0805 Part No.

X11-36640
www.ageofempires3.com
 Credits
Writers &
Content Experts: Table of
Bruce C. Shelley
Greg Street
Art Producer:
Contents Introduction
Lance Hoke
Progr am Manager: 3 Introduction This player’s guide serves two main purposes: 1) to provide a glimpse inside the
Brian Lemon workings of Age of Empires® III for fans who are interested in details like the
Writer: 4 Historical Contexts strengths and weaknesses of each unit, map, and civilization; and 2) to offer
Jon Seal insider tips on exploiting these strengths and weaknesses through strategy—
19 Strategy Overview the very essence of gameplay in Age of Empires III.
Historian:
James Henretta Lead Game Designer, Greg Street, describes the three main strategies of Boom-
Editor: 20 Spanish ing, Rushing, and Turtling for the eight playable civilizations and touches on
Brent Metcalfe the advantages and disadvantages inherent in each civilization. You’ll learn that
Assistant Editors: 23 British some civilizations work best with one or two specific strategies, while other
Jack Turk civilizations work equally well with all strategies.
Laura Hamilton 26 French Greg also briefly describes each of the game’s sixteen random maps, from New
Heidi Wartelle—Volt
England to Patagonia. Along with having its own unique look-and-feel—based
Design & Art: 29 Portuguese on geography, resources, and indigenous native population—you’ll learn that
Jeannie Voirin-Gerde each map may be more suited to one strategy over another. And although
Jeremy Parton 32 Dutch every map is randomly generated for each new game, the maps share common
—S&T Onsite design elements.
Information in this document, including URL and
35 Russian
other Internet Web site references, is subject to change
Age of Empires III is the fourth real-time strategy (RTS) game published in
without notice. Unless otherwise noted, the example the past decade by Ensemble Studios®. It embodies everything we have learned
companies, organizations, products, domain names, 38 German
e-mail addresses, logos, people, places, and events along the way. We hope this player’s guide increases your enjoyment of what we
depicted herein are fictitious, and no association with
any real company, organization, product, domain believe is a truly remarkable game.
name, e-mail address, logo, person, place, or event is
intended or should be inferred. Complying with all
41 Ottoman
applicable copyright laws is the responsibility of the
user. Without limiting the rights under copyright, no
part of this document may be reproduced, stored in
or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted
44 Military Units by Civilization
in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, Game Designer
photocopying, recording, or otherwise), or for any
purpose, without the express written permission of
Microsoft Corporation.
45 Military Unit Attributes Ensemble Studios
Microsoft may have patents, patent applications,

46 Random Maps
trademarks, copyrights, or other intellectual property
rights covering subject matter in this document. Except
as expressly provided in any written license agreement
from Microsoft, the furnishing of this document does
not give you any license to these patents, trademarks,
copyrights, or other intellectual property.
© & p 2005 Microsoft Corporation.
All rights reserved.
Microsoft, Age of Empires, DirectX, Ensemble
Studios, the Microsoft Game Studios logo, The Age
of Kings, and Windows are either registered trademarks
or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United
States and/or other countries.

