Part 17

Follow this Age of Empires III Part 17 walkthrough to destroy Warwick's outposts and trading post quickly, even ignoring secondary objectives.

Alright, Part 17! This one's pretty straightforward, honestly. The developers seem to have run out of steam or budget here, so you can totally ignore those secondary objectives and just focus on the main goal. Easy peasy.

You're starting off in the Industrial Age, which is nice, but you've got hardly any villagers and can't build more. So, get those starting villagers busy with farming, chopping wood, and mining. Don't worry too much about optimizing them; you've got enough resources to build up a solid force anyway. Just get moving, because there's a countdown ticking!

Pro Tip from Larry N: A lot of players find success by sending most of their starting units to the western edge where treasure carts appear. You'll have some enemies coming from the north, but having a good chunk of your army there should handle them easily. Just pop over occasionally to direct the carts to your Town Center. This spot is also super convenient for when you need to hit the red fortress later. Plus, snagging those carts might even starve the enemy out a bit!

Forget about those supply wagons for now – you can absolutely win this without them. Your main focus should be on your Home City shipments. Obviously, send them back if you get any, but don't go out of your way.

Grab one villager and have them build an artillery foundry right next to your barracks. Then, either build or ship in some falconets and mortars. You don't need a ton, but spend what you feel comfortable with. While that's happening, build up a good number of grenadiers and make sure to upgrade your siege weapons.

You'll face a small attack from Warwick's guys pretty soon, so fend them off while you keep churning out units. Send a unit just north of your barracks to scout out a tower and get your next objective.

SECONDARY OBJECTIVE: DESTROY ALL OF WARWICK'S OUTPOSTS (700 XP)

By now, you should have some mortars ready. Use them to take out that first tower, and let your other units handle any enemies investigating the commotion. After destroying the first tower, head east for the second, then north for the third. The third tower will have some red units nearby, so bring the rest of your army along for backup. You should still have plenty of time on the clock (likely over 15:00). While you're waiting for the next objective, try to grab any nearby trading carts.

SECONDARY OBJECTIVE: DESTROY WARWICK'S TRADING POST AT THE COMANCHE VILLAGE (500 XP)

You've got loads of time, so why not? Just mortar the trading post quickly to snag those points.

Your army should be positioned at the junction southeast of the enemy base. Move your mortars forward and start bombarding the gate and any buildings they've placed outside their walls. The enemy will react, so introduce them to your field guns while your other troops clean up. As long as you keep your units out of range of their towers until you take them down, Warwick won't stand a chance.

Once the gate is down, it's a simple push into their base. You don't even need to worry about the towers anymore. Just mortar their Town Center and claim victory while Warwick cries about it. The timer should still be well under 13:00.

Home City Level: 16

XP: 210,382

Cards: MANUFACTURING PLANT - SAWMILLS

3.2.8 BRING DOWN THE MOUNTAIN

“John and Kanyenke learn why Warwick has traveled so far to the west. Can they stop the Circle's plan, or is it too late?”

PRIMARY OBJECTIVE: USE YOUR MINERS TO COLLAPSE THE ROCK BRIDGES

SECONDARY OBJECTIVE: DESTROY A GREAT CANNON

MISSION CRITERIA: BEFORE 10 GREAT CANNON GET THROUGH, FORCE THE RUSSIAN'S THROUGH THE NORTH

This mission is a tricky balancing act: you need to defend your base, attack the Circle's forces, and get those miners working as fast as possible. If you spend too much time building up your town and army, it can turn into a real nightmare.

Pro Tip from Larry N: Don't feel like you have to play this one by the book! Larry N found success by ignoring everything except the miners. He just sent them to the bridges and let them do their thing. He had to pull them away from the Russians a few times, and one persistent group of Russians wiped out some miners, but the rest got the job done before five cannons escaped. He didn't get the bonus for destroying a cannon, but hey, he finished it!

Send your three miners west and right-click on the near side of the rock bridge. They'll start hacking away, and you can check their progress by clicking on the ice section. Once the gauge fills, the miners will automatically move to the far side and start on that section.

Make sure the villagers at your northern Town Center are chopping lumber. Grab one of them to pick up the resources sitting in the cave mouth. Have your other villagers build a mill, then build a few more from the Town Center. You don't need a massive workforce here, but aim for about five villagers on each resource.

Now, move your artillery and John over to where the miners are. Some Circle enemies will be coming up the pass under the bridge soon, so you'll want to be able to deal with them quickly. By the way, your miners are surprisingly effective at taking out groups of enemies, including those Great Cannons – use them offensively whenever you can!