Civilizations
Playable, Minor and campaign-only cultures, their economies and military identities.
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Civilizations
Akan
Akan is an Age of Empires III minor civilization from Africa. It appears on maps including Gold Coast, Ivory Coast, Niger Delta, Niger River, Pepper Coast, Savanna. Players can establish an alliance at its settlement to access its local units and research.
Apache
Apache is an Age of Empires III minor civilization from North America. It appears on maps including Great Plains, Mexico, Painted Desert, Sonora, Texas. Players can establish an alliance at its settlement to access its local units and research.
Aztecs
The Aztecs are an infantry-focused Native civilization introduced in The WarChiefs. Their military is organized around the War Hut and Community Plaza rather than the European Stable-and-Barracks pattern. Ceremony choices let villagers contribute directly to military support, construction or other benefits, linking the economy to the army’s timing.
Barbary Pirates
The Barbary Pirates are a scenario faction used in Definitive Edition Historical Battles, including Algiers and The Burning of USS Philadelphia. They are available in those scenarios and custom Scenario Editor games, not as a standard skirmish civilization.
Berbers
Berbers is an Age of Empires III minor civilization from Africa. It appears on maps including Atlas, Darfur, Dunes, Lake Chad, Nile Valley, Pepper Coast, Siwa Oasis, Tassili, Tripolitania. Players can establish an alliance at its settlement to access its local units and research.
Bhakti Temple
Asian religious Minor civilization from The Asian Dynasties; ally by building a Trading Post or, for the Inca, Tambo at its holy site. Maps: Bengal, Ceylon, Deccan, Himalayas, Himalayas - Upper and Silk Road. Its economic option can be as valuable as its army.
Black Family Estate
Black Family Estate is a campaign-only faction in The WarChiefs, not a selectable skirmish civilization. It is best understood as the changing force attached to the Black family story, rather than a standard civilization with one stable roster. Its available troops, buildings, and visual style respond to the campaign’s time period and to the protagonists’ shifting alliances. Nathaniel Black leads Act I: Fire during the American Revolution; Act II: Shadow follows Chayton Black through the later conflict over the Bozeman Trail and the Black Hills. These acts are decades apart, so their armies represent different historical situations.
British
The British are a European civilization built around the Manor House and the Settler it produces. A Manor House costs more than an ordinary House, supports 10 population, and spawns one Settler when completed. This turns a housing decision into an economic expansion: spending Wood adds both population capacity and a worker, so British growth can outpace civilizations that must train every worker at a Town Center. The civilization begins with six Settlers. Earlier profiles list 200 Food and 300 Wood in starting crates; update 19.18309 changes the British starting resources to 250 Food and 250 Wood. The Explorer also has two additional Line of Sight and one extra point of ranged attack range. The British Home City is London. Their military combines the Longbowman, Ranger, Rocket, Musketeer, Hussar and other European units, with Musketeers and Hussars able to reach Royal Guard forms as the game advances. The British strength is sustained economic growth leading into a versatile late army; the weakness is that early Wood has several competing uses and a Manor-heavy opening can delay military production if it is not paced carefully.
Carib
Carib is an Age of Empires III minor civilization from South America. It appears on maps including Amazonia, Caribbean, Florida, Hispaniola, Orinoco. Players can establish an alliance at its settlement to access its local units and research.
Cherokee
Cherokee is an Age of Empires III minor civilization from North America. It appears on maps including Bayou, Carolina, New England, Ozarks. Players can establish an alliance at its settlement to access its local units and research.
Cheyenne
Cheyenne is an Age of Empires III minor civilization from North America. It appears on maps including Colorado, Dakota, Great Lakes, Great Plains, Rockies. Players can establish an alliance at its settlement to access its local units and research.
Chinese
The Chinese are an Asian civilization from The Asian Dynasties whose military is organized into Banner Armies and whose age advancement uses Wonders. Instead of selecting every military unit independently at a standard production building, the player chooses among bundled formations at the War Academy. Villages combine housing with livestock functions, giving the economy a distinctive building and animal-management layer.