2 3
 Historical Contexts
These historical vignettes, while only a partial telling of the vast story of global
commerce and empire from 1500 to 1850, were selected because they provide the
inspiration for Age of Empires III. We encourage those who find this discussion
interesting to pursue further reading to enhance their understanding of these
historic events.
An Age of Discovery
Europe in the fifteenth century was emerging from
the Middle Ages and entering the Renaissance, which
would soon make it the most economically and mili-
tarily powerful region in the world. One aspect of
this rebirth was a thirst for knowledge, including a
more complete understanding of the Earth’s geog-
raphy. World maps of the ancient Greeks had been
rediscovered, but they raised more questions than
they answered. New techniques in shipbuilding, sea-
manship, and navigation made long sea voyages pos-
sible. Underlying the drive for geographic knowledge
was the European quest for the riches of Asia.
Crusaders and pilgrims who traveled to the Holy
Land in earlier centuries had returned with tales
of great riches in the Middle East, including spices,
textiles, and porcelain. In addition, Europeans (nota-
bly Prince Henry of Portugal) engaged in warfare
against Muslims in North Africa and, in the process,
became aware of the wealth of sub-Saharan Africa
in the form of gold and slaves brought north across
the Sahara. As demand for such exotic goods rose,
a burgeoning trade built up from Asia, through the
Middle East, and into Europe via Constantinople
and the city-states of Italy. While Italian traders
grew rich on this trade, western European nations
4 5
hungered for direct access that avoided Italian and
Middle Eastern middlemen.
Sea exploration from western Europe was initiated
by the small seafaring nation of Portugal, located on
the Atlantic coast of the Iberian Peninsula. Portu-
guese ships edged their way south, hoping for access
to pepper and gold from Africa and Asia. By the time
they reached India, even more momentous discover-
ies had been made on the far side of the Atlantic.
We know now that Vikings reached the Americas
around 1000 AD and briefly established a base in
modern Newfoundland. Their colonies in Greenland
failed by the middle 1400s, but Viking descendents
carried on in Iceland. From this remote European
outpost tales of lands to the west reached the ears
of merchants and fishermen who came north for
codfish and trade. These tales prompted westward
explorations by English merchants and Basque fish-
ermen, but no evidence exists to show that any went
across the Atlantic to explore these mysterious lands
before 1492.
A Genoese sailor named Christopher Columbus
became convinced that he could reach Asia by sail-
ing west. He and his brother presented their case
to a succession of European kings, hoping for an
investment in ships and men to make a voyage of
discovery, but they were rebuffed. The Portuguese
were convinced that their own plan to go east around
Africa was the path to riches. Finally the rulers of
the joint kingdom of Aragon and Castile, Ferdinand
and Isabella, offered support and Columbus’ small
flotilla set sail 3 August 1492.
Columbus sailed southwest and refitted in the Azores
before sailing due west along the 28 th Parallel. He
expected to strike the legendary island of Antilia,
with its famed seven cities, by the middle of Sep-
tember. When nothing appeared, he changed course
to the southwest and sailed on doggedly, resisting
the growing demands from his men to turn back.
Land was spotted on 12 October 1492, and he and
his crew went ashore in the Bahamas to claim it for
Spain, ignoring the fact that it was already occupied
by people he called “Indians.” He went on to explore
more islands, including modern Cuba, Haiti, and
Santo Domingo, before sailing home to report his
discoveries in early 1493.
Misjudging the circumference of the Earth by
thousands of miles, Columbus believed that he
had found islands off the coast of India, includ-
ing Cipango (Japan), yet hid his disappointment at
not being able to bring back gold and Asian goods.
He returned the following year and, in the course
of several voyages, sailed near Trinidad, Honduras,
Panama, and the Venezuelan coast, and established
the first colony in the New World, on the island of
Hispaniola, now Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
His colony faltered, however, partly due to misman-
agement and overly optimistic expectations. Many
indigenous inhabitants died in slavery or in revolts,
but the major cause of native depopulation was the
diseases introduced by the Europeans. His colonists
rebelled and at one point Columbus was taken back
to Spain in chains. He died in 1506 largely forgot-
ten, but believing to the end that he had discovered a
westward route to the riches of Asia.
Though somewhat skeptical of Columbus’ claims,
Spain did apply to the Pope for recognition of its
right to the new lands, and this was duly conferred
with a line drawn north-south through the Atlantic
to separate areas of Spanish and Portuguese control.
When a Portuguese voyager around Africa went off
course and discovered the land later named Brazil,
this dividing line was moved further west.
The secret of the new discoveries could not be con-
cealed, and soon others were sailing west. In 1497
John Cabot made discoveries in North America
on behalf of England, including Newfoundland.
He reported excellent fishing grounds. Sailing for
Spain, Italian Amerigo Vespucci mapped part of the
South American coast, confirming the existence of
an entirely new continent. A map maker named the
continent “America” in his honor, and the name was
eventually adopted for the entire region.
By 1513 Vasco Nuñez de Balboa had crossed the Isth-
mus of Panama and discovered the Pacific Ocean.
In 1519 Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese navigator
working for Spain, led a large expedition attempting
to sail west to Asia around South America. Over-
coming storms and attempted mutiny, they eventu-
ally discovered the strait now named after Magellan
and reached the Philippine Islands, where Magellan
was killed in a battle with local natives. Under a suc-
cession of commanders the expedition continued
westward and eventually a single ship with eigh-
teen men aboard, all that remained of the five ships
and 277 men who began, struggled into the harbor
at Seville. Their limited cargo of spices, sold at a
10,000 percent profit, repaid the cost of the whole
expedition. More importantly, they had circumnavi-
gated the world for the first time and opened the
doors to further exploration.
 The Americas
As the extent of the New World gradually unfolded,
Europeans became aware of not only its size and
wide variation in climate and geography, but also
that the land was populated by a variety of tribal
nations. Although these nations had not moved in
the same technological direction as those of Europe,
they nevertheless amazed the Europeans in many
respects. For example, the capital city of the Aztecs,
Tenochtitlán, was far larger and arguably more mag-
nificent than any city in Europe at the time.
How and when the Americas were first populated by
humans is still debated. We do know that by 1492
indigenous populations spanned North and South
America, with the largest concentrations in Meso-
america and the Andes valleys. The large popula-
tions of the Aztec, Maya, and Incan cultures flour-
ished because of agriculture, especially the growing
of maize. The degree to which the cultivation of
corn spread or failed to spread meant much lower
population densities north of Mexico.
Most of the peoples north of Mexico made little use
of metal except for ornamentation, whereas the civili-
zations of pre-Columbian America did work gold and
silver, but had no tools of bronze, iron, or steel. Only
the Maya had developed a system of writing, though
the Inca developed counting and recording systems.
An Age of Exploration
The riches of the Americas—real or imagined—exer-
cised a powerful attraction for the nations of Europe.
Each sought greater wealth and power than the lim-
ited resources of Europe could provide. Their dreams
of empire brought them into increasing contention
for dominance of world resources and trade, which
6 7
Native populations were fatally susceptible to dis-
eases carried amongst them by the Europeans, espe-
cially smallpox. The implausible conquest of large
civilizations by tiny bands of Spanish soldiers, allied
with various indigenous peoples, was largely facili-
tated by epidemics of unprecedented scale. The esti-
mates of Native American deaths due to disease is
also a matter of great debate, compounded by the
difficulty in separating deaths due to genocide, war,
and the eradication of traditional ways of life. Native
populations may have fallen to 5–10% of their 1492
levels within 200 years.
To the exploring Europeans, the great civilizations of
the Aztec, Maya, and Inca were impressive. Though
based on the accomplishments of preceding civiliza-
tions, they had worked out the religious and social
organization of very large societies. Their cities
and architecture were particularly remarkable, but
of primary importance to the Europeans were their
huge accumulations of precious metals and prized
artifacts. Isolated and constrained by environmental
impediments, the indigenous nations of the Ameri-
cas were extremely vulnerable when the Europeans
arrived. Nevertheless, had it not been for the effects
of diseases introduced by the Europeans, the process
and time line of conquest and settlement would have
been much different.
they hoped to translate into economic and military
ascendance. Indigenous populations in the Americas
stood little chance against the number of explorers
and colonists who came seeking wealth, unable to
resist European technology—or European microbes.
Spain
When Columbus returned to Spain he tried to con-
vince his masters that Asia and great wealth were just
over the horizon. They remained skeptical, but explor-
ers and settlers attempted to stake their claim in the
West Indies, all with little success. It gradually became
clear that the new lands were entirely new continents
and that Asia was still far away. The first island col-
onies failed when the natives, who served as farm
laborers and miners, died from harsh treatment and
disease, or in periodic revolts. The limited opportuni-
ties to mine gold on the islands were soon exhausted.
Before long the islanders were reduced to a remnant
of their former numbers, and slaves from Africa were
imported to replace them. Columbus unsuccessfully
urged the Spanish settlers to grow sugar, and Spanish
interest in the region began to wane.
Along the coast of Yucatan, Spanish explorers even-
tually encountered the Maya, who were different
from the islanders, wearing cotton clothes, living in
stone buildings, carrying better arms, and not easily
intimidated. Through contact and trade, the Spanish
learned of a much grander city of immense wealth in
the interior, which they set out to find. The Aztecs,
who lived inland in the highland Valley of Mexico,
extended their empire down almost to Yucatan,
acting as overlords to local rulers. Hoping to buy off
the Spanish, the Aztec king sent gifts. This proved
a huge mistake, as it confirmed the wealth of the
interior and attracted an invasion.
In two astonishing and brutal campaigns, the Span-
ish quickly found and largely destroyed both the
Aztec Empire in Mexico (in part by organizing sub-
ject peoples against their Aztec overlords) and the
Inca Empire in the Andes. They hauled off a huge
treasure of gold and precious objects and devastated
the native populations, intentionally with weapons
and inadvertently through the spread of disease. The
news of these conquests electrified Spain and revital-
ized its efforts at exploration and settlement. New
expeditions searched for the sources of the Aztec and
Inca gold, while others explored Brazil and areas in
North America from Florida to California.
Ultimately the Spanish concentrated on two types
of locale: where they found precious metal like the
mountain of silver at Potosi in Bolivia, or where they
found large native populations they could exploit as
laborers. They ignored most of the Caribbean islands
because the islands lacked either critical resource, but
they held a few as outposts for defensive purposes,
such as Cuba, which became a major base.
The majority of the early Spanish immigrants were
aristocratic sons with little hope of inheriting land,
and out-of-work soldiers. They were not looking to
start farms, but rather seeking either wealth to take
home or a large estate and laborers to work it. Initially
(until around 1550), there was no significant immigra-
tion of middle-class freemen and families looking for
a new start. The Spanish installed themselves as the
new aristocracy in most areas, lording it over native
servants and slaves. The king in Spain provided the
government bureaucracy, naval power, and soldiers for
protection, in exchange for a hefty tax on all wealth
shipped back to Europe. The Catholic Church had an
important but secondary role in building this Spanish
empire, seeking to save the souls of these new-found
millions through conversion.
The flow of gold and silver back to Europe made
Spain the wealthiest and most powerful nation
in Europe for a few centuries. Spain took on the
role of military defender of the Catholic Church.
It engaged in turning back the expansion of the
Ottoman Empire in the Mediterranean and then
attempted to contain the spread of Protestantism in
the Netherlands and Germany. At home, the Inqui-
sition sought to drive out all traces of both Islam
and Judaism.

