“The ‘land of opportunity’ provided a new world for people from many nations, creating the famous melting pot of cultures. Expanding from militia forces skilled in skirmishing tactics and marksmanship to a professional army, the United States ensured its independence and impressive road to prosperity.”
Overview
In Age of Empires III, the United States is a highly diverse civilization with a wide array of tools from which to choose and create individual strategies, ensuring no match plays out the same. Their unique units, technologies, and Home City cards offer a variety of playstyles, and Federal Cards allow players of the United States to adapt and evolve their deck based on the flow of the match.
CIVILIZATION FEATURES
- Home City: Washington D. C. (customizable!)
- Can levy Minutemen at regular intervals
- The US General can plant an Inspiring Flag. Nearby military units and buildings inflict more damage and are trained/constructed faster
- The US General can construct Forts instead of Town Centers
- Federate States replace traditional politicians, and add unique cards to the Home City deck over the course of a match
STARTING UNITS
- General
- 6 Settlers
- 3 Crates of Food
- 2 Cords of Wood
- 1 Collection of Books
BOOK COLLECTIONS
We’ve added new crate graphics that represent the game’s Experience resource. These Collections of Books contain knowledge that will enable your town to prosper, leading to additional support and backing from your Home City. The United States receives additional Experience in the form of these Book Collections, allowing them to make more effective use of their Federal Cards (see below).
Federal State Age-Ups
Rather than picking politicians or council members to transition from Age to Age, the United States advances by admitting a new federal state to the union! Each state will offer unique, historically-salient benefits to the player that play an important role in the course of the game.
- Each federal state adds two extra cards to your deck.
- Upon reaching the Imperial Age, federal states will have added 8 additional cards to a player’s deck.
- To balance and accommodate for these extra cards, the civilization’s initial deck is smaller.
- In total, the United States can have up to 30 cards at their disposal by the Imperial Age.
Here’s a look at the new federal states available at each Age:
MASSACHUSETTS
Gains:
- 1 Military Wagon
Cards:
- Plymouth Settlers: Ships 300 food and 1 Native Scout. All existing Town Centers spawn 3 Pilgrims.
- Boston Tea Party: Deposits 350 coin immediately and exchanges all your current food for 125% coin.
VIRGINIA
Gains:
- 1 Military Wagon
Cards:
- Virginia General Assembly: Ships 1 State Capitol Wagon and makes the next upgrade researched at the State Capitol FREE (excluding Spies and Blockade).
- Culpeper Minutemen: Arrives fast! All existing Town Centers spawn 6 Minutemen. Minutemen retain their hit points 75% longer.
DELAWARE
Gains:
- Crates of 200 Food
Cards:
- Fertile Lowlands: Ships 6 Semi-fattened Cows and 2 Homestead Wagons.
- Delaware Blues: Ships an additional Regular for each shipment you’ve sent thus far in this game.
PENNSYLVANIA
Gains:
- 1 Outpost Wagon
Cards:
- Philadelphia Convention: Ships 1 Meeting House Wagon and provides your Meeting House with unique Federal State improvements to research (Pennsylvania Pound, 1st Pennsylvania Rifles, Pennsylvania Cavalry).
- Tammany Festival: Ship 1 Native Embassy Travois and allies you with the Cree at your Native Embassy, where some of their upgrades and units are available.
RHODE ISLAND
Gains:
- 1 Outpost Wagon
Cards:
- Corliss Steam Engine: Grants earlier access to steam power; Trading Routes may be upgraded to Railroads for free in any Age; Docks may construct Steamers and Ironclads one Age earlier than usual.
- Slater Textile Mill: Settler and Fishing Boats are cheaper.
INDIANA
Gains:
- 5 Regulars
Cards:
- Indiana Mammoth Improvement Act: Advancing to the next Age is much cheaper, but takes longer.
- Indiana Mobilization: Costs 500 wood. Ships an additional Carbine Cavalry for each shipment you’ve sent thus far in this game. All units and technologies—including Age advancements—train and research 10% faster.
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Gains:
- 5 Regulars
Cards:
- French Canadians: Costs 200 coin. Ships 2 Napoleon Guns and allows them to be hired from the Saloon.
- New Hampshire Manufacturing: Ships one Factory Wagon.
MARYLAND
Gains:
- 1 Sloop
Cards:
- Annapolis Naval Academy: Enables Minutemen to be called from Docks; Minutemen garrisoned in ships (up to 6) improve the ranged attack by 10%.
