This article is about the politician in Age of Empires III. For other uses, see General. |
The General is an Imperial Age politician in Age of Empires III, available to all European civilizations. As soon as the player advances to the Imperial Age by choosing him, two Heavy Cannons (three Rockets for the British, two Great Bombard for the Ottomans, two Papal Bombards for the Italians – 3 if the Advanced Politicians Home City Card was sent) appear in the Home City shipment point.
Before the Definitive Edition, The General ships the following units based on the civilization instead:
- British – 10 Musketeers and 2 Rockets
- Dutch and Germans – 10 Skirmishers and 1 Heavy Cannon
- French, Portuguese, Russians, and Spanish – 10 Musketeers and 1 Heavy Cannon
- Ottomans – 10 Janissaries and 1 Great Bombard
Strategy[]
The artillery provided by The General can normally be produced in Factories, which are limited by the shipments available to the civilization, and most of the time it is better used for generating resources. These heavy artillery can also be shipped from the Home City, but in the late game, shipments take longer and longer to be generated. The General's advantage here is that as he provides at least two of these long-range artillery, which may allow the player to free the Factory for producing resources or use the shipments for something else. Heavy Cannons and their unique counterparts also take a substantial amount of population, so if the player reached their maximum population space, The General will allow them to have the artillery despite not having population room.
Once in the Imperial Age, the player will be prepared to siege heavy fortifications like Forts with no additional effort. The General is also a preferable option if used with a deck focused on artillery units, and is a great follow-up politician for The Engineer in this sense. and for The Marksman for the Swedes.
Recommended shipments[]
All civilizations[]
- Advanced Arsenal (all except Swedes and Italians): Profesional Gunners and Trunion applies to Heavy Cannons and its unique equivalents. Swedes have these technologies by default, Italians instead must ship Milanese arsenal.
- Engineering School (French, Ottomans, Portuguese, Russians, and Swedes): Heavy Cannon, Great Bombard, train time -10%.
- Unit shipments for protecting Artillery.
- More Artillery unit shipments.
- Factory shipments.
- Advanced Artillery: Ships 1 Mortar; Mortars and Horse Artillery can be trained in the Fortress Age.
French[]
- Gribeauval System: Falconets, Culverins, and Horse Artillery get +25% attack; Heavy Cannons get +20% attack.
Italians[]
- Papal Arsenal: Basilica shipments arrive 33% faster; Papal Bombards get the 'Holy Fire' action, Papal Guards get the 'Pistol Attack' action, Papal Lancers get the 'Lance Charge' action and Papal Zouaves get the 'Carbine Attack' action.
- Milanese Arsenal.
- Advanced Politicians.
Maltese[]
- Hospitality: The next Age up researches twice as fast and Hospital upgrades cost 150 wood, 150 coin less.
Ottomans[]
- Topçular: Artillery, Abus Gunners, and Humbaracis get +15% hit points and attack.
- Palace Intrigue: Provides the Mosque with Topçu Corps a technology that ships 3 Great Bombards and reduces their population space.
Portuguese[]
- Artillery Hitpoints: Grenade troopers get +30% hit points; artillery get +15% hit points.
- Rangefinding: Mortars get +8 Line of Sight and Cannon attack range, and +3 Barrage attack range.
- Grapeshot: Organ Guns get -0.5 Rate of Fire and +0.5 Area of Effect; removes Organ Gun packing animation.
- Estremoz Field Guns: Upgrades Falconets to Field Guns and ships an increasing amount of Field Guns per Age.
Russians[]
- Tsar Cannon: Ships 1 Tsar Cannon and upgrades it to Imperial; Imperial upgrades for Falconets, Culverins, Mortars, and Horse Artillery cost -10%.
- Unicorne Mortars: Mortars get +30% attack, -50% coin* cost, and -15% train time.
Spanish[]
- Unction: Missionaries increase the attack of nearby friendly units.
- TEAM Spanish Inquisition: Ships 1 Inquisitor; all units get +10 Line of Sight.
- House of Trastamára: The next Age up is researched 8.5% faster and costs 80 resources less for each shipment that has been sent in the current Age including this one; Resources are proportional to amount required.
Swedes[]
- Julita Styckebruk: Ships 1 Leather Cannon and 1 Artillery Foundry Wagon.
- Case Shot: Leather Cannons, Falconets, Culverins, Horse Artillery and Heavy Cannons get the Case Shot attack (used against enemies within half of the normal range or closer, which deals 10% of the normal damage with 7 projectiles and +2 Area of Effect, but with ×0.5 against cavalry and shock infantry, and also ×2.0 against infantry for Culverins).
- Cronstedt Reforms: Leather Cannons, Falconets, and Heavy Cannons take -1 population.
- Barrage: Mortars get the Barrage attack (used against enemies at 4-30 range, dealing 40 damage with 7 Area of Effect, ×0.5 against cavalry and shock infantry, and ×0.1 against artillery and Arrow Knight).
Changelog[]
Age of Empires III[]
- British: The General ships 10 Musketeers and 2 Rockets.
- Dutch and Germans: The General ships 10 Skirmishers and 1 Heavy Cannon.
- French, Portuguese, Russians, and Spanish: The General ships 10 Musketeers and 1 Heavy Cannon.
- Ottomans: The General ships 10 Janissaries and 1 Great Bombard.
Definitive Edition[]
- Dutch, French, Germans, Portuguese, Russians, Spanish: The General now ships 2 Heavy Cannons.
- British: The General now ships 3 Rockets.
- Ottomans: The General now ships 2 Great Bombards.