As Spain’s list of enemies in Europe grew, the flow
of wealth from the New World to Spain became an
irresistible target. Spanish shipping and towns were
plagued by French, British, and Dutch privateers and
navies, as well as outright pirates. The Spanish could
not defend everything. Their inability to settle and
hold the Caribbean left the islands open to seizure
by their enemies. The failure of a yearly treasure
fleet, due to capture or storm, could force the crown
into bankruptcy, as happened in 1557, 1575, and 1597.
Spain borrowed heavily to fight its European wars
and defend the colonial empire.
8 9
The flow of wealth from the Americas slowed in the
late sixteenth century as local costs rose, the mines
became exhausted, and corruption spread. The con-
servatism of Spanish society meant that its economy,
technology, and military fell behind its competitors.
It became clear that Spain was no longer capable of
ruling its overseas empire when it was conquered
easily by Napoleon, who installed his brother as
its new king. Although the kingdom of Spain was
restored after the defeat of Napoleonic France, the
damage overseas was done. One by one the Spanish
New World colonies threw off colonial rule, but in
most cases very little changed for anyone except the
few people at the top.
Britain
In 1492, England was a small, self-sufficient coun-
try, relatively literate and industrious, prospering
from the wool trade and fishing. It competed for
trade against the Dutch and the German Hanseatic
League in the North and Baltic Seas.
Merchants from Bristol had been searching in the
Atlantic for lands to the west as well as good cod
fishing, a major industry at the time. They quickly
followed up on the news of Columbus’ discovery
by sending expeditions of their own under John
Cabot and later Henry Hudson that revealed part
of North America and Newfoundland. When no
Northwest Passage was found, their interest flagged,
but by the middle of the sixteenth century the Eng-
lish were heavily engaged in the Newfoundland
fishing industry.
Early English interest in the New World focused on
the rich flow of wealth from the Spanish colonies.
The Protestant English got involved in many of the
Spanish wars, particularly in the Netherlands, and
jumped at the opportunity to prey on Spanish ship-
ping and towns in the New World. Captains Drake,
Frobisher, Hawkins, and others were a major irrita-
tion to Spain. From 1577 to 1580 Drake circumnavi-
gated the globe and brought home an enormous haul
of captured Spanish treasure.
Late in the sixteenth century a few British investors
were ready to establish a colony in North America.
They were seeking to establish a source for products
then being imported from the Mediterranean, such
as hides, olive oil, wine, and spices. They assumed
they could obtain them from lands of comparable
latitude in America. They were also interested in
establishing a base from which to intercept Spanish
treasure fleets passing near Florida.
An early colony was established in 1584 on Roanoke
Island (along the coast of modern-day Virginia, named
in honor of Elizabeth I, England’s “virgin Queen”).
This attempt was abandoned in 1586 because food
supplies from England were insufficient and because
relations with the indigenous people soon soured. A
new colonization attempt was made in 1587, but war
broke out with Spain in 1588, delaying relief of the
Roanoke colony. When the English finally got back
to Roanoke in 1590, they found the colony aban-
doned; the inhabitants’ fate remains a mystery.
In 1607 the English established a new colony at
Jamestown (also in modern-day Virginia). Though
this colony struggled for many years, and was even
temporarily abandoned, it hung on and eventually
prospered, especially after the colonists began grow-
ing tobacco for export. Farther north, a group of
English religious dissenters, the Pilgrims, established
a colony at Plymouth, Massachusetts. This colony
also took hold, increasing the English presence in
North America. During the next 130 years more
colonies were established, including one by Quak-
ers in Pennsylvania, one by Catholics in Maryland,
and one by philanthropists in Georgia as a haven for
impoverished English men and women.
The native populations in North America were rela-
tively sparse, compared to those in Mexico and Peru.
The English policy toward them was to push the
natives out and take their lands. The North Ameri-
can populations fought back at times, but ultimately
could not match the technology and sheer numbers
of colonists.
The English were also attracted to the Caribbean
islands, which had been abandoned or ignored by
the Spanish. The English followed the lead of the

Portuguese and Dutch in establishing sugar plan-
tations and importing slaves from Africa to work
them. These plantations proved very profitable,
and for most of the seventeenth century the “sugar
islands” were much more valuable to England than
were the agricultural colonies of North America.
England’s northeastern American colonies were
generally settled by a population of small farmers
and craftsmen that grew to become a large, edu-
cated middle class. Relatively free of economic con-
straints, they proved to be industrious, inventive, and
resourceful. To the south, Virginia and the Caroli-
nas were different. Here large plantations produced
cash crops, particularly tobacco and rice, generally
worked by slave labor. Wealth and land was concen-
trated in the hands of a relative few who presided
over a large work force. These areas closely mirrored
the economic and social standards of Europe.
The prospect of land, personal freedom, and eco-
nomic opportunity attracted people looking for
relief from religious intolerance, social constraints,
political discrimination, and lack of work in the Old
World. As it became clearer that newcomers were
prospering in the English colonies, the tide of immi-
gration increased, not only from the British Isles,
but from other parts of Europe as well. For example,
by 1775 almost 100,000 immigrants from the various
German states had come to British North America
seeking to improve their lot.
10
France
Britain’s energies were also engaged far beyond
In 1500, France was a major power in Europe with returned in 1535 and this time did find and explore
the Americas. Its experience in sea warfare against
a large population, a strong agricultural economy, the St. Lawrence River as far as modern Montreal.
the Spanish, Dutch, and French strengthened what
a long military heritage, and a unified government. He returned to France with more native captives,
became the Royal Navy to the point that, by the early
Because of its central position it was regularly but no better news of gold or a passage to Asia. A
nineteenth century, it dominated the seas around
engaged in the land-based power struggles of the third expedition was sent to build a settlement and
much of the world. With this sea power, the British
continent. The Columbus brothers approached the included women for the first time. They found no
were able to establish or capture important colonies
French king with their plan to sail west for Asia, but gold and no passage to Asia—just unfriendly natives,
and outposts in many strategic and valuable places.
he refused to fund their venture. inadequate nutrition, and deadly winter weather.
Countries that waged war with Britain and its navy
The survivors returned to France in 1543.
risked losing their overseas possessions. The French followed up the discoveries of new land
to the west relatively slowly, although they were trad- During a brief lull in their wars with Spain, the
At home England became Great Britain by bring-
ing in Brazil as early as 1504. By 1520 they were French grew interested once more in an American
ing both Ireland and Scotland under the crown. The
actively engaged in the fishing industry off New- base. They failed to establish one in the Carolinas
British engaged in European wars to their advantage,
foundland. Ships would make an annual trip to the in 1559–1560, but did build a fort near modern-day
always safe behind their navy and the English Chan-
fishing grounds in summer before returning to Euro- Jacksonville, Florida in 1564, in preparation for the
nel. They engaged in diplomacy, and warfare if nec-
pean market ports in the fall. Salt cod had become arrival of colonists, but they were surprised by an
essary, to maintain a balance of power, especially on
a food staple for much of Europe and fishing a overland Spanish attack from St. Augustine. The
the side of Protestant countries against Catholic ones,
major industry. fort fell easily—the men, mostly French Protestants,
mainly Spain and France. They were implacable ene-
surrendered and were executed as heretics.
mies of revolutionary France and Napoleon’s empire. The French were also active in plundering the ship-
ping of Spain, with whom they were often at war French interest in North American colonization
In the late eighteenth century, Britain became the
despite shared religious beliefs. The French were waned for some time, although they continued to fish
first country to undergo an Industrial Revolution,
interested in balancing the Spanish New World pos- off Newfoundland. In the late sixteenth century, fur
transforming itself from an agricultural, hand-
sessions with their own in North America. They trading attracted interest after a few ships returned
crafting, and trading nation into a manufacturing
also sought a Northwest Passage to Asia and sent with very profitable cargoes. After some attempts
powerhouse and world center of banking and capi-
Giovanni da Verrazanno to look for it in 1524. He to settle colonies on Acadia (now Nova Scotia), an
tal. Its mercantile system accrued wealth at home
made landfall in the Americas along the Outer Banks expedition under Samuel de Champlain established
by acquiring raw materials from its colonies and
of the Carolinas. Further north he discovered Man- a settlement at Quebec in 1608, intending to attract
paying for them with manufactured goods from
hattan Island, the mouth of the Hudson River, and fur traders coming downriver. Champlain explored
home. Restrictive trade policies required the colo-
Narragansett Bay. He returned to France after a fast the area diligently over several expeditions, joined
nies to trade only with the home country on Brit-
and efficient voyage with no evidence of a North- with local tribes in fighting against the Iroquois to
ish ships at exchange rates favorable to merchants at
west Passage, but with news of a promising prospect the south, and laid the foundation for the permanent
home. While this system worked well for Britain and
for colonization. settlement of Canada.
made some favored individuals extremely rich, it had
flaws, forcing some competitor nations to become In 1534, Jacques Cartier continued the search for a French Canada concentrated on establishing a fur
outright enemies. Northwest Passage. Cartier made landfall in north- trade, led by trappers and traders who moved easily
ern Newfoundland, sailed to the Labrador coast, and in the wilderness. The fur trade was a rare mutu-
discovered Prince Edward Island and the Gulf of St. ally beneficial arrangement for both Europeans and
Lawrence. He found no gold and no passage, but the Native Americans. This was critical to French suc-
natives he brought home spoke of a great river lead- cess in the wilderness, at least until French attempts
ing inland to the lands of a wealthy tribe. Cartier to spread their religion and establish settlements
11

