I know how to play Civilization 4 and Warlords quite well now... but this mod interested in me and with all these new things in the mod... is kinda overwhelming.

Is there some kind of tutorial or "how to" guide to play this mod?

could someone add a tutorial as part of the mod or would it be too troubling?

Sure there's the Civ-pedia but it's just to much information to Digest, I want someone to help me or teach me the basics of the mod like the speical upgrades and promotions. I already know the basics of Civ4.

There is, as far as I know, no tutorial. The mod is way too large, has way too much choice, and is far too unfinished for a tutorial to cover everything. Besides, since it is always changing, a tutorial would have trouble keeping up. My advice: read the forums, check out the wiki, dip into the pedia, and otherwise just start playing and learn as you go. Have fun!

Like wilboman said. Play first, read the forums while at work/school, play more, and sleep when you can.

I'm kind of new here also- so I know where you are coming from...

For me personally I enjoyed playing and learning as I went even if my games did not always progress as efficiently as otherwise could have.

There is a really helpful excel sheet created by vyapti here: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=194012

I still haven't figured out the best upgrade paths to get units to cast specific spells yet, and since my current game is Khazad I won't be learning anything there...

A couple quick tips-

Get the wonder (can't think of the name ATM) that gives you 3 hill giants ASAP. Then send them wandering through your competition- you can really slow them down taking out their defenders causing the AI to have to spend time building more. Be careful to keep them alive though. Early in the game you can send them each their own separate direction to explore/have some fun. Middlegame though send them in a stack through whoever is the strongest to bring them down a notch or two. As a stack if one gets injured, the others will protect him. I have had them hold off 20!! attackers in one turn, not losing one of my giants!

After you have a solid economic base (i.e. workers can build the improvements you need) then found a religion, then beeline for the Feral Bond tech and recruit the Baron!! The Werewolf babies he leaves in his wake grow strong fast and are useful- I usually team up one werewolf with each of my workers to keep them safe and they make good garrison troops in newly conquered cities. You do need to bring in at least one regular troop because werewolves don't count as garrison troops for happiness.

The documentation on Wiki (http://civ4wiki.com/wiki/index.php/Fall_from_Heaven_II)- is really excellent. I browsed around there, just reading entries and still do.

There's alot of 'stories' that may not be pertinent to the game mechanics, but help immerse you in the feeling of game. The info is good to.

Actually, my suggestion would be to play Fall From Heaven I first. I found that that mod had a lower learning curve from vanilla Civ IV than this one, and a significant number of the concepts transmit over. However, it does mean having to learn two different spell systems.

A brief summary of differences from CIV IV:

Before turn 1:
Note that the civilization (and to a lesser extent the leader) you choose has a far greater impact than in Vanilla Civ IV. Civilizations tend to have multiple unique units (although some of them are merely different graphics on the standard unit), and many cannot obtain particular units. Certain civilizations have unique abilities (such as the Lanun's ability to create Pirate Coves). A number of traits tend to have large effects on your game. For example, Summoner makes your temporarily summoned creatures stay around for additional turns, and Barbarian starts your player at peace with the Barbarian State.

Turn 1: Your initial settler has some promotions that allow it to move faster and see further than most Settlers. This allows a real choice of starting spots. Note that due to the Sailor's Dirge, creating your first city next to a large body of water may not be a good choice.

Barbarians: a broader range of early "animals" (Giant Spiders, Hill Giants are more difficult than vanilla animals), and some early creature generators (Barrow, Ruins - both destroyable by entering them with any unit). Because of these, consider sending two Warriors (or the equivalent) for each unit you need to protect in potentially hostile territory (like Settlers). Also note that there are some unique barbarians, including a ship (Sailor's Dirge) a melee combatant that spawns in the early game (Orthus), and a Dragon that spawns a little later (Acheron the Red Dragon).

Promotions: Note that the XP cap is (for most practical purposes) absent, and there are far more promotions, with far more effects. In most cases, Combat I-Combat V are safe, good choices to take, if they are not always optimal. Note that adepts (and their equivalent) need to take appropriate promotions to gain spells.

Technology: In general, technology gains are far slower than in vanilla CIV IV. A relatively easy path is to go for Education, then go for one of the early religions (unless you can't gain one), then rounding out the various tile improvements for resources that are relevant, then focusing on a single branch of research, to get the military units. Although the optimal choice depends on your civilization (and situation), in general, the Melee units (ex: Warrior, Axeman) require the most metals and are a bit stronger, whereas the Recon units (ex: Scout, Hunter) tend to be weaker and require no metals. As in Vanilla Civ IV, military (or at least military-supported) victories tend to be the easiest. If you make it to the late game, Druids are a very nice choice (since for most civilizations, they allow terra-forming with the proper promotions).

