Characters / Age Of Empires III European Major Civilizations

Age of Empires III character sheets
"Blood", "Ice" and "Steel" | "Fire" and "Shadows" | "Japan", "China" and "India" | Deathmatch/Skirmish AI | Major Civilizations (European | Non-European) | Other Civilizations

Here we're listing the European-style civilizations.

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In General

Units and buildings shared by the European (and to a lesser extent, Federal American) civilizations.

Shared Units: Explorer^note hero unit that starts with a One-Hit Kill button against treasure guardians, Militiaman^note emergency units, Priest^note healer unit, Spy^note stealthy unit good against mercenaries and hero units, Crossbowman^note archaic light infantry with crossbow, Pikeman^note archaic heavy infantry good against cavalry and buildings, Halberdier^note stronger Pikeman that cost Coin instead of Wood, Musketeer^note all purpose heavy infantry with ranged attack, Skrimisher^note light infantry armed with a rifle, Hussar^note melee cavalry, Dragoon^note ranged cavalry equipped with firearms, Cavalry Archer^note mounted archer exclusive to the Ottomans and Russians, Grenadier^note explosive-throwing troopers, Falconet^note basic artillery unit, Culverin^note artillery good against ships and other artillery, Horse Artillery^note fast-moving artillery, Mortar^note slow, powerful artillery, Heavy Cannon^note heavy artillery shipped from the Home City or generated from the Factory, Petard^note self-destructing explosive troopers, Caravel^note light warship that can fish, Galleon^note sturdy warship that can train infantry and cavalry, Frigate^note heavy warship, Monitor^note mortar ship excellent against buildings
Shared buildings: Mill^note slow gathering Food source, Livestock Pen^note trains and fatten livestock, Church^note trains healer units, generates experience and provides various technologies, Artillery Foundry^note trains artillery units, Arsenal^note researches military technologies, Outpost^note small defensive tower, Fort^note massive defensive building that can train units, Tavern (Saloon pre-DE)^note trains mercenaries and outlaws, Estate (Plantation pre-DE)^note slow gathering Coin source, also shared with Native Americans, Factory^note slowly generates Food, Wood, Coin, or heavy artillery, Capitol^note researches Imperial Age technologies

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• Awesome, but Impractical: The Royal Guard upgrade is a unique tier that is more powerful than its generic Guard equivalent, but when comparing between its cost and power difference, it is too expensive for such a minimal improvement in stats ^note jumping from 600 wood and coin to 1000 wood and coin in exchange for a meager 10% difference. Update 14.43676 for the Definitive Edition eventually reduced the upgrade cost for Royal Guard to 750 wood and coin for infantry (850 for cavalry).
• Boring, but Practical: Musketeers are basic ranged units which comprise the bulk of most standard European army builds, while also doubling as anti-cavalry in a pinch.
• Can't Catch Up: Most archaic units available to Europeans, such as Crossbowmen and Pikemen, tend to become obsolete once more gunpowder units like Skirmishers and artillery become readily available, though there are notable exceptions depending on the civ.
• Cosmetically Different Sides: Decidedly more pronounced in the original game. While they all have their unique units, Royal Guard upgrades and Home City perks, they also share many of the same generic units, while differences in culture (split broadly between Mediterranean^note Italians, Maltese, Mexicans, Ottomans, Portuguese, Spanish, Western^note British, Dutch, French, and Eastern European^note Danes, Germans, Poles, Russians, Swedes styles) tend to be visible only in terms of general architecture and Settler attire. There was no visual distinction between a French Musketeer and a British Redcoat, for instance.
• Divergent Character Evolution: Definitive Edition saw the European civilizations become progressively more varied in terms of both gameplay and aesthetics, such as having Saloons replaced by more culturally-appropriate Taverns and new cards emphasizing each individual faction's strengths. The Knights of the Mediterranean DLC and the 25th Anniversary Update, however, up the ante by giving each civ more unique units, divergent Home City options, visual differences, and upgrades. The July 2023 Update went so far as to give Royal Guard and even Mercenary units different skins depending on civilization.
• Elite Mooks:
  • Royal Guard variants of European units serve as enhanced versions of their generic equivalents.
  • Halberdiers in general, which are available to some European civilizations, are heavily armored melee infantry with much greater utility than archaic Pikemen.
• Glass Cannon: Skirmishers are riflemen with longer range and line-of-sight than most ground units. While excelling at countering heavy infantry, ranged cavalry and other Skirmishers, they have lower hitpoints than standard Musketeers and are especially vulnerable to melee.
• Instant Militia: Musket-armed Militiamen (Minutemen before Definitive Edition) can be trained instantly from a Town Center as emergency units, usually as the last line of defense against enemy invaders. This, however, comes at the cost of losing health over time until having only one hit point remaining, functionally making them useless in prolonged engagements.
• Death or Glory Attack: Revolutions in the original game amounted to this for European civs in practice. Rebelling granted access to additional unit types (such as Gatling Guns) and specific bonuses depending on which Revolutionary Nation was chosen, in the process dramatically bolstering military power at the expense of terminally crippling your economy by turning every Settler into a Revolutionary and removing the ability to produce more workers (aside from Fishing Boats). Definitive Edition, however, reworked and expanded on this mechanic to be more viable, such as retaining the ability to replenish your Settlers.
• Grenade Spam: Grenadiers, which as their name suggests, specialize in using period-appropriate explosives to disrupt enemy infantry, while serving as makeshift artillery units against structures. It's also possible to equip them with primitive grenade launchers from a Home City shipment in Definitive Edition.
• La Résistance: A unique mechanic for the Europeans, introduced in The Warchiefs, is how they can rebel from their home countries and become a Revolutionary Nation, instead of advancing to the Imperial Age. While The Warchiefs simply has this be an all-or-nothing gamble where the only real difference between Revolutionary Nations is what bonuses you receive, Definitive Edition overhauls it into a much more comprehensive system with greater differences and provisions for rebuilding your economy.
• Settling the Frontier: More pronounced in the original game, but the European civs generally start out as fledgling pioneers and homesteaders staking their claims for their respective homelands. This is reflected in how their Discovery/Exploration Age structures tend to look like glorified log cabins, and with how certain units and techs could only be accessed through Home City shipments.
• Skill Gate Characters: The European civilizations in general play the most like classic Age of Empires factions, coupled with the Atlanteans' lack of resource drop-off structures from Age of Mythology.
• Suicide Attack: European civs have access to Petards, siege units carrying late-medieval/Renaissance-era explosive barrels that can take out structures alongside themselves.
• Wooden Ships and Iron Men: European navies run the gamut from humble Caravels serving as both makeshift fishermen and advance scouts, to large Frigates filled to the brim with cannons, to mighty Battleships that could command the seas and shores through their sheer firepower. The July 2023 Update also gives said Battleships unique figureheads for each civ.
• You All Meet in an Inn: European civilizations have access to Taverns, where they could hire outlaws and powerful mercenaries, for a sum of gold.

British

Home City: London
Feature: Manors produce Settlers upon completion
Unique Units (original and DE): Longbowman^note archaic long-ranged archer, Rocket^note heavy artillery that fires rockets
Unique Units (DE onwards): Ranger^note unique Skirmisher that sacrifices health and range for more damage
Unique Building: Manor^note House that spawns a Settler upon construction
Royal Guard Units: Musketeer (Redcoats), Hussar (King's Life Guard)
Revolution Civilizations (The WarChiefs): United States^note Gatling Guns gets 25% more hitpoints, Haiti^note Colonial Militia gets 10% more hitpoints
Revolution Civilizations (Definitive Edition): Canada, Haiti^note Egypt prior to the July 2023 patch, South Africa, United States.

