Bolivar's Revolt is the fifth scenario of the Act III: Steel campaign in Age of Empires III.
Objectives[]
Primary objectives[]
- Help General Bolivar free the town to the north.
- Help General Bolivar free two more towns.
- Destroy the Spanish fort's Command Post.
Secondary objectives[]
Players[]
- Amelia Black (United States) - The player starts in the Fortress Age with a small force of military units composed by 10 Highlanders, 1 Fluyt, Amelia Black and Ká:nien.
Allied/Neutral[]
- Local Village (Spanish) - Neutral villages which will join the player when nearby Outposts are destroyed.
- Bolivar's Army (Spanish) - Allied units commanded by Simón Bolívar which will automatically spawn and attack at set intervals. They will spawn at the first village, go to the second village, proceed to the third village, and then attack the Spanish fort head-on. These allies will completely bypass the fourth village.
Enemy[]
- Spanish Army (Spanish) - The only enemy of this scenario. It has limited resources, and will not attack in strong numbers until the third village has been freed.
Strategy[]
A very straightforward scenario. As soon as it begins the player is advised to attack with Bolivar's forces into a weakly-garrisoned town. This should be easy, and once the outposts are destroyed the player will get access to the remaining buildings (don't destroy the Barracks!) and a number of resources will be delivered as crates to the new Town Center.
For this scenario, the player's Settlers are unable to build most buildings and have to rely on securing them intact in the towns the player liberates. The first town contains a Market - the player will not get another so protect it well. The second town contains an Arsenal, and the third town contains a Church. None of these can be replaced. The fourth town contains two Stables, but these are replaceable so it is not nearly as important to protect.
The player is able to build Mills, but not Plantations. This, along with the scarcity of coin on the map, means that the coin-heavy units are going to be very expensive for the player. The enemy AI has no such compunction - its fort contains no less than three Plantations. As such, it will send tremendous amounts of Skirmishers at the player later. Dragoons may be useful to deal with them, but musketeers are still more cost-effective for the limited coin amounts. Note that there is a single whale resource on the map, thus providing infinite coin. The player may also advance to the Imperial Age and receive a Factory Wagon as part of the age upgrading, or otherwise call one in via Home City Cards. This can help bolster the economy if they have trouble breaching the fort.
The Spanish Army also has a moderate naval force, despite its name. It may harass the player intermittently, but it can be safely ignored if a single Fortified outpost is built towards the north.
Once the player has won the first town, they are presented with a countdown as Bolivar continues his unstoppable rampage towards splatting against the Fort's walls. While the player does not need to feel any hurry to advance (Bolivar himself is a hero unit), advancing with his troops is trivial and he will bring coin-expensive cannons during his attacks. Thus, it is much more effective to join him during these attacks.
Immediately to the north of the first town is a native village. Besides having some nice upgrades, it also allows a partial flanking path towards the fort. One of the enemy's *two* Mills is immediately east of the village, outside the fort's walls. Transporting a handful of units north at the start can deny the enemy a good portion of his food income for the rest of the game. Besides that, there is little chance for regular harassment of the AI's economy until stores inside the fort's wall begin to run out, and villagers regularly leave to harvest wood or animals outside it.
To the east of the second town is a path that allows the player to flank both the third and fourth towns, besides containing some treasures and an extra silver mine. Note that the fourth town must be captured *before Bolivar begins his assault on the fort* if the player wants its units to supplement his army. Capturing it after the fort assault begins will not grant the exp, nor completion of the secondary objective, nor much tangible benefit. It will still provide two Stables and a handful of cavalry units, however.
The third town is likely to be where the player encounters difficulty. The Spanish like to muster their reinforcements here, the fort's defenses overlook the entire northern half of the town, and its most valuable building (the Church) is very much in the center of it all. Remember that the town will be liberated as soon as the outposts are destroyed, even if the Spanish army is right on top of it.
Note that the villagers will also join the player as soon as the player liberates the town... but they are working at the Mills and immediately in range of the fort's defenses. This will likely result in quick deaths for them. Quick micro may save them, but the Mills themselves are unlikely to be usable during the scenario.
Proceeding north-northeast of the fourth town will reveal a path parallel to the eastern portion of the fort's walls. This gives the player access to a rescuable Missionary, which can heal the player's units. This may be useful if the player lost the Church in the third town.
After the player has liberated the third town, the Spanish will begin regularly releasing their reinforcements to attack v in waves. Without the support of Bolivar's grouped forces, this may be very difficult to defend against with the starting position's weak economy. If the player captured the fourth town, then they are likely to destroy most of it, although the eastern Stable seems safe. The Spanish waves will always go through the third town to attack the player - rarely they will swing east and take the back route to flank the second town, so simply holding the passes between the second and third towns is not sufficient. The Spanish may also bring artillery up to the cliffs overlooking the first town, allowing them to bombard the player's only Town Center and Market.
