Huguenots
Huguenots is a South Africa Home City Card for the British or Dutch in Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition. After the Industrial Age revolution, sending the card unlocks Coureurs des Bois at Town Centers, with a train limit of 30. It enables a new worker line; the shipment does not deliver 30 workers immediately.
South Africa worker unlock
- Revolution & age
- South Africa · Industrial Age
- Effect
- Unlocks Coureur des Bois at Town Centers
- Train limit
- 30
- Coureur cost & time
- 120 Food · 28 seconds · 1 population
- Coureur profile
- 180 hit points · 30% ranged resistance · faster gathering · builds 20% faster
Card effect & access
A South African Coureur des Bois costs 120 Food, takes 28 seconds to train and uses 1 population. Its current base profile has 180 hit points and 30% ranged resistance, and the unit gathers resources and builds faster than an ordinary Settler. The card’s benefit is therefore a higher-quality economic unit and extra worker capacity, but every Coureur still requires food, production time and population. South Africa’s revolution keeps existing Villagers and gives Villagers and Fishing Boats a 10% gathering bonus; those revolution effects are separate from Huguenots.
Economic role & timing
Send Huguenots when the South African economy can afford additional Food and has room to add workers without stalling military production. A 30-unit limit is a ceiling, not a target to fill immediately. Train a few at a time, protect them on safe resources and compare each worker’s long-term gathering value with the army or upgrade that the same Food could fund. The card is most useful when the match will continue long enough for the workers to repay their cost.
Practical direction
Huguenots works best as part of a planned economic transition. The sections below separate the card unlock from the broader South Africa bonuses and explain how to pace worker production.
What the card unlocks
Huguenots belongs to the South Africa Home City deck, which becomes relevant when the British or Dutch revolt in the Industrial Age. Sending the card adds Coureur des Bois to Town Center production and allows up to 30 to be trained. It is not a troop delivery, and it does not automatically replace existing Villagers. This distinction matters for timing: the player must still queue each worker, pay the displayed cost, reserve population and wait for training to finish. The shipment is valuable because it changes the post-revolution economy’s worker options rather than giving a one-time crate or army.
The worker is efficient but more expensive
The standard Coureur des Bois profile costs 120 Food and trains in 28 seconds, compared with the ordinary Settler’s lower food cost. It occupies one population, has 180 hit points and 30% ranged resistance in the current profile, gathers resources faster and builds 20% faster than a standard Settler. These traits make Coureurs harder to remove with ranged attacks and more productive on an established resource line, but they do not make them military units. Their costs also compete with Villager production, age-related spending and South Africa’s army. Keep a protected group working rather than paying for all 30 before the economy is ready.
Separate Huguenots from the revolution bonuses
South Africa’s baseline effects apply whether or not Huguenots has been sent: existing Villagers remain in the economy instead of becoming Revolutionaries, Villagers and Fishing Boats gather 10% faster, and the population space is set to 200. Houses and Manor Houses become Trek Wagons and cannot be built again after the revolution; Banks gather Coin 10% faster, and British players gain limited access to Banks under the South Africa rules. Huguenots adds the Coureur production option on top of that economic foundation. Do not attribute the gathering bonus or converted housing to the card itself.
Plan the worker queue against army production
A new Coureur queue spends Food that could produce military units, so add workers in stages. Check the current workforce, safe gathering sites, available population and the next army timing before ordering another one. Coureurs are especially valuable when they can remain active on Hunts or other efficient resources and when their faster building speed helps establish infrastructure. If the opponent is attacking, pause optional workers, retreat behind defenses and use the retained South African Villagers and units to protect the economy. Filling the train limit while exposed can turn an economic card into a costly replacement queue.
Use Trek Wagons as support, not worker replacements
The South African economy can pair trained workers with Trek Wagons, which are produced through Town Centers, Stables, Forts or Galleons and can carry garrisoned units. A wagon can help move a group through a threatened area, but it costs 250 Wood and should not be purchased instead of workers automatically. Keep Coureurs on protected gathering when the route is safe; use a wagon when transport or its other South African functions support a real map objective. Check the current unit profile before loading a large group, because its speed and attack depend on its garrison.
Build the South Africa deck around the transition
The revolt replaces the previous civilization’s Home City choices with South Africa’s options, so consider the post-revolution deck before committing to the age-up. Huguenots is one economic choice among shipments that can strengthen workers, add wagons or support the army. If the match is nearly over, the training time and gathering period may not repay 30 expensive workers; a shipment that reinforces the next fight can matter more. If the game is likely to last, a protected Coureur economy can turn South Africa’s gathering bonus into a larger stream of Food, Wood and Coin while leaving population for a force.