By Brad Cook

“We didn’t want the Native Americans to just feel like an obstacle in the game,” lead designer Greg Street explains when asked about their presence in Age of Empires III. “Instead, we wanted the Native Americans to feel more like a potential resource over which colonists could compete.” While that’s still the case in Age of Empires III: The WarChiefs, the expansion pack also brings with it three tribes — the Aztecs, Iroquois, and Sioux — whose fortunes you can now control.

“There is plenty of precedence for this in history,” Street adds, referring to real-life alliances between Native Americans and the Europeans who encountered them. That idea forms the basis of the two-part single-player campaign, “Fire and Shadow,” found in The WarChiefs. Continuing the story of the Black family, which started in the original game, act one concerns Nathaniel Black and his Iroquois uncle, Kayenke, who fight Mohawk and Seneca tribes allied with the Hessians. They later side with Colonel George Washington and help him win the Revolutionary War.

In act two, Nathaniel’s grandson, Chayton Black, finds himself in the middle of Red Cloud’s War, a late 1860s conflict in which the Sioux fought the United States. He later defends mining camps in the Black Hills of Dakota from Sioux attacks, but he decides to switch allegiances when ordered to destroy a Sioux village. Chayton’s story culminates in the Battle of the Little Bighorn, where General Custer made his famous final stand.

Unique Advantages

Rather than simply rehash the basic dynamics of the eight European nations introduced in the original game, the three Indian tribes found in The WarChiefs feature unique advantages. First among those benefits is the War Chief, who replaces the explorer given to each European nation at the beginning of the game. War Chiefs grant different types of bonuses — they vary by tribe — to surrounding units, and they can convert treasure guardians, such as bears and outlaws, to their side, rather than killing them.

When a War Chief dies, he can be resurrected at the fire pit, a structure that is also unique to the three Indian tribes. Up to 25 villagers can dance around the fire pit, giving a bonus to their nation that’s based on the type of dance they’re performing. For example, the fertility dance speeds up unit creation while the earth mother dance increases the population limit.

Finally, tribal councils govern the Iroquois and Sioux, rather than the Home Cities that direct the European nations’ affairs from afar. When one of those tribes upgrades to a new Age, you select one of the five members of the council and dictate the focus of future growth: Chief (economic units), War Leader (military units and upgrades), Shaman (building upgrades), Wise Woman (economic upgrades), or Messenger (specialized military units and upgrades).

The Native American tribes with whom you can forge alliances are still found in The WarChiefs, although the Huron, Cheyenne, and Zapotec replace the Iroquois, Sioux, and Aztecs, respectively. New other tribes added to the game include the Apache, Navajo, and Mapuche.

Europeans Not Neglected

This expansion pack isn’t solely focused on the Indian tribes, however. It also features some changes for the European nations, starting with the option to say you want a revolution when you reach the fourth Age. If you head down that path, you sever all ties with your Home City (your flag also changes to denote your new standing) and your villagers become colonial militia units, which means they stop producing resources and become dedicated only to fighting. A nation that revolts gets to choose a new leader, such as George Washington or Miguel Hidalgo, who grants a unique advantage.

In addition, all of the cards in your Home City deck are replaced by four new ones: Gatling Gun, a powerful artillery unit; Ironclad, a heavily-armored ship; Fort Wagon, which converts into a defense fortress; and Colonial Militia. Since you’ve lost the ability to generate new units through resource gathering, make sure you’ve produced a large enough army to take on your opponents before you spark a revolt. And don’t forget that only one nation per match can undertake such a drastic change; all others must progress to the fourth Age.

The WarChiefs also offers new military units for the European nations, including horse artillery, spies who can move around the map in stealth mode, and the petard, who uses a small explosive device to attack walls and buildings. The Europeans’ new building is the saloon, where they can hire four different mercenaries: the stealthy ninja; the Li’l Bombard, which is the second-biggest cannon in the game; the heavy cavalry unit known as the Elmeti; and the Fusilier, a musket-bearing light infantry unit.

Trade Monopoly: An Option For All

Finally, all 11 nations in the game now have the ability to win through a trade monopoly. Take over more than half of the trade routes and Native American settlements on the map and a Trade Monopoly button appears. Click it to begin a countdown. If you retain your dominance when the timer runs out, you win the game. Keep in mind, however, that during the countdown you can’t start building new trading posts, but your opponents can.

Now if you’ll excuse us, we have some mounted Sioux Dog Soldiers to contend with. It seems that they’ve been doing plenty of fire pit dancing to generate all those units. A group of Skull Knights should be more than enough to take care of them, unless they also sent a few Tashunke Prowlers sneaking around our flank.

There’s No Place Like Your Home City. While the Iroquois and Sioux use tribal councils, the Aztecs rely on Tenochtitlan as their Home City.

Round and Round They Go. Add more villagers to increase the effectiveness of a fire pit dance.

The Council Has Spoken. When an Indian tribe advances to a new age, it selects a council member who reflects the strategy it wants to follow.

No Match For a Cannon at Your Side. These Aztec warriors outnumber the opposition, but those cannons will decimate their ranks.

If you liked this game, check out:

• Civilization IV: Warlords
• Command & Conquer Generals: Zero Hour
• Imperial Glory
• Legion Arena: Cult of Mithras
• Star Wars: Empire at War

System Requirements:

• Full version of Age of Empires III required
• Mac OS X version 10.3.9
• 1.4GHz Intel or PowerPC G4 processor
• 512MB of RAM
• 64MB video RAM