| “ | Nonahkee has been rescued, but her reunion with her son Nathaniel will be a brief one... | ” |
| —Scenario description | ||
Breed's Hill is the third scenario of Act I: Fire in Age of Empires III: The WarChiefs. This scenario is based on the Battle of Bunker Hill (June 17, 1775), which was a Pyrrhic victory for the British.
Summary[]
The scenario starts out with the cinematic "The Militia" and revolves around the Haudenosaunee Confederacy dissolving after the rescue of Nonahkee, forcing the Haudenosaunee members to choose sides in the revolutionary war. Some sided with the British while others like Nathaniel decided to fight for the colonists. Nathaniel headed out to Boston, became a volunteer militia, and was assigned to defend a redoubt on Breed's Hill from the British. Overall the scenario is fairly hard and will require very fine tuning and very strong balancing.
In this scenario there are two Fixed Guns, one to the east and one to the west. The western Fixed Gun is very close to player's town and if it is captured they will lose the town. The fixed gun to the east will hit the player's secondary outpost if it is captured. For this reason the player can ignore the eastern fixed gun and the workers can just gather from other areas.
Objectives[]
Primary objective[]
- Protect the redoubt on Breed's Hill.
Players[]
Player[]
- Colonials (
Black Family Estate) - Occupy Charlestown, a town comprising of a unique ammunition storehouse, 12 Villagers, a Mill, Estate, Livestock Pen, several Houses and multiple military buildings near the center of the map on the main island, and a small village containing a Mill and 6 Villagers north of the East Fixed Gun. The player also has 5 Forest Prowlers and 5 Colonial Militia, led by Nathaniel Black in the redoubt at the center of the island.
Ally[]
- Americans ( United States) - Controls the city of Boston on a separate island south of the map, where the attacks are coming from. Also control the 2 Fixed Guns before being captured by Colonials or General Howe, along with the wall segments surrounding Breed's Hill.
Enemies[]
- Brigadier Pigot ( British) - Controls a few Caravels that keep deploying British troops from Boston. Troops will consist mostly of Musketeers with a few Skirmishers. They disembark on southeast of the island. As soon as their forces land, they directly head for the redoubt.
- General Howe ( British) - Controls a few Caravels that keep deploying British troops from Boston. Troops will consist mostly of Musketeers with a few Skirmishers. They disembark on the southeast and west of the island. As soon as their forces land, they will attempt to capture both the Fixed Guns, before heading for the redoubt. He also sends some Galleons to attack Charlestown.
The map[]
The map features a large round shaped peninsula surrounded by sea on 3 sides to the north while a smaller more jagged land mass is seen towards the southern edge of the map. The terrain is similar to Saguenay and New England with the trees coming in vibrant bright colors of reds, oranges, yellows, and greens. Trees will be plentiful in the map and will provide a bounty of wood for the player. Herds of Deer are found cautiously foraging throughout the northern landmass although they aren't a recommended source of food as they are far from the main settlement. Berry Bushes are found in less quantity and found near the coast. Silver Mines are dotted throughout the map and near the settlement where Villagers can mine them for coin. Cod are found swimming in the vast expanse of ocean although aren't a reliable source of Food due to the enemy British ships constantly sailing by and attacking anything upon sight.
Strategy[]
The player starts out in the Boston region with a friendly settlement provided as well as a few Villagers. The settlement will include a Town Center, War Hut, Church, Artillery Foundry, Saloon, Market, and Manor Houses for population. A 20-minute countdown clock will also begin, and the player must protect the redoubt before the time runs out. Immediately, the player can task the idle Villagers to evenly gather resources, but should task the bulk on food to allow large amounts of Colonial Militia to be trained. The player can also start using the Market improvements to allow faster resource gathering; this will help training a military in the long run.
Once the first shipment is available, the player should use it on the 1 Farm Travois shipment to allow Villagers to gather food faster and allow even more Colonial Militia to be trained later throughout the game. Once the player gets a second shipment, they should use it on the 5 Colonial Militias card to prepare the forces against the British assault. Right at the 16 minute mark, the player gets news that the British are about to attack the Boston harbor and the player must prepare their forces. As the British move their forces and head west inland towards Boston, the Player should send at least 10 Colonial Militia, 5 Forest Prowlers, and Nathaniel to station the redoubt. The player should send the other remaining forces to the western Fixed Gun to protect the area.
As soon as the first brigade of Musketeers starts marching toward the player, the player should let them raze the War Hut before launching a full-on assault. While the War Hut is being razed, the player should train 5 Colonial Militia from it. Using Nathaniel's special abilities will help taking the enemy Musketeers down quickly, and when the 5 Colonial Militia are trained, the Musketeers will be on the verge of being defeated. As soon as the brigade is defeated, the entire map is revealed and the player must take out the enemy British ships with the Fixed Guns on both sides.
The player should send numbers of reinforcements of either 7-10 Kanya Horsemen or Tomahawks to the eastern Fixed Gun. As soon as a British Caravel sails by, the player can use the eastern Fixed Gun to take it down in one hit. An additional brigade of Musketeers and Skirmishers will arrive and attempt to conquer the eastern Fixed Gun, and the Kanya Horsemen will come into play and will help defeat the enemy British troops. Make note however that the Musketeers will take down a number of the horsemen and the player must train more either from the Corral or send them from the Home city to compensate for the loss.
In order to counter the British's dominant land forces, the player should train Canoes from the Dock to help protect the western Fixed Gun as this should be the more focus of attention. If there are no troops available to defend the western Fixed Gun, the player can use Villagers to fight off the Musketeers but only as a last resort.
- Note: There will also be attacks on the main settlement by enemy British Galleons and they will be far in range to the Fixed Gun's attack, the player can garrison Villagers into the Town Center to destroy the ships swiftly.
At this point the countdown will be close to ending, besides large waves of attacks on the redoubt which can be manageable, the player should merge all canoes into a singular group and use them to distract or sink British ships. Once the 20 minute countdown concludes, the player has successfully defended against the British and has completed the scenario.
Alternative strategy[]
Players should immediately assign most of their Settlers to gather wood. Once they stockpile enough, they should build a Dock on the southeast shore, where the British troops usually gather, then they should build at least one War Hut next to both of the Fixed Guns and behind the Dock. The players should generate dozens of Canoes at the Dock, and should balance their economy by reassigning and creating more Villagers. The players should regularly repair their War Huts, and command the Fixed Guns to assault invading infantry. When a ship directly assaults the colony, the players should assign a few Canoes to intercept it. Finally, the westernmost War Hut should generate several Colonial Militia to secure the area.
Using stealth[]
It is possible to win the scenario by positioning the Forest Prowlers in stealth mode and leaving them on the redoubt, since the player won't lose as long as there are allied units inside. It is not necessary to keep the British outside. This is easier to do in The WarChiefs, as stealth units remain hidden even if they are directly next to enemy units. In the Definitive Edition, stealth is deactivated if an enemy is too close; careful positioning is vital.
Trivia[]
- If one uses the cheat code 'Don't kick the pitbull' to spawn a Learicorn, and brings it to a sword buried in the ground in a graveyard northwest of Charlestown, the game will end with the player victorious.
- Charlestown contains an ammunition storehouse building, a unique building that cannot be used in any way and cannot be attacked or even deleted.
- The British do not physically board the Caravels, but are spawned on the shore when the ships arrive.
Gallery[]
