Aztlan Free State



Dr. Cabelleron, dubious archaeologist, finds himself caught in the middle of a savage jungle civil war, equipped only with bands of well armed mercenaries and a native population at best suspicious of his actions. But where some see trash, others see treasure... and Cabelleron is determined to use that treasure to his greatest advantage.

Lore
Dr. Caballeron used to care about two things - profit and his studies into the Equestrian Southeast. He has spent his life as an "archaeologist", raiding ancient temples and making shady trades in ancient artifacts for a quick bit to fund both his studies into the natives and his degree, despite Daring Do continuously attempting to intervene and rescue the artifacts.

Caballeron was deep in the jungle, leading armed mercenaries when the War of the Two Sisters broke out in Equestria, and suddenly the jungles are filled with  Disciples of the Night,  Celestial State led by old enemy Daring Do, and a communist insurrection in the  Baltimare Republic.

Trapped in the middle, Caballeron used his mercenary teams to drive out the lunarist forces around Tenochtitlan and declared himself an independent nation. His self-proclaimed mission: protect the natives and their culture from those who would seek to destroy it. Making a profit in the process is just a welcome bonus.

National Focus


The Aztlan Free State begins with a general wartime focus tree. The left path mostly gives infantry equipment, the central gives infrastructure, forts and factories, and the right gives free divisions. The final focus, Fight for Aztlan, gives a substantial army buff for 180 days.

After winning the War in the South, the Aztlan Free State will load its actual focus tree. The tree is divided into five parts; a political tree, an industry tree, and the army, navy, and air force trees.

The Federation
The political tree is a rather simple one, having one path for the Aztlan Free State to follow. Dr. Caballeron will proclaim the Aztlan Federation, gaining cores on all the conquered territories (this takes 124 days), and work to unite the new Federation by trying to accommodate the leftists, the natives, and the thestrals.

The post-war Aztlan Free State starts with two negative political national spirits, "Lunar Remnants" and "Discontent in the Cities", which reduces political power gain, stability, recruitable population, factory output, and gives daily support to the Supremacy, Harmonic, and Communist parties. Finishing the left and right sides of the political tree (each taking 155 days total) will remove these two negative national spirits, while adding some stability in the process.

The political tree also grants one extra research slot in the middle. The final focus, The Southern Beacon grants additional stability, political power gain, war support, surrender limit and daily Unaligned support.

The Three Economic Regions
Their industry tree focuses on building up industry in Stableside, Tenochtitlan, and Baltimare, as well as getting rid of the national spirit "Economic Underdevelopment".
 * The Stableside part of the tree grants steel, aluminum, and oil production, as well as some factories and infrastructure.
 * The Tenochtitlan part of the tree grants rubber production, infrastructure, one research slot, and a national spirit that gives extra political power gain and improving relations.
 * The Baltimare part of the tree grants many factories, two 100% industry research bonuses, steel production, and a +5% research speed national spirit.

By the end of the tree, the player can choose one of the three cities to be the primary economic city (Stableside, Tenochtitlan or Baltimare Primacy). Stableside grants production efficiency growth, conversion speed and military factory construction speed. Tenochtitlan grants resource gain efficiency, monthly population and -5% consumer goods. Baltimare grants more max factories in a state, construction speed and factory output.

The final focus in the tree, unlocked after choosing a Primacy focus, removes the negative national spirit "Economic Undevelopment".

The Milchimalli
The army part of the focus tree unlocks once the Aztlan Federation is formed, starting with The Milchimalli. After choosing either the Equestrian Grand Battleplan or Aztlan Mass Assault doctrines, the tree begins in earnest. Notable focuses include Scour the Jungles for Talent, which grants three new generals, Put Them Through Tartarus and Born Out of the Jungle, two mutually exclusive focuses which grant leader stats and buffs to jungle warfare respectively, and Integrate the Tzinacatl Divisions which can only be taken once "Lunar Remnants" has been removed and grants three pegasi divisions. The final focus, The Protectors of Aztlan grants recruitable population, division organization, attack and defense.

The Aztlan Navy and Air Force
Both the navy and air force focus paths are small, granting dockyards or air bases respectively. They also give decent research bonuses to aircraft and ships. The final focuses for each tree grant a national spirit related to their respective path.

Gameplay and Strategy


The Aztlan Free State declares independence one or two months into the Equestrian Civil War, and is immediately thrust into the War in the South: an isolated sub-civil war in the Southeastern jungle regions of Equestria, fought between the Aztlan Free State, Disciples of the Night, the  Celestial State, and the  Baltimare Republic.

Even should the Aztlan Free State triumph, maintaining its independence will be a challenge for it.

War in the South
The Aztlan Free State starts with no industry and no resources. Although this disadvantage can be offset by building factories in the area as Equestria before the civil war, excellent micromanagement and opportunistic play is the name of the game.

The four-way War in the South begins soon after the player starts playing as the Aztlan Free State. This triggers an event where 18 divisions spawn in the capital, each having a division template of 4 infantry battalions.

Once you organize your new divisions, set up a front line along the border with the Disciples. Take free territory when you can, and make sure to focus on encirclements. Don't bother trying to push into Baltimare when you gain a border with them; they have enough units to fully cover their borders along with Stalliongrad volunteers. Remember to always raise native militia units when you can to fill in the gaps. The decisions to raise militia units only cost 5 political power and consist of two to three infantry battalions, making them excellent at pulling off encirclements and defending territory. However in order to raise them you need to control 100% of a state.

Once the Disciples are defeated, your next opponents will be the Celestial State and the Baltimare Republic. The Celestial State is easier to defeat, as its army is overstretched and vulnerable to encirclements. Baltimare is usually harder because they don't get a lot or any provinces from defeating the Disciples and thus their army isn't as badly stretched. Plus, they've got the help of Staliongrad's volunteers which also help them negate the dangers of an overstretched army and their tanks can be a hassle to handle if encountered. Once you find a safe opening, you can attempt to rush down their three Victory Points, capitulating them.

Be careful about the Celestial State's focus, Infiltration of the Jungles which will spawn 6 units near your capital. They can easily capitulate you if not dealt with quickly, so make sure to keep an eye out on when they do that focus.

The Great Powers
The Lunar Empire will always choose to declare war on you when they're ready to reconquer their claimed territories, or intervene in favor of the Disciples if the war is still raging. If Equestria turns into the  Solar Empire, they will declare war on you too. However, both countries will have to wait until after they win the civil war, and sooner or later the Changeling Lands will declare war on whichever country wins the civil war, or both if it's still raging, as well as on you. Use the time they take fighting each other to prepare a defense.

You will get a decision both after winning the South-East war and after Equestria wins the War of the Two Sisters on whether you want to join their alliance and side with them in the Civil War if it is still raging. While this allows you to directly intervene between the two nations, remember that Equestria can still gain a war goal if you refuse to become their puppet after they take the United Equestria focus.

The Confederation of Southern States to the west may either gain a war goal on you or offer you to join their alliance. Refusing will also give them a war goal on you.

Staff and Designers
Political Advisors Tank Designer Ship Designer Aircraft Designer Materiel Designer Industrial Concern Theorist Chief of Army Chief of Navy Chief of Airforce Military High Command