AOE3 Forums

Now that I think I’ve reached a certain knowledge of this game, and have played pretty much every civilisation, I think it’s time for me to put all that I’ve learned on these forums. May it be of good use.

Basic ingame tips:

I’m just gonna start off with a few very important basic things about this game that you need to remember at all time:

1. Never stop creating villagers, only in emergency situations.
2. Never leave a single villager idle!
3. Put your explorer to good use. Make sure you’ve explored all the huntables (animals) on the map (dead animals mean enemy villagers) for good raiding and herding, and make sure you make the best of your explorer’s ability to collect treasures.
4. Adapt to the opponent’s army. Always search for the right counters and make sure your army isn’t worth less than it cost. (also never fight when you can’t win the battle, keep retreating until you’ve reached a location (your town centre or fort) that is most favourable for you or will hopefully scare off your opponent).
5. Raid. This can make the game turn from losing to winning or even from losing to immediate victory. Do so with cavalry, preferably hand cavalry like hussars or cuirassiers. The best raiders are of course oprichniks.
6. The opposite of raiding, keep your own villagers protected. If you are out of huntables or gold near your TC, only send your vills over unprotected if you have map control and are pressurizing your opponent with military. If both armies are large and map is divided, always make sure you have either towers or another TC at your hunting or gold location.
7. Micro: Always make sure the right unit is fighting the right unit, hit and run, retreat when necessary, and use advanced formations.
8. Build multiple TC’s for a booming economy. This can make big differences.
9. Keep your army moving as much as possible. Always look for enemy vills and pressurize his town and army with ranged units.
10. Allocate your villagers correctly. Each civ has it’s own needs. For example Dutch need a lot of gold, and Portuguese need a lot of food. More on that later.
11. Keep hunting as long as possible, don’t go over to mills too quickly, as this will cost you a lot of wood and will gather much slower.
12. Herd! meaning put a vill behind the animal and shoot. he'll run the way your vil was facing. like this get your huntables close to your tc.

List of unit counters:

(light infantry = all ranged infantry except musketeers and janissaries, heavy infantry is all anti-cavalry inf.)

Ranged cavalry > cavalry and cannon

Hand cavalry > Light infantry and cannon

Heavy infantry > Cavalry

Light infantry > Heavy infantry and Ranged cavalry

Cannon > infantry.

Civs from best to worst:

Boom/turtling:

1. British

2. Dutch

3. Portuguese
4. Russians

5. French

6. Germans
7. Spanish
8. Ottomans

Usefullness of Fishing:

1. British
2. Portuguese
3. Spanish
4. Russians
5. Ottomans
6. Dutch
7. French (no schooners)
8. Germans (no schooners)

Strength of colonial Rush:
1. Ottomans
2. Russians

3. Spanish
4. French

5. British
6. Germans
7. Dutch

8. Portuguese

Strength of Fast Fortress:

1. Spanish
2. Dutch

3. French
4. Portuguese
5. Germans
6. Ottomans
7. Russians
8. British

Early game potential:

1. Ottomans
2. Spanish
3. Russians
4. French

5. British

6. Dutch
7. Germans

8. Portuguese

Middle/late game potential:

1. Dutch
2. Germans

3. Portuguese

4. French

5. Russians

6. British

7. Spanish

8. Ottomans 

Specific civilisation overviews:

Now I wont go into complete detail on all the BO’s I’m gonna type, they will be short and straight to the point, if you don’t understand just ask. Also I’m not gonna put on every single known BO of each civ, just the ones I mention in the civ’s counters list.

This guide does not include native rushes or other native use, because that’d take long and there are different natives in each map.

Portuguese:

Pros: strongest defensive (water) booming, cassadores best light infantry in the game, strong jinete + cassador combo.

Cons: weakest at rushing and in early game stages.

Difficulty: Hard

Best strategy: ATP (advanced trading post) FF (fast fortress)

Portuguese counters:

Vs Portuguese: ATP FF

Vs Spain: naked (meaning plain simple and fast, no military until age3) FF

Vs French: naked FF

Vs Ottomans: naked FF with 2 towers (instead of 700 wood send 2 towers)

Vs Russians: naked FF with 2 towers

Vs Dutch: ATP FF

Vs British: ATP FF (I do not recommend playing against British, as this takes away the only advantage ports have over other civs, the booming. British outboom ports quite easily and can overpower them in early fortress)

Vs Germans: ATP FF

Civs that ports are best against: French, Germans, and Ottomans.

