Rate the Tenets - part II: Autocracy Tenets

[kaspergm]

Continuing from last part (find the thread for Freedom tenets here), this week's vote is Autocracy tenets.

I'd ask you to put your vote before the name of each tenet, like this:
3 - United Front: Militaristic City-States gift units twice as often when at war with a common foe.


Give votes between 0 and 5, where 1 is worst and 5 is best, like this:
5 = Excellent
4 = Very good
3 = Good
2 = Decent
1 = Poor
0 = Bad or Very Bad

When voting, you can take into account both the strength of the tenet and how universal it is in its aplicability. How you weigh these different aspects are up to you to decide. Also feel free to discuss your oppinions or tips on different tenets.


The Autocracy tenets are:

Level 1 tenets
_ - Elite Forces: Wounded Military Units inflict 25% more damage than normal.
_ - Mobilization: Gold cost of purchasing units reduced by 33%.
_ - United Front: Militaristic City-States gift units twice as often when at war with a common foe.
_ - Futurism: +250 Tourism to all Civilizations when a Great Writer, Artist or Musician is born.
_ - Industrial Espionage: Spies steal technologies twice as fast.
_ - Fortified Borders: +1 Local Happiness per Castle, Arsenal and Military Base.
_ - Universal Healthcare: +1 Local Happiness from each National Wonder.

Level 2 tenets
_ - Militarism: +2 Local Happiness per Barracks, Armory and Military Academy.
_ - Lightning Warfare: Great Generals receive +3 Movement. Armored units receive +1 Movement and +15% attack bonus, and ignore enemy ZOC.
_ - Police State: +3 Local Happiness from each Courthouse. Build Courthouses in half the usual time.
_ - Nationalism: Unit Maintenance cost reduced by 33%.
_ - Third Alternative: Strategic Resources provide double quantity. +5 Food and Science in Capital.
_ - Total War: +25% Production towards Military Units. New Units receive +15 XP.

Level 3 tenets
_ - Cult of Personality: +50% Tourism to Civilizations fighting a common enemy.
_ - Gunboat Diplomacy: Gain 6 more Influence per turn with City-States you could demand tribute from. Military units are 50% more effective at intimidating City-States.
_ - Clausewitz's Legacy: Receive a +25% attack bonus to all Military Units for the first 50 turns after this tenet is added.


I will do statistics when voting has been going for a while.

 

[Enrico Swagolo]

Level 1 tenets
0 - Elite Forces: Wounded Military Units inflict 25% more damage than normal. - meh. Does it still work as a mere reduction to the wounded unit penalty? If so, 0. It's not a thing you'll notice in BNW.
5 - Mobilization: Gold cost of purchasing units reduced by 33%. - awesome, combined with Commerce and Big Big Ben it's insane.
2 - United Front: Militaristic City-States gift units twice as often when at war with a common foe. - nope, just weak. But I still gave it a 2 because it has potential - if you have 3/4 military state allies, it's going to give you what, 12 free units by the end of the game? Too bad you can't choose their types and they won't have your experience/combat bonuses. It's unreliable though and Alexander can steal your CS with one of his many Coups, in which case you get nothing.
0 - Futurism: +250 Tourism to all Civilizations when a Great Writer, Artist or Musician is born. - just weak. If it were for all GP and/or if it gave you a bonus for ones already used, it'd be better.
4 - Industrial Espionage: Spies steal technologies twice as fast. - can be useful if you're behind.
3 - Fortified Borders: +1 Local Happiness per Castle, Arsenal and Military Base. - decently nice.
1 - Universal Healthcare: +1 Local Happiness from each National Wonder. - just so unimportant. Still a 1 just because it's still better than United Front, Elite Forces and Futurism.