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• Anachronism Stew:
  • British units, with the exception of certain hero or explorer units, generally speak some variant of Middle English, which ranges from Chaucerian to almost Shakespearean. While befitting the dawn of the 16th Century, this especially stands out when compared to the United States, whose units all speak in recognizably modern American English.
  • The Industrial and Imperial upgrade for Longbowmen has them in more fitting 19th Century dress uniforms.
• Archaic Weapon for an Advanced Age: Longbowmen generally stand out by looking decidedly more medieval in contrast to the rest of the British roster, and specializing in their titular weapon, which still proves effective in the late-game.
• Brave Scot: The British can hire Highlanders through the "Hire Scottish Highlanders" and the "Hire Highlander Mercenary Army" cards. One of their Church unique techs, "The Black Watch" not only sends additional Highlanders but also upgrades them with more Napoleonic-style uniforms.
• Character Customization: The available skins are Default, Lizzie the Pirate, General Warwick, Ada Lovelace, and Francis Drake.
• A Commander Is You:
  • Balanced: Their military units are not good at everything, but not bad at anything either, with the exception of their musketeers, one of the best in the whole game.
  • Industrial: They get an extra Settler whenever a Manor^note A slightly expensive version of a regular house with 135 wood instead of a normal 100 is built for a quick economic bonus early in the game.
  • Ranger: They have long-ranged attacks with their Longbowmen and Congreve Rockets. Thanks to cards including Offshore Support and Naval Gunners (all of which are unique to them), they have the best naval game of any of the civs.
• Continuity Nod: The British excel in range, economic development, and even have access to Longbowmen, much like the preceding Britons in Age of Empires II.
• Discard and Draw:
  • The "Thin Red Line" upgrade from the "Glorious Revolution" card increases Musketeers' hitpoints at the cost of their speed.
  • They can trade their access to Longbowmen for Rangers via either sending in the "Rangers" card or by researching the "Queen's Rangers" upgrade from the "Glorious Revolution" card^note Researching "Roger's Rangers" in the Commerce Age will send 5 Rangers and replaces Longbowmen present in the map with Rangers, but it will not allow players to train them. Compared to Longbowmen, Rangers have much shorter range but deal more damage.
• Fatal Fireworks: The British deploy Rockets as heavy artillery, being early missile launchers that can do considerable splash damage.
• Obvious Rule Patch: The Manor cannot be deleted, a restriction that usually applies only to revivable units like Explorers. This is likely to prevent players from exploiting its benefit by repeatedly building and demolishing Manors to create Settlers.
• Significant Wardrobe Shift: The "Thin Red Line" upgrade changes the Musketeer's attire to incorporate the iconic redcoats worn by British infantry throughout the period.
• Sniper Rifle: British Rangers by the Industrial/Imperial Age carry rifles with primitive scopes.
• Skill Gate Characters: The British are considered one of the easiest civilizations in the game to play and learn, much like the Britons were in Age of Empires II.
• Uniqueness Decay: The British were the first civilization to gain access to the Battleship, but as of Knights of the Mediterranean, not only can the other European civilizations ship Battleships from the Home City, but any civilization can build Battleships should they ally with any European Royal House.

Danes (Definitive Edition)

Home City: Copenhagen
Feature:
Unique Units:
Unique Buildings:
Royal Guard Units:
Revolution Civilizations:

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Dutch

Home City: Amsterdam
Feature: Train Merchants instead of Settlers, which cost coin instead of food and have a train limit of 50, but gather from mines 15% faster
Their unique Bank automatically produces coin
Starts with an Envoy
Unique Units (original and DE): Envoy^note scouting unit with high line-of-sight, Fluyt^note powerful but slow warship resilient to siege attacks, Ruyter^note weak but cheaper ranged cavalry with 1 population cost, effective against siege units
Unique Units (DE onwards): Merchant^note unique Settler that costs coin but gathers coin faster
Unique Building: Bank^note passively generates Coin
Royal Guard Units: Halberdier (Nassauer/Stadswacht), Ruyter (Carabineer)
Revolution Civilizations (The WarChiefs): Brazil^note Ships 20 Tupi Blackwood Archers and grant Legendary Native Americans, United States^note Gatling Guns gets 25% more hitpoints
Revolution Civilizations (Definitive Edition): Brazil, Indonesia, South Africa, United States.

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• Anachronism Stew:
  • Stadswacht Halberdiers, available by the Industrial and Imperial Ages, don ceremonial attire that looks straight out of the Eighty Years' War (1566/1568–1648).
  • Blue Guard Musketeers, recruitable in Forts through "Nassau Regiment" card, resemble their original late 17th century incarnations even during the Industrial and Imperial Ages.
• Army Scout: Envoys are unique Dutch scouts with considerable speed and high line-of-sight, allowing them to cover considerable ground in a short span of time. They are, however, very fragile, and can only punch enemies as their main attack.
• Character Customization: The available skins are Default, William the Silent, and Dutch Prince.
• A Commander Is You:
  • Economist: Their Coin generation gives them an edge later in the game, when they can afford the powerful mercenaries.
  • Spammer: Their Ruyter ranged cavalry, which costs 1 population instead of the standard 2 and has a very cheap cost.
  • Technical: They start slow, since their settlers costs Coin instead of Food, however, they're able to build Banks, which generate Coins in order to compensate for this. Later on, they get the best Halberdiers in the whole game, and one of the best naval city card bonuses with the powerful Fluyt^note Cheaper and higher damaging counterparts of the generic Galleons, at the cost of lower hitpoints ship.
• Discard and Draw: The "Belgian Revolution" card turns all Pikemen, Halberdiers, and Ruyters into Revolutionaries.
• Divergent Character Evolution: As part of the July 2023 Update differentiating Explorers between the European civilizations, the Dutch Explorer received the ability to train Envoys, granting the Dutch an extra advantage when it comes to early-game reconnaissance.
• Fiction 500: The Dutch's main gimmick is generating Coin through their Banks, a unique building exclusive to the civ. Build enough of them and Dutch Banks can generate a huge amount of Coin without needing any of their Merchants to mine or work on Estates.
• Gathering Steam: The Dutch have a precarious early game, as not only do their Merchants cost Coin to train, their Banks are rather expensive to build and cost Food. This makes them very susceptible to early raids if they aren't able to prioritize their resources effectively. However, once they do get their Banks set up, the Dutch economy will be a formidable force that will more than make up for their slow start.
• Glass Cannon: The Dutch cannot normally train Musketeers (unless they send the "Nassau Regiment" card which not only ships Musketeers but unlocks them at Forts) but can train Skirmishers as early as Colonial/Commerce Age, which upgrade automatically once aging up. While making them effective at range, it also means that they're much more dependent on Pikemen, Ruyters, and Halberdiers to keep them protected.
• Land of Tulips and Windmills: Though it averts this for the most part, the Dutch can send the "Tulip Speculation" card, which increases their Banks' coin generation. Given the time frame of the game, this is most likely a nod to the Dutch Tulip Mania that took place centuries ago.
• Magikarp Power: Ruyters start out individually weaker than generic Dragoons. In addition to taking up less population space and being cheaper to train, however, they can become formidable ranged cavalry by the late-game through upgrades.
• Private Military Contractors: With their ability to generate massive amounts of Coin by themselves, Dutch armies are a cut above the others as they can afford to hire mercenary units from their Tavern or through their Home City more freely. In addition, they can send the "Dutch States Army" card which lets their mercenaries train faster, move faster, and even unlocks certain mercenary units to be trained in their military buildings. However, this comes at a cost of making their regular units slightly more expensive to train.
• Proud Merchant Race: In the Definitive Edition, their Villager units are "Merchants", which inevitably fall into this and require coin to train.

French

Home City: Paris
Feature: Train Coureurs des Bois instead of Settlers, which gathers faster and are more effective in combat but more expensive
Start with a Native Scout
Unique Units: Coureurs des Bois^note expensive but strong Settler that gathers resources faster, Cuirassier^note heavy cavalry with trample damage
Royal Guard Units: Skirmisher (Voltigeur), Cuirassier (Gendarme)
Revolution Civilizations (The WarChiefs): Colombia^note Ships 3 Ironclad, Haiti^note Colonial Militia gets 10% more hitpoints
Revolution Civilizations (Definitive Edition): Canada, Haiti, Revolutionary France, United States.

