My "Best of" War Academy Articles

Olson

Warlord
Joined
May 5, 2013
Messages
283
Location
Long Island, NY
When I first found CFC's War Academy I was a bit put-off by the lack of reader ratings to help me find which articles the most found useful. This post is my contribution in that regard.

Of all the War Academy Articles, the following are those I have found to be the most useful in learning the game. Sometimes the thread discussing a particular article is what put it on my list; not the article itself. And, sometimes, the article itself may be debatable but its content made me think of things I hadn't considered (only a couple were put on this list).

In general (and off the top of my head), I found Sisiutil, VoiceOfUnreason, and Sulla to be the better writers; some of the others seem to be knowledgeable enough but might make use of a good editor/proofreader. Tip: search "Syrian" to find some good write-ups not put into the War Academy.

Those with an (***) are especially useful.


Introductory Courses

SISIUTIL’S CIVILIZATION IV STRATEGY GUIDE FOR BEGINNERS
Version 2.0 - December 22, 2006

***SISIUTIL’S CIV IV STRATEGY GUIDE FOR BEGINNERS***
VERSION 5.0 – OCTOBER 17, 2011

WoundedKnight's Strategy Guide

Empire Management

A Beginner's Guide to the Specialist Economy (SE)

BTS: A guide for higher difficulties for standard speed and maps (emperor+)

City Specialization: Where I do it

Civilization IV Leader Traits: Self-Actualization, Axemen, and You

***Comprehensive Guide to Terrain, Improvements, Resources, and City Placement***

Intermediate Tactics and Gambits

***Micromanagement is alive and well in Civ4***

The Hybrid Economy

Vocum Sineratio: Dona Eis Relions

***Vocum Sineratio: The Whip***

Military Strategy & Tactics

Pete's Guide to Emperor Level Domination Wins

The Early Rush

Game Mechanics

Technology Research Explained

***Great People Points Explained***

***The Inner Workings of the Demographics Screen Explained***

References

***Great People Tech Preferences***
 
This is a great list of 19 of the best strategy articles.

A poll of all the strategy articles where players can list the best ten articles might provide an interesting metric on which strategy articles players considered the best. Unfortunately a poll is limited to 25 items, but a poll of each major section of the Civ IV War Academy should be possible to do; in this case players could select which three articles in each category they considered the best.

Thanks for sharing your opinion. I strongly agree with nearly all your selected articles and disagree with none of them.

Sun Tzu Wu
 
Maybe I should read some articles myself. I don't recall ever reading any of those (or any at all). Thanks for the ratings. And yeah, don't expect much ratings, people are lazy. They take and leave nothing. That's how internet works.

Usually, the best are the founder articles, that is the earliest, as it had time to build up a reputation.

EDIT: Nope. I know I have read the one regarding Demographics and Great People Preference.
 
Thanks for this. Helps with so many articles. But I have already read (and forgotten) most of them.

Haven't read the demographics one though. Will have a look.

There are some gaps/basic things that these articles don't cover though, such as where to settle your cities (lot about what to do with cities once you settle them, but no advice on where to settle in the first place), and what to do with great people you get(bulb, GA, or special mission/function), and which ones to aim for, at different stages of the game.
 
There are also several other threads in Strategy and Tips -> Articles that deserve attention as well. The article on horse archer rushing for example is particularly good, though could be improved slightly.

Sun Tzu Wu
 
Very good collection of articles. I've read many of them, and some of those jump out as excellent for a beginner, especially Sisiutil's guide.

Would it be possible to add links to them? Just for easier access for people who check the thread that aren't familiar with the War Academy.
 
Excellent idea. This could be a Sticky somewhere.

Some of the articles would need some updating, but I guess that's up to the authors.
 
There are also several other threads in Strategy and Tips -> Articles that deserve attention as well. The article on horse archer rushing for example is particularly good, though could be improved slightly.

Sun Tzu Wu

most 5 stars in forum 156 are worth reading, especially those ones explaining mechanisms. but i think i learnt more from reading this forum (id=155) for how to win the games.
 
Top Bottom