soured the relationship, and European diseases rou-
tinely caused devastating local epidemics.
Explorations continued along rivers and across the
lakes of the interior. Pierre Marquette and Louis
Joliet reached the Mississippi in 1673. Rene Robert
de LaSalle went down the Mississippi to its mouth
in 1682, naming the surrounding land “Louisiana”
for the French king and claiming the watershed
for France.
The French never completely settled the Mississippi
Valley, but did establish bases at important points
that later became cities (St. Louis and Memphis in
1682, Detroit in 1701, and New Orleans in 1718).
Frequently at war with Britain, their colonies came
into conflict in North America. The French outposts
appeared to hem in the British coastal colonies. The
thinly spread French traded weapons to the Indi-
ans for furs and encouraged their hostility against
the British.
In 1754, vicious fighting broke out on the Ameri-
can frontier between indigenous people, European
regular troops, and colonial frontiersmen. British
regulars were defeated near Fort Duquesne (now
Pittsburgh) in 1755, and these events were in part the
trigger for the Seven Years War between France and
Britain, which began in 1756. In 1759, another Brit-
ish army took Quebec. As part of the peace of 1763,
France gave up Canada in exchange for the return
of captured islands in the Caribbean.
12
Portugal
French holdings west of the Mississippi (ceded
In 1500, Portugal had a population of about one mil- way to southeast China), and eventually exploring as
for a time to Spain and then regained by treaty)
lion. Its principal products for export were wine and far east as Japan. Pepper that could be bought for
were in the way of the newly independent United
sugar from offshore islands. The seafaring Portuguese three ducats in India sold for 80 ducats in Lisbon.
States’ expansion. When Napoleon became emperor
became pioneers in the age of exploration, inspired to While acquiring this eastern treasure the Portuguese
his European involvements caused him to neglect
find trade routes to southern Africa and Asia. Wholly were engaged in warfare against Muslim states, with
France’s colonial empire. A slave revolt in Haiti was
surrounded on the land side by Spain and blocked from cruelty and aggression on both sides
expensive in both troops and gold and could not be
most of the Mediterranean trade by the city-states of
quelled. The unending need for money led Napo- By 1570 the volume of the Portuguese spice trade had
Italy, Portuguese sailors worked their way into the
leon to sell the Louisiana Territory to the United dwindled. The Dutch and English followed them
Atlantic and south to Africa. In the fifteenth century
States in 1803. All that remained of France’s New around Africa in the early seventeenth century and
they discovered and settled islands in the Atlantic,
World empire was some Caribbean islands. proved tough and resilient competitors. By the 1660s,
which proved excellent for growing sugar.
the Dutch had taken over Indonesia, while the Portu-
Napoleonic France dominated Europe for the first
The king’s brother, Prince Henry (“the Naviga- guese hung on, trading mainly within the Indies.
decade of the nineteenth century; as the French army
tor”), encouraged and subsidized voyages of explora-
seemed invincible. They fought with great élan, The Portuguese did establish a colony in Brazil, where
tion southward. By 1445 they had reached Senegal
inspired by revolutionary ideals and the prospect that they harvested the Brazil tree logs from which the
and built a trading fort there; in 1473 they crossed
any man could rise by merit to become a Marshal country took its name, and established more sugar
the equator; in 1487 they reached the southern tip of
of France. But their success was contained at sea by plantations. They imported African slaves from their
Africa. Vasco da Gama finally reached the Indian
the Royal Navy as Britain worked diligently to build base on the African coast and sold them to the plan-
port of Calicut in 1498, opening the door to the fabu-
and fund successive coalitions of nations to fight the tation owners in the Caribbean. These slaves were
lous wealth of Asia. In 1500 Pedro Alvares Cabral
French. Napoleon overextended himself, invading among the ten million Africans who arrived involun-
discovered Brazil. These voyages of discovery and the
Russia in 1812 while simultaneously engaged with the tarily in the New World between 1550 and 1850.
riches they yielded made Portugal a major player in
British in Portugal and Spain. The Russian invasion
the race for new wealth and empire. In acknowledge- In time Portugal’s status declined. After Napoleon
was a disaster and Napoleon was forced into a fight-
ment of their achievement, the Pope issued a decree overran Spain he made an effort to extend his con-
ing withdrawal across Europe that led to his surren-
dividing the world between the interests of Spain and trol to Portugal in an attempt to deny Britain access
der and exile in 1814. He escaped and reclaimed his
Portugal, two of the staunchest and most successful to European trade. A British army led by the Duke
crown for 100 days until finally defeated by a British-
supporters of the Catholic Church. of Wellington contested the invasion and engaged the
led coalition at Waterloo in 1815.
French for years before driving them out of the Iberian
The Portuguese concentrated their efforts in the
Peninsula for good, ensuring Portuguese autonomy.
East, establishing a key trading base at Goa in India,
outposts in Malaysia, an outpost at Macao (the gate-
13
 Holland
Holland in 1500 was a small European nation, but was
also extremely energetic, practical, and progressive,
with a strong emphasis on trade. Particularly in the
northern provinces, the Dutch embraced Protestant
Christianity during the sixteenth century, supplanting
Catholicism. They were aggressive and dynamic trad-
ers, well-positioned to transport goods to and from
the Baltic and North Atlantic, and into the interior of
Europe up the Rhine River. They built efficient ships
that carried large cargoes with small crews. Very lim-
ited in land, they developed an intense agriculture and
began reclaiming lowlands from the sea.
By accident of marriage and inheritance, control of
the now largely Protestant Holland shifted to Cath-
olic Spain in the mid-sixteenth century, and Span-
ish kings sought, in turn, to supplant Protestantism
within their realm. This led to a revolt against Spain.
Although at a great disadvantage in overall wealth
and power, the Dutch proved a tough opponent and
drew allies to their side. By 1609 Holland was virtu-
ally independent.
In the era of colonial expansion by great empires,
the Dutch pursued business opportunities. They were
soon engaged in the trade with the Americas, despite
Spanish attempts to exclude non-allies. The efficiency
14
of their ships made them attractive as low-cost car-
riers. They built a business carrying and process-
ing sugar and other goods out of Portuguese Brazil.
When the Spanish allied with Portugal and closed the
Portuguese ports to the Dutch, the Dutch seized sev-
eral islands, including Aruba and Curaçao.
In 1610, Henry Hudson explored the North Ameri-
can coast and rediscovered the river now named
after him and the great harbor of modern-day New
York City. After several trading voyages to the area
seeking furs, the Dutch planted a small trading out-
post up the river near Albany in 1614, and later a
more permanent settlement on Manhattan Island.
The relatively few colonists were more interested
in trade profits than in establishing a lasting and
well-defended colony. New Amsterdam fell easily
to a British fleet commanded by the Duke of York
in 1664. The Dutch regained it briefly in 1673, but
ceded it permanently to Britain in 1674.
The Dutch made their biggest mark in the East
Indies. Following in the wake of the Portuguese
around Africa in the early 1600s, agents of the
Dutch East India Company, together with England,
took over much of the East India trade.
Russia
Russia in 1500 was isolated and relatively undevel-
oped socially and technologically. With unlimited
land and a shortage of labor to work it, the old feudal
system was enforced to hold people in servitude on
the large estates of the aristocracy.
The Romanov dynasty rose to power in 1613, and
after 1682 Peter the Great was determined to expand
and modernize his nation. He toured western Europe
and strove to import its knowledge and technology.
The Russian army eventually became one of the most
powerful in Europe, based on huge reserves of serfs
who could be conscripted for thirty years of service.
Noted for its numerous infantry, guns, and cavalry,
the army got its experience in border wars and was
eventually pulled into the conflicts with Napoleonic
France. It was especially successful in defending its
homeland, as the Swedes and Napoleon learned to
their cost.
Russia had been expanding for some time, but the
area south to the Black Sea and beyond was contested
by the Ottoman Empire. The Russians engaged the
Swedes to the northwest for a share of the Baltic
and gathered in the Swedish provinces of Latvia and
Estonia (giving up Finland in exchange). They made
much more progress to the east toward Siberia. At
the command of Peter the Great, a Danish seaman
named Vitus Bering began a series of voyages into
the northern Pacific Ocean from Siberia, begin-
ning in 1725. These voyages eventually explored the
Bering Sea, the Bering Strait, southern Alaska, the
Aleutian Islands, and northwest North America.
Russian trading voyages to Alaska and the Ameri-
cas began in 1775 and a first Alaskan settlement was
established in 1784. Russia also founded outposts
down the coast of Alaska, in the Aleutian Islands,
British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, and Califor-
nia. The colonists were primarily interested in har-
vesting furs. In some areas they treated the indig-
enous people cruelly, forcing them to hunt for otter
and surrender the pelts to the colonists. The costs
of outpost support and transportation were so high,
however, that the colonies were barely profitable,
and few Russians wanted to travel so far from home.
In 1867, Russia sold Alaska to the United States for
$7.2 million dollars.
15
 Germany
At the time of Columbus’ first voyage, Germany con-
sisted of four hundred separate entities, including
cities, principalities, and feudal states. Though nom-
inally part of the Holy Roman Empire, they were in
fact beyond the control of the Holy Roman Emperor
in Spain. There was no central government that dic-
tated policy, collected taxes, or marshaled armies.
In 1517 a German monk, Martin Luther, protested
against a variety of practices of the Catholic Church
by nailing his arguments to a church door in Wit-
tenberg. This was a traditional way of opening a
debate at the university there, but he started some-
thing larger than a scholarly debate. His act set off
the Protestant Reformation, as copies of his theses,
translated from Latin into German and other lan-
guages, spread throughout Germany and the rest
of Europe. The Reformation in turn brought about
the Counter-Reformation as the Catholic Church
reordered itself.
The struggle between the two religious views broke
out into the Thirty Years’ War, which was particu-
larly brutal and devastating in Germany. German
provinces ended up choosing to be either Catholic
(primarily in the south) or Protestant (in the north).
16
In the sixteenth century the small Baltic duchy
of Prussia gradually began expanding thanks to
good leadership and a growing military tradition. It
repulsed Swedish encroachments in the seventeenth
century and rose to real prominence under Freder-
ick the Great in the eighteenth century. The Prus-
sians were particularly noted for their disciplined
infantry, elite Grenadiers, and cavalry. They fought a
series of wars with the much larger Austrian Empire
to the south, usually with great success, up to the
Napoleonic Era.
Germans briefly attempted to colonize Venezuela in
the sixteenth century. Augsburg banking families
obtained the rights to the country in 1526 and began
exploring the land in 1529, mainly looking for El
Dorado, the famed city of gold. Approximately two
hundred settlers landed at Coro. They continued to
search for gold and established some sugar planta-
tions worked by African slaves. The colony reverted
to Spanish control in 1556. Most of the German col-
onists had died from disease or native attacks, espe-
cially during their treks into the interior searching
for gold.
The Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire had existed since 1300, and, at
its peak in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries,
was one the world’s most powerful empires, stretch-
ing from northern Africa through the Middle East,
Asia Minor, the Balkans, and what is now southern
Russia. The Ottomans finally took Constantinople in
1453 after many years of trying, thereby severing the
city’s long link with the West that had extended back
to the ancient empire of Rome. By 1529 they had
pushed to the gates of Vienna and toward the western
Mediterranean basin.
The Ottomans appeared unstoppable, but were actu-
ally near the limit of their expansion. Europeans had
been making advances in technology that the Otto-
mans could not match. For example, the Turks had
to purchase cannon from Europe and often had to
hire European cannoneers. In 1683 they failed once
more to take Vienna. At this point the string of suc-
cessful Ottoman rulers came to an end, while the
power and organization of their European enemies
was growing.
Much of the Ottoman Empire’s energy was dissi-
pated in struggles over succession. The bureaucracy
that ran the empire became unwieldy and often cor-
rupt. The Ottomans fell behind in industry as well.
The profits they enjoyed from the trade between
Asia and Europe eroded as the Europeans learned
to sail directly to the East Indies. The trade balance
actually reversed as the Ottomans found they needed
European goods more than Europe needed theirs.
Eventually the Ottoman armies went into decline.
The empire came to depend more on slave and cap-
tive soldiers, especially its famed Janissaries. The
Europeans were generally content to let the Otto-
mans remain where they were, although the Rus-
sians fought for the plains north of the Black Sea.
The Industrial Revolution left the Ottomans com-
pletely at the mercy of Europe. For a time the Brit-
ish even propped up the Ottoman Empire to keep it
from being occupied by their enemies.
17
 Contexts in Perspective
In reality, of course, history is no game; the joys of Americans, all of the European nations came out
victory and the disaster of defeat have a profound ahead, though some succeeded in winning by far the
impact on the lives of all involved, individuals and largest stakes.
societies alike. The millions of Africans taken to the
Again, we urge those who find these events com-
New World as slaves were involuntary participants
pelling to examine the wealth of historical material
in various nations’ schemes of empire; and who-
in order to arrive at a fuller understanding of these
ever “won” the European race to explore and con-
events than this limited narration can provide, start-
quer the Americas, the indigenous populations they
ing with (but by no means limited to) the sources
found there were almost annihilated in the process.
cited below.
Compared to the experiences of Africans and Native