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• Anachronism Stew: In the original game, the French were more of a hodgepodge of both Bourbon and Napoleonic France, with their Settlers also being based off French Canadian fur traders. This is rectified somewhat by Definitive Edition's 25th Anniversary Update, which makes Revolutionary France a distinct Revolutionary path, while "The Royalist" is added as an Imperial Age politician.
• Badass Native: The French have stronger alliances with Native American tribes, which is reflected in their Home City providing many unique cards that send various Native reinforcements, such as Huron allies, and unique perks to Native units in general.
• Bling of War: Cuirassiers/Gendarmes by the Industrial and Imperial Ages don crisp Victorian dress uniforms underneath their cuirasses.
• Character Customization: The available skins are Default, Captain Pecaudy, Sister Fernig, and Marianne.
• A Commander Is You:
  • Brute Force: Their Cuirassier cavalry have high hitpoints, high damage, and gives Splash Damage.
  • Diplomatic: They have a lot of Home City cards geared towards making native warriors stronger. In addition to "Native Lore", "Native Treaties", "Native Warriors" and "Mercenary Loyalty", they also have "TEAM French Auxiliaries Combat"^note +15% (pre-DE)/+10% (DE) HP and attack, "Native Warrior Combat"^note +20% (pre-DE)/+15% (DE) HP and attack, "Blood Brothers"^note Upgrades them to Elite/Disciplined/Champion/Honored if not done already and "Wilderness Warfare"^note +20% HP. In addition, their Explorer constructs Trading Posts slightly faster compared to other Explorers and like the Native American civilizations they can train Native Scouts at both the Town Center and Native Embassy.
  • Economist: Their Coureur des Bois can gather 25% more resources than their Settler counterparts. They also have the "Colbertism" and "Distributivism" cards that trickle food and wood at a 1.25 rate for the rest of the match.
  • Spammer: They can cheapen the cost of their cavalry by sending the "Throughbreds" card, while "Native Lore" eliminates the coin cost for native techs and "Native Warriors" reduces 25% the cost of the Native units.
• Composite Character: More downplayed in Definitive Edition, but the French are generally a combination of Royalist and Napoleonic France, as well as New France through the Courier des Bois.
• Continuity Nod: Much like the Franks in Age of Empires II, the French have excellent cavalry.
• Discard and Draw: "Tirailleurs" transforms all of their Crossbowmen on the map into Skirmishers. This lets France's counter-infantry units keep their edge in protracted games if they had to train a lot of them during the Commerce Age.
• Divergent Character Evolution: By the 25th Anniversary Update, not only could the French ally with the Bourbon Royal House, with their Imperial Age effectively retooled into a royalist path, they could also revolt as a full-fledged Revolutionary nation in the form of Revolutionary France.
• Fleur-de-lis: Their flag is decorated with it, though this is justified as it is the flag of the Bourbon monarchy. This changes to the Tricolore should they transition into Revolutionary France.
• Herd-Hitting Attack: In the original game^note In Definitive Edition they were reworked: now they take up three population slots and cost a lot more, reducing them to an elite strike force that flanks and picks off isolated units, their Cuirassiers deal splash damage to any enemies they attack. Combined with their large numbers (as they occupy only one population slot) they can destroy armies in seconds.
• Hunter Trapper/The Pioneer: The Courier des Bois are rugged frontiersmen based off French Canadian fur trappers and traders. This is also reflected in them being stronger than average Settlers and able to gather resources faster.
• Skill Gate Characters: Like the Spanish and British, the French are one of the easiest European civilizations to start with, thanks to their near complete unit roster and faster gathering worker units.
• Throw Down the Bomblet: After shipping the "Edict of Nantes" card, France has access to "Young Guard", "Middle Guard", and "Old Guard", which not only ships a bunch of Grenadiers, but allows them to be trained and upgraded.

Germans

Home City: Berlin
Feature: Receives Uhlans with Home City shipments
Unique Units (original and DE): Settler Wagon^note expensive Settler that gathers resources faster, Doppelsoldner^note heavy infantry with splash damage, Uhlan^note light cavalry that sacrifices hitpoints for attack, War Wagon^note horse-drawn wagon equipped with cannons
Unique Units (DE onwards): Landwehr^note rifleman that deals higher base damage at the expense of less bonus damage
Royal Guard Units: Skirmisher (Needle Gunner), Uhlan (Czapka/Prussian)
Revolution Civilizations (The WarChiefs): Argentina^note Ships 6 Mortars and upgrades Mortars to Imperial Howitzers, Peru^note all units get 5% more hitpoints
Revolution Civilizations (Definitive Edition): Argentina, Gran Colombia, Hungary.

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• Anachronism Stew:
  • The Germans employ Doppelsoldners, which even at the late-game look straight out of the Renaissance, alongside more modern-looking troops more appropriate for the Napoleonic Wars.
  • They can also employ late medieval Hussite War Wagons in their army mid-game, which even fully upgraded sticks out like a sore thumb compared to their more contemporary units.
  • The Germans initially only have access to archaic Crossbowmen for ranged infantry until Skirmishers become available in the Fortress Age. While they start donning more period-appropriate attire by the Industrial Age, they could alternatively be replaced by Napoleonic and early-Victorian Landwehr through the "Scharnhorst Reform" card.
• BFS: Their Doppelsoldners are equipped with two-handed zweihänders, allowing them to inflict area damage.
• Bling of War: Doppelsoldners are notably flamboyant and colorful in their appearance, much like the historical Landsknechts they're based on.
• Call-Back: Their Home City Card "Teutonic Town Center" increases the hitpoints and attack of their Town Center, similar to the Town Center bonus they received as the Teutons in the previous installment prior to its HD Edition.
• Call-Forward: Of a sort.
  • They were using Hussite War Wagons in the vanilla edition of III several years before they were introduced as the Bohemians unique unit in Age of Empires II Definitive Edition: Dawn of the Dukes.
  • Their Doppelsoldners were similarly available in the original game, long before they were reimagined as the Holy Roman Empire's Landsknecht infantry in Age of Empires IV.
• Character Customization: The available skins are Default, Fräulein, and Empress Sissi.
• Composite Character: The Germans combine elements from various German states. Their flag is based on the Holy Roman Empire but they're represented by Frederick the Great and have more Prussian related units, like their Uhlans and Needle Guns. This becomes more pronounced in Knights of the Mediterranean, however, given that they could potentially have access to Austrian, Bavarian, Franconian and other German units otherwise only available from the neutral Royal Houses.
• A Commander Is You:
  • Brute Force: Their unique units overwhelm enemies with sheer force. Uhlans have the highest damage but also the lowest hitpoints of non-mercenary melee cavalry, allowing them to apply pressure to enemies towards their slower and bulkier units. Doppelsoldners carry BFSes that can take out other hand infantry and cavalry. War Wagons are ranged cavalry with extra hitpoints which allow them to survive longer in battle.
  • Diplomatic: As of the Definitive Edition, their true strength lies in their access to mercenary and Royal House units. Not only do they have much cheaper mercenary shipments and can strengthen the capabilities of their mercenaries, but they also have access to unique cards such as "Prince-Electors" (which allows them select a European Royal House to ally with) and "Mercenary Camps" (which upgrades their Taverns into Mercenary Camps that have a wider selection of mercenaries.
  • Ranger: They get Royal Guard upgrades for their Skirmisher line, which gives them more hitpoints and damage.
  • Spammer: They get a free Uhlan cavalry with every Home City shipment. Another factor is their heavily discounted mercenary shipments, which means they can get mercenaries earlier in the game.
• Cool Helmet: By the Industrial Age, German gunpowder infantry units like the Needle Gunners are shown donning the famous Prussian Pickelhaube.
• Discard and Draw: Several German Home City Cards work in this fashion.
  • The "Treaty of Westphalia" Home City Card enables the "Tilly's Discipline" technology, which increases the speed of infantry but raises their cost.
  • "Solingen Steel" increases their Doppelsoldners' hitpoints and attack at the cost of their speed.
  • "Scharnhorst Reform" replaces Crossbowmen with musket-using Landwehrs, which do more base damage but less bonus damage.
  • "Death Ride" replaces all existing Uhlans with Totenkopf Hussars, including the free ones gained from every shipment onward. Totenkopf Hussars are more durable than Uhlans but deal less damage outside of their Charged Attack. Unlike the other cards listed here, Uhlans can still be trained at the Stable.
  • "Princely Bavarian Chevaulegers" replaces War Wagons with Chevaulegers, which are less durable but have a deadly melee attack and take up less population.
• Divergent Character Evolution: By the 25th Anniversary Update, they can replace their Crossbowmen with Landwehrs through the "Scharnhorst Reform" card, as well as gain the option to customize their unit roster based on which German Royal House they align themselves with.
• Glass Cannon: The Uhlans have the lowest hitpoints of all cavalry units in the game. They make up for it by having high melee attack and much higher resistant to ranged attacks, making them effective in quick charges.
• Military Mashup Machine: In contrast to the above, War Wagons are less ranged cavalry and more akin to horse-drawn gun emplacements, which can fire on the spot and soak up considerable damage before going down.
• Multinational Team: While all factions can hire foreign mercenaries, the Germans (representing the historically multi-ethnic HRE, Prussia, and Austria) are one of the few factions to have foreign units (the Polish Uhlans and the Bohemian war wagons) in their main roster.
• Private Military Contractors: The Germans can hire Landsknechts, Black Riders, Hessian Jaegers, Swedish/French Fusilier, Finnish Hackapells/English Harquebusiers, Italian Elmeti, the Highland Mercenary Army^note Composed of Scottish Highlanders, Hackapells/Harquebusiers, and Swiss Pikemen, the Holy Roman Army^note Composed of Landsknechts, Black Riders, and Jaegers, and the Mediterranean Mercenary Army^note Composed of Balkan Stradiots, Egyptian Mamelukes, and Barbary Corsairs; later removed in the 25th Anniversary Update at a hefty price of gold.
  • Furthermore, they have a bunch of Home City Cards that improve them: "Treaty of Westphalia" enables the "Wallenstein's Contracts" technology, which removes the gold cost for mercenary Home City Cards (except for the Team-based ones); "Improved Mercenaries" increases their hitpoints and attack; and "Mercenary Loyalty" lowers their cost.
  • By sending the "Mercenary Camps" Home City Card, they can upgrade Taverns to Mercenary Camps, which not only have a higher build limit, but offer a fixed selection of mercenaries such as the aforementioned Landsknechts, Jaegers, and Black Riders as well as Giant Grenadiers and Pandours.
  • On a related note, the "Prince-Electors" Home City Card allows them to pick one European Royal House to ally with, specifically one of the German ones (Hanover, Habsburg, Oldenburg, Wettin, or Wittelsbach). This can allow the Germans to recruit a wide range of units from minor civilizations such as Austrian Line Infantry, Saxon Cuirassiers, and Bavarian Mountain Troopers. Similarly, the "Circle Army" Home City Card sends a different assortment of Royal House units each time.

