Blockhouse

“Russian combination of Barracks and Outpost. Can defend the frontier or train infantry in groups. Also provides 5 population.”

—In-game description

The Blockhouse is a military/defensive building in Age of Empires III that is unique to the Russians. It combines the functions of a Barracks and an Outpost by training and upgrading Russian infantry, attacking nearby enemies, and receiving Home City shipments, as well as supporting 5 population.

Tactics Edit

Blockhouses are resource-friendly, with Russian players only having to pay wood for a fraction of the cost required for a Barracks and Outpost. TEAM Cheap Barracks will reduce the cost by 15%, while TEAM Art of War reduces it by 10%. If both cards are stacked, Blockhouses only cost 187 wood. However, using this method, Barracks and War Academies will be much cheaper than Blockhouses, at 40 wood and 90 wood respectively, drastically reducing their economic advantage.

Due to Blockhouses' dual-role, losing them will hinder the Russian player's defense and ability to train infantry simultaneously, which can sometimes lead to them being overwhelmed easily during an attack involving siege units.

Units Edit

Age	Unit	Cost	Pop.
	10 Strelets	375 food, 100 wood	10
	5 Musketeers	375 food, 125 coin	5
	4 Halberdiers	200 food, 280 coin	4
	Falconet	100 wood, 400 coin	5
	Mortar	100 wood, 350 coin	4

Falconets and Mortars require the Blockhouse Cannon Home City Card to be trained at Blockhouses.

Upgrades Edit

Age	Upgrade	Cost	Effect
	Frontier Blockhouse	400 wood, 200 coin	Upgrades Blockhouses into Frontier Blockhouses (+50% attack)
	Fortified Blockhouse	800 wood, 400 coin	Upgrades Blockhouses into Fortified Blockhouses (+50% hit points, +50% attack, +100% anti-ship attack and a bombard attack with an AOE of 3); requires Frontier Blockhouse

Civilization differences Edit

• In The Asian Dynasties, the Chinese in random map games can build Blockhouses by allying with the Russians at the Consulate, which provides the Blockhouse Wagon shipment that ships a namesake unit capable of building a Blockhouse for free. It also allows European Settlers and Native American Villagers, if the player somehow managed to obtain them, to build Blockhouses. Unlike its standard counterpart however, the Chinese Blockhouse cannot train units.
  • The Indians in the Act III: India campaign can build Blockhouses in the same way as the Chinese in random map games, however, only (rescued) European Settlers can build extra Blockhouses after the shipment.

Further statistics Edit

As Blockhouses are unique to the Russians, only technologies that they have access to are shown in the following table:

Building strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs.	Ships, infantry, weak cavalry
Weak vs.	Artillery, siege infantry
Improvements
Hit points	Flying Buttress (+20%)
Attack	Heated Shot (+1.5x multiplier vs. ships)
Sight	Gas Lighting (+4)
Other	Iroquois League (train Iroquois Tomahawks and Iroquois Mantlets, vanilla Age of Empires III only)
Construction cost	Cree Textile Craftsmanship (-25% wood) Tupi Forest Burning (-20% wood)

Home City Cards Edit

As Blockhouses are unique to the Russians, only their cards and other civilizations' TEAM cards are shown in the following tables:

Click for a list of Home City Cards related to the Blockhouse

Green: TEAM Shipment that is sent to each player in a team Europeans Edit Card Description Age HC level TEAM Coastal Defenses Defensive buildings get +1.0x multiplier against ships 25 The TEAM Coastal Defenses card is available to French, Portuguese, Russians, and Spanish. Indians Edit Card Description Age HC level TEAM Improved Buildings Buildings get +25% hit points 10 Portuguese Edit Card Description Age HC level TEAM Cheap Outposts Outposts, Blockhouses, War Huts, and Castles cost -30% 1 Russians Edit Card Description Age HC level Frontier Defenses Ships 2 Outpost Wagons and Blockhouses get +25% hit points 1 Improved Buildings Buildings get +40% hit points 10 Heavy Fortifications Grants all defensive building upgrades (if not already) 25 Sevastopol Town Center, Wall, Blockhouse, and Fort build time -50% 40 TEAM Barracks Hitpoints Barracks and War Academies get +100% hit points; Blockhouses, War Huts, and Nobles' Huts get +50% hit points 1 Blockhouse Cannon Blockhouses can train Falconets and Mortars 10 Spanish Edit Card Description Age HC level TEAM Cheap Barracks Barracks cost -50%; Blockhouses and War Huts cost -15%; War Academies cost -25% 1

History Edit

“A blockhouse is a military building that is often fortified for protection. A blockhouse is similar to a fort, but while a fort has multiple buildings, a blockhouse has only one structure. In the New World, blockhouses were used for defense on the frontier. Russian blockhouses built along the west coast were hexagonal in shape and usually had multiple stories.”

Gallery Edit

All different Blockhouse models (from left to right): Discovery Age, Colonial/Fortress Age, and Industrial/Imperial Age

Add a photo to this gallery

Buildings in Age of Empires III
Age of Empires III
Civilian	House
Economic	Town Center · Trading Post · Market · Mill · Livestock Pen · Church · Plantation · Factory · Capitol
Military	Outpost · Dock · Barracks · Stable · Artillery Foundry · Arsenal · Fort · Saloon*
Other	Field Hospital · Native Embassy*
British	Manor
Dutch	Bank
Ottomans	Mosque
Russians	Blockhouse
The WarChiefs
Aztecs	Fire Pit · Farm · War Hut · Nobles' Hut
Iroquois	Longhouse · Fire Pit · Farm · War Hut · Corral · Siege Workshop
Sioux	Teepee · Fire Pit · Farm · War Hut · Corral
The Asian Dynasties
Chinese	Village · Rice Paddy · Consulate · Castle · Monastery · War Academy · Wonders
Indians	Sacred Field · Rice Paddy · Consulate · Castle · Monastery · Caravanserai · Wonders
Japanese	Shrine · Rice Paddy · Consulate · Castle · Monastery · Dojo · Wonders
* introduced in The Warchiefs
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