Selected Sources
Jared Diamond, Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Colin Renfrew, ed., America Past, America Present: Genes
Societies (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1999). and Languages in the Americas and Beyond
(Cambridge, England: The McDonald Institute for
David S. Landes, The Wealth and Poverty of Nations
Archaeological Research, 2000).
(New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1998).
J. M. Roberts, A Short History of the World
William L. Langer, An Encyclopedia of World History, 5th ed.
(New York: Oxford University Press, 1997).
(Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1972).
http://www.nationmaster.com
David B. Quinn, North America from Earliest Discovery
to First Settlement: The Norse Voyages to 1612 http://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/eurvoya/
(New York: Harper & Row, 1986).

18
 Strategy Overview
The core strategies for the eight playable civiliza-
tions are Booming, Rushing, and Turtling. These
high-level strategies affect your entire game, from
opening moves to final victory or defeat. You can
also apply each strategy in varying degrees.
You can start with one strategy and then switch
to another, or you may want to mix two strategies
for more flexibility. Deciding which strategy to use
before the game starts can help determine which
map you’ll play, your available Home City Ship-
ments, and starting resource conditions.
Although useful against human opponents, these
strategies are also effective against non-player char-
acters (NPCs)—especially against NPCs that favor
one strategy over another.
Note too that strategies evolve. What may seem
like a logical strategy when Age of Empires III first
ships could eventually become obsolete as players
devise new and improved ways to play the game.
The Internet is the best place to stay informed on
cutting-edge strategies.

Booming Rushing Turtling

Booming is a strategy where
you focus solely on growing
your economy in the hope that
you will get a larger, more pow-
erful army late in the game.
This strategy can make you
vulnerable if you are attacked
early in the game, but a Booming
player will have a better economy
than a defensive player almost
every time.
Two common styles of Booming
are: 1) reverting all resources into
villagers, and 2) pursuing eco-
nomic upgrades to increase the
speed of gathering resources.
Rushing is the opposite of Boom-
ing. You ignore economy and
focus on military early in the
game. You want to attack an
enemy player before they are
ready and hurt their economy so
much that you can then pass them
up, or even take them out of the
game immediately.
Stop making villagers early so
you can train military as early
as possible in the Colonial Age.
You aren’t likely to have a highly
upgraded army, but you might
be able to sacrifice quality for
quantity.
Turtling is essentially Booming
except that you devote many more
resources to defense. You antici-
pate being Rushed, so you want
to be ready for it. Turtling often
assumes building defenses—such
as walls, Outposts, or a stronger
Town Center—but could also
involve devoting an early Ship-
ment to soldiers who will remain
close to your town to defend it.
Like Booming, Turtling is gener-
ally easier and safer if you aren’t
on the front lines. When Turtling,
you should be able to fend off a
Rush, but your economy is going
to fall behind a pure Boom because
you don’t have as many villagers.

