Something definitely needs to be done about South America. Especially when comparing it to the complex political framework of historical pre-Columbian South America, it is currently an incredibly dull place, with just two countries, and playing the Inca is far from being as interesting as it could and should be. Of course, how much can be done depends on the number of tags that can be used - and I understand that this number should not exceed 3-4. Basically, like the Aztecs, the Inca Empire starts out ridiculously big in 1419. In fact, despite having already started to expand and become a significant local power in the Sierra, the Peruvian mountain area, the Inca Empire (or correctly Tahuantinsuyu) was not even in this area yet a hegemonial power. There were several political entities around them, some of which were merely tribes, some free cities, but also one rising state that was at this point comparable (or even superior) to the Inca Empire, the Chanca. In the 1430s, the Chanca invaded the Inca, demanding complete submission, and actually (at least according to Inca chronicles, that may of course be suspected of exaggerating the threat posed by the Chanca in order to amplify their eventual victory) they seemed to be competent of dealing a deadly blow to the Inca. The Inca's allies and vassals, expecting the Chanca to win and unwilling to risk their own extinction, did nothing, and it was due to something close to a miracle and the extraordinary skills of the future Inca Pachacuti, Cusi Yupanqui, that the attack on Cuzco was beaten back, the fleeing Chanca army was destroyed and Cusi Yupanqui, now supported by the Inca's allies and vassals, overran the Chanca state and annexed it to the Inca Empire. Simulating the struggle for hegemony in the Sierra between the Inca and the Chanca would certainly be interesting and pose a challenge to the Inca player. Looking at the provinces, I would have the Inca start out with Cuzco and Manu (of which the province capital should be Machu Picchu) and the Chanca with Ayacucho, Atalaya and Montana. In order to make the Inca likely to prevail in an ai vs ai situation, Cusi Yupanqui / Pachacuti should be quite an awesome leader. Later, after the Chanca had become part of the Inca army, Pachacuti decided he needed to rid himself of them forever and ordered his Inca soldiers to kill all Chanca while they were asleep. The Chanca were however warned, fled and seized what is called today the Montana area where they survived and beat back all Inca attacks until the Spanish arrived, i.e. they would become independent again in the Montana province.
South of the Sierra area that was the nucleus of the Inca Empire were the so called Collo states, populated by Aymara people. In the beginning of Viracocha's (the father of Pachacuti) reign it was a political patchwork, divided into many small states, permanently in conflict with each other. The two most powerful of them who were able and eager to unite the Aymara lands were the Collo Empire, centered in Hatuncolla, and Lupaca with its capital in Chucuito. Around 1420 Collo was decisively defeated by Lupaca, which had allied with the Inca. While the Inca were fighting the Chanca, the Lupaca rulers Cari and Chuchi Capac consolidated their Empire, subduing most other Collo states, and built a central administration in Hatuncolla. Their territory extended roughly from the area around lake Titicaca to the Atacama desert in the south, and close to the location of Lima in the north. Around 1450 Pachacuti attacked the Collo state and in a very toughly fought and bloody campaign conquered Hatuncolla and captured Chuchi Capac, thus annexing the Collo territories. Although it could be interesting to simulate the fragmentation of the Collo states and their unification with 4 or 5 countries in the region, this would be too tag-consumptory; for our purposes it will suffice to have one "Collo" country covering the whole region that starts out decentralized and has several tough events.
In the north, it could be interesting to have Quito as an independent state in the province of Cali. It was an quite ancient state, ruled by "Scyrs" (equivalent to Kings), with a rather large army, its capital, Quito, the third most prosperous city of pre-Columbian South America (after Cuzco and Chan-Chan) and its authority - they were entirely independent of the Chimu - almost unchallenged in today's Ecuador.
The Chimu Empire should own Huanuco (city Chan-Chan), Cajamarca and Guyaquil (city Tumbes). Cajamarca and Tumbes could in fact be independent vassals of the Chimu (they were quite autonomous and conquered earlier, without support from Chan-Chan), but that would definitely be overdoing it.
This would add up to three required new tags in South America for the countries of Chanca, Collo and Quito.
