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Basic overview

The Inca are the only minor natives capable of producing two types of military units (excluding the Iroquois, Lakota and Aztecs; who are no longer minor native civilizations following the War Chiefs expansion). They produce the Incan Huaminca and the Incan Bolas Warrior. You can have 13 Huaminca and 8 Bolas Warriors for each Incan trade post that you hold. The Incans provide you with technology that can improve mining rates, increase the speed of your infantry units, and decrease the training time for any unit. They appear on one standard map, Araucania - and not all that often.

The unit – Incan Huaminca

Since there are two units to compare there will be two separate comparisons. The Incan Huaminca is a melee heavy infantry unit, and while a few minor native units do share this class, not many standard European units do. The Pikeman is a little too specialized to make a decent comparison - so in addition to the Pikeman I decided to compare the Huaminca (and all other native heavy infantry units) to the Halberdier. There is no way to get Halberdier units in age 2 however, therefore like I did with the Huron Mantlet I updated the stats of all compared units to the Elite or Veteran level. The Pikeman is simply there for comparison in age 2, since aside from the ranged Musketeer (which is a completely different unit) a unit similar to the Pikeman will likely be what the Huaminca (and other such units) is competing with.

Analysis

The Huaminca is a rather well rounded unit and certainly fairs well when compared with its European counterparts. It is cheaper, quicker and does slightly more damage against cavalry than the Halberdier, and typical of a heavy infantry unit it is very capable of doing siege damage. On that note it is interesting to point out that the Incan Huaminca has a slightly slower siege rate of fire than other units. I tested this personally and sure enough, it does siege at a rate of once every 4 seconds as opposed to every 3 seconds, which explains why its siege is so high when compared to other units. Despite this the Huaminca is still very capable of tearing down buildings, as every 12 seconds an Elite Huaminca does 180 damage, compared to a Veteran Pikeman doing 152 and a Veteran Halberdier that does 144.

If your civilization is lacking a strong heavy infantry unit at any time during the game, the Incan Huaminca can fill this gap very well indeed.

The unit – Incan Bolas Warrior

The Incan Bolas Warrior is a ranged infantry unit, but it is a rather unusual unit because it is capable of dealing splash damage. Like a lot of minor native American ranged infantry units, they have a lot of HP yet a low amount of damage.

Analysis

The Bolas Warrior does indeed lack range compared to other infantry types, and the damage it can do to a single target is rather low. However, it does have a rather large splash radius on its ranged attack, which can add up rather quickly. It also has a large amount of HP compared to similar units, but the main flaw with this unit is its range. If you can deal with that then the Bolas Warrior should do a decent job; otherwise look elsewhere.

Technology

Incan Metalworking

Cost: 175 Food, 175 Coin

Effect: Villager gather rates for mine increase by +20%

Comments: This is cheaper than the European technology Amalgamation - which costs 200 food and 200 wood. Added to which, it can obviously be researched in addition to amalgamation, but it definitely isn’t worth the price of building the Incan trade post.

Incan Chasquis Messengers

Cost: 250 Food, 250 Coin

Effect: Infantry and Cavalry train 25% faster, Artillery train 10% faster

Comments: Like the last technology, it is good if you’ve already got the Incan trade post. Faster training units are always good - as it allows you to react sooner to a situation - and this technology improves both infantry and cavalry train times. It might give you an edge in the mid game and it will certainly be advantageous over an opponent who does not use the Incans in the late game.

Incan Road building

Cost: 300 Food, 300 Coin

Effect: Infantry gets +20% speed

Comments: The reason why the Incans are arguably the best minor natives in the game. Less so perhaps since Andes was removed from the standard map rotation, and thus limited the Incans to appearing every so often on Araucania in standard play. This technology allows Huaminca to absolutely dominate on the battlefield. If you add in the advanced arsenal technology Military Drummers - or are playing the Sioux - this technology becomes even more effective.

Huaminca are already fairly fast units. This enables Huaminca to close in on their targets, so ranged units do not have much time to act before the Huaminca are on them and they are forced to engage in melee. If you come up against this, attempt to get an Incan trade post and research this technology for yourself. Otherwise you may find your units get completely overrun. Quite honestly, if this technology is used correctly it is potentially game breaking. Keep in mind however that it can’t be researched in the early stages of the game - because it is rather expensive - so careful timing is needed.

Summary

The Incans are very capable, and it is not hard to see why some would call the Incans the best minor natives in the game. The Huaminca makes for an excellent heavy infantry unit, and combined with the Incan Road building technology, they can be ridiculously powerful against some civilizations. The main drawback with the Incans currently is the fact they are only on one map now, and don’t have as many settlements as they used to on Andes. However, the ability to have units that are far faster than your opponent's can still be very useful. If your civilization has difficulty in fielding a good heavy infantry unit, the Huaminca will certainly do a good job.