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 can only be built by Fort Wagons or RussianMusketeers 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 Falconets, and serving as a drop-off point for Home City shipments.
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 RussianHome 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.
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.
All forts have civilization unique names, usually referring to important colonial garrisons or trading posts. This trait would later also be taken up by the Tavern and Palace.
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.
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.
History[]
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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.
Revetment
Star Fort
Flying Buttress (+20%)
Heated Shot (+1.5x multiplier vs. ships)
Cree Textile Craftsmanship (-25% wood)
Tupi Forest Burning (-20% wood)
Gas Lighting (+4)
Iroquois League (train Iroquois Tomahawks and Iroquois Mantlets, vanilla Age of Empires III only)
