Act III "Steel" - Mission 4: "The Lost Spanish Gold" — "Age Of Empires III" Campaign Guide

Mission 4: “The Lost Spanish Gold”

In The Lost Spanish Gold, Amelia and company have chased Beaumont to Florida to the same lands where Morgan Black fought the Circle oh so many years ago in Act I. With so much time passed, the land has dried up considerably and the Treasure Ships that once were a near limitless supply of coin have been reduced to rubble, essentially becoming little different than gold mines which must be harvested by Settlers.

Primary Objective: Destroy the three Outposts guarding the ruined treasure ships.

"Age of Empires 3" - Act III Steel - Mission 4: The Lost Spanish Gold (1 of 6) — Taking out the sneaky Circle’s Fort before it becomes a pain in the ass.

Once the mission starts, get to the usual economy building tasks and look to collect at least the large batch of food treasure north of your base. Try to keep your forces near your town center as the enemy likes to send some cavalry early on to massacre your Settlers. Keep in mind that we have until the 15 minute mark to put significant pressure on the enemy base or else they will manage to build up enough strength to overrun you (trust me) and the way to do this will be explained soon. Just make sure you are as time efficient as possible in the following tasks.

Build some walls to help block off enemy access to your base and give something for your ranged soldiers to fight behind and keep an eye on the area southwest of your Town Center by the southernmost alligator guarded treasure. Around 3:30 into the game, the enemy likes to build a Fort here which you will want to take out before it is fully constructed to give yourself some breathing room.

Try to send for a Fort card early on and build it just south of your Town Center by the ramp to the lower ground just to the left of the nearby Native Village. Resources should go towards improving economy while balanced with Musketeers for defense and some upgrades for them. Sending in crates of gold with your cards can help supplement things until you can secure some of the treasure ships.

Secondary Objective: Build Trading Posts at the Native Villages. (500 XP)

"Age of Empires 3" - Act III Steel - Mission 4: The Lost Spanish Gold (4 of 6) — Taking out the Circle Outposts guarding the treasure ships.

This objective is self-explanatory, with the first of three Native Villages being right next to your base. Constructing a Trading Post here will give you vision over an area in some woods on high ground to the south where will need to bring Kanyenke later. Look to the north and slightly to the right to find a treasure ship to mine and further north of that, some more treasure in the form of another big batch of food.

Secondary Objective: Bring Kanyenke to the revealed forest along the southeast edge of the map. (300 XP)

"Age of Empires 3" - Act III Steel - Mission 4: The Lost Spanish Gold (2 of 6)

"Age of Empires 3" - Act III Steel - Mission 4: The Lost Spanish Gold (3 of 6)

The best way to reach this area is to move your units from the treasure, further north and around the edge of the map to bypass the Outposts between you and the forest with your heroes and a small group of soldiers. On your way you will encounter another Native Village, 2 of 3, which you can construct a Trading Post at to increase your Native Warrior cap. Once you reach the forest, you will be granted the same Fixed Cannon you once controlled against the Circle to now be used against the bastards once more. This is the disruption we need before the 15 minute mark in order to prevent being overrun.

Although mossy, it is still just as effective as ever, and seemingly uncapturable by the enemy, or at least they prefer to attempt to destroy it rather. Park your units by the cannon and let it do what it does best, blow the crap out of everything in range. Once you have the Fixed Cannon, you will start to draw hordes of attacking units, which you can fire upon with the cannon to take out en masse. If they get too close do not panic as the cannon has a ton of hit-points and the enemy will occasionally lose interest in it after a while. Send some reinforcements to battle the cannons attackers when you get the chance and the moment you have the option start repairing it, which it does very quickly. Keep some wood saved up for this purpose.

Primary Objective: Destroy Beaumont’s Town Center.

"Age of Empires 3" - Act III Steel - Mission 4: The Lost Spanish Gold (5 of 6)

"Age of Empires 3" - Act III Steel - Mission 4: The Lost Spanish Gold (6 of 6)

As your Fixed Cannon finishes working over everything in its range, including the second enemy Fort to the southwest of it, take the opportunity to start expanding your economy a little further to get things really moving then advance to the next age, choosing the Factory which will be used for Heavy Cannon production. When you feel you have the forces to do so, move out against the outposts to satisfy the first primary objective and make way for your final attack once you’ve got some artillery support.

When preparing your final attack force, make sure you bring a few Culverin and Mortars, the enemy has a lot of their own artillery pieces and walls that need to be taken down. Move your massed force southwest from your Town Center along the high ground in the direction where the enemy has been primarily attacking from. From this route, you will be able to approach the rear of the base while also being able to bombard a large portion of what is inside from the safety of an overlook.

Pound the inside of the base, hitting whatever you can reach from the overlook (see pictures) then knock out the walls and Outpost at the rear of the base if you haven’t done so already. With the walls gone, rush your forces inside to carve apart the now vulnerable base. Once the Town Center falls, you will be rewarded with victory in The Lost Spanish Gold.