Level 2 tenets
5 - Militarism: +2 Local Happiness per Barracks, Armory and Military Academy. - happiness! Makes constructing those buildings worth it.
3 - Lightning Warfare: Great Generals receive +3 Movement. Armored units receive +1 Movement and +15% attack bonus, and ignore enemy ZOC. - neat bonuses, but armoured units and horses sort of suck.
4 - Police State: +3 Local Happiness from each Courthouse. Build Courthouses in half the usual time. - a lot of happiness for an insane conqueror.
3 - Nationalism: Unit Maintenance cost reduced by 33%. - good if you field an insanely big army... But it's sort of pointless to have such a redundant amount of troops. 3 for potential.
1 - Third Alternative: Strategic Resources provide double quantity. +5 Food and Science in Capital. - meh. Food/Science bonuses are way too late to make an impact, and since you took Autocracy you should just conquer resources you need.
4 - Total War: +25% Production towards Military Units. New Units receive +15 XP. - Helps you spam them with superior units, but it's not overly useful. I decided a 4 is a fair grade for it.

Level 3 tenets
3 - Cult of Personality: +50% Tourism to Civilizations fighting a common enemy. - when it's on, it's the greatest tourism bonus ever. It won't always be on, and so it only deserves a 3.
4 - Gunboat Diplomacy: Gain 6 more Influence (Civ5) Influence per turn with City-States you could demand tribute from. Military units are 50% more effective at intimidating City-States. - I'll give it 4 for potential, but to scare a CS you need to have a great military, which means you can just war it out and kill the AI's.
3 - Clausewitz's Legacy: Receive a +25% attack bonus to all Military Units for the first 50 turns after this tenet is added. - ehhh, I just don't know how to rate it. It helped me in my war, but unlike most other social policies, it just... disappears, leaving nothing behind.

 

[redwings1340]

Level 1 tenets
1 - Elite Forces: Wounded Military Units inflict 25% more damage than normal. Might be useful, idk...
3 - Mobilization: Gold cost of purchasing units reduced by 33%. Not too great, but pretty good. Can be useful with a nice economy.
2 - United Front: Militaristic City-States gift units twice as often when at war with a common foe. By the time this kicks in I'm using mostly bombers and fighters. The units city states gift really aren't all that great. Also relies on having militaristic allies when I have better things to spend gold on.
2 - Futurism: +250 Tourism to all Civilizations when a Great Writer, Artist or Musician is born. Don't really know the impact of this. Never gone for autocracy culture
5 - Industrial Espionage: Spies steal technologies twice as fast. If you aren't getting this tenant, why are you going autocracy? Sure, it's situational, but it's also amazing, and it's only situational in that autocracy is only better than freedom and order when this tenant is useful.
2 - Fortified Borders: +1 Local Happiness per Castle, Arsenal and Military Base. Really could use +1 happiness for walls. Might be worth getting if you have Neuchasten. Otherwise, I've basically regretted this one every time.
4 - Universal Healthcare: +1 Local Happiness from each National Wonder. Good tenant. Solid. Not fantastic. Rated it a 3 in freedom, but I'm rating it a 4 here because even though it's a little harder to get national wonders in an autocracy setting, the immediate happiness is useful for overcoming ideological pressure until you get your autocracy empire really rolling. Also, the lvl 1 autocracy tenants are mostly pretty bad, so this one is better in comparison.

Level 2 tenets
5 - Militarism: +2 Local Happiness per Barracks, Armory and Military Academy. +2 happiness? Works for Barracks? Makes getting happiness cheaper than normal happiness buildings? This thing just outshines fortified borders by so much it's hard to ignore.
2 - Lightning Warfare: Great Generals receive +3 Movement. Armored units receive +1 Movement and +15% attack bonus, and ignore enemy ZOC. Outshined by basically every other lvl 2 tenant here. Armor units aren't all that great to begin with. Not sure how much better this makes them.
5 - Police State: +3 Local Happiness from each Courthouse. Build Courthouses in half the usual time. Very nice for creating a large happy empire.
5 - Nationalism: Unit Maintenance cost reduced by 33%. Saves you a ton of gold. This is what you should be getting in autocracy anyway.
3 - Third Alternative: Strategic Resources provide double quantity. +5 Food and Science in Capital. Has anyone broken the 1000 iron mark with Russia yet?
5 - Total War: +25% Production towards Military Units. New Units receive +15 XP. These level 2 tenants are so good they are worth getting level 1 tenants for them. Bombers and Fighters that start with air repair.