Improvements: The most important one to mention here is Mana Nodes. Mana Nodes can be built in a variety of types, by most Arcane Units, depending on what technologies you presently have. If you want to create highly promoted arcane units, go for up to 3 of the same type of mana for your favorite mana types (look in particular at the later spells - Fire, for example, is very good for Sorcery; Earth is good for Summoning).

Units:
* Animal Units - Note that with the Subdue Animal Promotion, certain of these units can be captured (mostly by recon units). They then can produce buildings at carnivals, or be used as Hidden Nationality units.
* Arcane Units - spellcasters. Always promote through each level, so as to get the extra free promotion. They have a slow automatic XP gain. You'll want to focus each spellcaster on Summoning or Sorcery (since only Druids do both).
* Archery Units - the early ones are much like vanilla Civ IV, but some of the later ones have different abilities - the Marksman attacks the weakest unit in a stack, and the Flurry has Blitz like a Tank in vanilla Civ IV. Also note that the later units require metals.
* Disciple Units - everything from the lowly prophet (a unit with Medic I) through the Druid or High Priest (powerful spellcasters), through combat units (Paladin). Note that Disciple spellcasters start with more automatic promotions than Arcane spellcasters, but they cannot gain additional spheres, nor do they gain automatic XP nor free promotions from multiples of a mana resource.
* Melee Units - these units tend to be a bit stronger than roughly equivalent counterparts, but require more metals. Note that the Immortal must be killed twice in a single turn to be slain.
* Mounted Units - Much like vanilla CIV IV mounted units, but faster. The later ones tend to be very strong units as well. They tend to require a second resource (typically Horses).
* Naval Units - Much like vanilla CIV IV naval units. Note that they all can change their statistics a bit in their cities (so they can fight better at one point, then (later on) move faster instead. Note that the Arcane barge can can Fireball.
* Recon Units - The units you want to go for if you have not metals. Also note that the Hunter is very cheap in Technology terms, so in many cases, this is a very tempting branch even with decent metals.
* Siege Units - the main differences are that they tend to have higher withdrawal chances and lower strength than in Vanilla CIV IV. Unlike Vanilla Civ IV, there are other ways of taking down city walls - Fireballs, Meteor Swarms, and Hill Giants are three examples.

* National Units - the most powerful units (non-Hero units) are National Units. this means that you can only have 3 at a time.
* Heroes - for their technology, these tend to be the strongest units in the game. They can gain a number of promotions that non-Hero units can't. Only one hero of any type can be built (by any player). A number of Heroes have the Hero promotion, which grants them a significant XP gain until they reach 100.
* Buildings - note that many units have pre-requisite buildings. particuarly for the later units, consider having only 1-2 cities with that building, unless the building gives significant other advantages.

Religion: your choice of religion has a stronger effect than in vanilla Civ IV. They act as pre-requisites for Heroes, some units, some technologies, and some civics. Until you get used to the basics of the game, I'd take one of the early ones, and stick with it for the game. Also note that a few civilizations can't gain the standard religions, and one can't gain any religion.

Civics: Civics have diffferent and larger effects than the early ones tended to in Vanilla Civ IV. Agriculture in particular can be a very nice early civic.

Note that a variant of this text is here (http://civ4wiki.com/wiki/index.php/FfH_Differences_from_Vanilla_CIV_IV); feel free to edit it if you have better suggestions.

well that sounds like a must read for everyone who starts playing FfH II (which i recommend everyone to do ;) ). Perhaps Kael could add a link in the download thread or inlcude something like that within the downlod itself in form of a tutorial.txt or firststeps.txt or beginnersguide.txt or something. i think you have to guide new players into the world of FfH. after they understand the basic concepts, normally they get drown into the game and want to explore it anyway :)

well that sounds like a must read for everyone who starts playing FfH II (which i recommend everyone to do ;) ). Perhaps Kael could add a link in the download thread or inlcude something like that within the downlod itself in form of a tutorial.txt or firststeps.txt or beginnersguide.txt or something. i think you have to guide new players into the world of FfH. after they understand the basic concepts, normally they get drown into the game and want to explore it anyway :)

I prefer it as a wiki article (as linked above), since then I can do cross-referencing (as partially done), but feel free to take whatever you like. The spell section still needs more detail - perhaps detailing 1-2 spheres for each type of magic would be helpful.