Notes:

-         Whether you naked FF or ATP FF also depends on the map. ATP FF-ing on bayou (no trade route) for example would of course be non sense. Where it says naked FF, always naked FF, and where it says ATP FF, it still depends on the map. Great lakes is in this case ideal.

-         Spread your first 2 TC’s unless facing French, Ottoman, Russian, or Spanish rushes. Always spread your third TC unless you are being overwhelmed by a large military and really need all the TC´s. Exception is also when you water-boom; keep your TC’s not too far off and close to water.

BO’s:

Naked FF:

Age1:

14 villager age-up with as 1^st card colonial militia (schooners if water booming (this is risky)). 500 food politician. When aging to colonial, put 4 vils on gold. When you have 450 gold (300+150 for minutemen) switch to food.

Age2 (+-4.40):

Send 700 gold as 2^nd shipment, collect 500 food from aging, and spam vils with both tc’s until you have 1200-1000. then age (this should happen from 5.20 to 6.00) with the 6 cassadores politician.

When aging, keep booming vils with the non-aging tc. Allocation: 10 gold 8 food rest wood (waypoint food). 3^rd card is 700 wood or 2 towers when facing strong rushes (standard against Ottos and Russians). Your towers will arrive pretty late, so be careful and choose their arrival point (which of the 2 TC’s) carefully if your base is stuffed with enemies (also chop a lot of wood quickly (say 12 on wood until you have enough) for rax and housing. If you go with 700 wood, Build both barracks and stable and of course houses and don’t chop (too much) wood.

Age3 (+-7.30): 4^th card mamelukes, you should have 1000 gold by now.

If it is the case that you faced a strong rush and have no gold, send either 8 cassadores 5 dragoons, depending on your opponent’s main unit.

Spanish:

Pros: Very strong rush, strongest FF in the game, overpowered maybe, Lancers and rodeleros.

Cons: only 1 factory, weak boom.

Difficulty: Mediocre

Best strategy: ATP FF.

Spanish counters:

Vs Portuguese: ATP or naked FF lancer spam

Vs Spanish: Musk rush or naked FF

Vs French: Xbow/pike rush or naked FF

Vs Ottomans: Xbow/pike rush or hardcore Turtle FF

Vs Russians: naked FF

Vs Dutch: naked FF or ATP FF

Vs British: Musk rush or naked FF à cannon spam.

Vs Germans: ATP FF

Civs that Spain are best against: Russians, Germans, and Portuguese.

Notes:

-         Mind the wardogs being recruited for 75 food by your explorer, they can power up your rush and are a very strong defence against a rush if you FF.

-         If you FF, villager allocation is different for every civ. Against ports and british go for more gold (mercs, lancers and cannons) than usual. Regular allocation should look like this: 7 food 4 wood rest gold

-         If you naked FF, instead of 700 wood you can also go for 5 villagers and chop all the wood. You won’t have your TP but you will have a somewhat stronger economy. Consider doing this if you collect more than say 150 wood from treasures.

-         If you naked FF on great plains, look for the sunflowers!! Can speed you up 20 seconds with a 15 vill age-up. You can age to fortress at 5.20.

BO’s:

Musk rush:

Age1: 16 villager age-up with 1 tower and 200 coin politician. While aging, allocation 3 gold 7 food 6 wood.

Age2 (+-4.40): Build barracks as close to enemy base as possible as soon as you’ve aged and send 7 rodeleros. Build your tower next to the barracks. As soon as the barracks is up, start spamming musks. Leave 4 vils on gold 4 on wood and rest on food. Waypoint on food.

Spam musks, send 8 pikes and 6 rods, then 5 vils, 4 vils, 700 gold, age, own…. :D

Xbow/pike rush:

Same as the musk rush, only mind your villager allocation (when aging to colonial 5 food 11 wood none gold) and instead of spamming musks, you spam xbows, pikes if you need siege or if you are up against an unexpected FF (against an expected FF you go musk rush)

ATP FF: (on maps with 3 or more TP's. think again before performing this strat when playing strong rushing civs): 

^ this strategy is the strongest known in Age of Empires 3.