Level 3 tenets
3 - Cult of Personality: +50% Tourism to Civilizations fighting a common enemy. Difficult to use, but probably pretty useful when you use it correctly.
3 - Gunboat Diplomacy: Gain 6 more Influence (Civ5) Influence per turn with City-States you could demand tribute from. Military units are 50% more effective at intimidating City-States. Never tried it, but it certainly sounds pretty fun.
4 - Clausewitz's Legacy: Receive a +25% attack bonus to all Military Units for the first 50 turns after this tenet is added. 50 turns is a pretty long time. This is not bad

Basically, lvl 1 tenants suck aside from industrial espionage, but level 2 and 3 tenants are awesome. Great for comeback victories and rampaging conquests.

 

[Barghaest]

Level 1 Tenets

• 3 - Elite Forces: Wounded Military Units inflict 25% more damage than normal.
  --I've used this quite frequently. While the impact might seem small, it's still quite handy since AI tends to have more units and often more advanced units so the little bit of extra power helps my experienced ones survive.
• 2 - Mobilization: Gold cost of purchasing units reduced by 33%.
  --I seldom purchase units outright... usually have enough good productions cities to churn out the latest units quick enough I save my gold for establishing new cities (critical building purchases), maintaining CS alliances and upgrading my experienced units.
• 2 - United Front: Militaristic City-States gift units twice as often when at war with a common foe.
  --The length of time it takes to get a unit from a CS is pretty long anyway. In Vanilla it's also pretty useless since you won't get too many UUs from them before they're obsolete. I only really use this in extended era style mods (like Legendary Journeys) and then not as often as other tenets.
• 4 - Futurism: +250 Tourism to all Civilizations when a Great Writer, Artist or Musician is born.
  --If going for a CV as Autocracy, this is the go to tenet. Combined with WC proposal, Aesthetics and Faith buying it makes significantly more impact than the Level 3 CV tenet.
• 5 - Industrial Espionage: Spies steal technologies twice as fast.
  --One of two first picks usually (as I'm often behind in tech).
• 5 - Fortified Borders: +1 Local Happiness per Castle, Arsenal and Military Base.
  --My other first pick.
• 3 - Universal Healthcare: +1 Local Happiness from each National Wonder.
  --Usually my last choice (I seldom take em all) as the Happiness does help when I've got a sprawling empire and usually quite a few NWs spread among my cities.

Level 2 Tenets

• 5 - Militarism: +2 Local Happiness per Barracks, Armory and Military Academy.
  --A purpose for Barracks line in low production cities and an excellent happiness amount, one of my two first picks of Level 2.
• 3 - Lightning Warfare: Great Generals receive +3 Movement. Armored units receive +1 Movement and +15% attack bonus, and ignore enemy ZOC.
  --Decent tenet but I seldom use it, despite my heavy reliance on armored units, I tend to need other Level 2.
• 3 - Police State: +3 Local Happiness from each Courthouse. Build Courthouses in half the usual time.
  --Good bonuses but I seldom conquer cities, preferring to raze them and resettle my own.
• 5 - Nationalism: Unit Maintenance cost reduced by 33%.
  --My other first pick in Level 2 as I like a large military (primarily defensive leaving garrison units stationed in or near every city).
• 4 - Third Alternative: Strategic Resources provide double quantity. +5 Food and Science in Capital.
  --Very useful on maps without abundant resources, especially how I like to play (almost never have enough Coal/Aluminum for my empire).
• 4 - Total War: +25% Production towards Military Units. New Units receive +15 XP.
  --Usually will pick this over Third Alternative if not having resource issues.

Level 3 Tenets

• 3 - Cult of Personality: +50% Tourism to Civilizations fighting a common enemy.
  --While it can be useful (and exploited), it is very situation and less useful than Futurism if you are going for a CV. Mainly used to help reduce Resistance when you're after a DV.
• 4 - Gunboat Diplomacy: Gain 6 more Influence (Civ5) Influence per turn with City-States you could demand tribute from. Military units are 50% more effective at intimidating City-States.
  --Quite good for controlling CS, after a certain point all CS tend to be afraid of me, especially if a few of my army divisions are in the area.
• 2 - Clausewitz's Legacy: Receive a +25% attack bonus to all Military Units for the first 50 turns after this tenet is added.
  --While to boost is great while it lasts, it's very situation - just for a final push to pop a DV or to keep someone from winning - and the temporary nature with nothing after it is gone puts it on par with Freedom's Space Procurement for me.

