| “ | Powerful, defensive building that can also train units. Can only be sent from the Home City. | ” |
| —In-game description | ||
The Fort is a military/defensive building in Age of Empires III that is unique to European civilizations and can only be built by Fort Wagons or Russian Musketeers via the "National Redoubt" Home City Card as well as the Explorer with the "Castrametation" Home City Card in the Definitive Edition. It is one of the strongest defensive buildings in the game that are also capable of training infantry and cavalry units, as well as serving as a drop-off point for Home City shipments.
Contents
Tactics[]
While having impressive hit points and a great range, Forts are expensive to repair and can only take on one target at a time (although there is Area of Effect damage when they fire). They are most often used to gain map control, or to defend a coastline or colony. Since it is a special Home City shipment, another Fort Wagon cannot be built if the Fort is destroyed unless multiple shipments of wagons are available. Forts are formidable defenses but are not invincible. They can be destroyed with artillery or long range ships such as Monitors or Ironclads. A large amount of units can bring it down as the Fort can only fire on one enemy at a time, though it does splash damage.
However, as with artillery pieces, if a unit is placed correctly, the fort will fire on that unit but will be unable to deal any damage. Forts are usually placed in strategic areas or near the first Town Center. When in use by the AI, easy ones will usually place the Fort near their starting location. Higher AIs tend to place the Fort near the enemy's settlement(s) and if allied, the AI will notify the player of where they are building it.
In The Asian Dynasties expansion, the Fort has been tinkered with slightly. First, European civilizations are able to build at least one Fort and most are able to build two. The main addition lies in the Russian Home City Cards, where they can allow Musketeers to build Forts by sending the "National Redoubt" card in the Industrial Age. This makes the Russians very powerful coupled with the ability to instantly create infantry.
In the Definitive Edition, the "Castrametation" Home City Card is now available to all European civlizations (including the Spanish, who didn't have it in The Asian Dynasties) and allows the Explorer to build Forts, making the loss of Forts no longer a major blow to the player's defense.
Units[]
| Age | Unit | Cost | Pop. | Civ. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
 Pikeman
|
40 food, 40 wood |
1 | British Dutch French Germans Portuguese Spanish Swedes |
 Rodelero
|
65 food, 35 coin |
Spanish | ||
 Doppelsoldner
|
75 food, 125 coin |
2 | Germans | |
 Musketeer
|
75 food, 25 coin |
1 | British French Portuguese Russians Spanish | |
 Janissary
|
100 food, 25 coin |
Ottomans | ||
 Carolean*
|
60 food, 40 coin |
Swedes | ||
 Regular*
|
60 food, 50 coin |
United States | ||
 Crossbowman
|
40 food, 40 wood |
French Germans Portuguese Spanish Swedes* | ||
 Longbowman
|
60 food, 40 wood |
British | ||
 Strelet
|
37.5 food, 10 wood |
Russians | ||
 State Militia*
|
50 food, 35 wood |
United States | ||
 Hussar
|
120 food, 80 coin |
2 | British Dutch French Ottomans Portuguese Spanish Swedes United States | |
 Uhlan
|
50 food, 100 coin |
Germans | ||
 Cossack
|
75 food, 75 coin |
1 | Russians | |
 Grenadier
|
120 food, 60 coin |
2 | British Dutch Ottomans Russians | |
 Abus Gun
|
50 food, 100 coin |
Ottomans | ||
 Leather Cannon*
|
300 food, 100 wood |
3 | Swedes* | |
 |
 Skirmisher
|
50 food, 65 coin |
1 | Dutch French Germans Spanish |
 Cassador
|
80 food, 35 coin |
Portuguese | ||
 Sharpshooter*
|
40 food, 75 coin |
United States | ||
 Halberdier
|
50 food, 70 coin |
Dutch French Portuguese Russians | ||
 Cuirassier
|
150 food, 150 coin |
3 | French | |
 Oprichnik
|
90 food, 60 coin |
2 | Russians | |
 Lancer
|
110 food, 90 coin |
Spanish | ||
 Dragoon
|
90 food, 90 coin |
British French Portuguese Spanish | ||
 Ruyter
|
30 food, 75 coin |
1 | Dutch | |
 War Wagon
|
150 food, 150 coin |
3 | Germans | |
 Cavalry Archer
|
100 food, 60 coin |
2 | Ottomans Russians | |
 Hakkapelit*
|
90 food, 110 coin |
Swedes | ||
 Carbine Cavalry*
|
80 food, 80 coin |
United States | ||
 Gatling Gun
|
100 wood, 250 coin |
4 | ||
 |
 Barbary Warrior*
|
100 food | 1 | Barbary States |
 Corsair Marksman*
|
80 food, 35 coin | |||
 Cetbang Cannon*
|
100 wood, 200 coin |
2 | Indonesia | |
 Javanese Spearman*
|
100 food | 1 | ||
 Gaucho*
|
120 food | 1 | Argentina | |
| Jagunco*
|
Brazil | |||
| Llanero*
|
Gran Colombia | |||
| Morochuco*
|
Peru | |||
| Cowboy*
|
United States (revolutionary) |
- Dutch Skirmishers can be trained in the Commerce Age.
