Portuguese (Age of Empires III)/Strategy

The Portuguese are a versatile civilization due to them possessing bonuses in many categories. Economically they gain a bonus covered wagon every time they advance an age, allowing them to expand quite a bit by the late game. Militarily they are quite formidable. They have powerful Musketeers since they can be upgraded to Royal Guard status. In addition they are the only civilization to be able to research the Royal Guard upgrade for their Dragoons. This gives their army formidable anti-cavalry abilities. They also have potent anti-infantry capabilities to compliment their anti-cavalry bonuses. The two Portuguese unique units are dedicated anti-infantry units. The Cassador is the Portuguese version of the Skirmisher and as such possess a long range and accurate attack. The Organ Gun is an artillery piece that fires multiple rounds at a time and is devastating against formations of infantry. The Portugese also have a strong focus on exploration. Their Explorers possess the Spyglass ability, which instantly reveals a portion of the map. The Portuguese can also gain a Home City card that gives an additional two Explorers to aid in scouting the map.

Despite their power late in the game they have some weaknesses early in the game. They do not have any Settler cards available, making early economic expansion somewhat difficult.