- Chesapeake Oyster Pirates: Enables Sloops and Galleons to gather coin exceptionally faster from Fish and somewhat faster from whales.
TENNESSEE
Gains:
- 4 Sharpshooters
Cards:
- Overmountain Settlers: Greatly improves Settlers in ranged combat; natural resources last longer.
- Watauga Association: Ships 2 Outpost Wagons; all existing and newly-constructed Outposts spawn 2 State Militia and support +5 population.
KENTUCKY
Gains:
- 4 Sharpshooters
Cards:
- 1 Coal Prospectors Wagon: Used to open a coal mine that collects 2x faster than regular mines. Can be sent an infinite number of times.
- Kentucky Hunters: Costs 500 coin. Ships 2 Sharpshooters for each shipment sent thus far in this game.
SOUTH CAROLINA
Gains:
- Cords of 600 Wood
Cards:
- Moultrie’s Militia: Ships 12 State Militia and allows them to construct military buildings. The General’s Inspiring Flag now boosts the damage of nearby State Militia by an additional 10%.
- Marion Diversions: Artillery movement speed slightly increased; enables the training of Quaker Guns at the Artillery Foundry: decoy units which deal no damage, but can look like any artillery unit.
VERMONT
Gains:
- Cords of 600 Wood
Cards:
- Green Mountain Boys: All existing and newly-constructed Mills and Estates spawn 3 State Militia; Mills and Estates support +5 Population.
- Vermont Coppers: Upgrades at your Estate are free and research instantly; all coin incomes are slightly improved.
CALIFORNIA
Gains:
- 1 Covered Wagon and increased Town Center build limit
Cards:
- California Gold Rush: Ships 1 Gold Prospector Wagon; Town Centers now automatically spawn Settlers for free.
- Bear Flag Revolt: Costs 1000 food, wood, and coin. Uprising! Villagers become Revolutionaries and your General gains access to the Inspiring Bear Flag ability.
NEW JERSEY
Gains:
- 1 Horse Artillery
Cards:
- New Jersey Seaports: Crate shipments are delivered directly to your stockpile and deliver +900 additional resources. Any shipments which have been sent, may be sent again.
- Morris Canal: Ships 2 Military Wagons and 2 Outpost Wagons; all shipments arrive considerably faster, including this one.
OHIO
Gains:
- 1 Horse Artillery
Cards:
- Putnam Engineering: Ships 1 Fort Wagons and 2 Culverins.
- Team Ohio Supply Network: TEAM Trade routes supply 100% more resources and Native Settlements gains a trickle of 1 experience per second.
ILLINOIS
Gains:
- Cords of 1500 Wood
Cards:
- Deere Steel Plow: Villagers gather from Mills and Estates faster.
- Land of Lincoln: Inspiring Flags gain a much wider area of effect and now also improve unit hit points.
CONNECTICUT
Gains:
- Cords of 1500 Wood
Cards:
- Connecticut Shipwrights: All artillery, buildings, and warships are constructed faster.
- Bushnell’s Sapper Corps: Ships 2 Heavy Canons; allows the construction of an additional Ironclad.
NEW YORK
Gains:
- Mercenary and Outlaw attack and hit points somewhat increased
Cards:
- New York Zouaves: Costs 1500 coin. Ships 10 Zouave Mercenaries. Can be sent an infinite number of times.
- Hamilton’s Own: Costs 2500 coin. Ships 2 Li’l Bombards and 4 Napoleon Guns; increases all mercenary attack and hit points.
TEXAS
Gains:
- 1 Fort Wagon and increased build limit
Cards:
- Texan Forts: Forts now slowly train batches of units for free.
- The Alamo: When destroyed by enemies, your Forts spawn 8 Minutemen and your Outposts spawn 2 Minutemen.
FLORIDA
Gains:
- 1 Fort Wagon and increased build limit
Cards:
- Seminole Ponies: Hand Cavalry attack, hit points and movement speed increased; all cavalry train faster,
- Florida Cowhunters: Ships an additional semi-fattened Cow for every shipment you have sent thus far in this game.
Unique Buildings
A unique Church that trains Surgeons in place of Priests, and which has its own set of upgrades.
UNIQUE IMPROVEMENTS
- Bill of Rights: Ships 3 large Collections of Books totaling 1500 XP.
- Medical Science: Healers have increased speed and hit points. Field Hospitals have increased hit points and are constructed faster.
- Redoubts: Walls are cheaper and have more hit points.
