Germans

The Kingdom of Prussia was one of the nation states in Germany and was a European kingdom from the early 17th century until the early 20th century. In the New World, the Germans ruled territories in South America in the 1500s such as Venezuela. They were short lived however, and Germans would not colonize successfully until the late 1800's.

The Prussians fought several wars against France during the 18th & 19th centuries; usually with Great Britain as its ally. In the 1870's, the several nation states in German lands (including Prussia) finally united, resulting in the modern country of Germany.

Overview
The Germans in Age of Empires III start off with fewer, but faster gathering villagers than other civilizations. They receive free Uhlans with almost every Home City Shipment, though they require more experience points per shipment (the opposite of the Spanish). Their early age economy is good, since their Settler Wagons essentially work at the rate of two villagers. The two Settler Wagon shipments in the Discovery Age and the three Settler Wagon shipment in the Colonial Age are very useful. Although Settler Wagons are only available through the Home City in the beginning, they can later be trained at the Mill with the "Germantown Farmers" card. This card requires a level 25 Home City.

Because the Germans almost always have Uhlans, they have a lot of cavalry, but their late-developing army is diverse. They have a powerful anti-infantry force since German Skirmishers can be upgraded to Needle Gunners and the Doppelsoldner is a formidable close-combant infantry unit.

German cavalry is one of the strongest in the game in terms of attack. The War Wagon has a large amount of hitpoints, while the Uhlans have low HP but a devastating attack. The War Wagon is slower than other Dragoon-type units (speed of 6 vs 7.25) but has additional range (16 vs 12 unupgraded) and has 20% melee resistance instead of the usual 30% ranged resistance. Also, War Wagons have a mini setup-animation-delay before shooting, where other Units shoot almost instantly. Therefore players cannot hit and run with WW.

Their cavalry can further be strengthened with over five shipments that can aid their combat ability, though two of them are not efficient. The Germans can also obtain free mercenary shipments at a lower Home City level than any other civilization.

They appear in the Act I: Fire (The War Chiefs) as the Hessians, and are allied with the British. The reason for this is because the British used several Hessian mercenaries in the War of Independence.


 * Unique Units: Uhlan, Settler Wagon, Doppelsoldner, War Wagon
 * Royal Guard Units: Needle Gunner Skirmisher, Czapka Uhlan
 * Personality: Frederick the Great

Bonuses

 * Civilization Bonus: Free Uhlans that arrives with almost every Home City Shipment, mercenary shipments send more mercenaries. Settler Wagons gather crates 2.5 as fast as normal Settlers, gather resources twice as fast as a normal Settler but also take two population slots and only have the attack of one settler both in and outside the Town Center.

Drawbacks

 * Hidden: All shipments need 10% more experience points before they can be sent, until the cap of 2500xp/shipment is reached. For example, the first shipment needs 330xp instead of 300xp.
 * The Germans are one of only two European civilizations not to feature a two Falconet Shipment in the Fortress Age, the other one being the Dutch.

See: German Home City Cards

 * Burgermeister - builds Town Centers and Trading Posts faster
 * Treaty of Westphalia -
 * Tilly's Discipline (Colonial Age): infantry march (move) faster, but cost more
 * Wallenstein's Contracts (Fortress Age, ): mercenaries from the home city are free
 * Zweihander (Industrial Age, ): ships 12 Doppelsoldners, Doppelsoldner hitpoints +10%
 * Palatine Settlement - Houses now provide 30 population space (often included in many decks to compensate for the Germans rapid population space usage and for avid rushers.)
 * TEAM Teutonic Town Center - TEAM +30% Town Center hitpoints, TEAM +50% Town Center attack.
 * Germantown Farmers - Enables Settler Wagons to be trained from Mills for and
 * Guild Artisans - Settler Wagons gather everything 35% faster though you should note that upgrades stack additively and not multiplicatively

AI
The German AI in skirmish is the only AI to utilize imperial cannons because AIs do not use factories to produce artillery.

In-game dialogue language
All German units speak modern Standard German as it is spoken today, using a standard theater pronunciation ("Bühnendeutsch"). This does not represent the form of German spoken at the time in which the game is set. General dialogue:
 * Jawohl! (Yes!)
 * Hallo? (Hello?)
 * Bereit! (Ready!)
 * Aufgabe? (Orders?)
 * Verstanden! (Understood!)
 * Wird erledigt! (It will be done!)
 * Handwerker (craftsman)
 * Jäger (m) Jägerin (f) (hunter)
 * Zimmermann (carpenter / house builder)
 * Bauer (m) Bäuerin (f) (farmer)
 * Holzfäller (lumberjack)
 * Händler (m) Händlerin (f) (miner - literally: merchant)
 * Sammler (gatherer)
 * Attacke (attack)
 * Ja! (Yes!)
 * Wird gemacht! (Will be done!)
 * In den Kampf! (Into the fight!)
 * Angriff! (Attack!)
 * Auftrag? (Order?)

Explorer:
 * Ich bin verwundet und kann mich nicht bewegen. (I've been wounded and can't move.)
 * Danke, dass du mein Lösegeld bezahlt hast. (thanks for paying my ransom.)
 * Es geht mir besser. (I'm feeling better.)

History
"At the time of Columbus' first voyage, Germany consisted of four hundred separate entities, including cities, principalities, and feudal states. Though nominally 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 dictated 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 Wittenberg. This was a traditional way of opening a debate at the university there, but he started something larger than a scholarly debate. His act set off the Protestant Reformation, as copies of his theses, translated from Latin into German and other languages, 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 particularly brutal and devastating in Germany. German provinces ended up choosing to be either Catholic (primarily in the south) or Protestant (primarily in the north). The small Baltic duchy of Prussia gradually began expanding in the sixteenth century thanks to good leadership and a growing military tradition. It repulsed Swedish encroachments in the seventeenth century and rose to real prominence under Frederick the Great in the eighteenth century. The Prussians 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 plantations worked by African slaves. The colony reverted to Spanish control in 1556. Most of the German colonists had died from disease or native attacks, especially during their treks into the interior searching for gold."