 

[Sneaky Snake]

Level 1 tenets
2 - Elite Forces: Wounded Military Units inflict 25% more damage than normal. Alright I suppose. If your rival is technologically inferior, it won't be noticed.
3 - Mobilization: Gold cost of purchasing units reduced by 33%. Useful to some extent. I build all of my units as I have garrisons in every city.
2 - United Front: Militaristic City-States gift units twice as often when at war with a common foe. If you adopt autocracy you most likely already have a large military. Only useful for unlocking further down the tree.
1 - Futurism: +250 Tourism to all Civilizations when a Great Writer, Artist or Musician is born. You should be conquering any cultural rivals, so not much use here.
4 - Industrial Espionage: Spies steal technologies twice as fast. Pretty straightforward. The best one of the tree.
1 - Fortified Borders: +1 Local Happiness per Castle, Arsenal and Military Base. I rarely ever build defense buildings so I never explore the full building tree.
3 - Universal Healthcare: +1 Local Happiness from each National Wonder. Can't go wrong with more happiness.

Level 2 tenets
4 - Militarism: +2 Local Happiness per Barracks, Armory and Military Academy.Any military focused civ should have at least a barracks in most of their cities. Very strong policy.
3 - Lightning Warfare: Great Generals receive +3 Movement. Armored units receive +1 Movement and +15% attack bonus, and ignore enemy ZOC. With only 4 policies available in the level 2 tree, you have to make your choices wisely. The ZOC being ignored is nice though.
5 - Police State: +3 Local Happiness from each Courthouse. Build Courthouses in half the usual time. Annex the cities, purchase the courthouses, and watch them go.
3 - Nationalism: Unit Maintenance cost reduced by 33%. In the end, building maintenance will almost always be your highest cost. I give this policy a 4 if you are the Germans or Zulu.
3 - Third Alternative: Strategic Resources provide double quantity. +5 Food and Science in Capital. A more powerful capital is nice, and the resource doubling is useful if you only one ore of aluminium or a single oil well. Not the best but still.
4 - Total War: +25% Production towards Military Units. New Units receive +15 XP. Lovely policy. Definitely a must adopt.

Level 3 tenets
2 - Cult of Personality: +50% Tourism to Civilizations fighting a common enemy. Probably should be a level 1 tier. Definitely can be skipped.
4 - Gunboat Diplomacy: Gain 6 more Influence per turn with City-States you could demand tribute from. Military units are 50% more effective at intimidating City-States. Park some units near a CS and watch them become allies.
3 - Clausewitz's Legacy: Receive a +25% attack bonus to all Military Units for the first 50 turns after this tenet is added. Good if your enemy is on equal technological footing with you. Otherwise, you'll never notice it.

 

[BenitoChavez]

Level 1 tenets
4 - Elite Forces: Wounded Military Units inflict 25% more damage than normal. - Nice damage buff but have to be careful that your units don't die from too much combat.
3 - Mobilization: Gold cost of purchasing units reduced by 33%. - Ideally your units should be dying too often. If they are this is a nice backup plan though. Combine with Big Ben for optimal results.
5 - United Front: Militaristic City-States gift units twice as often when at war with a common foe. - Never build another unit again. Sounds ok to me.
2 - Futurism: +250 Tourism to all Civilizations when a Great Writer, Artist or Musician is born. - An ok shot of tourism.
2 - Industrial Espionage: Spies steal technologies twice as fast. - I'm usually the tech leader by the industrial/modern era.
2 - Fortified Borders: +1 Local Happiness per Castle, Arsenal and Military Base. - I really only build castles, and only with Neuschwanstein, which I do seem to get a fair amount of the time.
3 - Universal Healthcare: +1 Local Happiness from each National Wonder. - Solid amount of happiness