Circle of Ossus
The Circle of Ossus is the fictional antagonist organization in the original Age of Empires III campaign. Its forces draw on multiple European armies, with German units forming a common core.
Comanche
Comanche is an Age of Empires III minor civilization from North America. It appears on maps including Colorado, Great Plains, Ozarks, Painted Desert, Texas. Players can establish an alliance at its settlement to access its local units and research.
Cree
Cree is an Age of Empires III minor civilization from North America. It appears on maps including Dakota, Great Lakes, Northwest Territory, Rockies, Saguenay. Players can establish an alliance at its settlement to access its local units and research.
Danes
The Danes are a European civilization introduced in The Baltic Powers. Their design supports a flexible economy and layered defense, with the Round Church sheltering nearby civilians and the Watch House combining housing with Snaphane access.
Dutch
The Dutch are a European civilization whose economy replaces ordinary Settlers with Merchants and adds Banks that generate Coin without assigning workers. They begin with six Merchants, an Envoy, 200 Wood and 400 Coin in starting crates. Merchants cost Coin rather than Food and have a lower train limit than ordinary Settlers, but gather Coin from mines faster. This creates a deliberately uneven opening: the worker line competes for the same resource needed to train many military units, while Bank construction consumes Wood and resources before its passive Coin flow can repay the investment. Once Banks are established, the Dutch can fund shipments and a specialized army without dedicating every Merchant to mines. The Home City is Amsterdam. The Dutch distinctive units include the Merchant, Envoy, Ruyter and Fluyt; the Bank is their unique economic building. Their army uses Skirmishers and Halberdiers alongside the ranged-cavalry Ruyter rather than a normal Musketeer. The core decision is when to accept a defensive early phase in exchange for the later income and flexible reinforcements that the Banks and Home City provide.
Ethiopians
The Ethiopians are an African civilization introduced in The African Royals. They use an alliance system and Influence alongside ordinary resources, with Mountain Monasteries and civilization-specific choices supporting the army.
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.
French
The French are a flexible European civilization whose Coureurs des Bois gather resources more effectively than standard Settlers and can also fight better. Their stronger workers make the economy resilient, but each is a more valuable target and a more expensive loss. The French also begin with a Native Scout, adding exploration to the opening.
Germans
The Germans are a European civilization whose economy begins with three Settler Wagons rather than a large group of ordinary Settlers. A Settler Wagon costs more but gathers faster; the source describes the starting wagons as working at roughly the rate of two ordinary villagers each. Germans also receive Uhlans with most Home City shipments, turning an economic or military delivery into an additional cavalry force. The tradeoff is that shipments require 10% more experience to earn, and the starting worker group is smaller than many civilizations. The civilization’s distinctive roster includes Settler Wagons, Landwehr, Doppelsoldners, Uhlans and War Wagons, supported by a Mercenary Camp. Its Home City is Berlin. German armies can become extremely mobile and powerful, but their shipment timing, early worker count and slower-developing military demand careful management. A shipment is never only its printed cargo: it can also add Uhlans, except for TEAM shipments, and mercenary shipments contain more Uhlans. This makes experience generation a central part of both economy and army planning.
Haudenosaunee
The Haudenosaunee were called the Iroquois in the original Age of Empires III and The WarChiefs; Definitive Edition uses the name Haudenosaunee. Their free starting Travois and the Founder Ceremony let them establish buildings with fewer Settler resources, while their Warchief increases the hit points of nearby units.
Hausa
The Hausa were added in Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition — The African Royals. They combine a livestock economy with Influence, a civilization-specific resource generated by Universities and livestock. Influence pays for selected units, native technologies and upgrades tied to age-up Alliances.
Huron
Huron is an Age of Empires III minor civilization from North America. It appears on maps including Great Lakes, New England, Plymouth, Saguenay. Players can establish an alliance at its settlement to access its local units and research.