- Units with an asterisk (*) are added in the Definitive Edition.
- In the Definitive Edition, Grenadiers can be trained by European civilizations other than British, Dutch, Ottomans, and Russians once the "Grenade Launchers" Home City Card is sent.
Technologies[]
| Age | Technology | Cost | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
 Revetment
|
500 wood, 500 coin |
Forts get +50% attack, +6 LOS, and +6 range |
 Star Fort
|
300 food, 300 wood, 300 coin |
Forts get +50% hit points |
Civilization differences[]
- In The Asian Dynasties, the Chinese in random map games can build one (and only one) Fort by allying with the Russians at the Consulate, which provides the Fort Wagon shipment that ships a namesake unit capable of building a Fort. The Chinese Fort trains War Academy banner armies and are named after Portuguese Forts before the Defintive Edition.
- The Indians in the Act III: India campaign can build a Fort in the same way as the Chinese in random map games.
Revolutionary[]
- Revolting to the United States makes every Fort, both existing and newly built ones, spawn a Gatling Gun, and also allows Forts to train Gatling Guns. Two of their Home City Cards also benefits Forts greatly:
- "Conscription" allows American Forts to use Levy (and Conscription if "Town Militia" was sent before revolting) like Town Centers.
- "Volunteers" makes every American Fort, both existing and newly built ones, spawn four Volunteers.
- Revolting to Haiti: Pirates can be trained at Barracks, Forts, Galleons, Privateers, and the Saloon, and use 1 population instead of 6.
Further statistics[]
| Building strengths and weaknesses | |
|---|---|
| Strong vs. | Most ground units, ships |
| Weak vs. | Artillery, especially Rockets and Great Bombards, Siege units |
| Improvements | |
| Hit points |  Flying Buttress (+20%) Star Fort (+50%)
|
| Attack |  Heated Shot (+1.5x multiplier vs. ships) Revetment (+50%)
|
| Construction cost (Russians) |  Cree Textile Craftsmanship (-25% wood) Tupi Forest Burning (-20% wood)
|
| Range | Revetment (+6)
|
| Sight |  Gas Lighting (+4) Revetment (+6)
|
| Other |  Iroquois League (train Iroquois Tomahawks and Iroquois Mantlets, vanilla Age of Empires III only)
|
Home City Cards[]
| Click for a list of Home City Cards related to the Fort | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Europeans[]
French[]
Indians[]
Russians[]
Revolutionary[]
|
Changelog[]
Age of Empires III[]
The Asian Dynasties[]
- The Fort built by the Chinese by allying with the Russians at the Consulate is named after Portuguese Forts.
Definitive Edition[]
- Forts give 110 XP when built and 220 XP when destroyed.
- The Fort anti-ship attack has a x0.5 multiplier against siege units.
- The Fort built by the Chinese by allying with the Russians at the Consulate now have unique Russian and Chinese names.
Trivia[]
- The French having the most number of Forts may be a callback to the Franks being to build more Castles (the Age of Empires II version of the Fort) than others thanks to its cheaper cost.
- Since the Defintive Edition, Forts built by the Chinese by allying with the Russians at the Consulate have unique Russian and Chinese names, which are not the same used by the Russian Forts and are related to the frontier between the Russian Empire and the Qing Dynasty: Aigun, Albazin, Hai, Gao, Kyakhta, Nerchinsk, Shitoufeng, Vladivostok, Wei, and Zhèn.
- For some reason, these Forts can train Czapka Uhlans.
History[]
| “ | Forts in the New World ranged from wooden palisades assembled hastily as outposts or for the protection of watersheds to sprawling star forts whose distinctively angled earthen and stone walls protected key ports, mines, cities, and overland trade routes. Fort McHenry, once called Fort Whetstone, was a star fort surrounded on three sides by water. In 1814 it survived a 25-hour bombardment by the British. Francis Scott Key wrote a poem about his experiences during and after the battle, and the story of Fort McHenry and its star-spangled banner became the national anthem of the United States in 1931. |
” |
Gallery[]
See also[]
- Agra Fort – Indian wonder which functions similarly to the Fort
- Stronghold – Incan building which functions similarly to the Fort