Italians (Definitive Edition)

Home City: Venice
Feature: Receives a free Settler with every technology and economic buildings can research them in any age
Can send Basilica units to spawn at any military shipment point
Unique Units: Architect^note civilian unit that can slowly construct buildings for free or pay for foundations that build quickly and then can be worked upon by Settlers, Pavisier^note crossbowman with high hitpoints that can change armor via stances, Bersagliere^note fast Skirmisher that sounds a bugle after killing an enemy to stun foes and boost ally speed, Schiavone^note light infantry that counters other light infantry, Papal Guard^note halberdier that absorbs damage for nearby friendly units, Papal Lancer^note heavy cavalry that absorbs damage for nearby friendly units, Papal Zouave^note ranged infantry with high hitpoints that absorbs damage for nearby friendly units, Papal Bombard^note artillery that absorbs damage for nearby friendly units, Leonardo's Tank^note armored vehicle with cannons pointing in all directions, Galleass^note slow powerful warship that can fire in all directions
Unique Buildings: Basilica^note Church that ships Papal units, function as shipment points and speeds up construction of nearby buildings, Lombard^note Saloon that allows you to invest resources, which converts them at no cost but over a period of time
Royal Guard Units: Culverin (Spingarde), Mortar (Gallilean Mortar)
Revolution Civilizations: Argentina, Barbary States, Brazil, United States

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• Anachronism Stew: The Italians in this game are partially based on the Risorgimento during Italy's unification, but many of Italy's units are also modeled after Italy before their unification.
  • The Pavisiers, in particular, are armored like the medieval Genoese Crossbowmen from II. Their Industrial Age upgrade, as seen in the July 2023 Update, slightly modernizes their appearance with Renaissance-era uniforms reminiscent of the Papal Swiss Guard.
  • The Royal Guard upgrade for the Culverin is named after an invention by Leonardo da Vinci and the Mortar's upgrade is named after Galileo Galilei, but these aren't available until reaching the Industrial Age, which is long after da Vinci and Galileo had lived in real life. Moreover, both units received unique skins with the July 2023 Update, with the Gallilean Mortar being carried by soldiers in Renaissance clothing and the Spingarde being crewed by soldiers wearing uniforms from long after it would have been phased out.
  • Then there's the cosmetic skin you can purchase, which lets your Explorer dress up as a Roman Centurion while still speaking Latin and wielding a rifle (or rather, a pilum being used as a rifle) in battle.
• Archaic Weapon for an Advanced Age: With the Papal Guard politician, Pavisiers can not only be upgraded from the Industrial Age onwards, but can also hold their own against much more modern units.
• Ascended Extra: Italy itself was originally Dummied Out prior to the release of the original edition of Age of Empires III, but was made a full civilization in the Definitive Edition. The Architect was one of the units proposed for the original civilization that has been Refitted for Sequel, while units that had already been repurposed as mercenaries - the Elmetto and Lil Bombard - have been given Papal equivalents.
• Badass Army/Church Militant: Potent Papal units can be deployed en masse through both Home City shipments and the Basilica, which aren't only potent but can also absorb damage taken by nearby friendly units. By the Industrial Age, these can include Papal Zouaves, the Swiss Guard and Papal Bombards.
• Character Customization: The available skins are Default, Vittorio Emanuele II, Venetian Noblewoman, Italian Devotee and Roman Centurion.
• A Commander Is You:
  • Diplomatic: They have unique "Company" Cards which send different combinations of native, mercenary, or other European units.
  • Economist: They receive free Settlers with each technology, can speed up building construction with the unique Architect and Basilica, and the Lombard allows them to invest resources, which allows for the free conversion of resources over time.
  • Industrial: Several of their cards are geared towards bolstering their economic output such as "TEAM Marco Polo Voyages" and "Merchant Republics".
• Composite Character: They are an amalgamation of the various states that comprised the Italian peninsula from the Renaissance to the Risorgimento. This is reflected in their Home City cards and unit roster ranging from Venetian bonuses and Florentine merchant houses to reinforcements from the Papal States.
• Defog of War: One of the effects of "TEAM Marco Polo Voyages" is to reveal all black areas of the fog for the user and their teammates, allowing them to identify the terrain and resources.
• The Engineer: The Architect is a unique Italian builder unit that can gather wood and lay the foundations of any structure for free, which in turn build up automatically at the expense of prolonged construction times. This could be mitigated, however, by either having Settlers aid in the construction or paying the rest of the cost up-front.
• Gathering Steam: The Italians start out with fewer worker units than other civs, making their early game very precarious. On the other hand, they receive free Settlers with each upgrade and tech, allowing them to rapidly make up for lost time and become an economic powerhouse by the late game.
• Historical In-Joke:
  • While the Basilica, the Italians' Church equivalent, resembles the Duomo di Firenze, by the Industrial Age it combines elements of both St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome, and the Piazza dei Miracoli. The latter of which is famous for the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
  • The Revolutionaries that are deployed through the Basilica's Risorgimento tech, as of the July 2023 Update, resemble the "Redshirt" volunteers who accompanied Giuseppe Garibaldi in his campaigns.
• Knight in Shining Armor: Papal Lancers, which are a unique version of the Elmetto shipped via the Basilica.
• Lethal Joke Character: Normally the Imperial Age Inventor is one of the least useful politicians because it sends an Advanced Hot Air Balloon when all the other Imperial Age politicians offer far more substantial bonuses. However, should the Italians send the "Advanced Politicians" card, then the Imperial Age Inventor will instead send a Leonardo's Tank, a unit that is normally only available through cheat codes^note and even then, the Tank attained in this way is somewhat nerfed compared to the cheat version.
• Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: The Pavisier carries one of these, which makes it much more durable than regular Crossbowmen. In exchange, however, it has a rather awkward attack animation, meaning that its fire rate is more deceptively slow than advertised and it as a result kites less effectively than other foot archers. The same issue plagued the United States Sharpshooter upon release.
• Multi-Directional Barrage: Both the Galleass and Leonardo's Tank have abilities that allow them shoot cannonballs in a radius around them. The Leonardo's Tank has three different (albeit similar) firing modes for omni-directional fire on top of that.
• Private Military Contractors: Reflecting Italy's longstanding history of mercenary companies and the Condottieri, their deck has access to several "Company" cards which send different types of foreign units, including mercenaries. The Broken Lance and Croatian cards are particularly noticeable. The only thing holding these cards back from really extensive play is their wood cost, since they all ship excellent units, but wood is less important to macro for as Italians due to Architects.
  • "Broken Lance Company" sends 3 Papal Lancers and a Stradiot, and is available in Age II, giving access to those units several minutes early—a godsend for Italians players who do not like Basilica units clogging up their shipment queue. Those four units are also ludicrously good at repelling early raids and rushes from practically every other civilization barring the Lakota Bow Riders—and Italians likely won't get these cavalry troops in time to meet Lakota anyways after their July 2023 rework; the rush can hit less than a minute after Italians' characteristically slow age-up.
  • "Croatian Company" is more of a straight-forward "eat shit and die" type of card, as it sends 6 Crabats and 7 Schiavones. Not only do these two units have great stats, you get 13 total soldiers who can overpop you in the early game against a rush or raid—very few civilizations get nearly as many soldiers from a single card, and none so strong. Crabats are mounted generalists—fast moving cavalry outlaws with excellent performance against all units. Schiavones are riflemen who counter other Skirmisher-types, something that is always useful.
• Stance System: Pavisiers can change their armor depending on their current formation.
• Support Party Member: In addition to serving as the Italians' Skirmisher equivalents, the Bersagliere sound a bugle after killing an enemy, which stuns foes and boosts the speed of nearby friendly units.
• Taking the Bullet: Papal units absorb damage taken by nearby friendly units.
• Tank Goodness: By aging up to the Imperial Age with the Inventor after sending the "Advanced Politicians" card, the Italians can gain a single Leonardo's Tank. However, this is a one-off bonus, and the tank is irreplaceable should it be destroyed. It cannot be healed, either, and by the time the Tank makes its appearance, it's likely your opponent will have a handful of anti-artillery units lurking just out of sight to pick off your giant Beyblade.

