Their political structure during their height, was similar to the ancient Greeks city-states. The Maya all shared a common religion, language, artistic and architectural traditions. But each state, ruled by hereditary monarchs, was independent from one another and were constantly jockeying for economic and political dominance, either through alliance, marriages or warfare. Their concept of warfare also appears to be more practical then that of their Aztecs cousins. They, like the other Mezo-Americans, went to war to collect sacrificial victims. For the Maya however, it was merely a part of the reasons for war. Their main goal was primarily for economic and political. This practical approach to war also meant that the Maya were adopters of defensive structures to protect their cities and trade routes, unlike those in the Aztec Empire which were subject to and accepted ritualistic warfare under the Aztec hegemony, who ruled from a single city. These factors combined with their disunity made them a far more challenging people to subdue for the Spanish Conquistadors. Indeed the struggle continues to the present day.

By 1200 A.D. the decline spreads to the north and many cities began to be abandoned. Notable is the city of Chichen Itza which was established by the Toltecs during the early classical period, but again by 1224 A.D. it is also abandoned. A people known as the Uilcil-abnal who later take the name Itza settles in the abandoned city but again abandons it 20 years later. They then move on to build the city of Mayapan in 1263 A.D. becoming the capitol of a unified Maya state in 1283 A.D. Yet in 1461 A.D. a rebellion within the city causes that city to be abandoned as well, breaking the Mayan kingdom into 16 rival states.

In 1511 A.D. a Spaniard named Gonzalo Guerrero is shipwrecked and washes on shore in Maya territory. He ends up thoroughly assimilating into Maya society and marries into a Maya noble family. He would later become a staunch foe of the Spanish, and helped the Maya in resisting Spanish rule in the Yucatan. In 1517 A.D. the first organized Spanish expedition under Hernandez de Cordoba arrive on the Yucatan but he is killed in battle against the Maya and his expedition fails. But it had introduced European diseases into the region and within the next century 90% of the population is decimated. A few years after Cordoba, Hernado Cortez makes his way to the Yucatan, and in 1524 A.D. meets the Itza people who remained the last of the Maya to be conquered by the Spanish. They would remain so until the 17th century. The rest of the Maya states continue to put up dogged resistance holding out for several years against the Spanish. However, the Spanish manages to establish the capitol of Merida in 1542 A.D. to control their possessions in the Yucatan. But the Maya would continue to revolt on and off through the rest of next century, and then again in 1724 A.D. continuing though Mexico's independence in 1821 A.D. and beyond. It is not surprising given the Maya spirit, and the miserable conditions that they were placed under Spanish rule. The native religion of the Maya was suppressed but the Maya managed to integrate Christianity with their animist religion combining Christ and the Virgin Mary into their pantheon of gods. This marks the colonial period of Mayan history.

Their self-firing towers and fortresses will also help greatly in defending the Mayan player without having to spend military units to make these structures effective. This ability can turn into a very effective offensive weapon being useful in conducting a tower rush. With the intention to contain the enemy and deprive them of vital resources early in the game. Sure to be a favorite tactic for the aggressive forward builder, giving them some good old fashion fire and forget appeal. Combine this with villagers that can transform to militia, they can be building and defending their build effectively if discovered prematurely.

The Maya unique units in the earlier ages are of the slingers variety which are good against archers, so they can be used quite effectively against archery based civilizations, either offensively in a rush or harassment attacks. In addition the Mayan variety are superior to most other light infantry making them at least competitive in this arena against other light infantry centered civilizations. However, they should be careful when facing the traditional cavalry based rushing civilizations. Perhaps using their cheap unique units in forward harassment attacks avoiding heavy infantry and cavalry enemies units. While building up heavy troops and pikemen in defense against early attacks, until a large combined arms force is available for a more serious attack on the enemy. In the later ages they are given a line of fast, effective anti-tank unique units. These units will be very useful defense against a tank rush type of attack. But could also be use as a very effective attack unit in a reverse psychology type of strategy where most people would use tanks as their mainstay in their attack strategy. Your counter unit, in case you meet up with those units, can take them out without difficulty but still deal significant damage to the enemy economy. This could very well win you the game if the enemy was foolish enough to only use tanks. But at the very lease forces them to build counter units to your own thus blunting their attack strategy.

• Light Infantry Line

• Archer Line

• Heavy Infantry Line