can see mayans doing extrordinarally well against offensives players because a mayans best offense is its defense. Their unique units in the later ages scream a low-upkeep army and by the time all out war occurs a Mayan would have very well fortified borders and most likely a boost in both technology and economy. It fairs well against boomers and fighters because architecture and buildings are highly used for both. Making them both a diverse yet efficient nation. Sure you may not be able to bank your strategy on one thing with the mayans but you can certainly build on them
I share the same philosophy as Pimp and think its about how a player uses a nation that matters, not the nation itself. I wanna start by saying the 20% faster building times are excellent in the fact that you can develops your nation's industrial capacity much quicker. Also this applies to military buildings like forts and towers and the right situation 20% can mean the couple yards away a rushing heavy infantry squad has to foil your plans.
Also because mayans also get 25% less wood building costs you can make farms and mines cheaper and faster. On the note of military and defense, mayans get 25% more hitpoints for every building they have (even wonders such as the red fort). And they get the added garrison without people to occupy. This means that mayans can protect new cities in the early game with much less resources. If built in the right position, mayans can continue working when being attacked because they are safe from invading ground units. And siege machines have to work extra long in taking buildings down. This gives more time for mayans to develops a standing army and make new cities.
Also mayans are great for coastal defense because the invaders need time to produce sufficient navy whereas mayans get the time to build towers across the borders without even garrisoning them, what would have cost 100s of resources to properly garrison towers now means nearly nothing to upkeep. It is also a good idea to remember the offensives capabilities of mayans. The ability to make almost everything faster than your enemy allows you to expand quicker and in this case defend new positions to really resource choke the enemy.
All in all I can see mayans doing extrordinarally well against offensives players because a mayans best offense is its defense. Their unique units in the later ages scream a low-upkeep army and by the time all out war occurs a Mayan would have very well fortified borders and most likely a boost in both technology and economy. It fairs well against boomers and fighters because architecture and buildings are highly used for both. Making them both a diverse yet efficient nation. Sure you may not be able to bank your strategy on one thing with the mayans but you can certainly build on them