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Steel is the third act in the Age of Empires III campaign. Its main protagonist is Amelia Black, supported by Major Cooper and Ká:nien.

Scenarios[]

The campaign consists of 8 scenarios (and 13 cinematics).

🎬 The Falcon Company
⚔️ Race for the Rails
🎬 Beaumont the Prospector
⚔️ Hold the Fort
🎬 A Risky Decision
🎬 Never Trust a French Prospector
⚔️ The Boneguard's Lair
🎬 Slippery as a Fish
🎬 Back to Florida
⚔️ The Lost Spanish Gold
🎬 Cooper's Stand
🎬 In the Middle of War
⚔️ Bolivar's Revolt
🎬 The Rebel Leader
⚔️ Journey Through the Andes
🎬 Inca Pacamayo
⚔️ Last City of the Inca
🎬 Water from the Fountain
🎬 The Ossuary
⚔️ Last Stand of the Boneguard
🎬 Payback
🎬 The Old Coot

Synopsis[]

It starts with Amelia Black overlooking the American railways, when she is approached by an old coot. She is being helped by Major Cooper and his Cavalry, who are protecting her men while they work. The two go to a nearby fort after claiming most of the railways, which is under attack by the Mexican Army. With the help of Beaumont and some heavy artillery, Amelia and Cooper are able to drive away the Mexican Army. Beaumont asks Amelia to go up north for a new mine, which she accepts.

After following Beaumont into the mines, she is approached by her Granduncle, Ká:nien. He then warns her that Beaumont means harm. In fear of being attacked by Major Cooper's Cavalry, Beaumont scrambles into the mines. Amelia and her men explore the local area, finding several tribes desperate for food as Beaumont had caused their sources of food to deplete. They find several friendly soldiers and natives trapped in stockades, along with treasure related to the Circle and Food Wagons, which they send to the tribes in return for warriors. They reach the end of the system where Cooper sends several men to capture Beaumont, but are killed by him. Ká:nien then tells Amelia that Beaumont is the new leader of the Circle of Ossus and that he wanted to find out if she knew what happened to the Fountain of Youth's water. Ká:nien then tells Amelia of the lost Spanish gold in the swamp where the Lake of the Moon once stood.

The trio then travels to Florida to take the Spanish gold from the Circle of Ossus. They are successful and also find the old Fixed Gun that Morgan had used to destroy the Fountain of Youth. However, Cooper is killed after he confronts Beaumont, who sends his Pure White Wolves at him. Amelia buries Cooper and asks the Seminoles what had happened to the water. They tell her that the Incans took some water after Morgan destroyed the Fountain.

She then sets sail for South America in hope of finding the Last City of the Inca. She meets with Simón Bolívar, who is attempting to lead a revolution against the Spanish. After liberating several towns and destroying the Spanish command post, Simón is grateful for her services and tells her how to get to the Incan city. Amelia and a few of her men travel through the Andes Mountains, taking shelter from the bitter winds outside. Unfortunately, Beaumont had hired a group of Black Riders to kill her before she reaches the Last City of the Inca. Amelia and her men take down the numerous scouts sent to disclose their location to the group, and eventually reach the Incan City.

The Incan City is under attack by the Circle, knowing that they have barrels of the fabled water. Amelia and Ká:nien, with the help of the Incans, chase out the Circle. However, Beaumont managed to steal several barrels of the water before they were chased out.

In fear that the water does hold the key to immortality, Amelia and Ká:nien chase Beaumont to the Circle's stronghold in Cuba, the Ossuary. They are ambushed by several Circle members on the way to Havana, but manage to defeat them. After reaching Havana, the Cubans want the Circle gone and help Amelia set up a base to attack the Circle. With help from the American Navy and the Cuban Army, Amelia and Ká:nien destroy the Ossuary and check if Beaumont is really dead. Beaumont rises up and attempts to stab Amelia, but she grabs her rifle and kills him before he is able to. Her men later take the Spanish gold the Circle had taken from Florida and share it among themselves.

Amelia returns to America to once again encounter the old coot, he then congratulates her on finishing the railway and saving the company. He then says, "You broke the Circle, and in just one lifetime too." It is then revealed that the 'Old Coot' was actually her Great-Great-Grandfather. He then says "Don't miss your train", and then walks away.

