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Tinto Flavour #31 - 11th of July 2025 - Aztecs

Hello, and welcome one more Friday to Tinto Flavour, the happy days in which we take a look at the flavour content of Europa Universalis V!

Today, we will take a look at the flavour content for the Aztecs! Let’s start without further ado:

For the past two centuries, groups of Nahua people descended from the Chichimec migrated to central Mexico from their legendary ancestral home, known as Aztlan. Our people were one of those wandering groups.

As with many other Nahua nations, we settled our own Altepetl. It was named Tenōchtitlan, and we built it over an artificial island in the heart of Lake Texcoco. Our most prominent figures were also influenced by the Toltec culture, and we started to develop a refined civilization in the lagoon. We would also come to be recognized as prime fighters by our neighbors, as our equally refined warring skills make Aztec armies a force to be feared...

However, we currently stand as vassals of the Altepetl of Tepanecapan, our expansion possibilities are limited to the proximities of the lagoon we inhabit. Only an intelligent leader can lead us in our journey to subdue the valley of Mexico and beyond.
Click to expand...

Country Selection.png

As usual, please consider all UI, 2D and 3D Art as WIP.​

Before we start, you may notice that we have reconfigured the Country Selection Panel a bit, and that we now have a new tab called ‘Content’, where we’re grouping the unique features and content available to each country:
Content.png


Tenochtitlan.png

Please take into consideration that the first screenshot is the most zoomed-in map that we’ve ever shared with you, in a very difficult area from a geographical point of view. Therefore, please consider it as the usual WIP stuff, as it’s already on our radar to make some improvements here and there to make it look better.

Mexico.png

Mexico may prove to be a very difficult area to expand in…​

The Nahua countries start with a unique government reform, the Altepetl, that nudges towards expanding through subjects, and also slave-raiding (which is also linked to the Nahua Ritualism mechanic of sacrificing slaves, as we saw last Wednesday):
Estates.png


Reform Altepetl.png

There are also a couple of Privileges available to countries that practice Nahua Ritualism:
Privileges Warrior Tribunal.png

Privilege Tax Exemptions.png

And also attached to Nahua Ritualism, a unique building that unlocks two unique units, the infamous Jaguar and Eagle Warriors:

Building Warrior Temple.png


Unit Jaguar Warriors.png

Unit Eagle Warriors.png


And a unique Sumptuary Law, with two available policies:
Sumptuary Law.png

Policy Warrior Culture.png

Policy Tradition.png

And a unique policy for the Administrative System:
Calpixque Syste,.png

Here you have some of the unique Advances of the Aztecs:
Advance Warrior Societies.png

Building Calmecac.png

Building Telpohcalli.png


Advance Chinampas.png

AdvanceCalpixcayotl.png

Advance Reformed Telpohcalli.png

Advance Return of Quetzalcoatl.png

Although most of the content related to the Aztecs is very attached to the Nahua Ritualism features, and thus, is very mechanical, there are still some non-generic, non-religious related DHEs available for them:
Event Pyramid1.png

Event Pyramid2.png


Event Tlacaelel.png


Event Tzompantly.png

And well, a final boss to deal with:
Event Cocoliztli.png

… And much more, but that’s all for today! Next week we’ll have a Tinto Maps Feedback on Monday, a Tinto Talks on Wednesday, and Tinto Flavour on Friday:
  • Tinto Maps Feedback for Indonesia
  • Wednesday -> Tinto Talks about Inti & Folk Religions
  • Friday -> Tinto Flavour about the Inca
And also remember, you can wishlist Europa Universalis V now! Cheers!
 
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This isn't really flavor per se, but I want to take this opportunity to point out that Mesoamerica was incredibly culturally diverse, and the valley of Mexico was no exception. There were Otomi minorities throughout the entirety of the valley of Mexico as well as the Puebla-Tlaxcala valley, as far east as Tepeaca and Tecalco. This includes Tenochtitlan, especially as long as Tlacopan is included within it. Tlacopan, Texcoco, Zempoala, Apan and Tollan should have particularly large Otomi populations. In fact, Techotlalatzin, the ruler of Acolhuacan, should be Otomi himself and it should still be their primary culture, though his heir Quinatzin would adopt the Nahuatl language and culture.

There were also Xi’oi Chichimec minorities in Tlacopan and Texcoco, and Chocho-Popoloca minorities in Tlacopan, Teotihuacan and Tlaxcala, connecting with their own heartland around Tehuacan.

Of course the cultural overlap was not one way only. There were also Nahua minorities spilling over into the bordering portions of the Otomi heartland in Hidalgo, along with smaller Xi’oi Chichimec populations throughout most of the Otomi lands, who were split between simple farmers and Teochichimeca hunter-gatherers. These can be represented as peasants and tribesmen respectively. Nahuas were also already present in the valley of Toluca alongside the Matlatzinca majority.

