Fort Duquesne (co-op)
Fort Duquesne (co-op) is a cooperative Historical Battle in Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition, set in 1754. Two players share control of French and Haudenosaunee against British. This mode uses a team-specific objective sequence based on Fort Duquesne.
Mission background
The required goals are Capture the British fort by defeating the garrison defending it; Defend the fortress against the British. Optional goals include Liberate the Shawnee from the British occupying forces; Liberate the Lenni Lenape from the British occupying forces; Liberate the Seneca from the British occupying forces.
Objectives & rules
Use one player to capture the fort while the other protects the approach and keeps the starting force intact. After capture, reunite around the fortress for the British counterattack; the co-op mission tests holding it as well as taking it. Liberate Native settlements during a safe interval, and do not leave the captured fort without defenders.
Capture first, then defend
Fort Duquesne is a two-player historical battle set in 1754. The primary objective has two phases: defeat the garrison to capture the fort, then defend it against the British counterattack. Capture is not victory; once the fort changes hands, the team must use its new position and nearby buildings to withstand the next assault. The starting forces approach from the south, with Player A leading Captain de Contrecœur and French troops while Player B controls a supporting force. After capture, the fort’s structures in the zone become available to the players. Optional objectives ask the team to liberate Shawnee, Lenni and Seneca groups held by the British. These allies can be useful, but pursuing them before the fort is secure risks leaving the main objective exposed. The mission has no standard starting resource bank, so preserve the initial army and use captured infrastructure rather than assuming a normal economic opening.
Coordinate the two-player defense
Assign one player to lead the capture and the other to protect the approach and prevent enemy units from splitting the force. Once the garrison falls, reorganize immediately: station defenders where they can respond to the British attack and keep a mobile reserve available for breaches. The team should communicate before sending a detachment to liberate one of the three Native groups; the player who leaves the fort should not take the entire anti-siege or frontline force. Use the fort’s buildings and the terrain to delay attackers, then focus fire on threats that can damage the captured position. Keep both players’ forces close enough to reinforce one another, especially when the counterattack begins. The optional liberations can be completed when the defense is stable, but they do not replace the required survival objective. The scenario’s scripted force and captured buildings differ from a standard French match, so follow the mission markers and use the units already available. If one player is rebuilding an army or escorting a liberation party, the other should remain responsible for holding the fort.
Liberation objectives after the capture
The Shawnee, Lenni and Seneca liberation objectives are optional, so plan them around the fort’s defense rather than treating them as a race. After capture, check where the British forces are concentrating and leave enough units to protect the fort while a separate group moves toward one liberation site. The available starting armies differ between the two players; use the stronger group to clear the route and let the second player hold the captured structures or reinforce the approach. Do not split both armies at once. Once a group is liberated, return or redirect it according to the mission’s behavior and keep communication clear about which side is under attack. The British counterattack can arrive while the team is away, so complete nearby objectives first and preserve units that can handle siege. The fort’s buildings are a source of defense and production after capture; use them to stabilize before committing to a longer expedition. Success depends on surviving the second phase, not on capturing every optional ally as quickly as possible.
Use the captured fort as a rally point
Once the garrison is defeated, move both players’ forces into the fort zone and use the captured buildings to regroup. Keep a reserve for the British attack and send the liberation party only after the defense is organized. The fort is the mission’s anchor, so do not abandon it to complete optional objectives.
Retain units for the counterattack
Do not spend the whole starting force capturing the fort. Preserve a reserve that can man the captured position when the British arrive, and use the second player to reinforce threatened approaches rather than pursue every retreating enemy.
Capture the fort, then hold it against the counterattack
The co-op mission has two required phases: defeat the British garrison to capture the fort, then defend the fortress against the British response. The Shawnee, Lenni Lenape and Seneca liberation objectives are optional and can strengthen the team’s map position, but each detour divides the force before the defense begins. Coordinate which player leads the assault and which maintains a reserve for the newly captured fort. Once the garrison falls, move defenders into positions that can cover the likely approaches and repair or reinforce the base if the scenario permits. Complete nearby liberation tasks before beginning a long defense, or assign one player to the objective while the other fortifies. This page is for the co-op version of Fort Duquesne in Definitive Edition; its shared responsibilities and timing should not be confused with a solo historical scenario or the ordinary skirmish map.