South Africa

South Africa
Nation information
Introduced in	Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition
Revolt from	British Dutch
Revolt Age	Industrial Age
Continent	Africa
Home City	Pretoria
Features/Characteristics
Unique units	Trek Wagon

South Africa is one of the revolutionary nations in Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition, available to the British and Dutch.

Effects

• Sets population space to 200.
• Villagers and fishing boats gather resources 10% faster instead of turning all villagers into Revolutionaries.
• Trek Wagons can be trained at Town Centers, Stables, Forts, and Galleons.
• Disables build Houses and Manor Houses.
• Banks auto gather coin 10% faster.
• If revolted from the British, Banks become available, but a build limit of 2; Banks can only be built by Explorers.
• The in-game demonym changes to "South Africans".

Home City Cards

• Purple: Shipment that can be sent an INFINITE number of times
• Red: Shipment that can be sent TWICE

Card	Description
Town Militia	Town Centers get +50% attack, and can use Conscription
Pioneers	Villagers get +65% hit points
Ranching	Livestock Pens and Farms can train Cows
Stonemasons	Villagers build buildings 65% faster
Land Grab	Mill, Estate, Farm, Livestock Pen, Rice Paddy, Sacred Field, and Hacienda cost -40% and build time -75%; Village cost -30% and build time -60%
Raadsaal	Enables Capitol to be built; Deforestation, Excessive Taxation, Large Scale Agriculture, and Legendary Native Warriors cost -20%; Knighthood and Peerage cost -50%; costs 500 coin
Wagon Warfare	Replaces Dragoons/Ruyters with War Wagons at Stables, Forts, and Galleons/Fluyts; upgrades War Wagons to Guard and Imperial; costs 1,000 wood
Extensive Fortifications	Outposts build limit +100%; frontier fortifications, Walls, and Forts get +25% hit points
Huguenots	Huguenots (Coureurs des Bois) can be trained at Town Centers with a train limit of 30
Diamond Rush	Ships 1 Diamond Prospector Wagon
Wanderlust	Land units get +5% hit points; land villagers and wagons get +5% speed
Xhosa Foods	Ships 5 Piles of Squash (900 food), 3 Cows, 3 Goats, 3 Sheep, and 1 Homestead Wagon
5 Military Wagons + 2 Trek Wagons	Ships 5 Military Wagons and 2 Trek Wagons
4 Outpost Wagons + 2 Trek Wagons	Ships 4 Outpost Wagons and 2 Trek Wagons
3 Homestead Wagons + 2 Trek Wagons	Ships 3 Homestead Wagons and 2 Trek Wagons
2 Covered Wagons	Ships 2 Covered Wagons; Town Center build limit +2
2 Bank Wagons	Ships 2 Bank Wagons; Bank build limit +2
Factory Wagon	Ships 1 Factory Wagon
Robber Barons	Ships 1 Factory Wagon

• "Wanderlust" can be sent 3 times.

Strategy

Unlike other revolutionary nations, which are made for a massive attack at the expense of economy, South Africa fares otherwise. Instead of becoming Revolutionaries or other military units, Settlers remain as they were, but with better gathering rate, and most of South Africa's Home City Cards are focused on economy and defense rather than shipping military units or increasing the abilities of military units.

Picking South Africa should be preferred if the player wants to increase its economy faster than its opponents in order to perform a booming strategy and attack much later (with units with better hitpoints due to the "Wanderlust" card), considering that revolting is cheaper and faster than advancing to the Imperial Age. Still, this will be at the expense of negating their access to Imperial Age technologies.

One of the most important assets for South Africa is the Trek Wagons, which are basically a transport unit that enables Villagers to move more efficiently through the map, so they can escape from an opponent, reestablish in another region of the map, and make a comeback later. The "Diamond Rush" card helps for a comeback, as the Diamond Prospector Wagon places a Diamond Mine which has a yield of 100,000(!) coin. Trek Wagons also gain a ranged attack as long as they have Settlers garrisoned inside.

South Africa gives the player access to the "Factory", "Robber Barons", and "Industrial Revolution" cards, so the player will be able to have a maximum of three Factories instead of just two like most European civilizations. Considering this, it is redundant to place these shipments in the base decks if the player decides to pick South Africa, since the cards cannot be shipped twice.

