Still, while all of those elements are important, Age of Empires III is, at heart, an RTS, which means that management of economic units is a key determiner of success or failure in colonizing the New World. According to Ensemble, one of the things the team wanted to do differently in Age of Empires III, was to make the eight civilizations more varied that in previous editions of the series. One of the major ways they did so was to vary the primary economic unit (the villager) among civilizations. Every civilization has some twist on how they manage villagers and two civilizations -- the Germans and Ottomans -- have a completely different villager unit. We're profiling these key economic units, along with a few others such as scouts and healers who don't pack much in firepower, but who can be just as important as any musketeer or Dragoon.
The Settler
People came to the New World for a variety of reasons. Some were adventurers seeking fame or wealth. Others were fleeing war or religious persecution and wanted to start a new life on a new continent. Some were indentured servants, free citizens who voluntarily gave up freedom for free passage to the Americas. Some were criminals brought to the New World, and of course some were slaves with no choice in the matter. The makeup of a civilization's settler population had a great effect on their success in the New World. The Spanish, for example, sent many adventurers who brought back much wealth to Spain while the French sent many trappers, and likewise reaped a monetary benefit. The British, though, with many German and Irish peasants working in British colonies, were largely farmers and tradesmen, which allowed their colonies to grow rapidly and invest in the long-term occupation of the Americas. .
In Age of Empires III, settlers are the main type of villager, used by every civilization except the French and the Germans. Settlers are responsible for all the RTS basics -- building buildings, gathering resources, and dying when enemy soldiers come around. There are, however, two useful improvements in the market (Blunderbuss and Great Coat), which improve settler combat ability enough to keep them alive during an early raid. Most civilizations can ship settlers from their Home City, with the British being particularly good at it. Russians and Portuguese must provide all of their settlers in the New World. Ottoman settlers are never trained, and just periodically spawn out of every Town Center you own. Settlers can gather treasures and build Trading Posts. Only Explorers, though can build new town centers (though they also may be shipped from the Home City).
The Coureur des Bois
Coureur des Bois is French for "runner in the woods," the name given to a group of French fur traders. They came from all walks of French and colonial French life to hunt and trap animals for their pelts in North America. These scruffy frontiersmen would often paddle up northern creeks and rivers and live off the land for months or years at a time. Many lived for a time with Native Americans, and several were at least partially Native Americans. These early trade relationships are one of the factors that allowed the French to generally have more peaceful relations with the Native Americans of the Northeast.
In the game, the Coureur represents a tougher, faster, and more expensive villager. French players have to pay more for them, but because Coureurs gather faster, the French economy is seldom behind and is often ahead of other civilizations. The Coureur's real strength, though, is decent combat stats, which can make them very hard to raid. In fact, while the hit to the economy from not gathering can be substantial, some French players will send Coureurs with an attack force as long as the battle isn't too far away. Among the Native Americans, the Cree can also provide Coureurs to any player (even non-French) who allies with them.