19
 Spanish
Booming
The Spanish are adept Treasure collectors who make rapid
Shipments. An Explorer with extra War Dogs can defeat
tougher Treasure guardians and benefit from an early accrual
of resources.
Playing as the Spanish, earning Shipments is your strongest
if not sole advantage over the economies of competing civili-
zations. Focus on sending Settlers and Food Crates from the
Home City, and erect a second Town Center as early in the
game as possible.
You need Food to produce Settlers, so pay attention to the
map. Hunt on the Great Plains map, collect animal herds on
the Patagonia or Texas maps, and fish on water maps.
You have no inherent defenses against a Rush, so position
one of your allies on the front lines.
20
Spanish
Rushing
Quick Shipments give the Spanish a strong Rush. You have
the best Pikemen in the game, so invest in them heavily.
Avoid using War Dogs in an early attack since finding
Treasure doesn’t benefit you when Rushing. Instead, devote
as many Settlers as you can spare to gathering Wood so you
can build a pair of Barracks in the Colonial Age yet have a
Wood surplus for Pikemen and Crossbowmen.
Because Pikemen are weak against ranged attacks, beware
of enemy Outposts or Crossbowmen. To compensate, add
Hussars to your raiding party to vanquish ranged units.
Pikemen can’t catch Settlers, so target them on weaker
buildings like Houses or Markets. Once you raze a few enemy
buildings, retreat before you lose your entire army. Still, this
strategy should leave your enemy crippled, allowing you to
focus on your economy for a late-game attack.
21
 Spanish
Turtling
Because the Spanish strength is Shipments, your best
defense is units, not buildings. Crossbowmen are the best
early defensive unit. Your Pikemen can deter a cavalry raid,
but they are unlikely to accrue many kills.
If you have Shipments of Wood Crates, you can try building
walls and Outposts, but it depends a lot on whether you’re on
a defensive map. Fortunately, the Spanish do not have many
weak buildings early in the game. At most you might lose a
few Houses, but even that is unlikely with Crossbowmen or
another ranged unit defending them.
Remember to amass a large army before too late in the
game—by the third and fourth Ages, your enemies will have
artillery strong enough to pummel your defenses.
22
British
Booming
The British Manor can produce a spectacular stream of
Settlers faster than your opponents. Always remember: it’s
not Settler cost that the British benefit from, but Settler
train rate.
Gather Wood in addition to Food if you want to have enough
resources to keep the Town Center training Settlers while
the Manors simultaneously spawn them. By building several
Manors, you’ll have plenty of population available when you
shift your attention to assembling a large army.
The British aren’t dependent on additional Town Centers
like other civilizations because supporting multiple Settler
streams isn’t a barrier for them. Send Settlers from the
Home City, but ensure that you also send Food or Wood
Crates.
If resources permit, the British also have a strong Livestock
strategy available later in the game.
23
 British
Rushing
The British Rush is risky because you forego your main
economic bonus—free Settlers from Manors—to acquire a
large army early in the game. Focus on recruiting either
Pikemen or Longbowmen, though a mixture of both is
more flexible. Longbowmen are superior to Crossbowmen,
giving the British an advantage with early ranged attacks.
An alternate British Rush uses Musketeers, Hussars, or both
because they are upgradable to the royal guard level. Pikemen
and Longbowmen, on the other hand, are not upgradable
(however, some British Home City Shipments can prolong
the usefulness of the Longbowmen).
You may want to avoid establishing an early forward
base, since training soldiers close to home allows you to
quickly defend your colony if attacked while you are engaged
in a Rush.
24
British
Turtling
This is an effective strategy for the British because they
are especially vulnerable with so many weak but expensive
Manors in their settlements. Walls and Outposts compete
directly against Manor production for Wood, which may
require devoting even more Settlers to Wood gathering.
Longbowmen are useful early defenders because of their
great range. Also consider devoting an early Shipment to a
Town Center improvement.
Resist hiding Manors all over the map in the hope of
protecting them from an early raid. You’re better off keeping
all your eggs in one basket in this case. You’ll have difficulty
maintaining static defenses at every Outpost, and even more
so getting troops to a Manor before the enemy levels it and
garners experience points from the attack.
25
 French
Booming
The French economy is tied to the Coureur. These villagers
are expensive, but they excel at gathering and train just
as fast as other Settlers. Continuously spawning Coureurs
out of your Town Center rapidly depletes your resources, so
you may need to Boom longer than other civilizations. By
late in the game, however, the French economy can become
quite powerful.
Because less of your population is tied up in Settlers, you get
an extra benefit in that you’ll need fewer Houses and you’ll
be able to have a larger army sooner.
Base your early economy mostly on Food, especially from
low-risk hunting. Gather only enough Wood to build a few
Houses or possibly a Market. Advancing to the Fortress Age
quickly isn’t essential—particularly if you don’t have enough
Food to keep multiple lines of Coureurs queued up.
26
French
Rushing
French have Pikemen and Crossbowmen, the foundation
of a versatile Rush army—but it comes at the expense of
more Coureurs. Rushing is, therefore, more difficult for
the French than other civilizations. You should still erect
a Barracks as early as possible, or a Stable if you prefer
Hussar raiding instead.
French Home Cities generally have many Native American
upgrades. Since Native Warriors don’t cost population, it’s
possible to make an early raid using Native allies. You’ll
need plenty of Wood for a Trading Post to forge alliances
with the Natives. You must defend your Trading Post or risk
losing resources and experience points to your enemy.
Another French Rush strategy involves getting to the Fortress
Age quickly and then attacking with just a few Cuirassiers.
Cuirassiers are powerful even individually, so a handful of
them can leave a wake of destruction. Remember to keep
an eye on your units; losing just three Cuirassiers to a few
Dragoons is the equivalent of 1,000 resources lost.
27
 French
Turtling
The French are natural defenders because of the Coureur’s
combat advantage over other Settlers, so venturing outside
your town to hunt or mine isn’t as risky as it is for other
civilizations. Maximize this benefit with Market improve-
ments such as Great Coat and Blunderbuss, or with the
Home City Shipment of pioneers.
Most enemies won’t attack French Coureurs unless they have
a large ranged infantry (typically Crossbowmen); instead,
they may try attacking your buildings with Pikemen or
Hussars. So spend some effort on early defenses, and then
quickly transition to a full-fledged Boom to maximize the
number of Coureurs a Boom can produce. And enlist your
Native Scout to help spot an incoming attack.
28
Portuguese
Booming
The Portuguese are exceptional at Booming. Given enough
Food, they can spawn Settlers more quickly than other civili-
zations and at an even lower cost than the British Manors
incur.
When one of your Town Centers is idle, you are squan-
dering your big bonus, so stockpile as much Food as you
can. You can’t send Settlers from your Home City, but you
can send Food Crates. Livestock can pay off eventually if
you can afford it, and the Portuguese also have Home City
Shipments that benefit early fishing.
If you’re going for a straight Boom, position all your Town
Centers together, while still protecting as many resources as
possible. For example, you may want to place your second
Town Center by a Mine or herd of Bison. You could also use
the second Town Center to stake out a Trading Post site.
29
 Portuguese
Rushing
Rushing isn’t a Portuguese strength, though they can use
their second Town Center as a powerful forward base
(especially for Home City Shipments) as long as it can still
produce Settlers. You can’t place this Town Center close
enough to an enemy town to benefit from the Town Center
attack, but you can use it to defend your Barracks or Stables
once they are built.
Because other players don’t expect a Rush from the Portu-
guese, this may just be a sufficient reason to try one. You
can get early Settlers quickly, mitigating the economic toll
from shifting to military production early in the game.
30
Portuguese
Turtling
Placing your Town Centers fairly close together gives you
all the defenses you need until the Fortress Age. Remember,
Town Centers have strong defenses early in the game, but
their power subsides over time, so you can’t count on them
alone to keep you alive indefinitely. You also need to have
enough Settlers garrisoned in each to maximize the Town
Center attack.
Spreading your Town Centers out farther (for instance, near
the coast, Trading Posts, or allied towns) forces you to focus
on defense more than normal because you probably won’t
have as many Settlers per Town Center as other civilizations.
And because you’ll likely have fewer Houses than other
civilizations early on, your Settlers are ripe targets, unless
the enemy tries to destroy one of your Town Centers.
Also, a Town Center is surprisingly effective against naval
attacks, so don’t hesitate to position your extra Town Center
near the water on more naval-oriented maps such as the
Caribbean or Amazonia.
31
 Dutch
Booming
The Dutch can accomplish an amazing Boom if they can
get Banks built in time. Remember that Dutch Settlers cost
Coin, so you need to look for Mines more than you hunt.
The decision when to build early Banks is really key. Build
too soon and you may not have enough Settlers to sustain
your economy into the Colonial Age. Build too late and you
may not be able to take advantage of a big bonus.
Although shipping Chests of Coin early helps you spawn
more Settlers, you won’t require Shipments of Coin later in
the game because Banks produce Coin so abundantly. So
don’t generate more Coin than you can use—tributing and
Market exchange do assess a resource penalty. Your Banks
are prime targets because your enemies will quickly learn
that, unlike Settlers, Banks can’t run away.
32
Dutch
Rushing
Rushing can be risky for the Dutch because it usually means
postponing Bank construction. They also lack a hard-hitting
Colonial Age unit like the Musketeer. Hussar raids can be
deadly, but your enemies will learn to expect that from a
Dutch player. Even though your Skirmishers are more
powerful than most Colonial units, they are expensive and
can be easily countered by cavalry.
You do have a strong scouting advantage with your Envoy.
Use him to find out where the enemies are and what kinds
of troops they are building.
33
 Dutch
Turtling
Playing defensively is natural for the Dutch because they
have expensive buildings they need to preserve. Fortunately,
they have some Home City Shipments that can help support
such a strategy.
The Dutch have two powerful defensive units—Skirmishers
and Ruyters—that can trounce an army of Musketeers and
Hussars if correctly deployed.
Because the Dutch can keep their economy centralized
and have good ranged units, you should build a wall
around your town when you can afford it. Even if a wall
can’t stop an attack, it will slow one down, alerting you to
incoming enemy.
34
Russian
Booming
For Russians, as for most civilizations, the key to a Boom
is getting Settlers quickly. Russians are limited by the
cost of training three Settlers at a time. On the other hand,
the Settler train rate is rapid. Gather as much Food as
possible, but gather less Wood than other civilizations do in
the first Age.
Erecting multiple Town Centers isn’t too useful for a Russian
player because you can train Settlers rapidly, in groups or
individually. Portuguese or British players will likely spawn
more Settlers in the earlier Ages, but left alone the Russians
can make Settlers more quickly in later Ages when Food
isn’t such an issue.
Focus on hunting early because it’s the fastest way to get
Food. Berries are a useful backup because gathering them
is safer than hunting. Also, avoid the Wood cost of Mills
or Docks early in the game. Since you can’t ship Settlers,
Mother Russia will send you ample Food for spawning more
of them.
35
 Russian Russian