Inca
The Inca were added as a playable civilization in Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition. Kancha Houses replace ordinary Houses, support population and passively gather Food; free Chasqui scouts arrive with age advances and can build Tambos, which function as defensive Trading Posts and can shelter Villagers.
Indians
The Indians are an Asian civilization introduced in The Asian Dynasties and retained in Definitive Edition. Hindu Villagers cost Wood rather than Food, and shipments deliver an additional Villager in most cases; livestock cannot be slaughtered for Food and instead produces Experience, with Sacred Fields improving that role.
Italians
The Italians were introduced in Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition — Knights of the Mediterranean. They begin with an Architect and a resource-heavy start, receive a free Settler for each technology researched, and can research technologies at economic buildings in any Age; their Home City shipments require extra Experience.
Japanese
An Asian civilization from The Asian Dynasties whose Shrines combine population space with resource production.
Jesuit Mission
Religious Minor civilization from The Asian Dynasties with holy sites in Asia, Africa and South America. Maps: Atlas, Bahia, Borneo, Highlands, Honshu, Indochina, Indonesia, Ivory Coast, Korea, Malaysia, Minas Gerais, Pepper Coast and Swahili Coast. This map settlement is distinct from the Ethiopian Jesuits age-up option in The African Royals.
John Black's Mercenaries
John Black's Mercenaries are a campaign-only faction in Act II: Ice, led by John Black and Ká:nien. Their force resembles the German roster and is built for the scripted defense and pursuit missions in that act.
Klamath
Klamath is an Age of Empires III minor civilization from North America. It appears on maps including California, Cascade Range, Northwest Territory, Rockies, Yukon. Players can establish an alliance at its settlement to access its local units and research.
Knights of St. John
The Knights of St. John are a campaign-only faction in Act I: Blood. Their roster is limited compared with a standard skirmish civilization, and the campaign supplies particular units and Home City shipments for its missions.
Lakota
A mobile Native American civilization from The WarChiefs, called Sioux in the original release.
Maltese
The Maltese are a European civilization introduced in Knights of the Mediterranean, built around defensive positions and Order units. Their Hospitals combine infantry production with healing, while Commanderies and Fixed Guns protect chosen ground.
Mapuche
Mapuche is an Age of Empires III minor civilization from South America. It appears on maps including Andes, Andes - Upper, Araucania, Pampas, Pampas Sierras. Players can establish an alliance at its settlement to access its local units and research.
Maya
Maya is an Age of Empires III minor civilization from North America. It appears on maps including Mexico, Orinoco, Sonora, Yucatán. Players can establish an alliance at its settlement to access its local units and research.
Mexicans
The Mexicans are a Federal American civilization added through the Mexico Civilization DLC. Federal State choices shape their age-up rewards, and their distinctive Revolution paths can change the roster or allow a later return to Mexico.
Navajo
Navajo is an Age of Empires III minor civilization from North America. It appears on maps including Baja California, Colorado, Mexico, Painted Desert, Sonora. Players can establish an alliance at its settlement to access its local units and research.
Nootka
Nootka is an Age of Empires III minor civilization from North America. It appears on maps including Alaska, California, Cascade Range, Northwest Territory, Yukon. Players can establish an alliance at its settlement to access its local units and research.
Ottomans
The Ottomans are a European civilization with automatic Villager production at the Town Center and a distinctive gunpowder army. Their worker line is generated by the central building rather than trained through repeated manual queues, making Town Center upgrades and resource timing important to economic growth. The Ottoman roster pairs durable infantry with ranged gunpowder units and powerful artillery.
Poles
A European civilization from The Baltic Powers, representing the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
Portuguese
The Portuguese are an original European civilization included in the base game and Definitive Edition. Each Age advancement grants a free Covered Wagon that can establish another Town Center, while the Explorer’s Spyglass reveals a distant area without moving the hero.
