Mill (Age of Empires III)

This article is about the building in Age of Empires III. For similar buildings in other games of the series, see Mill.

Mill
Building information
Introduced in	Age of Empires III
Type	Economic
Civilization	Europeans
Age	Exploration Age
Use	Infinite source of Food Train Settler Wagons (Germans, with "Germantown Farmers" Home City Card)
Construction
Wood	400
Max. builders	10
Build time	20 seconds
Statistics
Hit points	2,500
Line of Sight	12
Max. gatherers	10
XP build bounty	80
XP bounty	160

“	Slow, infinite source of Food. Limited to 10 gatherers.	”
—In-game description

The Mill is an economic building in Age of Empires III. It is an infinite source of food that can be gathered by villager-type units and acts as a replacement of Farms in earlier games.

Each villager tasked to a Mill gathers 0.67 food per second, which is slower than hunting (0.84 food) until improved by Mill technologies, Home City Cards, and/or native technologies. Up to 10 villagers can work on a Mill at a time, though due to collisions between units it is best to only use 7 per Mill.

Native American civilizations have access to the Farm, which combines the functions of a Mill and a Livestock Pen. the Asian civilizations have the Rice Paddy, which combines the functions of a Mill and an Estate. The African civilizations have access to the Field, which has the same function as the Rice Paddy, but with a slower gathering rate. The Mexicans have the Hacienda, which combines the functions of a Mill, Estate, and Livestock Pen.

Units

Age	Unit	Cost	Pop.	Limit	Civ.
	Settler Wagon	100 food, 100 wood	2	20	Germans

The Settler Wagon requires the Germantown Farmers Home City Card to be trained at Mills.

Technologies

Age	Improvement	Cost	Effect
	Seed Drill	150 wood, 150 coin	Settlers, Coureurs des Bois, and Settler Wagons gather from Mills, Farms, and Rice Paddies (food) 15% faster
	Artificial Fertilizer	335 wood, 335 coin	Settlers, Coureurs des Bois, and Settler Wagons gather from Mills, Farms, and Rice Paddies (food) 30% faster; requires Seed Drill

Further statistics

Building strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs.	Nothing
Weak vs.	Everything
Improvements
Hit points	Flying Buttress (+20%)
Sight	Gas Lighting (+4)
Construction cost	Cree Textile Craftsmanship (-25% wood) Tupi Forest Burning (-20% wood)
Other	Cherokee Basket Weaving (technologies cost no wood)
Penalties	Code Napoleon (+50% cost, French only) Customized Merc Weapons (+30% cost, John Black's Mercenaries only)

Home City Cards

Click for a list of Home City Cards related to the Mill

Europeans Card Description Age HC level Improved Buildings Buildings get +40% hit points 10 Advanced Mill Mills get +100% hit points and costs -50% 1 Land Grab Mills, Livestock Pens, and Plantations cost -30% to -40% and build time -75% 25 Germans Card Description Age HC level Germantown Farmers Mills can train Settler Wagons +3 Uhlans 25 Indians Card Description Age HC level TEAM Improved Buildings Buildings get +25% hit points 10

Bugs and glitches

• Mills placed too closely together (side by side with no space between them) may cause some villagers to "migrate" to the adjacent Mill. This bug also occurs with Estates and, to a lesser degree, Farms and Rice Paddies.
• Occasionally, Settlers will get stuck in the Mill or Plantation while collecting resources, making it impossible for them to move and collect. However, this bug appears to be more common in the Definitve Edition.

History

“

A mill is used to break grains down into smaller pieces making cooking and baking easier. They were historically powered by wind, water, or livestock. Grain is ground between stones, known as millstones, until it is fine enough to be used for whatever purpose is needed. Flour for bread was made in this manner.

”

Gallery

An in-game Mill

German/Russian Mill models (from left to right): Colonial/Fortress Age and Industrial/Imperial Age

See also

• Farm
• Rice Paddy