Maryland is a Fortress Age Federal State in Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition, available to the United States. As soon as the player advances to the Fortress Age by choosing Maryland, a Sloop appears at the Home City naval shipment point and the following Home City cards will be added into the U.S. player's deck:
| Card | Description |
|---|---|
 Annapolis Naval Academy
|
Ships 1 Sloop with 6 Minutemen; Sloops, Steamers, Frigates, and Ironclads get +10% ranged attack per garrisoned Minutemen (6 max.) |
 Chesapeake Oyster Pirates
|
Ships 1 Sloop; Sloops and Steamers gather coin instead of food from fishes (which is ~180% faster), and gather from whales 50% faster; |
Strategy[]
Maryland is the federal state the player should pick in the Fortress Age in naval maps if playing with the United States. It gives 1 Sloop, and both federal cards further improve naval units. Picking Maryland may enable the player to surpass the creation limit of the Sloop by 1, if the player already reached the creation limit of the Sloop.
The first federal card, Annapolis Naval Academy, not only ships a Sloop and 6 Minutemen, but also enables Minutemen to increase the attack of warships when garrisoned inside them. The player should pick a deck with some other improvements for the Minutemen and ships. Their second federal card, Chesapeake Oyster Pirates, increases the economic value of Sloops and Steamers, enabling them to gather coin instead of food from fish, and gives them better coin gather rates from whales.
Rhode Island and Virginia are the best options in the Commerce Age before picking Maryland in the Fortress Age. Rhode Island offers the Corliss Steam Engine federal card, which makes Iron Horse and Steamers available from the Commerce Age, and Ironclads available from the Fortress Age, adding a lot of power to the navy early. Virginia, on the other hand, offers Virginia Plan (+2 Home City shipments) and Culpeper Minutemen, which reduces Levy/Conscription global cooldown by 50%; reduces Minutemen hit point degeneration rate by 50%; and Each Town Center spawns 6 Minutemen. These two federal cards enable a fast Minutemen spam that can be used in combination with Annapolis Naval Academy if the player has enough ships deployed for a naval attack. Virginia Plan should be sent first for getting 2 shipments, and then the player should use Culpeper Minutemen and Annapolis Naval Academy.
The best follow-up Federal States in the Industrial Age are New Jersey and Vermont. The New Jersey Seaports federal card gives crate shipments +extra resources (+300 for infinite ones), and those that were already sent can be sent a second time and are immediately gathered. This is important for naval warfare, as wood is the resource with the lowest gathering rate, so the card lets the player create a lot of warships. Vermont, on the other hand, ships 600 wood, and their federal card Vermont Coppers (Estate technologies are free and researched instantly; Coin gather rate +5%) can stack with Chesapeake Oyster Pirates for the coin from whales and fish.
When aging up to Imperial Age the best option is Connecticut as it adds more naval power with both of their federal cards and the 1500 wood shipped.
Recommended shipments[]
- United States Army: The General, Minutemen, and heavy infantry get +15% hit points and attack. Helpful for the Minutemen.
- Minutemen Companies: Replaces Levy with Conscription; Ships 10 Minutemen.
- United States Marines: Upgrades Minutemen into Marines with +1,000% siege attack, +2.0× multiplier against artillery, +3.0× multiplier against ships, and a long-ranged anti-ship attack; +8 Line of Sight.
- Long Rifles: Minutemen get +4 range and Line of Sight.
- Advanced Dock: Docks get +100% attack and heal ships 85% faster, and warship train time -33%
- Fish Market, Rendering Plant and Whale Oil: These stack up with Chesapeake Oyster Pirates.
- Wood Crate shipments and wood gathering rate improvements: A navy requires a good amount of wood.
- European Cannons: Warships get +15% attack, +2 Line of Sight and range.
- Naval Gunners: Warships get +20% attack.
- Admiralty: Armor Plating, Carronade, Percussion Lock, Ship's Howitzers, and Imperial Men-o'-War cost and research time -60%
- Mississippi Steamers: Steamers get +35% hit points and attack, and +2 Line of Sight and range.
- Virginia Oak: Docks, Fishing Boats, Sloops, and Frigates get +15% hit points
- Hulks: Upgrades Ironclads to Hulks, which get +1 build limit and a 25% chance to block all incoming attacks.
- Corliss Steam Engine (Rhode Island): Iron Horse and Steamers available from the Commerce Age; Ironclads available from the Fortress Age.
- Culpeper Minutemen (Virginia): Levy/Conscription global cooldown -50%; Minutemen hit point degeneration rate -50%; Each Town Center spawns 6 Minutemen.
- Virginia Plan (Virginia): Gives 2 Home City shipments.
- Vermont Coppers (Vermont): Coin gather rate +5%
- New Jersey Seaports (New Jersey): Resource shipments' content +900 and are immediately gathered; Can send resource-only shipments that have already been sent for the second time, as well as 'Washington Lumber Mills', 'Minneapolis Mills', and 'Plymouth Settlers' (except TEAM ones). Infinite crate cards are only increased by +300.
- Connecticut Shipwrights (Connecticut): Building build time -25%; artillery build time -10%; warship build time -50%
- Bushnell's Sapper Corps (Connecticut): Ironclad build limit +1.
- The Alamo (Texas): Ship 16 Minutemen; when destroyed by enemies, buildings spawn a number of Minutemen equal to 1.5% of their cost rounded up
Changelog[]
Definitive Edition[]
- With update 54545, "Annapolis Naval Academy" now also ships 1 Sloop with 6 Minutemen, and "Chesapeake Oyster Pirates" now also ships 1 Sloop.