Rushing Turtling
Russians are a strong Rushing civilization. They can produce Simply because the Russians are strong on Rushing doesn’t
units quickly and overwhelm opponents with sheer numbers. For mean they are weak on Turtling (defence). The Blockhouse
a more aggressive Rush, build your initial Blockhouse away from is a sound defensive building because it combines the ability
your town toward the enemy. A more defensive Rush keeps the to train units quickly with the attack of an Outpost.
Blockhouse near the Town Center to help defend your colony
against an enemy Rush while your army is away. Don’t hesitate to send an early Shipment of Strelets or
Musketeers to help defend your town. If you are attacked
Many Russian players acquire Strelets early because they come by a formidable army, use your Blockhouse to spawn other
in larger numbers than any other unit. Although a weak unit infantry. But beware of Rushing players who may target
individually, Strelets wreak havoc because enemies often have your Blockhouse first. Building a pair of Blockhouses will
trouble killing them fast enough. Don’t forget that you can ensure greater safety for your settlement.
produce Musketeers quickly too, even if in fewer numbers
than Strelets.
Cossacks are another good choice for an early raid, though you
don’t get the block training benefit that you do with Blockhouses.
Without support, Grenadiers may not inflict much damage in the
Colonial Age; but if you combine them with Pikemen support
from an ally, they are strong against buildings.
Remember that your units are generally weaker than in other
civilizations, so you’ll never win the unit upgrade arms race.
That’s why Russians favor artillery; defend Falconets or Mortars
with several Halberdiers late in the game and your infantry’s
lower hitpoints won’t be a concern.

36 37
 German
Booming
Booming isn’t a German strength. German players can
eventually Boom because of Settler Wagons, and they can
field an army of Uhlans at no cost to resources. Those who
have many more resources than other players, may find it a
bit tricky to advance to the Colonial or Fortress Ages.
Note that a Settler Wagon is worth two Settlers, so send
them as often as you can. Protect your Settler Wagons and
don’t let them stray too far from your settlement.
Germans have a very useful Home City improvement called
Guild Artisans that boosts Settler Wagon gather rates several
fold—if you advance to the Industrial Age with several
Settler Wagons, it’s a great Shipment to send.
38
German
Rushing
Germans are natural Rushers because they get Uhlans often
and early. Uhlans can dish it out, but with their low hitpoints
they can’t take it, so avoid getting them into a melee fight,
especially against Pikemen.
Crossbowmen are a great complement to Uhlans because
they can eliminate defensive Pikemen or Musketeers. While
the Germans lack Musketeers, the Doppelsoldner can have
devastating effect even in small numbers, especially against
tightly packed enemies.
No matter what soldier you plan on training for an early raid,
you’re always going to have plenty of Uhlans. To upgrade
them, build a Stable by the Fortress Age.
39
 German
Turtling
Germans benefit from a few default defenses, including hordes
of nearby Uhlans. Uhlans aren’t a match for Pikemen or
Musketeers trying to destroy Houses, but they can devastate
Crossbowmen or Strelets.
Though expensive, Settler Wagons are a strategic asset. They
pack the equivalent of two Settlers into one unit, making it
easier to keep tabs on them.
Germans do have some coveted Home City Shipments that let
them defend their colonies and improve gathering resources
for buildings such as Mills (which are easy to defend).
Germans don’t fight well in walled environments because
some of their strongest units use only hand attacks. Don’t
discount the German Skirmishers who are quite powerful in
the Fortress and Industrial Ages.
40
Ottoman
Booming
As an Ottoman, you have a straightforward decision when
deciding whether to Boom. If you Boom, you want to get
to the Fortress Age as fast as possible and obtain additional
Town Centers. Your Settlers are free, so you are limited only
by training rate; an additional Town Center doubles that
rate. An alternative is to build your Mosque early and start
pursuing the line of Settler training upgrades, though this
strategy is slightly better for Turtling.
In the first two Ages, you aren’t going to have much control
over your Settler production rate and you’ll have less need
for Food unless you want to Age up early (it’s possible to
do so on the first or second Shipment). You are therefore
likely to be passed up by an aggressive Portuguese or British
player who can spawn Settlers more quickly.
Once you’re in the Fortress Age or later, you’ll start to catch
up and it’s not uncommon for the Ottomans to have the
best late-game economy because you automatically receive
additional Settlers.
41
 Ottoman Ottoman

Rushing Turtling
The advantage of the Ottoman Rush is that it doesn’t really Since you are going to want to spend some resources on
weaken their economy to attack early. You’re still going walls, Outposts, or defensive soldiers, you aren’t going to
to get just as many Settlers as with another strategy. The Age up very quickly. Rather, you’ll want to rely on your
difference is likely in how quickly you’ll Age up. Mosque to increase Settler production.
To attack early, you need to advance to the Colonial Age Keep the costs of the Mosque improvements in mind so you
very quickly. Decide on either a Barracks, Stable, or Artillery can quickly shift from Food to Wood to Coin as needed. Keep
Foundry, and then focus on acquiring several of those units. the Mosque near the Town Center and build an additional
Outpost to help defend it. If you have walls, Abus Guns
The Janissary is probably the strongest early attacker. The offer your best defense due to their long range.
Hussar can cover ground quickly and hit-and-run. The
Abus Gun is slower and requires more care because it is
expensive; but then again, players you attack are more likely
to have Pikemen and Crossbowmen standing around (which
the Abus can beat) than cavalry (which can beat the Abus).
Ottomans use Janissaries often, which makes their attacks
rather predictable.