Trivia[]

  • The Steel Campaign chronology is confusing (and at parts obviously inaccurate).[1] The campaign is assumed to be set in 1817 because of the involvement of Simón Bolívar in his liberation of the north of South America, the fact that the description for Major Cooper mentions he fought in the War of 1812, and that Amelia mentions in the epilogue cinematic of The Boneguard's Lair that "five years had passed since her father's funeral without seeing Ká:nien".
  • The war between Mexico and the US would be a fictional conflict (Mexico was founded in 1821, while the Mexican-American war lasted from 1846 to 1848). However, the use of Spanish units by the Mexican insurgent army could be historically accurate, since in 1817 Mexico was still the viceroyalty of New Spain fighting for its independence (Mina's campaign in the North of Mexico).
  • The campaign also depicts railroads in the southwestern United States, which wouldn't come till the 1860s. The steam locomotive was created in 1804 in Great Britain and by 1817 the process of expansion of the railroad on the east coast of the United States could have begun[2], although it would not reach Louisiana and Texas until 1841. In addition, the first railroad companies would not be created until the decades of the 1820s-1830s, several years after the Steel campaign.
  • The final cinematic for this Act, Payback, was visually redone in the Definitive Edition, but kept the original audio. As such, there is an error. In the original cinematic, as Amelia and Ká:nien enter the fort, Beaumont is seen on top of the wall of the fort trapped under some rubble. As he struggles to get up from under the stone slabs, the grinding noise of the slabs is heard as he pushes them off of him. However, in the Definitive Edition, for some unknown reason, the stone slabs were removed. And as Beaumont gets up, the sound for the stone grinding is still heard, despite there being no stones at all.

Gallery[]

References[]

Campaigns in Age of Empires III
3Icon48px Age of Empires III
TutorialMaster the Basics · Try a Game
Act I: BloodBreakout · Into the Caves · Pirates! · The Ottoman Fort · Temples of the Aztec · A Pirate's Help · Spanish Treasure Fleet · The Fountain of Youth?
Act II: IceDefend the Colony · Strange Alliances · The Rescue · The Seven Years' War · The Great Lakes · Respect · Warwick's Stronghold · Bring Down the Mountain
Act III: SteelRace for the Rails · Hold the Fort · The Boneguard's Lair · The Lost Spanish Gold · Bolivar's Revolt · Journey Through the Andes · Last City of the Inca · Last Stand of the Boneguard
3WCIcon48px The WarChiefs
Act I: FireWar Dance (War Ceremony· The Rescue · Breed's Hill · Crossing the Delaware · Saratoga · Valley Forge · The Battle of Morristown · The Battle of Yorktown
Act II: ShadowThe Bozeman Trail · Red Cloud's War (A Reckoning· Claims · Ambushed! (Urgent News· Turning Point (To Stop a War· Trust · Battle of the Little Bighorn (Battle of the Greasy Grass)
3ADIcon48px The Asian Dynasties
Act I: JapanThe Siege of Osaka · Uprising! · Clearing the Road · Last Stand at Fushimi · The Battle of Sekigahara
Act II: ChinaTo Finish a Fleet · Storming the Beaches · Lost Ships · A Rescue in the Wilderness · No Empire Lasts Forever
Act III: IndiaInto the Punjab · Fires of Calcutta · Resist! · Raid in Delhi · Company Confrontation
Age3DE Icon Definitive Edition
Historical BattlesAlgiers · Christopher da Gama's Expedition · Chuvash Cape · Raid on the Caribbean · Fort Duquesne · Battle of New Orleans · The Burning of USS Philadelphia · Grito de Dolores · Battle of Queenston Heights
The Art of WarEarly Economy · Treasures · Home City Shipments · Booming · Build Orders · Early Defense · Early Offense · Land Battle · Naval Battle · Artillery
Event scenariosBombard Brawl
Age3DE Icon The African Royals
Historical BattlesThe Battle of the Three Kings · Fall of the Hausa · The Era of the Princes
Names in brackets are the scenario's name in the Definitive Edition.
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