Quechua
Quechua is an Age of Empires III minor civilization from South America. It appears on maps including Amazonia, Andes, Andes - Upper, Araucania, Gran Chaco, Pampas, Pampas Sierras. Players can establish an alliance at its settlement to access its local units and research.
Russians
The Russians are a European civilization built around efficient batch production and the Blockhouse. Settlers and several infantry options arrive in groups, so their economy and army develop in larger resource steps than civilizations that queue each unit separately. Their Home City offers tools for maintaining early pressure while the economy grows.
Seminole
Seminole is an Age of Empires III minor civilization from North America. It appears on maps including Bayou, Carolina, Florida. Players can establish an alliance at its settlement to access its local units and research.
Shaolin Temple
Asian religious Minor civilization from The Asian Dynasties. Ally at its site with a Trading Post or Inca Tambo. Maps: Central Plain, Manchuria, Mongolia, Silk Road and Yellow River. It combines fast native infantry, an economic technology and two military improvements.
Spanish
The Spanish are an original European civilization whose defining advantage is a faster Home City shipment cycle: they need less Experience than other base-game civilizations to earn shipments. This lets exploration, combat and map objectives translate into earlier cards and makes their deck a central part of match planning.
Sufi Mosque
Religious native settlement present in Asian and African map pools. Maps: Borneo, Central Asia, Darfur, Deccan, Fertile Crescent, Horn, Indochina, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nile Valley, Silk Road, Siwa Oasis and Swahili Coast. A Trading Post or Inca Tambo unlocks limited recruitment and research.
Swedes
A European civilization added in Definitive Edition, centered on Torps and strong gunpowder choices.
Tatars (Age of Empires III)
The Tatars are a civilization exclusive to Chuvash Cape, a Historical Battle in Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition. Their Home City is Tatarland, and they represent the Khanate of Sibir as Yermak Timofeyevich’s Russian force advances in 1582. They are not an ordinary selectable civilization in unmodified Skirmish or standard multiplayer. In a multiplayer setup or a mod, their army is described as a mix of Chinese and Russian cavalry, and their technology tree resembles the Chinese one.
Tengri Shrine
Minor civilization added in Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition, not the original Asian Dynasties. Maps: Central Asia, Eurasian Steppe, Manchuria, Mongolia, Siberia, Silk Road and Yamal. A Trading Post or Inca Tambo unlocks units and technologies for anti-cavalry, treasure hunting, livestock income and mounted tempo.
Tupi
Tupi is an Age of Empires III minor civilization from South America. It appears on maps including Amazonia, Gran Chaco, Minas Gerais, Pampas, Pampas Sierras. Players can establish an alliance at its settlement to access its local units and research.
Udasi Temple
Asian religious Minor civilization from The Asian Dynasties. Its Trading Post or Inca Tambo alliance appears on Deccan, Himalayas, Himalayas - Upper, Punjab and Silk Road. The package improves agriculture, heroes and the range of its splash-damage infantry.
United States
The United States is a Federal American civilization introduced as a Definitive Edition DLC. Federal State age-ups and a broad Home City deck create alternate economic and military routes while retaining access to a large national roster.
Yoruba
Yoruba is an Age of Empires III minor civilization from Africa. It appears on maps including Congo Basin, Gold Coast, Lake Chad, Niger Delta, Niger River, Savanna. Players can establish an alliance at its settlement to access its local units and research.
Zapotec
Zapotec is an Age of Empires III minor civilization from South America. It appears on maps including Amazonia, Andes, Mexico, Orinoco, Yucatán. Players can establish an alliance at its settlement to access its local units and research.
Zen Temple
Asian Buddhist Minor civilization from The Asian Dynasties. A Trading Post or Inca Tambo at its holy site unlocks a unit and three technologies. Maps: Ceylon, Honshu, Hokkaido, Parallel Rivers, Silk Road and Yellow River. Its options accelerate shipments, improve hand infantry, reduce upgrade costs or provide fast anti-cavalry troops.
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