42 43
 Military Units Military Unit

nts
ues
by Civilization Attributes

n
man

oma
sian
ish

tug
nch

ack
ish

poi

ge
ch

d
t

Spee

Ran
Span

Cos
Brit

Hit
Dut

Att
Por

Ott
Ger
Rus
Fre
Hand Infantry Hand Infantry
Pikemen Pikemen
Key
Rodeleros Rodeleros
Halberdiers Halberdiers
Doppelsoldners Doppelsoldners
Range:
Musketeers Musketeers - long
Musketeers
- medium
Musketeers
Janissaries Janissaries
- short
- no
Skirmishers Skirmishers Hitpoints:
Crossbowmen Crossbowmen - heavy
Longbowmen Longbowmen - medium
Strelets Strelets - light
Skirmishers Skirmishers - weak
Cassadores Cassadores (Based on hitpoints
per cost, not just raw
hitpoints)
Hand Cavalry Hand Cavalry
Attack:
Hussars Hussars
Cossacks
- huge
Cossacks
Uhlans - big
Uhlans
Lancers Lancers
- medium
Cuirassiers Cuirassiers - small
(Based on damage
Oprichniks Oprichniks per cost)

Spahis Spahis
Speed:
- very fast
Ranged Cavalry Ranged Cavalry - fast
Cavalry Archers Cavalry Archers - moderate
Dragoons Dragoons - slow
War Wagons War Wagons
Ruyters Ruyters Cost:
- very
Artillery Artillery - expensive
Grenadiers Grenadiers - moderate
Abus Guns Abus Guns - cheap
(Actual price, not value)
Organ Guns Organ Guns
Falconets Other Artillery
Culverins
Mortars Ships
Rockets Caravels
Heavy Cannons Galleys
Great Bombards Galleons
Fluyts
Ships Frigates
Caravels Monitors
Galleys
Galleons
Fluyts
Frigates
Monitors

44 45
 Random Maps
Amazonia
The mighty Amazon River separates teams on this
map. It may also divide Trade Routes and Natives—
or it may not. Tupi and Carib Natives live deep in
the rain forests. Build a navy to control the river and
you control the map; but keep an eye out for enemy
Outposts and Cannon on the shores.
Bayou
This map contains a vast marsh where dry land
is scarce. You can only build on solid ground, but
armies can travel across the wetlands, so beware of
unexpected ambushes.
Cherokee and Seminole villages occupy islands in
the center of the map.
Caribbean
While the islands of the Caribbean support only a
few herd animals, the ocean offers a bounty of fish.
Every player starts with an early warship, but the
islands’ palm trees provide plenty of Wood so you
can construct additional ships.
You share an island with your teammates. There
is always an additional island that contains a Trade
Route. Carib settlements are scattered across all
the islands.
46
Carolina
The southeast coast of North America has plenty
of Wood and a wide variety of Food sources. The
ease of naval transport and lack of cliffs means you
are never too far from your enemy. A Trade Route
runs along the coast and contains four sites for
Trading Posts.
Carolina is the home of the Cherokee, who
always have two villages on the map. You may
also encounter one or two Seminole villages.
Great Lakes
On the Great Lakes map you can fight around the
shores of a large freshwater lake, which is ringed by
several Iroquois villages. Resources, including fish,
are plentiful and controlling the single Trade Route
is crucial.
Build too close to the shore without controlling the
water and you risk having your town shelled by
enemy ships late in the game. Occasionally the lake
freezes, which presents another tactical challenge.
Great Plains
Wide-open spaces, large herds of bison, plentiful
ore Mines, and as many as six Lakota and Comanche
villages offer a wide variety of potential strategies.
The Trade Route may have multiple Trading
Post sites.
To supplement your late-game Wood gathering,
control the dense forests near the edges of the
map, or rely on the scattered clumps of trees out
on the plains.
47
 New England
Each team begins with an easily defended Iroquois
village in the backfield; the fight is for control of
the four Trading Post sites along the lone central
Trade Route.
Lakes and low stone walls provide natural barriers
and choke points in which to trap enemies. Search
the isles off the coast for hidden Treasures.
Pampas
A river divides the long plain of the Pampas. You
and your allies are initially separated by this river,
which contains several crossing points, but the
location of your starting towns differs greatly.
There are always four Trading Posts. Expect to
find a number of Maya and Tupi villages as well.
Patagonia
The Patagonian map contains no Natives, but does
include six Trading Posts. Control the three posts
you own and one belonging to your enemy, and
victory is almost assured you.
To maintain a steady supply of Wood, stay near
the coast.
A central lake offers tactical opportunities but
may restrict movement along the western side
of the map.
48
Rockies
Your team occupies one mountain range—your
opponents the other. The victors will be the ones
who control the central valley and the choke points.
Forests and Treasures are more heavily concentrated
in the center of the map.
The Lakota have ventured up into the mountains
and may be useful allies.
Saguenay
In this resource-heavy region, one team starts with
ships, while the other team starts with an easily
defended central position. Building Outposts near
the local Cree and Lakota villages may help control
sections of the map.
Sonora
A twisting Trade Route winds through this barren,
desolate region. Many cliffs and canyons create choke
points. Resources can be difficult to find, though
sometimes there are rich ore deposits in the center of
the map. Search for Aztec and Maya villages on the
edge of the map.
49

Texas
Texas is an open plain with scattered low cliffs.
Expect attacks from every side. Two Trade Routes,
each with two Trading Post sites, cut through the
center of the map, separating the teams. There are
always at least two Comanche settlements.
Yucatan
The Central American jungles hide many lost
Treasures. Each player starts with a nearby Aztec or
Maya village. Use your ships to control the land on
your side, or try to build a Dock on the far shore;
construct more ships, and control both coasts.
The dense forests mean you never run short of
Wood, and herds of Tapir and Capybara offer unique
hunting opportunities.
Yukon
Your enemy’s towns are close on this map, so be on
your guard. Cross the central river, and then race
to claim the Treasure-rich region to the north. Ore
Mines are also plentiful on the northern half of the
map; expect to struggle for resources until you have
established a second town.
The Trade Route is hard to completely control
because each team has easy access to one Trading
Post site. You can find two Cree villages north of
the river.
50
Coming Soon!
Andes
A large Inca city dominates the Andes—control the
city, and you’ll easily control the map. Neutral Huari
Strongholds are scattered throughout, presenting
challenges for unwary Explorers. Keep your eyes
open for the three Trading Post sites. Seek herds of
llamas for an early boost of Food.
California
In California, sandy beaches to the west give way to
rising cliffs and mountains to the east. The winding
Trade Route may have three or four Trading Post
sites. Expect to encounter Nootka and Inca villages.
Northwest
Territory
The Pacific Northwest is the home of the Nootka,
hardy Native fishermen. Rivers separate teams on
this map and provide easily defended choke points.
One safe Trade Route for each team provides supple-
mental income. The land west of the rivers might be
a safe place for a second town.
51