Blood, Ice and Steel
Blood, Ice and Steel is the original Age of Empires III campaign trilogy. Across three acts, the fictional Black family confronts the Circle of Ossus in conflicts spanning the Caribbean, North America and the American West.
Setting & objective
Act I: Blood follows Morgan Black and the Knights of St. John in 1565-1566; Act II: Ice follows John Black in 1756-1757; Act III: Steel follows Amelia Black in 1817-1818. Each act contains eight scenarios.
How to approach it
Mission rules, rosters and goals vary. Read the active briefing before applying a skirmish build order, and distinguish the original trilogy from the additional The WarChiefs and The Asian Dynasties campaigns.
Three acts and their historical settings
Act I: Blood begins with Morgan Black and the Knights of St. John around Malta and the Caribbean in 1565-1566. Act II: Ice follows John Black in the North American conflict of 1756-1757. Act III: Steel follows Amelia Black and the Falcon Company in 1817-1818, as the family confronts the Circle of Ossus in the American West. Each act contains eight scenarios, for 24 missions across the trilogy. The protagonists and campaign factions change with the period; the act names therefore identify different story and gameplay contexts, not three ages of one civilization.
Campaign factions versus multiplayer civilizations
The Knights of St. John, John Black's force and the Falcon Company are scenario factions. They may use familiar buildings or units, but their mission rosters and rules are scripted and should not be assumed to match a standard Supremacy technology tree. A mission can restrict production, provide a fixed army, change population or define a unique objective. Definitive Edition preserves the three-act structure while campaign missions may differ in presentation or scenario implementation. Check the edition and the mission's starting state before following an old walkthrough.
How to approach the mission sequence
Read each scenario objective after a transition and identify which named structure, character or route must survive. In base-building missions, establish only the production needed for the stated goal and protect the economic base; in travel or fixed-army missions, preserve the starting force and prioritize the required route. Optional combat can provide useful resources or allies, but it should not pull defenders away from a mandatory objective. The campaign's mission entries provide the specific starting forces and win conditions for each act.
Objectives shift from defense to timed operations
Mission goals change the value of the starting army across the trilogy. In Into the Caves, the Knights of St. John defend their base and must destroy eight Ottoman Weapon Caches; an optional objective asks the player to build an Artillery Foundry and train at least ten Hoop Throwers. In Defend the Colony, John Black’s force must hold the Town Center for 15 minutes while keeping a southwestern village safe and escorting refugees. In Last City of the Inca, Amelia and Ká:nien must gather eight artillery units in a flagged area before three Incan Temples fall, then destroy the Boneguard Fort. Read the primary objective first and treat secondary tasks as a resource and timing choice. A mission that requires survival or a troop count can punish a skirmish-style attack that draws the force away from its position.
A Pirate’s Help: meet the Experience deadline first
A Pirate’s Help is the sixth scenario of Act I: Blood. Its primary objectives require the player to gain 8,000 Experience before Lizzie sails to Florida and bring Morgan to her in time. The scenario also lists optional jobs around Havana: stop raids on settlers, build a Stable, reopen trade with a second Trading Post, take Lizzie’s Native American friend to his family, recover stolen gold, return a lost herd to the Livestock Pen and retrieve an artifact. Treat the Experience target and meeting Lizzie as the mission’s deadline; choose side tasks that fit the route and available force rather than delaying the primary objective to complete every optional action. Check the active objective display as the scenario unfolds so a temporary diversion does not cost the rendezvous.
Fleet capture and the railroad race
Spanish Treasure Fleet is the seventh scenario of Act I: Blood. Its primary objectives are to establish a base with a Town Center and capture six Treasure Ships; destroying the Spanish Forts and killing Delgado are listed as secondary goals. The sequence makes the base a prerequisite to the fleet objective. Secure the starting area and check how the ships can be reached before committing the whole force to optional targets. Keep the six-ship requirement in view when choosing a route, and pursue the forts or Delgado when doing so will not delay the primary task. The mission page provides the scenario’s full objectives and starting situation.
Race for the Rails: claim every Trade Route site
Race for the Rails opens Act III: Steel with Amelia Black and Major Cooper. The primary objective is to build a Trading Post at every site along the Trade Route; allying with a Native American settlement is secondary. This mission turns route coverage into the central measure of progress, so scout the full route before sending builders and identify the sites that are difficult to reinforce. Secure each section in a way that keeps Villagers supported, then treat the Native alliance as an optional investment that should fit the route plan rather than pull the army away from unfinished posts. The scripted United States force belongs to this campaign scenario and should not be treated as the later multiplayer United States civilization.
Act I: Blood — Malta, the Caribbean and Morgan Black
The eight scenarios follow Morgan’s expedition from Malta toward the Caribbean. Breakout opens with a Fort Command Post defense, gathering wood for the signal fire and destroying the Great Bombards. Into the Caves defends the base against the Ottoman attack and removes eight Weapon Caches. Pirates! establishes a Town Center, Barracks and Dock. The Ottoman Fort builds a Town Center and sends a Home City shipment while the expedition searches for Sahin. Temples of the Aztec establishes a Trading Post at the Aztec village and a Town Center. A Pirate’s Help is a timed Experience challenge: reach 8,000 Experience and bring Morgan to Lizzie before she sails. Spanish Treasure Fleet establishes a base and captures six Treasure Ships. The Fountain of Youth? ends the act by destroying the Fountain and dealing with its guards.
Act II: Ice — John Black and the northern war
The eight scenarios move John Black and Ká:nien from colony defense into a pursuit of Warwick. Defend the Colony holds the Town Center for fifteen minutes. Strange Alliances destroys Cherokee War Huts, then brings John and Ká:nien to negotiate at the main village. The Rescue (Ice) builds an army for an attack on the British from the south. The Seven Years’ War (scenario) helps destroy the British on the player’s side of the river and then removes the British Fort Command building. The Great Lakes advances to the Fortress Age, builds an Artillery Foundry and destroys three Boneguard Outposts before Warwick’s navy reaches Lake Erie. Respect is an Experience race against the Circle killing five Chiefs. Warwick’s Stronghold steals resources to build a force and destroy Warwick’s Town Center. Bring Down the Mountain concludes the act: use Miners to collapse the Rock Bridges and prevent the Russian Cannon escape counter from reaching ten.
Act III: Steel — Amelia Black and the western campaign
Race for the Rails opens the act with Trading Posts on all Trade Route sites. Hold the Fort begins as a survival defense, then calls for the Mexican Army’s Town Centers to be destroyed after Cooper’s reinforcements arrive. The Boneguard’s Lair sends Amelia to find Beaumont and drive his men out of the mines. The Lost Spanish Gold requires removing three Outposts guarding the ruined Treasure Ships and then destroying Beaumont’s Town Center. Bolivar’s Revolt supports General Bolívar in freeing three towns before the Spanish fort’s Command Post is destroyed; freeing all four villages and rescuing Bolívar are secondary goals. Journey Through the Andes is a route objective to reach Pacamayo Valley. Last City of the Inca asks for eight artillery units in a marked area before the three Incan Temples fall, then calls for the Boneguard Fort to be destroyed. Last Stand of the Boneguard ends the trilogy by bringing Amelia to Havana’s Town Center and surviving until the US Navy arrives.