The Saloon grants access to unique Wild West Outlaws exclusively available to the United States.
- Grants permanent access to three unique Wild West Outlaws.
- Offers two unique upgrades for Outlaw units.
- Can be further improved with several cards of the United States.
- European civilizations now construct Taverns instead of Saloon.
UNIQUE IMPROVEMENTS
- Peacemakers: Attack and hit points improved for all Outlaw units
- Refreshing Beverages: Charged actions recharge faster for Outlaws and Heroes
- Wild West: Outlaw-type units (Wild West, Wokou, Maratha, etc.) are recruited much faster and gain additional attack and hit points.
A unique Capitol building that can be used to train wagons.
- Already available in the Fortress Age.
- Can train Wagons, which construct buildings like Town Centers or Estates.
- Offers unique upgrades for the General and Wagons.
- Offers United States versions of familiar Capitol technologies.
- Grants a significant amount of experience when built.
UNIQUE IMPROVEMENTS
- Brigadier General: Greatly increases your General’s attack and hit points.
- Cadets: Greatly increases your General’s hit points.
- Iowa Farmlands: Villagers gather food from Mills much faster.
- Mountain State Gold Rush: Villagers gather coin from all sources much faster.
- New Mexico Immigration: Allows you to support 100 population without the need for Houses or Town Centers (total population is not increased). All units train slightly faster. Sent Immigrant cards reduce costs and research time.
- Oregon Trail: Construction Wagons are cheaper, stronger, and travel more quickly.
- Pine Tree State: Villagers gather wood much faster.
- Spies: You can see everything your enemies can see!
- State Constitutions: Constitutions provide a strong foundation for your Buildings and Walls, which gain more hit points.
- Statehood: The next Federal State you research, or are researching, will Age Up 50 seconds faster and grant twice as many XP crates.
Unique Units
The United States has access to a wide range of unique units in various buildings.
Charged Abilities
Several units of the United States use new special attacks called “charged abilities.”
- Charged abilities are powerful attacks that are triggered automatically in combat. No hotkey or mouse click necessary!
- Once a charged ability has been used, it needs to recharge over time before it is used again.
- A charged ability is always ready to use for any newly-trained unit.
These abilities are noted below as we take a closer look at the armies of the United States:
Instead of an Explorer, the United States begins the game with a General to lead their armies.
- Like many heroes, the General is equipped with a Sharpshooter attack to defeat Treasure Guardians.
- The General constructs Forts instead of Town Centers.
- On the battlefield, the General may plant the flag of the United States to inspire nearby units.
- In the Industrial Age, the General also gains access to a powerful charged ability called the Carbine Attack.
- Ransom cost is 150 coin rather than the standard 100 coin.
CARBINE ATTACK (Charged Ability)
- Fires a single, well-placed carbine shot at a longer range.
HERO ABILITY
The General is able to plant an Inspiring Flag to boost nearby units and buildings.
- Units within the vicinity of the flag gain +10% attack damage.
- Military buildings train units 25% faster.
- Units construct buildings 50% faster.
- The flag can be captured by enemies, which removes it from the map.
- With each new Age, the flag increases in size and casts its benefits over a wider area.
- Cannot be placed near starting Town Centers—friend or foe.
Unique United States Militiaman are obtained exclusively from the “levy” ability.
- Can be called periodically from various buildings for offensive or defensive purposes.
- Unlike other Levy units, Minutemen only lose some of their hit points over time.
- Minutemen automatically upgrade for free starting in the Industrial Age and can be upgraded by various Home City cards.
- The Minuteman is a highly transformable unit that can become a formidable unique unit depending on how the player pursues their upgrades.
The United States upgrade of the Comanchero has a charged ability called Bull’s Eye.
BULL’S EYE (Charged Ability)
- Fires a single, powerful shot from a rifle at a longer range.
The United States upgrade of the Pistolero has a charged ability called Quickdraw.
QUICKDRAW (Charged Ability)
- Fires several shots in quick succession.
Professional line infantry armed with a musket and bayonet.
- Greater range than other Musketeers.
- Proportionally fewer hit points than other Musketeers.
(Attentive patch note readers and players of the New Orleans scenario might be familiar with the Regular unit.)
United States upgrade of the Renegado has a charged ability called Buckshot.
BUCKSHOT (Charged Ability)
- A devastating, short-ranged area-of-effect attack.
The Sloop is a small and nimble warship. Good at exploring, fishing or transport. Rather than a Broadside ability, the Sloop has the Broadside charged ability.
