0805 Part No. X11-36640 www.ageofempires3.com Credits Writers & Content Experts: Bruce C. Shelley Greg Street Art Producer: Lance Hoke Progr am Manager: Brian Lemon Writer: Jon Seal Historian: James Henretta Editor: Brent Metcalfe Assistant Editors: Jack Turk Laura Hamilton Heidi Wartelle--Volt Design & Art: Jeannie Voirin-Gerde Jeremy Parton --S&T Onsite Information in this document, including URL and other Internet Web site references, is subject to change without notice. Unless otherwise noted, the example companies, organizations, products, domain names, e-mail addresses, logos, people, places, and events depicted herein are fictitious, and no association with any real company, organization, product, domain name, e-mail address, logo, person, place, or event is intended or should be inferred. Complying with all applicable copyright laws is the responsibility of the user. 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Table of Contents 3 4 19 20 23 26 29 32 35 38 41 44 45 46 Introduction Historical Contexts Strategy Overview Spanish British French Portuguese Dutch Russian German Ottoman Military Units by Civilization Military Unit Attributes Random Maps Introduction This player's guide serves two main purposes: 1) to provide a glimpse inside the workings of Age of Empires® III for fans who are interested in details like the strengths and weaknesses of each unit, map, and civilization; and 2) to offer insider tips on exploiting these strengths and weaknesses through strategy-- the very essence of gameplay in Age of Empires III. Lead Game Designer, Greg Street, describes the three main strategies of Booming, Rushing, and Turtling for the eight playable civilizations and touches on the advantages and disadvantages inherent in each civilization. You'll learn that some civilizations work best with one or two specific strategies, while other civilizations work equally well with all strategies. Greg also briefly describes each of the game's sixteen random maps, from New England to Patagonia. Along with having its own unique look-and-feel--based on geography, resources, and indigenous native population--you'll learn that each map may be more suited to one strategy over another. And although every map is randomly generated for each new game, the maps share common design elements. Age of Empires III is the fourth real-time strategy (RTS) game published in the past decade by Ensemble Studios®. It embodies everything we have learned along the way. We hope this player's guide increases your enjoyment of what we believe is a truly remarkable game. Game Designer Ensemble Studios 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. 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 September. 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, including 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 mismanagement 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 concealed, 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 Isthmus 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. Overcoming storms and attempted mutiny, they eventually discovered the strait now named after Magellan and reached the Philippine Islands, where Magellan was killed in a battle with local natives. Under a succession of commanders the expedition continued westward and eventually a single ship with eighteen 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 circumnavigated the world for the first time and opened the doors to further exploration. 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 militarily powerful region in the world. One aspect of this rebirth was a thirst for knowledge, including a more complete understanding of the Earth's geography. World maps of the ancient Greeks had been rediscovered, but they raised more questions than they answered. New techniques in shipbuilding, seamanship, and navigation made long sea voyages possible. 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 (notably 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 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. Portuguese 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 discoveries 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 fishermen, 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 sailing west. He and his brother presented their case to a succession of European kings, hoping for an 4 5 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 magnificent 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 Mesoamerica and the Andes valleys. The large populations of the Aztec, Maya, and Incan cultures flourished 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 civilizations 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. Native populations were fatally susceptible to diseases carried amongst them by the Europeans, especially smallpox. The implausible conquest of large civilizations by tiny bands of Spanish soldiers, allied with various indigenous peoples, was largely facilitated by epidemics of unprecedented scale. The estimates 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 5­10% 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 civilizations, 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 Americas 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. Spain When Columbus returned to Spain he tried to convince his masters that Asia and great wealth were just over the horizon. They remained skeptical, but explorers and settlers attempted to stake their claim in the W ...