General FAQ
Age of Empires III: The WarChiefs is the expansion to the award-winning Age of Empires III™ real-time strategy game. The expansion adds three new native civilizations, and includes new content for the European civilizations already in the game. Also added are new gameplay modes and features, including an exciting new feature called ‘Revolution’ for the European civilizations, and a new ‘Treaty’ style game.
Q. When will the expansion pack be released?
A. The WarChiefs was released on October the 17th in North America, with slightly later release dates elsewhere around the globe.
Q. What are the main new features in the expansion pack?
A. There will be new playable native civilizations, new content for the European civilizations and new gameplay modes. There will be a ‘Treaty’ mode that allows players a certain amount of ‘peace-time’ during a game, and there will be a new campaign.
Q. How many new native civilizations are there going to be? Which ones are they?
A. There will be three playable native civilizations; the Aztecs, the Iroquois and the Sioux.
Q. Wait, the Iroquois are already in the game! Will we still see the minor tribes that have become new civilizations on maps?
A. No. For example, the Iroquois that are currently a tribe on the Great Lakes map will be replaced by a new native tribe, the Huron. The same will happen for the other tribes that become new civilizations.
Q. So now many new minor native tribes will there be? Which ones will they be?
A. The new native civilizations are as follows: Apache, Cheyenne, Huron, Klamath, Mapuche, Navajo, Zapotec, with the Lakota and the Iroquios being removed from the roster.
Q. Will there be new maps to play on?
A. Yes; there are ‘Northwest Territory’, ‘California,’, ‘Painted Desert’, ‘Orinoco’, ‘Araucania’ and ‘Andes’ maps.
Q. Will I keep my current home city levels, cards and decks?
A. You will keep your current home cities and their levels, but your unlocked cards and decks will be reset. When The WarChiefs is installed you will pick your cards afresh; i.e. if you have a level 50 Dutch home city, you will be able to pick 50 cards.
Q. Will the new native civilizations have home cities?
A. Yes and no. ‘Tribal Councils’ perform the same function for the natives as the Home City does for the European civilizations, but have very different shipments.
Q. What is a “WarChief” and what does it do?
A. Instead of having an explorer like the European civilizations, the native civilizations have a ‘WarChief’. The WarChief functions like a native explorer, but has additional abilities such as being able to convert treasure guardians and has a ranged attack with area of effect damage (the ability will replaces the sniper ability of the European explorer) and to boost the units around him. The WarChief gets stronger as the game goes on and can be upgraded with special technologies.
Q. You said there will be new content for the European civilizations. What will this content be?
A. The European civilizations gets new cards, bonuses and units, including new mercenaries. There are also new gameplay features that affect the European civilizations, such as the new ‘Revolution’ feature.
Q. What will the new campaign be based on? Will it continue with the Black family?
A. The new campaign will continue with the Black family saga, and will fill out the gaps left in the Black family story. The first act of campaign will be about Nathaniel Black, the son of Nohnakee and John Black, and the second act will be about Chayton Black, the son of Amelia Black.
Q. Will there be new multiplayer improvements?
A. Yes. There will be new victory conditions, and there will be improvements to the interface in general.
Q. Can you further explain the new “Revolution?”
A. The Revolution is an alternative to the Imperial Age for the European civilizations. When researching this you will choose from two “Revolutionaries” (ie. George Washington). All of your settlers will turn into colonial militia, you will have a new home city, and new shipments. The Colonial Militia are different from minutemen in that they do not lose their hit points over time. One new unit is the “Ironclad,” an extremely powerful warship that is a shipment for a civilization that researches the Revolution. One more note is if you Revolt, your opponent can not.