BROADSIDE (Charged Ability)
- Fires all guns at enemy Ships or Artillery!
A front-line, short-range skirmisher that sacrifices attack for hit points. Armed with a rifle to counter heavy infantry.
- Has less attack and range than other Age II skirmisher units, but more hit points.
- The State Militia gains additional hit points in greater numbers.
- Their short range automatically places the unit in front of more fragile units.
A mounted professional armed with a lever-action firearm that has a notably higher rate of fire.
- Mobile anti-raid unit which counters cavalry and artillery.
- Fires multiple shots with a carbine repeater to inflict damage earlier than other ranged, light cavalry units.
- Replaces the Dragoon.
Early automatic-fire weapon available in the Fortress Age. Better against infantry than buildings.
- An artillery unit well-known from American revolutions is now available to the United States with brand new upgrades.
- Replaces the Falconet.
Skirmisher with a long-ranged attack, but low hit points. Gains extra range per upgrade. Good against infantry.
A bulky, steam-powered ship which is more resilient to building attacks.
- Can fish, train soldiers, and build Docks at the coast.
- Its special Full Steam ability grants a 40% speed boost for 8 seconds.
Everyone’s favorite revolution ship! For the United States, it will be accessible in the Industrial Age and fully integrated into the civilization with additional upgrades. The build limit can be increased to 3 in total through the use of various cards.
Decoy unit which deals no damage.
- Can assume the shape of any common artillery unit. For enemy players, the Quaker Gun will display the name, description, and icon of the chosen artillery unit
- Best used to distract the enemy and to attract enemy fire.
- Only obtainable through cards.
Home City Cards
The United States has access to a variety of new cards that will aid you on your path to unity and victory!
- 40 Federal cards unlockable through the Ages with 2 new cards per Age.
- Around 10 more unique cards tailored to regions of the United States.
- Immigrant Cards replace Settler shipments.
- Legion Cards unlock the training of elite units at Forts.
- 2 Factory Wagons are added to the deck upon reaching the Industrial Age.
We’ve picked a few noteworthy examples for cards with a variety of unique behaviors.
Poker: Enables up to three random mercenaries at the Saloon and ships 13 random mercenary units.
Hamiltonian Economics: Market technologies are free. Improves Market buy rate.
Springfield Armory: Ships 1 Arsenal Wagon. Enables advanced Arsenal improvements; all Arsenal improvements become free, but take +250% longer to be researched.
United States Marines: Minutemen are upgraded to United States Marines. Marines no longer lose hit points and inflict more damage against Buildings, Ships and Artillery.
In addition to individual unique cards available via the Home City, the United States will also have access to Immigrant Cards: which grant units, bonuses, and select features of other civilizations. Here’s a sample of some of those cards:
Dutch Immigrants: Venture capitalists from the Netherlands enable you to establish a Bank. Mines last longer and collect coin slightly faster.
Spanish Immigrants: Ships one Outpost Wagon. Spanish immigration boosts experience income—allowing you to earn shipments considerably faster. Upon reaching the Commerce Age, the “Levy” ability can also be used to call groups of powerful Pikemen.
German Immigrants: German immigrants settle down in Germantown, causing each existing and newly constructed Mill to spawn 1 Settler Wagon. In the Industrial Age, you can recruit Settler Wagons from Mills, as well.
Russian-American Company: The Russian-American Company supplies 2 Blockhouse Wagons and enables your Villagers to gather food from huntable animals more efficiently.
Legion Cards allow you to recruit powerful elite units from their Forts. The different Legions are named after their commanders: each of whom made notable contributions during the United States Revolutionary War.
Pulaski’s Legion: Ships several powerful Uhlans, and enables them to be trained at Forts.
Washington’s Legion: Ships several powerful Grenadiers equipped with Grenade Launchers, and enables them to be trained at Forts.
Kovat’s Legion: Ships several powerful Magyar Hussars, and enables them to be trained at Forts (in place of ordinary Hussars).
Home City Customizations
Washington D.C.—the Home City of the United States—will also enjoy several new customizations as you play and level up with the civilization.
Unlock the US Civ!
Unlock for Free!
For a limited time, you can unlock the new United States civilization for FREE by completing 50 in-game challenges—each representing a state in the union and ordered by the date they joined the United States!
Buy Now!
Want to play with the United States right away? Don’t worry; you can purchase the DLC directly from the Microsoft Store and Steam to go hands-on with the civ!
