Revolution is a feature available in the Age of Empires III: The WarChiefs. It allows European civilizations to revolt from their home country and form a new political entity with additional unit types and specific bonuses which greatly boosts the civilization's military at the cost of being unable to advance into the Imperial Age and halts their economy.
Overview
The message that appears when Revolting from the player's civilization
The revolutionary politicians menu; Peru (Simon Bolivar) and Argentina (Jose de San Martin) are shown here
Revolting allows a choice of one of two revolutionary leaders per European civilization with different bonuses each at the cost of 1,000 food, 1,000 wood, and 1,000 coin, and takes only 10 seconds, which is much cheaper and faster than advancing into the Imperial Age (that costs 4,000 food and 4,000 coin, and takes 90 seconds).
Once Revolution is researched...
- ...the player's Home City flag will change to the flag of the relevant new country, and their deck will also change to a Revolution Deck (see Choices)...
- ...all Home City shipments on their way will be canceled and the shipment(s) used will be refunded...
- ...all buildings that are being constructed (except by wagons) will be left incomplete, since...
- ...all Settlers (including Coureurs des Bois and Settler Wagons) will turn into Colonial Militia; Settler(s) that are being trained will be canceled with their Food costs refunded, and any Settler(s) or their equivalents rescued from Treasures will turn into Colonial Militia...
- ...Town Center build limit is automatically increased to 10...
- ...and the player no longer need Town Centers and Houses/Manors to support their population.
As Revolution is not counted as an Age, all units that are automatically upgraded in every Age (Explorer, Explorer's Dog from Home City shipment, Spahi, Spy, Petard, etc.) will not be upgraded when the player revolts.
Even though a revolting player no longer have Settlers to gather resources, they still can keep a small economy going through the following:
- Trading Posts built by Explorers on trade routes
- Fishing Boats
- Banks
- Factories
- Settlers/Villagers sent by allied TEAM shipments or from Sequoyah's Cherokee Syllabary
- Resource trickle Home City cards (only if they are sent before revolting)
- Cree Coureur des Bois
Only one player may revolt in a game; after someone revolts, all other players (including teammates) won't be able revolt themselves. However, if a player revolts, any other players can still advance to the Imperial Age.
Features
Choices
| Nation | Leader | Bonus | Available to |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
 |
Ships 6 Mortars and upgrades Mortars to Imperial Howitzers | Germans |
 |
 |
Ships 20 Tupi Blackwood Archers and grants the Legendary Native Warriors improvement | Dutch Portuguese |
 |
 |
Ships 10 Hussars and upgrades Hussars to Imperial/Imperial Guard | Ottomans Spanish |
 |
 |
Ships 3 Ironclads | French Ottomans Russians |
 |
 |
Colonial Militia gets +10% hit points | British French |
 |
 |
Ships 10 Outlaw Pistoleros and 10 Outlaw Riders | Portuguese Spanish |
 |
 |
All units get +5% hit points | Germans Russians |
 |
 |
Gatling Guns get +25% hit points | British Dutch |
Units
| Unit | Description |
|---|---|
 |
Solid general-purpose infantry. Good against cavalry. |
 |
Early automatic-fire weapon. Better against infantry than buildings. |
 |
Ironclad. Advanced armored warship. |
Revolution Deck
All of the listed Home City cards can be sent an INFINITE number of times.
| Card | Description |
|---|---|
| Ships 16 Colonial Militia | |
| Ships 4 Gatling Guns | |
| Ships 1 Fort Wagon and Fort build limit +1 | |
| Ships 2 Ironclads |
Strategy
- It is still possible for a revolting player to win by a trade monopoly.
- The "move all military units to one location" button on the right hand corner of the mini map is very useful at the start of a Revolution and allows players to move all of their Colonial Militia to one point on the map.
- Have Factories in game before initiating a revolution (if the Home City Cards are available). This will help produce resources as all Settlers will become Colonial Militia. Trading Posts, especially upgraded to Stagecoach or Iron Horse, are also very useful.
- Ensure that a few shipments are available when revolting. This will help to get a couple of Fort Wagons and a few Gatling Guns just in case. Or if one feels so and are in a hurry, send important shipments from the Home City before revolting, such as Factories and unit upgrades.
- Ensure that a large stockpile of resources are available to build more units as Skirmishers and artillery can easily kill Colonial Militia.
- Ironclads are good with their special long distance shell, but also have some support ships to protect them in close quarter fights as they can only be sent by Revolutionary Deck cards.
- After revolting, search for Cherokee and Cree native settlements, which gives the Sequoyah's Cherokee Syllabary improvement (which ships 4 Settlers) and Cree Coureurs des Bois respectively, allowing the player to have some workers.
- Ensure that all the important buildings (such as Artillery Foundry, Arsenal and Church) are built, since they can't be built anymore after revolting.