Of course there's so much more to add throughout the whole region (see the post in my signature and read my sources for yourself), but I wanted to mention the most topical areas. Looking forward to the map feedback! And if this level of detail can't be added in by then, I do hope it's implemented eventually down the line.

Sources (I'll be happy to post relevant excerpts if requested):
 
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  1. Any flavor for any other Mesoamerican countries?
  2. Anything for the conflict with Tlatelolco?
  3. Anything for arranging for Acamapichtli, with his Culhua-Mexica background and thus Toltec descent, to take over as the first proper Tlatoani?
Stuff that is probably handled by base game mechanics, but I just want to check on:
  1. Is drought/famine a possibility, or possibly scripted? There was a significant one in 1454 that set back Mexica expansion.
  2. Is it encouraged to make some countries tributaries/vassals instead of annexing them outright? In the early 1500s the Triple Alliance had more than 20 so-called “strategic provinces” alongside their more core network of tributary provinces.
  3. Will I be able to send my pochteca merchants out as spies or as a stepping stone to conquest/subjugation? Sometimes (for instance in Soconusco and Coixtlahuaca) the locals harassed/expelled the pochteca, which drew the empire into a conflict sooner than might have otherwise happened. Tenochtitlan also supposedly sent pochteca as far as Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica.
  4. Can my expansionism cause waves of refugees to hostile surrounding states? Historically this comprised both conquered peoples (some Matlatzincas went to Michoacan, where the Purepecha accepted them as vassals, being known as Pirindas) and dissident nobles (some of whom fled to Metztitlan) (source: Aztec Imperial Strategies pg. 222). Earlier, when Xaltocan was defeated, some of its Otomi population settled in Tlaxcala. Tlaxcala also welcomed refugees of Mexica wars in general.
AD_4nXfMWZK7MEjwWl9XBFztWXxqgJswG7Yf9gHbWVZ6ZTYuOfCRmR_PEBw7J4oSR09SgjCaQ-A-Z8njdn1pKvAaX9wkMcZIbAV6rM_Fmn4J0d6-pZ2XD-oeCAY3TEH82U0xcKGWktxi
 
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nyetflix2 said:
This isn't really flavor per se, but I want to take this opportunity to point out that Mesoamerica was incredibly culturally diverse, and the valley of Mexico was no exception. There were Otomi minorities throughout the entirety of the valley of Mexico as well as the Puebla-Tlaxcala valley, as far east as Tepeaca and Tecalco. This includes Tenochtitlan, especially as long as Tlacopan is included within it. In fact, Techotlalatzin, the ruler of Acolhuacan, should be Otomi himself and it should still be their primary culture, though his heir Quinatzin would adopt the Nahuatl language and culture.

There were also Xi’oi Chichimec minorities in Tlacopan and Texcoco, and Chocho-Popoloca minorities in Tlacopan, Teotihuacan and Tlaxcala, connecting with their own heartland around Tehuacan.

Of course the cultural overlap was not one way only. There were also Nahua minorities throughout most of the Otomi heartland in Hidalgo, along with smaller Xi’oi Chichimec populations who were split between simple farmers and Teochichimeca hunter-gatherers. These can be represented as peasants and tribesmen respectively. Nahuas were also already present in the valley of Toluca alongside the Matlatzinca majority.

Of course there's so much more to add throughout the whole region (see the post in my signature and read my sources for yourself), but I wanted to mention the most topical areas. Looking forward to the map feedback! And if this level of detail can't be added in by then, I do hope it's implemented eventually down the line.

Sources (I'll be happy to post relevant excerpts if requested):
Click to expand...
Please post it in the Tinto Maps post. We'll also discuss in a few weeks from now the Tinto Maps feedback for Central America. ;)
 
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Love the green tick on units description which I assume help show how this unit is better than its "classic" counterpart. Also the locations icons start to seem much nicer, I'd still love something else than the form to help differentiate them, but they feel much less wip imo.
 
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bokorthedust said:
What distinguishes Jaguar warriors from Eagle warriors? Based on their stats, they're literally the same, just a different name.
Click to expand...
It looks like a bug, reporting.
 
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Advance%20Return%20of%20Quetzalcoatl.png

This is inaccurate. This narrative is not really found in precolumbian sources, and is widely held as being a Spanish, or at least post Spanish contact invention.
This has been the common consensus for decades now.
 
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Incredible tinto talks, I had been waiting for a long time to know how the Mesoamerican nations would work. I would also like to know if we will get back the government interactions for the Aztecs, as we had in the EU4.
 
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Do I understand correctly the reform only allows you to expand through vassals? But then the estate privilege lowers separatism. Won’t that be useless for a considerable amount of time as the Aztecs then? Or do vassals and tributaries get separatism now?
 
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