Falcon Company
Falcon Company is the European-style campaign faction used through much of Act II: Shadow in Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition. It represents Amelia Black's company during Chayton's story and replaces the original release's Black Family Estate presentation for these missions.
Release and roster differences
- Original release
- The WarChiefs · Black Family Estate presentation
- Definitive Edition
- The WarChiefs campaign · Falcon Company presentation
- Worker & production roster
- Settlers · Town Centers · Barracks · Stables
- Campaign boundary
- Most of Act II: Shadow · mission roster changes when Chayton joins the Lakota
- Playable civilization
- Scenario faction · not a standard multiplayer civilization
Campaign role & roster
Falcon Company uses Settlers and European-style Town Centers, Barracks and Stables in place of the original campaign setup's Villagers, War Huts and Corrals. It can advance to the Imperial Age. The story later changes to a Lakota-based faction when Chayton joins the Lakota.
Mission use
Use the starting roster and objectives shown by the active scenario. Older walkthroughs may identify the same missions as Black Family Estate; confirm the edition and production buildings before following their instructions.
Act II faction and mission boundary
Falcon Company is a scenario faction for much of Act II: Shadow, the Chayton Black story in the later American frontier. It is not a general multiplayer civilization and does not describe every mission in the act. When the story moves Chayton into the Lakota, the available faction and military context change. Recheck the mission's starting units and objective after each transition instead of carrying Falcon Company's roster across the entire campaign.
Original release and Definitive Edition
In the original WarChiefs campaign, these scenarios used the Black Family Estate presentation with Villagers, War Huts and Corrals. Definitive Edition uses Falcon Company with Settlers, European-style Town Centers, Barracks and Stables, and the faction can reach the Imperial Age. The Definitive Edition Act II flag uses 37 stars, associated with 1867-1877, and marks its later campaign setting. Both campaign factions remain distinct from the later playable United States civilization, even where the voice lines or visual style appear related.
Using older mission guides
A walkthrough written for the original release may name a War Hut, Corral or Villager where the Definitive Edition scenario supplies a Barracks, Stable or Settler. Translate the advice only after checking that the objective and map state still match; mission-specific starting forces and scripted events may also differ. Falcon Company supports the campaign scenario's European-style base building, but the actual winning plan remains tied to the objective shown in that mission.
Track the campaign handoff through named missions
Falcon Company applies to much of Act II: Shadow, but the campaign does not use one faction for every scenario. In the Definitive Edition version of A Reckoning, protect 20 Railroad Workers, establish three Trading Posts, upgrade the Trade Route and remove the bandit hideout; those tasks make the company’s workers and infrastructure part of the mission plan. Later, Urgent News asks Chayton to reach the Lakota camp. The original release names Crazy Horse as the contact, while Definitive Edition changes the character to Uncle Frank and presents the Lakota transition. At that point, do not carry Falcon Company’s European production assumptions into the next phase. Recheck the objective, available buildings and starting force after each story handoff. To Stop a War is another transition mission: Chayton changes sides during the scenario, so the faction’s relationship with the Lakota changes as well. These are scenario-specific campaign rules, not changes to the ordinary United States or Lakota skirmish civilizations.
Claims: attack production while protecting the mining camps
Claims is the third scenario of Act II: Shadow and shows how a campaign force may need to defend and attack at the same time. The mission asks the player to destroy the enemy War Huts and Barracks while preventing four Mining Camps from being destroyed. Its objective list also records experience awards for losing no Mining Camps and no Trading Posts. Read both parts before moving the main force: a full commitment to enemy production can leave the camps exposed, while sitting back to defend can allow the opponent to keep its military buildings. Keep a responsive force near the vulnerable economy and send the attack where it can remove the enemy production needed to sustain pressure. The scenario’s mission objective, rather than a general Falcon Company build order, determines which structures must survive and which must be destroyed.
The Bozeman Trail introduces the company’s railroad objective
The first scenario of Act II: Shadow asks the player to find a Trade Route site, build a Trading Post and escort two Covered Wagons from Fort Laramie to that post before destroying both Sioux Town Centers. Its secondary objective is to finish with two Trading Posts. This makes the railroad the mission’s main line of effort: scout the route, clear or control the approaches and keep the wagons protected while each delivery moves forward. Sending the army directly toward the enemy Town Centers can leave the escort exposed, while focusing only on the wagons can give the opponent time to fortify. Split tasks only when the escort force can survive without the main army, and check the mission objective after each stage because the next target changes once the route work is complete.
Follow the Lakota handoff through the later scenarios
The Lakota handoff is visible in several mission objectives rather than in a single new multiplayer civilization. Urgent News sends Chayton to the Lakota camp in Definitive Edition; the original release names Crazy Horse as the contact. In Battle of the Greasy Grass, the task is to bring three Cheyenne Warchiefs to the Lakota Town Center and defend the Lakota camp until General Custer arrives. To Stop a War changes the required target after its side switch, from the Lakota Town Center to the Fort’s Command Post. Trust follows a different objective sequence: first earn 15,000 Experience, then find Sheriff Holme. Use each mission’s current objective and roster to identify which faction controls the force; do not assume Falcon Company production rules continue after Chayton’s story joins the Lakota.