Overview
This guide is part of our clan .::X::. treaty guide series from here: http://aoeiii.wix.com/aoexLike our Facebook page for more updates: https://www.facebook.com/aoeiiixJoin our Facebook group for more discussion/tips/gameplay: https://www.facebook.com/groups/aoeiiix/Preview and download the deck we used in the boom here: http://aoeiii.wix.com/aoex#!deck/cqwgPorts has an extremely easy boom getting a Town Center for each Age up and are not lacking much in the eco card department. Ports military boasts the advantage of some of the best ranged units in the game. When not in melee, Cassadores are much better than Skirmishers of other civs and Ports have the best Dragoons in the game due to their range. Port Muskets are also very good units pretty much tied with Brits. Ports also have a major artillery advantage of having engineering school which makes artillery train much faster than other civs. And perhaps the biggest Port advantage is their super long range Mortars which will always destroy your walls from way back behind their lines. You pretty much end up suiciding your slow training culvs to try and snipe them. Ports can easily destroy your forward base while sitting high and pretty with a spam of ranged units.
AGE I
As soon as you start, separate villagers on food crates first (each on separate crates then shift click hunting animal), one on other crates, quickly queue your first villager when you got 100 food.
You must maintain constant villager training from now on till you max the villager limit 99.
Depending on starting crates either build a house then a market or just a house.
New villagers to wood and gold as needed, get hunting dog [first food upgrade in market], then all food until you can age up to II.
First card Economic Theory.
Age up with 400 wood, get 10 villagers on food, rest on wood, get placer mines [first gold upgrade in market], move villagers on wood to gold.
AGE II
Immediately put down your Town Center wagon and build your new Town Center near a hunt patch or a mine and start to train villagers simultaneously from all Town Centers. Do this every time you get a new Town Center from aging up.
Get Steel Traps and Algamation [food and gold upgrade in market]
Start to pump villagers to gold, possibly more villagers on gold than on food depends on how your resource distribution is looking, tweak and adapt on the fly. Your goal is to get 1200 food and 1000 gold for Age III.
Age up using fast age up [exiled prince], should be around 26-28 Villagers, but don’t mark when to age up by villagers.
AGE III
Get the first wood cutting upgrade in market, and build one more house, move villagers on wood to gold. 2nd card is Royal Mint and 3rd card is Refrigeration.
You might need to tweak food/gold balance depending on resources/map layout, do so if necessary, you want to hit around 2000 food and 1200 gold at the same time and around about 10:35-10:50.
Age up with 1000 gold bonus.
AGE IV
Build one house, distribute your villagers on food and gold to get enough resource to age up. Usual rule of watch resource balance and tweak as needed applies, should be able to age up to Age V Imperial around 14 min in, immediately when you get enough 4000 food/4000 gold.
4th card is Factory, 5th card is 2nd Factory, both on wood, research the increased wood gathering rate in factory upgrade.
AGE V
Get all wood upgrade in Market.
Go heavy on wood while aging to Imperial.
Build one mill and one plantation, start getting upgrades in them.
When you hit Imperial, build Capitol, get Imperial economy upgrades.
Get Mercantilism [Church XP] while in Imperial.
Send Church card, food upgrade from Church, then Sustainable Agriculture, start to send villager to work on mill.
After all 3 plantation cards, send villager to work on plantation.
Villager distribution is 35 food, 19 wood, 45 gold if not using native, 40 food, 19 wood, 40 gold if using native.
FIGHT
In order to play Port effectively you must be cost efficient (expensive base unit – Cassadores – costing 80 food and 40 coin which is much more than a Musket) and have fair map control skills.
BEING AGGRESSIVE
VS MELEE
Melee civs do very well vs Port as Port are a long ranged civ, therefore you want to keep your distance. Civs like Germany and Spain can take you in close, forcing you to make muskets as a meatshield. But do not get too musk happy as your economy cannot support it as well as other civs. 20 – 25 muskets at the front of your army as a meatshield should do with cassadores and organs behind.
One mistake with Port is that people tend to make too many Dragoons. REMEMBER they cost 2 pop, so do not over spam. You want to keep them at the back of your army AT ALL TIMES. Their 20 range means that they can last a fairly long time.
VS RANGE
This is where you want to be as Port. Your best composition is Cassadores/Dragoon/Artillery. not too many Dragoon, maybe 5 – 12, with a solid core of Cassadores with a few Organs, Culverin and 2 Mortars at most. Again keep Mortars at the back of your army. Make sure you secure flanks so you can wall and ♥♥♥♥♥ Mortars all over enemy forward base.
BEING DEFENSIVE
Basically all you need to do is Cassadores/Dragoon/Artillery. Just sit and pull back when you need to. Keep 1 – 2 Mortar out at the back of your army. If they are a melee civ again you will want slightly more Musket and Organs Gun, with Dragoon to support as anti cav. 15 – 20 Cassadores should pick off what your micro’d Organs can not.
DECK
RECORDED GAME
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HOW TO WATCH RECORDED GAME
Download the recorded game and put into folder:
C:Users [YOUR USERNAME HERE]DocumentsMy GamesAge of Empires 3Savegame
Start your game [Age of Empires III The Asian Dynasties] > Help and Tool > Recorded Game
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