Home City Shipments
Home City Shipments is an Age of Empires III scenario in The Art of War (scenario 3). The player commands Dutch.
Scenario setting & objectives
The required goals are Gain 300 experience points to send your first shipment; Gain 645 experience points to send the second shipment; Gain 1042 experience points to send the third shipment; Gain 1498 experience points to send the fourth shipment; Gain 2023 experience points to send the fifth shipment; Earn 5 shipments to complete the challenge. Optional goals include Loot Treasures to gain additional Experience Points; Destroy the enemy Trading Post and build your own Trading Post on its ruins; Kill the enemy patrol to gain additional Experience Points; Build a Trading Post on the socket next to the Trade Route.
Mission approach
Take optional objectives when they add useful allies, routes, resources or reinforcements without putting the primary goal at risk.
Experience thresholds and objective order
Home City Shipments is the third Art of War scenario and uses the Dutch to teach how Experience unlocks reinforcements. The required shipment thresholds rise through 300, 645, 1,042, 1,498 and 2,023 Experience, and five shipments complete the challenge. Optional objectives include looting Treasures, destroying the enemy Trading Post and rebuilding one on its ruins, killing a patrol for Experience and placing a Trading Post on a Trade Route socket. Those tasks can accelerate shipment progress or teach map control, but the player should keep the five-shipment objective in view. Build Experience through combat, Treasure collection and the optional route objectives, then send each shipment as soon as it becomes available. Do not spend the army recklessly to earn Experience; a lost force can make later goals harder. The Dutch setup gives a campaign-specific practice environment, while ordinary matches use each civilization’s Home City deck and card choices. Use the objective tracker to see which threshold is next and choose shipments that answer the current mission need.
Optional objectives and Experience
The enemy Trading Post objective asks the player to destroy it and rebuild on its ruins; a separate goal places a post on the Trade Route socket. These tasks teach control of fixed map sites and can contribute to the shipment lesson, while Treasure loot and a patrol kill provide additional Experience. Complete optional tasks when the route is safe, but do not let them delay the five required shipments. Watch the rising Experience thresholds and choose cards that help the Dutch force survive the next mission stage. Sending the correct shipment on time is the main skill being tested.
Optional Trading Post objectives
The enemy post and Trade Route socket teach how map control can provide Experience and future route value. Take those objectives only when the force can protect the builders and still reach the five-shipment requirement.
Shipment pacing
Each successive shipment takes more Experience, so optional Treasure and patrol objectives become increasingly valuable. Use them to bridge a threshold, then send the next card and continue toward the five-shipment requirement.
Dutch scenario setup
The scenario’s Dutch force earns Experience through combat and map objectives. Keep the Trading Post and shipment tasks in view as the thresholds rise, but do not lose the army for optional Experience.
Experience options
Treasure collection, patrol combat and Trading Post objectives all provide ways to earn Experience. Use the safest available option to reach the next shipment threshold without losing the Dutch army.
Plan shipment timing around Experience and unit access
Home City Shipments turn Experience earned during a match into resources, units, buildings or upgrades selected from the player’s deck. A shipment is not a free action: it arrives only after the required Experience is earned, so early scouting, combat, construction and Trade Route control can all affect timing. Build a deck whose cards support a clear opening and later transition, and send a shipment when its contents can be used immediately. Resource crates help meet a cost, while unit shipments create a temporary army spike; technology cards can improve a unit that will remain in production. Check the civilization, Age and card prerequisites before relying on a specific shipment. Independence mode removes Home City progression, so the system described here applies to modes that use shipments rather than every match type.