Maltese (Definitive Edition)

Home City: Valletta
Feature: Starts with a Grand Master
Units gain additional hitpoints with each shipment and heal overtime when idle
Unique Units: Grand Master^note explorer replacement who can build defensive structures, Hospitaller^note melee infantry that absorbs damage and is faster near buildings, Sentinel^note defensive Musketeer that is stronger near buildings and can build Outposts, Fire Thrower^note light infantry with incendiary weapons, Fire Ship^note boats loaded with explosives
Unique Buildings: Hospital^note Barracks that heals nearby infantry, Commandery^note Stable that recruits foreign units from Tongue cards as well as garrison units and allow them to exit from any other Commandery, Depot^note building that boosts the attack speed of nearby gunpowder units, artillery, and buildings; explodes upon destruction, dealing indiscriminate damage, Fixed Gun^note powerful stationary artillery
Royal Guard Units: Crossbowman (Arbalester), Culverin (Basilisk)
Revolution Civilizations: Barbary States, Hungary

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• Anachronism Stew:
  • Hospitallers by default wear mail surcoats and tabards which would not look out of place during The Crusades but would really stand out in the game's timeframe. It gets more egregious should the "Dignitaries" card be shipped, which gives them a pistol and a cosmetic top hat on their armor.
  • Sentinels, meanwhile, retain a general Renaissance-17th century aesthetic through the game's timeframe, which evolves into elaborate ceremonial garb that's barely more "modern" than their Hospitaller counterparts.
  • Similarly, Arbalesters closely resemble fully-upgraded crossbowmen from Age of Empires II, looking almost straight out of The Crusades.
• Archaic Weapon for an Advanced Age:
  • Hospitallers are medieval crusader knights that can be sent up against the likes of Civil War Gatling Guns.
  • It gets even more amazing when you consider the case of the Maltese Crossbowman and its Royal Guard upgrade, the Arbalester. These are pound for pound the most straightforwardly lethal archers in the game the further you advance in age, and thanks to "Wignacourt Constructions", are very very easy to mass. The only force with a hope to match Maltese Crossbowmen is a pre-existing mass of Portuguese Besteiros with full promotion stats once "Ordenança" is researched.
• Ascended Extra: Many Maltese unique buildings and units are based off of campaign exclusive units such as the Hospitallers and Sentinels being the Boneguard units, and the Fixed Gun, Commandery, and Depots usually being the objective targets in the campaigns.
• BFG: The Fixed Gun is a massive stationary cannon.
• BFS: Like Doppelsoldners, Hospitallers wield two-handed swords that allow them to deal area damage.
• Bling of War: Their Sentinels and Hospitallers gain progressively more ornate attire as they're upgraded, eventually donning full ceremonial regalia by the Imperial Age.
• Call-Back:
  • The Commandery's ability to garrison units and and allow them to exit from any other Commandery is borrowed from the Oranos Sky Passage from Age of Mythology. Due to the more grounded nature of the game, units must take time to garrison in the Commandery rather than instantaneously.
  • Due to their medieval theme, they have several to Age of Empires II:
    • The "Teutonic Knights" upgrade from the "Papal Bull" card increases Hospitallers' hitpoints at the cost of their speed and a cosmetic great helm much like the Teutonic Knights from Age of Empires II.
    • The Royal Guard upgrade for the Crossbowman is called Arbalester, which is the final upgrade tier for II's foot archer line.
    • The "Squires" card uses the same icon as the Barracks tech from II, but instead of buffing infantry speed, it improves the training time of military buildings.
    • "TEAM Knights of The Round Table" features, among other individuals, the English king on the original Age of Empires II box art.
• Character Customization: The available skins are Default, Morgan Black, Alain Magnan, Templar Horsewoman and Lady with Ghonella.
• A Commander Is You:
  • Diplomatic: Their unique Commandery allows them to recruit powerful foreign allies via unique "Tongue" cards that work like the Swedes' "Contract" cards.
  • Turtle: The Maltese are geared towards a highly defensive playstyle. Their units get more durable with each shipment, heal over time, and are stronger near their own buildings. They have multiple unique buildings that augment their defensive playstyle, such as the Hospital which heals nearby units, the Depot which bolsters the firepower of nearby gunpowder units, and the Fixed Gun. Their unique Commandery allows them to garrison units and unload them at any other Commandery.
• Crippling Overspecialization: While masters at defense and fortifications, the Maltese lack in numbers and relative mobility, especially if you don't opt to unlock Order units via "Tongue" cards or lack enough Commanderies to properly shuffle troops wherever needed. This can make recovering from significant breaches in said defenses difficult.
• Defeat Equals Explosion: The Depot will explode if it is destroyed.
• Elite Army: Downplayed. Order units are in essence just fully-upgraded variants of myriad standard and unique European units. On the other hand, they're generally more expensive, have added population costs, and take longer to train.
• The Engineer: The Grand Master and Sentinels can build additional defensive structures such as Depots. Hospitallers can also build Hospitals once the "Order of the Hospital" upgrade has been researched.
• Fatal Fireworks: Sentinels and Fire Throwers can be upgraded through Home City Cards to shoot rockets.
• Fire-Breathing Weapon: One of their specialties. The Fire Thrower is armed with burning hoops by default but can be upgraded to carry flamethrowers and rockets as well, and the Fire Ship explodes on contact with other ships. Sentinels and Outposts can also be upgraded to use rockets and flamethrowers respectively via cards.
• Home Field Advantage: Their units are stronger near their own buildings. Several of their defensive structures such as the Hospital and Depot augment them.
• Knight in Shining Armor/Warrior Monk: Their unique units are derived from The Knights Hospitallers and many of them continue to wear medieval armor.
• Low Culture, High Tech: While not culturally backwards, the Maltese military harkens back to medieval times compared to their more modern neighbors with most of their unique units resembling medieval knights. Despite their apparent obsolescence, they can be upgraded to use modern weapons such as pistols, flamethrowers, and rockets.
• Mechanically Unusual Fighter: The Maltese do not have traditional Barracks and Stables, instead having Hospitals and Commanderies respectively. The former trains local troops and heals nearby units while the latter not only can recruit foreign units unlocked via "Tongue" cards, but can garrison units and allow them to exit from any other Commandery.
• Multinational Team: The "Tongue" cards reflect all the foreign powers that have pledged their support to the Knights of St. John by allowing them to recruit "Order units" from those countries, such as France and Germany. This also extends to some of their general units, which range from native Maltese to Italian and German reinforcements.
• Mythology Gag: Many Maltese assets, both in terms of units and structures, are repurposed from Act I of the original campaign. Their unique Grand Master hero is modeled after the fictional GM in the campaign, Alain Magnan, their unique Imperial Age politician, the Scottish Marshal, is modeled after The Hero Morgan Black, and several heroes from the campaign can cameo in their Home City as unlockable cosmetic features. Meanwhile, the Hospitaller and Sentinel units are variants of the Boneguard Swordsman and Musketeer.
• Promoted to Playable: The Maltese were originally playable in Act I of the original campaign as the Knights of St. John before becoming playable with the Knights of the Mediterranean DLC.
• Stance System: Sentinels switch to using anti-cavalry pikes when in melee.
• Stone Wall: Malta's playstyle revolves around strong defenses, while their units are similarly geared towards holding the line and soaking up damage before closing in for the kill.
• Sweet Sheep: Instead of War Dogs, the Maltese explorer can gain the Lamb of the Creator, a controllable sheep hero unit. Despite lacking any attack and being otherwise indistinguishable from domesticated sheep, the Lamb makes up for it by being excellent at scouting and having large hitpoints, while its greater armor makes it useful in keeping enemies distracted.
• Sword and Gun: The "Dignitaries" card grants Hospitallers a ranged pistol attack in addition to their broadswords.
• Walking Armory: Through Home City cards, the Maltese could augment their unique units with additional weapons, making them more robust in both defense and sieges. Whether it's Fire Throwers and Sentinels being able to get rockets and flamethrowers, or Hospitallers getting pistols.

