Fort

Fort
Building information
Introduced in	Age of Empires III
Type	Military Defensive
Civilization	Europeans
Age	Fortress Age
Use	Attacks nearby enemies Trains infantry and cavalry units Receive Home City shipments
Construction
Wood	600
Coin	500
Max. builders	8
Build time	150 seconds
Build limit	1
Statistics
Hit points	8,500
Garrison	50 villagers
Line of Sight	26
XP build bounty	220
XP bounty	440
Ranged attack
Damage	150
Multipliers	x0.5 vs. Siege unit x0.75 vs. Artillery
Range	26
Area of Effect	3
Rate of Fire	3.0
Anti-ship attack
Damage	300
Range	40
Rate of Fire	3.0
Notes
Built by Fort Wagon, Explorer (with "Castrametation" Home City Card), and Musketeers (with "National Redoubt" Home City Card, Russians only)

“	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.

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
	Crossbowman	40 food, 40 wood		French Germans Portuguese Spanish
	Longbowman	60 food, 40 wood		British
	Strelet	37.5 food, 10 wood		Russians
	Hussar	120 food, 80 coin	2	British Dutch French Ottomans Portuguese Spanish Swedes
	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
	Skirmisher	50 food, 65 coin	1	Dutch French Germans Spanish
	Cassador	80 food, 35 coin		Portuguese
	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
	Barbary Warrior*			Barbary States
	Corsair Marksman*
	Javanese Spearman*			Indonesia
	Gaucho	120 food	1	Argentina
	Granadero*
	Jagunco*			Brazil
	Llanero*			Gran Colombia
	Morochuco	120 food		Peru
	Cowboy			United States

As of Update 5208, revolutionary Egypt can train Nizam Fusiliers at Forts upon sending the Egyptian Army Reform card.

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 named after Portuguese Forts.
  • 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

Green: TEAM Shipment that is sent to each player in a team Purple: Shipment that can be sent an INFINITE number of times Europeans Card Description Age HC level Improved Buildings Buildings get +40% hit points 10 Castramentation Ships 1 Fort Wagon, Fort build limit +1, and enables Explorers to construct Forts, Blockhouses and Outposts 25 Heavy Fortifications Grants all defensive building upgrades (if not already) 25 TEAM Coastal Defenses Defensive buildings get +1.0x multiplier against ships 25 The Extensive Fortifications card is not available to Germans and Portuguese. The Castramentation card is not available to the Spanish. The TEAM Coastal Defenses card is available to French, Portuguese, Russians, and Spanish. French Card Description Age HC level Vauban Fortress Ships 1 Fort Wagon and Fort build limit +1 25 Indians Card Description Age HC level TEAM Improved Buildings Buildings get +25% hit points 10 Russians Card Description Age HC level Sevastopol Town Center, Blockhouse, Wall, and Fort build time -50% 40 National Redoubt Musketeers can build Forts and their attack and hitpoints increase by 10%* 40 Revolutionary Card Description Age HC level 1 Fort Wagon Ships 1 Fort Wagon and Fort build limit +1 N/A

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.

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

An in-game Ottoman/Spanish/Portuguese Fort

Russian/German (Eastern) Fort in the Fortress Age

An in-game British/Dutch/French damaged Fort

Add a photo to this gallery

See also

• Agra Fort – Indian wonder which functions similarly to the Fort
• Stronghold – Incan building which functions similarly to the Fort