The focus of South Africa on economy also makes this revolution flexible, as the player doesn't have to mind much which kind of military units they use before revolting and can use a base deck that focuses more on improving their military units and then use South Africa advantages for increasing the economy.

Recommended cards

British and Dutch

• Cards that improve military units (since South Africa doesn't have options that help the military, aside from the "Wanderlust" card, so the player can have ways to respond on an emergency)
• 1 Covered Wagon: Since booming with South Africa is highly viable, having an extra Town Center is a must.
• Pioneers: Increases Settler hit points.
• Colonial Militia: Enables Town Centers to use Conscription in case of an emergency.
• Extensive Fortifications: Increases the creation limit and hit points of Outposts.
• Improved Buildings: Increases hitpoints of all buildings.
• Advanced Mill: Reduces the cost of Mills and gives them more hitpoints.
• Advanced Estate: Makes Estates available since the Exploration Age, reduces their cost and increases their hitpoints
• Stonemasons: Settlers and Wagons build buildings faster.
• Any economic cards that increases Settler gathering speed for a resource (since they will stack up with the 10% gathering speed South Africa grants).
• Medicine: Villagers are created faster.

For British

• Florence Nightingale: Makes Manors have a healing aura, so the player can defend better.
• Virginia Company: Reduces the cost of Manors.
• Estates: Manors become Estates that can train Settlers, but Settlers are now produced slower. Still, this helps for a South African boom.
• Distributivism: Enables wood trickle.
• TEAM Rum Distillery.

For Dutch

• Stadhouder: Enables the Explorer to create cheaper Town Centers, which helps for a boom with South Africa.
• Bank Shipments (Bank of Amsterdam, Bank of Rotterdam, Religious Freedom as it enables Coffee Trade, Tulip Speculation and Dutch East India Company): Banks are the most important asset for the Dutch, as they produce coin, and South Africa also increases their coin trickle a little bit.
• Colbertism: Enables food trickle.
• TEAM Spice Trade.

Recommended politicians

Commerce Age

• The Governor (Dutch): Dutch Settlers cost coin, so the Governor crates may help early economy, and sends an Outpost Wagon for early defense.
• The Naturalist (Dutch and British): She gives an early economic boost that may be used for a fast Revolution strategy. Also, since South Africa makes Settlers better instead of transforming them into a military unit, this synergizes well.
• The Philosopher Prince (British): Like The Naturalist, he can make for a fast age advancement.
• The Quartermaster (Dutch): The wood provided can be used for early Banks.

Fortress Age

• The Bishop (Dutch and British): The Covered Wagon provided helps to reach the Revolution while also improving economy.
• The Exiled Prince (Dutch): His fast aging-up bonus may help to save time and get the Revolution earlier.
• The Adventurer, The Mohawk Statesman (British), The Sergeant at Arms (Dutch): This revolution is more focused on economy, so the player may need some additional troops.
• The Mercenary Contractor (Dutch and British): The resource surplus South Africa may allow can be used for the mercenaries allowed by The Mercenary Contractor.

Industrial Age

• The Cavalry Marshal (Dutch), The King's Musketeer (Dutch and British), The Engineer (British): This revolution is more focused on economy, so the player may need some additional troops.
• The Viceroy (British and Dutch): The 5 Settlers provided may boost the economy even more by revolting with South Africa.
• The Tycoon (British and Dutch): He may help to get an early revolution.

Changelog

Definitive Edition

• With update 13.27885, "Extensive Fortifications", "Land Grab", "Pioneers", "Ranching", "Stonemasons", "Town Militia", "2 Bank Wagons", and "2 Covered Wagons" were added to the Home City, and "Industrial Revolution" was removed.
• Originally, the British Banks have a build limit of 5, and can be reconstructed by both Explorers and Citizens. With update 13.58326, the Bank build limit for the British is 2, and they can only be reconstructed by the Explorer.

Trivia

• South Africa's availability to the Dutch reflects the Dutch Cape Colony; their availability to the British reflects the Dutch Cape Colony's subsequent annexation by the British after Napoleon annexed the entirety of the Netherlands.
• The flag used is that of the South African Republic, an independent state that lasted from the First Boer War in 1852 until the Second Boer War in 1902.