Ottomans

Home City: Istanbul
Feature: Their Town Center automatically produces Yoruks
Their Yorük production increases with unique technologies at the Mosque
Unique Units (original and DE): Imam^note Muslim priest that heals allies, Janissary^note strong Ottoman Musketeer, Spahi (Sipahi in DE)^note heavy cavalry; shipped from the Home City, Abus Gun (Abus Gunner in DE)^note long-ranged infantry that deals siege damage to units, Great Bombard^note slow but very powerful artillery
Unique Units (original only): Galley^note mobile warship best used for scouting
Unique Units (DE onwards): Yörük^note unique Settler that automatically spawns from the Town Center, Bashibozuk^note unique Ottoman Militiaman, Azap^note infantry with a halberd and bow strong against cavalry, Nizam Fusilier^note multipurpose infantry; shipped from the Home City, Deli^note unique Hussar that trades damage and hitpoints for increased movement and attack speed, Humbaraci^note unique Grenadier stronger against buildings and artillery but less effective against infantry and cavalry, Muhbir^note unique Spy who gain more hitpoints the more units they killed
Unique Building: Mosque
Royal Guard Units: Hussar/Deli (Gardener/Rumeliot), Grenadier/Humbaraci (Baractu/Ulufeli)
Revolution Civilizations (The WarChiefs): Chile^note Ships 10 Hussars and upgrade Hussar to Imperial/Imperial Guard, Colombia^note Ships 3 Ironclad
Revolution Civilizations (Definitive Edition): Barbary States, Egypt, Hungary, Romania.

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• Anti-Cavalry: Azaps are a unique Bow and Sword in Accord take on this type of unit due to carrying a halberd to deal with heavy cavalry in melee and a bow to deal with ranged cavalry.
• Bling of War: By the Industrial Age, fully-upgraded Janissaries don ornate ceremonial attire befitting their elite status in Ottoman society.
• Character Customization: The available skins are Default, Sahin the Falcon, and Evliya Celebi.
• A Commander Is You:
  • Unit Specialist (Artillery): Ottoman players can create artillery units (Humbaracis) earlier than the rest of the other factions, and in the lategame they get to ship the mighty Great Bombards or slowly create them from the Factory. However, their Barracks roster is limited (especially prior to the 25th Anniversary Update), while Abus Gunners (the civilization's answer to the Skirmisher), can only be created in the Artillery Foundry. That said, they do have decent cavalry as well, since their Hussar/Deli line gets Royal Guard upgrades, and they can ship the powerful Sipahi heavy cavalry from their Home City, which are capable of dealing Area of Effect damage.
  • Unconventional: They get free Yorük (their Settler/Villager equivalent) at the catch of them being automatically generated.
• Cosmetically Different Sides: Being a Muslim empire, the Ottomans have Imams and Mosques unlike their European neighbors, though they function almost exactly the same as the Priests and Churches they replace.
  • There is one major difference, however, that leads to Ottoman players often opening up games building a Mosque unlike most civilizations. The Ottomans begin with a cripplingly low Yoruk limit of 25, and this can get awkward when you constantly produce them for free, especially from multiple Town Centers in Fortress Age and beyond. Using additional technologies provided at the Mosque (Specifically "Galata", "Topkapi", and "Tanzimat"), you can raise the limit to 45, 70, and 99 respectively for a relatively cheap cost. Researching "Millet System", "Koprulu Viziers" and "Grand Bazaar" reduces Yorük train time as well.
• Crippling Overspecialization: Their artillery may be powerful, however, their focus on fragile and expensive units can backfire on them.
• Discard and Draw: The "Palace Intrigue" Home City Card in Definitive Edition allows the Ottomans to research the "New Order Infantry" upgrade from the Mosque, which ships in a force of modernized Nizam Fusiliers (a cross between Musketeers and Sharpshooters) and replaces later Janissary shipments with them. The 25h Anniversary Update reworked this card to allow a limited amount of Nizam Fusiliers to be trained from the Barracks.
• Divergent Character Evolution: The 25th Anniversary Update took major steps to rectify the aforementioned Cosmetically Different Sides issue by giving the Ottomans several more unique units to replace their European counterparts such as Bashibozuks, Humbaracis, and Delis, each with their own cases of Discard and Draw in terms of stats to differentiate them. It still plays this straight in a few areas, such as renaming Ottoman Settlers to Yörükler (whose only difference is their unique training and build limit mechanic) and introducing the "Topcular" card which while improving artillery attack and hitpoints reskins artillery crews to look more Middle Eastern.
• Elite Army: The Ottomans can get their high tier units by shipping the "Palace Intrigue" Home City Card. While each tech unlocked by this shipment has a steep cost, they can be discounted by sending "Mosque Construction".
  • "New Order Infantry"^note DE only, previously Tufanci Corps which ships Janissaries ships Nizam Fusiliers and allows them to be trained to a limited amount at the Barracks. They are powerful European-style troops with their own Stance System.
  • "Topcu Corps" ships Great Bombards and reduces their population cost by 1.
  • "Kapikulu Corps"^note DE only, Update 58326 ships Sipahis and improves the melee armor of heavy cavalry units.
• The Engineer: The Ottomans' Home City Card deck boasts an interesting unique card, "Battlefield Construction", which allows Janissaries to construct military buildings in the field, ideal for siege purposes.
• Hit-and-Run Tactics: Normally ranged cavalry have negative multipliers against villagers, but sending the "Akincis" card allows Cavalry Archers to deal more damage against them.
• Home Guard: Bashibozuks, the Ottomans' Militiaman equivalents, lose their hit points at a slower rate than generic Militiamen, and their attack causes extra damage against heavy infantry and mercenaries.
• Horse Archer: As a nod to their past as the horse-riding Turks and their alliance with several Tatar tribes, the Ottomans are one of the two civilizations with access to Cavalry Archers instead of Dragoons. They can also send Qizilbash and Tatar Horse Archers via the Home City.
• Interservice Rivalry: The historical clash between the Janissaries and "New Order" reforms pushed by later Ottoman sultans is reflected in how Nizam Fusiliers have generally better stats, but could only be deployed in limited numbers.
• The Musketeer: Janissaries are adept at both melee attacks and ranged firepower, though Definitive Edition downplays this by introducing Azaps, which serve as specialized anti-cavalry, and the similarly well-rounded Nizam Fusiliers.
• Necessary Drawback: To offset their ability to spawn their worker units for free, the Ottomans can only ship Covered Wagon (free Town Center) from Industrial Age onwards, instead of the Fortress Age.
• Stance System: The Nizam Fusiliers are multipurpose infantry, effective against either other infantry or cavalry depending on their current formation. However, they are only available by researching "New Order Infantry" at the Mosque.
• Uniqueness Decay:
  • Galleys were originally exclusive to the Ottomans, though following the release of Knights of the Mediterranean, the Maltese have access to them as well.
  • They used the be the only civilization with access to "Battlefield Construction", but similar cards were gradually distributed to the Lakota, Indians, and Russians as well.

Poles (Definitive Edition)

Home City: Warsaw
Feature:
Unique Units:
Unique Buildings:
Royal Guard Units:
Revolution Civilizations: Haiti, United States

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• Ascended Extra/Promoted to Playable: The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth went from being playable (in the form of Poland and Lithuania as separate civilizations) in the Definitive Edition of Age of Empires II to being Demoted to Extra in the form of the Houses of Jagiellon and Vasa in the Knights of the Mediterranean DLC to back to being playable again in a 2024 DLC.

Portuguese

Home City: Lisbon
Feature: Create a free Covered Wagon upon advancing an Age
Start with 7 settlers instead of 6
Unique Units: Caçador^note Skirmisher with low hitpoints but high attack, Organ Gun^note artillery that fires multiple projectiles
Unique Units (DE onwards): Ordinance Rifleman^note rifleman that deals less base damage but with higher bonus damage, branch upgrade for the Crossbowman
Royal Guard Units: Crossbowman (Ordinance Besteiro) and Pikeman (Ordinance)^note both DE only, Musketeer (Guerreiro/Legionarios), Dragoon (Jinete/Legion)
Revolution Civilizations (The WarChiefs): Brazil^note Ships 20 Tupi Blackwood Archers and grant Legendary Native Americans, Mexico^note Ships 10 Outlaw Pistoleros and 10 Outlaw Riders
Revolution Civilizations (Definitive Edition): Barbary States, Brazil, Gran Colombia, Indonesia, Peru.