Naked FF:

The above civs are the ones I know most about. The following civs I’m less experienced in and I will not go into as much detail.

French:

Pros: Coureurs!!; French are a strong all round civ. Their rush is strong, their FF is strong, their boom is strong and their late game is strong.

Cons: They are the only civ (don’t count Germans) that is not the best at anything… as someone so greatly put: they are good at everything but are not the best at anything.

Difficulty: Mediocre

Best strategy: Xbow/pike rush.

French counters:

Vs Portuguese: Xbow/pike rush

Vs Spanish: Xbow/pike rush

Vs French: semi-FF or Xbow/pike rush

Vs Ottomans: Xbow spam

Vs Russians: FF

Vs Dutch: semi-FF or Xbow/pike rush

Vs British: Xbow/pike rush

Vs Germans: FF

Civs that French are best against: Spanish, Ottomans, and Dutch.

Notes:

-         Semi-FF is strong against enemy FF’s, as you will have early raiding and a better fortress economy cs of 4 vil shipment. The risk is that if his FF is strong military-wise (like the Spanish and dutch one) you might not make it to fortress unharmed.

-    the musk rush is meant to be sort of semi-FF and is more economic than the usual rush. when musk rushing it's way easier to just stop military production and go fortress w/ 700g card. if you xbow/pike rush that's more difficult/takes longer.

BO’s:

Musk rush:

The rush I started with when I first bought this game. I remember playing against my 8 yr old brother always doing the same. Musk spam in colonial until I had like 100 and he had like 50. then would be the first and last fight. LoL

Anyways:

Age1: Sometimes 13 mostly 14 villager age-up with 400 wood politician. 13 with food treasures (will speed you up). Allocation when aging: 4 gold rest food.

Age2 (4.20 to 4.40): Collect the age-up wood as fast as possible and build a forward barracks and 2 houses. Your second card depends on what your opponent does. If he rushes, 8xbows can come in handy, if he has no army, go with 4 vils to boost your eco and prepare to either go fortress (that would make this a semi-FF) or continue spamming musks if you think you can make it.

Xbow/pike rush:

Age1: same as musk rush. Except the allocation when aging should be 7 food rest wood

Age2: card depends on opponent, same as musk rush. Do not go fortress though, your only choice is to rush on. Changing this into a semi-FF will slow you down too much as you will have a lot of vils on wood. So rush on if he has no army. Switch over to pikes and rush rush rush his tc down before he gets into fortress. Your eco will be stronger than his, and if you manage to hold out his early fortress shipments, you will go fortress and out-eco him.

FF:

Age1: allocation 10 food 4 gold, 400 wood politician.

Age2: chop wood (try to gather from treasures) till you have 500 (400 from aging + another 100) then put wood vils on food. Gold vils go on food if you have 300 gold.

Of the 500 wood, build 2 TP’s for many shipments and/or stage coach economy. Age at 5.30 to 6.00 with the 6 skirmishers politician. Allocation depends on what civ you face. Divide your vills the same as with the Spanish FF (find allocation at “notes”). Send 700 wood (or 4vils if you have good wood treasures) and build barracks and/or stable and houses.

Age3 (7.20 to 7.50): spam cuirs and/or skirms and military shipments. You can also choose for some sort of boom in which you build only a barracks and 1 house of the 700 wood, put some vils on wood while aging to fortress and build a TC right when you hit fortress. This can be effective against British, Dutch, and Ports, which will then have a hard time outbooming you. Against Spanish or other strong FFs or rushes I wouldn’t recommend this though.

Ottomans:

Pros: strongest rush in the game, strongest early game.

Cons: very weak economy/boom.

Difficulty: Easy

Best strategy: Silk road janissary rush.

Ok. I don’t like this civ. If, to any of you, it is a disappointment that I don’t go into detail on the ottomans, I am sorry. I have hardly played this civ and thus don’t feel in the position to type such a guide to the ottos. You’ll have to just look up some BO’s and practise, see for yourself what works best against what and w/e. maybe burple could write you a nice reply though, he knows more about this civ than me.