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• Anachronism Stew:
  • Ordinance Besteiros used to resemble Napoleonic light infantry or guerillas, yet still carry crossbows which would have been woefully obsolete around that time. The July 2023 Update eventually rectified this by introducing the Ordinance Rifleman, exchanging their crossbows for rifles (a la the German Landwehrs) once the "Ordenança" tech is researched. This also reverts the Ordinance Besteiros back to their medieval designs.
  • The "Order of the Tower and the Sword" sends them Order Knights, a unique version of the Black Rider unit wherein their horses are in full barding while the riders are still armed with pistols.
• Archaic Weapon for an Advanced Age: While not as much as with the Spanish, the Portuguese have upgrades and Home City shipments that encourage the use of ranged archaic units.
  • This is especially the case for their Crossbowmen, which receive significant buffs through shipments and unique techs. In Definitive Edition, they can also be upgraded into powerful Ordinance Besteiros by the Industrial Age.
  • They also have access to late-medieval Organ Guns, also known as the Ribauldequin from Age of Empires IV, which remain effective even against 19th Century armies due to their rate of fire.
• Born Under the Sail: As one of the pioneers of the Age of Discovery, the Portuguese has several cards that gives them economical and military advantage on naval maps, such as "Portuguese White Fleet", "Navigation School", and "Carracks".
• Character Customization: The available skins are Default, Maria of Portugal, and Cangaceiro.
• A Commander Is You:
  • Industrial: Players with experience in micromanaging have the advantage in the late game, because they can spread their base around for resources while having great naval bonuses, excellent Dragoons (Ranged anti-cavalry) and light infantry, and their Musketeers rival the British. All of these units have Royal Guard upgrades.
  • Ranger: Their Organ Gun, an early ancestor of the machine gun, and good ranged units like their Musketeers, Dragoons, and Caçadors (who sacrifice what little hitpoints they have for increased damage).
  • Technical: They begin as a slow from a beginning but powerful late in the game. They lack any Settler cards and have a slow economic build up, however, players can memorize the map using the Portuguese explorer's ability to use the spyglass, and they get a Covered Wagon with every advanced age.
• Defog of War: Portuguese Explorers have a Spyglass, which allow them to spot various points on the map for a short period of time.
• Discard and Draw:
  • Shipping the "Treaty of Tordesillas" Home City Card unlocks "Encomienda Manor" at the Church, which when researched significantly improves Settlers' gather rate on Mills while lowering the gather rate for other resources.
  • In exchange for an extra 100 food age-up cost, the Portuguese can train Crossbowmen, Pikemen, and Musketeers from their Town Centers if they choose "The Logistician" as their Commerce Age politician.
• Foil: The Portuguese are thematically this to the Spanish. On top of bonuses and techs favoring ranged archaic and gunpowder troops, their upgraded units lean much more towards the Napoleonic and Victorian Eras in their aesthetics. In contrast, the Spanish specialize more on archaic melee infantry, which even by the Imperial Age hearken more towards the days of Cortez and Pizarro.
• Glass Cannon: Caçadors have lower hitpoints than even standard Skirmishers, but more than make up for it with heavy firepower, especially when backed by Crossbowmen/Besteiros and Musketeers/Legionarios.
• More Dakka: Their Organ Guns. These are maneuverable automatic guns in all but name, firing up to 6 bullets to a their targets. A load of Organ Guns can barrage against an army of soldiers, particularly infantry. Though their DPS is wasted less than those of Falconets due to overkill, Organ Guns and Gatling Guns suffer from a raw damage output issue that prevents them from scaling as well in the late game.
• Necessary Drawback: To offset their ability to spawn free Covered Wagons for every age up, the Portuguese don't get Settler Home City cards.

Russians

Home City: St. Petersburg
Feature: Trains Settlers and infantry in groups
Blockhouses function as both the Barracks and the Outposts
Unique Units (original and DE): Strelet^note weak but cheap Skirmisher, Cossack^note weak but cheaper heavy cavalry with 1 population cost, Oprichnik^note fast heavy cavalry good at raiding villagers or buildings
Unique Units (DE onwards): Rekrut^note weak but cheap Musketeer, Poruchik^note weak but cheap Halberdier available in the Commerce Age
Unique Buildings: Blockhouse^note functions as both a Barracks and an Outpost
Royal Guard Units: Cavalry Archer (Tartar/Dvoryane), Grenadier (Pavlov)
Revolution Civilizations (The WarChiefs): Columbia^note Ships 3 Ironclad, Peru^note all units get 5% more hitpoints
Revolution Civilizations (Definitive Edition): Finland, Hungary, Romania.

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• Character Customization: The available skins are Default, Boyar, Hussar Devotchka, and Mila the Bear.
• A Commander Is You:
  • Brute Force: They are capable of overwhelming their enemies solely by using numbers.
  • Guerilla: Their Oprichnik cavalry have bonuses against villagers and buildings.
  • Spammer: Most of their units are weak but are created in batches. The downsides, besides their weaker stats^note the Cossack is a Hussar that costs only 1 population, the Poruchik is a Halberdier available an age earlier and can later be upgraded to gain additional hitpoints around other infantry, and their Strelets are the cheapest and weakest unit of the whole game, for example, are their requirements for more resources at once.
  • Turtle: Their Blockhouses are a combination between the Barracks and Outpost, and not only can they send an additional Fort compared to other European civilizations, they can upgrade their infantry to build Forts after sending the "Pjotr's Toy Soldiers" card.
• Discard and Draw:
  • "Suvorov Reforms" turns every existing Strelet into Rekruts, turning a potential Zerg Rush into a wall of heavy firepower. In turn, "Milyutin Reforms" turns Rekruts into Northern Guard Musketeers, which are stronger but more expensive.
  • "Bashkir Rebellion" turns Cossacks into Tatar Archers, which cost more population but have a ranged attack.
• Divergent Character Evolution: To reflect how Russian infantry are weaker and cheaper than their regular counterparts, the July 2023 Update replaced their Musketeers and Halberdiers with Rekruts and Poruchiks respectively.
• Horse Archer: Russia is one of two civilizations with access to Cavalry Archers instead of Dragoons, and they can send the "Landed Gentry" card which not only makes them available in the Commerce Age but switches their Coin cost for Wood. Russia was affected by the Mongol invasion, with their lands being sacked, until Ivan the Terrible allied with the several Khans. One of their Royal Guard units is the Tartar, a Cavalry Archer, named after the Turkish tribe that was part of the Golden Horde, and which settled in modern day Russia. While Definitive Edition eventually changed the name to Dvoryane, the "Bashkir Rebellion" card allows them to turn all Cossacks into Tatar Archers.
• Magikarp Power: Russian Strelets start out as glorified Cannon Fodder, being exceptionally cheap but only strong in very large numbers. After enough upgrades and Home City shipments, however, they can become almost as strong as standard Musketeers.
• Rape, Pillage, and Burn:
  • Their "Ransack" Home City Card gives their infantries +50% siege attack. And since they can mass a tons of Strelets and one of their Royal Guard units is the Grenadier, an army of them can nearly decimate undefended cities.
  • The Oprichnik, the Russian Secret Police under the service of the brutal Ivan of Terrible, are specialized in speed and strength when it comes to destroying buildings with their high siege attack, and killing villagers with their bonus.
• Stone Wall:
  • The Russians have strong defenses from the get-go, with their Blockhouses being a hybrid of Barracks and Outposts, but it's their "Sevastopol" card that really makes them shine; it cuts the build time for all defensive buildings in half including Forts.
  • Also, regarding Forts, not only can Russia have a maximum of 3 Forts (many other European civilizations are stuck with 2), but they can also rebuild them. Forts are rare buildings due to them requiring Fort Wagons being shipped through Home City Cards, however, once they ship their "Pjotr's Toy Soldiers" Home City Card, their infantry are able to build Forts, allowing Russia to seize favorable positions and produce units from those Forts.
• We Have Reserves: In addition to cheaper units that could be trained in bigger batches, the Russians have a larger population cap (220 as opposed to 200) and can replenish their losses more quickly. The only other civilization in the game to match them are the Chinese.
• Zerg Rush:
  • Strelets may be weaker than average, but they're cheap, are built in groups of 10 and have several cards that grant them extra stats like "Strelet Combat" and "Boyars".
  • Most European civilizations have the card "Fencing School" that lowers infantry train time like, but the Russians take it one step further with the card "TEAM Dueling School". Combine these cards with the "Standing Army" research and the civ's own bonuses, and you get an army of Rekruts and Poruchiks that is replenished at lighting speed.

Spanish

Home City: Seville
Feature: Earn Home City shipments faster
Unique Units: War Dog^note dog companion which can be trained in numbers, Missionary^note mobile priest that can heal allies, Rodelero^note fast heavy infantry suited for melee combat, Lancer^note anti-infantry heavy cavalry
Royal Guard Units: Pikeman (Tercio), Rodelero (Espada), Lancer (Garrochista)
Revolution Civilizations (The WarChiefs): Chile^note Ships 10 Hussars and upgrade Hussar to Imperial/Imperial Guard, Mexico^note Ships 10 Outlaw Pistoleros and 10 Outlaw Riders
Revolution Civilizations (Definitive Edition): Argentina, Chile, Gran Colombia, Peru, Revolutionary Mexico.

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• Anachronism Stew:
  • Most of Spain's unique and Royal Guard units harken to the time of the conquistadors even into the Industrial and Imperial Ages, when most of the other European civilizations lean towards the Napoleonic if not Victorian Era.
  • On the opposite end of the timeframe, the "Royal Halberdiers" upgrade from the Church sends Halberdiers wearing more modern dress uniforms in spite of their obsolete armaments.
• Archaic Weapon for an Advanced Age: The Spanish have upgrades and Home City shipments that encourage the use of archaic melee units.
  • Rodeleros are sword-and-buckler footmen seemingly straight out of the Reconquista, yet can remain very effective even against Napoleonic gunpowder units.
  • The same also holds true for Spain's Pikemen, which can eventually be upgraded into versatile Tercios with greater armor and combat power.
  • Lancers are conquistador cavalrymen armed with glaives and adargas, yet in spite of their apparently outdated appearance can still function as one of the best heavy cavalry units in the game.
• Call-Back: Upon the arrival of the "Marvelous Year" shipment, a flamenco-ish chant plays, which is derived from the original Regional Riff for the Spanish civilization in ''Age of Empires II".
• Character Customization: The available skins are Default, Heroic Villager, Flamenco Dancer and Delgado.
• Civil Warcraft/Les Collaborateurs: A two-way street with the Mexicans. The Spanish can deploy loyalist Mexican Soldados from the Haciendas shipped in by the "Viceroyalty of New Spain" card, which upgrade automatically with each age up, which in turn they can pit against deserting Spanish Musketeers and Lancers on the Mexican side unlocked by the "Criollos" and "Spanish Sympathizers" cards respectively.
• A Commander Is You:
  • Balanced: Their units can be used anytime, anywhere. One of their best units is their Lancer, which specializes in taking down infantry, but various cards that enhance their Galleons also ensure Spain performs decently on water maps too.
  • Economist: They get Home City shipments earlier. The "Spanish Gold" card sends an additional amount of gold for each future shipment, allowing them to allocate more villagers to Food and Wood, while shipping "Marvelous Year" temporarily jacks up Villager train and gather rates.
  • Generalist: They have the easiest skills to learn, since they have the highest amount of military units available in the game.
• Canine Companion: Unlike many other European civilizations', the Spanish explorer starts with a War Dog from the beginning, and the explorer can train up to five War Dogs instead of just one. This gives their explorer an early game advantage, as they do not have to fight treasure guardians alone.
• Discard and Draw: Shipping the "Royal Decree to Claim the New World" Home City Card enables the Corselet upgrade from the Church, which increases the hitpoints of their heavy infantry at the cost of speed.
• Magikarp Power: By the Industrial Age, not only do Spanish Pikemen and Rodeleros remain viable (as both Tercios and Espadachins respectively), but with Home City card shipments they can become faster and much more durable.
• Mighty Glacier: The Corselet tech from the Church makes Spanish Rodeleros and Pikemen significantly tougher at the expense of slower movement.
• Multinational Team: Through their Church, the Spanish can deploy Wild Geese infantry, unique versions of the Irish Brigadier mercenary. They can also train Mexican Soldados through any Hacienda sent from their Home City.
• Skill Gate Characters: Among the European civs, the Spanish are the closest there is to an Age of Empires II faction with their emphasis on archaic melee infantry. This makes them both easy to learn for early-game supremacy and tricky to play by the late-game.
• Support Party Member: The Missionary, the Spanish replacement of the Priest, is capable of healing allies, fast enough to keep up with any cavalry, and under the effect of the "Unction" Home City Card, he can provide an attack-boosting aura. While the Spanish do not excel military in any particular area, Unction allows many of their units to edge out even other civilizations' units benefiting from Royal Guard upgrades. Update 13.4412, which heavily reworked the Spanish civ in general, nerfed Unction for a reason.
• Wooden Ships and Iron Men: Spain's deck allows them to ship more Battleships than any other civilization without resorting to allying with a European Royal House, and their "Armada" card not only boosts warship health and LOS but also allows their warships to train different kinds of military units.

Swedes (Definitive Edition)

Home City: Stockholm
Features: Torps gather resources and spawn a small Berry Bush
Mercenary shipments arrive faster and cheaper
Advanced improvements available in Arsenal
Unique Units: Carolean^note anti-cavalry ranged musketmen, Hakkapelit^note fast light cavalry, Leather Cannon^note early game light artillery
Unique Buildings: Torp^note House that spawns a nearby Berry Bush and automatically gathers nearby resources
Royal Guard Units: Pikemen (Dalkarl), Hakkapelit (Drabant)
Revolution Civilizations: Finland, United States.

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• Anachronism Stew: Dalkarls wear Victorian uniforms, yet still carry around their pikes. On the other end of the timeframe, one of their cosmetic skins lets their Explorer dress up as Thor complete with Mjolnir.
• Ascended Extra: Sweden itself was originally Dummied Out prior to the release of the original edition of Age of Empires III, but was made a full civilization in the Definitive Edition. On a smaller note, the Hakkapelits were originally Finnish mercenary units in the original game, but in the Definitive Edition, they became an unique unit for the Swedes with the Harquebusier substituting their role as mercenaries.
• Character Customization: The available skins are Default, Queen Kristina, and Thor.
• A Commander Is You:
  • Economist: Their unique House, the Torp, gives them a fantastic early game economy by automatically gathering from nearby natural resources without the use of villagers.
  • Elitist: Their unit selection is powerful, but specialized, and difficult to access in breadth.
  • Diplomatic: They can hire cheaper mercenaries than other civilizations and get unique combat bonuses when they use them in the late game. They are also always able to guarantee their access to certain mercenaries via special cards that permanently unlock them for training, even outside the Tavern.
• Foil: One of two civilizations to specialize in mercenaries, the other being the Germans. Compared to the Germans, who have access to a wide range of one-use mercenary armies and various cards that improve their quality, the Swedes have a more limited selection of mercenaries, but via special cards they can permanently unlock them for recruitment without repeatedly resorting to shipments as well as train them outside the Tavern.
• Glass Cannon: Leather Cannons/Infantry Guns are cheap, easily deployable artillery pieces which could be fired in bulk, yet are even more vulnerable than most artillery units.
• More Dakka: Leather Cannons/Infantry Guns may not be as powerful as standard light artillery. They make up for it by not only being considerably cheaper and with generally swift movement comparable to Horse Artillery, but they can also fire instantly and have a faster reload rate, making it very easy for the Swedes to deploy in droves.
• Multinational Team: In addition to foreign mercenaries, the Swedes also have access to Finnish Hakkapelit as standard cavalry units.
• The Musketeer: Caroleans are as effective in melee combat as they are with their guns, especially against cavalry.
• Private Military Contractors: One of their specialties is mercenary units, and one of their civilization bonuses reduces their cost and shipment time. Most of their mercenary shipments are unique "Contract" cards that not only send contingents of mercenaries, but also permanently unlock the given mercenary at the Tavern. This allows them to always have access to certain mercenaries regardless of the random selection each map. They can also train Jaegers at the Barracks and Black Riders at the Stable rather than the Tavern through either their unique version of the Mercenary Contractor politician or through sending the "German Mercenary Contracts" card, which also allows them to be trained at Galleons on top of unlocking Landsknechts as well.
• Uniqueness Decay: The mechanic behind their "Contract" cards has been given to several other civilizations. These include the Spanish, Dutch, Germans, Maltese, and both American civilizations.

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