Level 2 tenets
2 - Militarism: +2 Local Happiness per Barracks, Armory and Military Academy. - I really only build these in 1, maybe two cities.
3 - Lightning Warfare: Great Generals receive +3 Movement. Armored units receive +1 Movement and +15% attack bonus, and ignore enemy ZOC. - Really for the armored unit buff.
5 - Police State: +3 Local Happiness from each Courthouse. Build Courthouses in half the usual time. - Going to be building lots of these as Autocratic civ.
4 - Nationalism: Unit Maintenance cost reduced by 33%. - Probably going to have a decent sized army as an autocratic civ. Goes well with gunboat democracy.
5 - Third Alternative: Strategic Resources provide double quantity. +5 Food and Science in Capital. - Basically a free hospital, a shot of science, and a ton more resources. Sounds good to me.
3 - Total War: +25% Production towards Military Units. New Units receive +15 XP. - Again hopefully your units aren't dying but if they are this is a nice tenet to grab.

Level 3 tenets
1 - Cult of Personality: +50% Tourism to Civilizations fighting a common enemy. - Can be useful but seems awfully situational.
4 - Gunboat Diplomacy: Gain 6 more Influence per turn with City-States you could demand tribute from. Military units are 50% more effective at intimidating City-States. - Save a bunch of gold to produce a handful or units rather than dump gold into a CS.
5 - Clausewitz's Legacy: Receive a +25% attack bonus to all Military Units for the first 50 turns after this tenet is added. - Pretty fantastic. You mow over your enemies with this.

 

[kb27787]

Level 1 tenets
_ - Elite Forces: Wounded Military Units inflict 25% more damage than normal. 1
_ - Mobilization: Gold cost of purchasing units reduced by 33%. 3
_ - United Front: Militaristic City-States gift units twice as often when at war with a common foe. 4
_ - Futurism: +250 Tourism to all Civilizations when a Great Writer, Artist or Musician is born. 1
_ - Industrial Espionage: Spies steal technologies twice as fast. 5
_ - Fortified Borders: +1 Local Happiness per Castle, Arsenal and Military Base. 2
_ - Universal Healthcare: +1 Local Happiness from each National Wonder. 3 (for domination games national wonders are worth much less, unless you decide not to annex at all, which is rather unreasonable... but that requires you to get stuff in the newly-acquired city)

Level 2 tenets
_ - Militarism: +2 Local Happiness per Barracks, Armory and Military Academy. 3 (you only have one or two major military-production cities anyway)
_ - Lightning Warfare: Great Generals receive +3 Movement. Armored units receive +1 Movement and +15% attack bonus, and ignore enemy ZOC. 5 (the ignore ZOC part makes life much easier)
_ - Police State: +3 Local Happiness from each Courthouse. Build Courthouses in half the usual time. 2
_ - Nationalism: Unit Maintenance cost reduced by 33%. 3
_ - Third Alternative: Strategic Resources provide double quantity. +5 Food and Science in Capital. 4
_ - Total War: +25% Production towards Military Units. New Units receive +15 XP. 4

Level 3 tenets
_ - Cult of Personality: +50% Tourism to Civilizations fighting a common enemy. 1
_ - Gunboat Diplomacy: Gain 6 more Influence per turn with City-States you could demand tribute from. Military units are 50% more effective at intimidating City-States. 3
_ - Clausewitz's Legacy: Receive a +25% attack bonus to all Military Units for the first 50 turns after this tenet is added. 3


A meh-ish tree (the worst one in the game IMO) since I feel it doesn't boost naval warfare that much (and naval units are by far the strongest units in the game) the lvl 3 tenets seem especially useless. 25% is not that much considering it is additive and not multiplicative with all the other promotions.

 

[joncnunn]

As you wouldn't select this ideology in the first place unless planning on being at war; all my ratings reflect it

Level 1 tenets
2 - Elite Forces: Wounded Military Units inflict 25% more damage than normal.
Seems decent, but nothing to write home about.

3 - Mobilization: Gold cost of purchasing units reduced by 33%.
I'd rate this higher except that most units are built long before and so its mostly limited to just bombers and carriers that this is used for.

1 - United Front: Militaristic City-States gift units twice as often when at war with a common foe.

Many times, city states aren't providing the right kind of military units. But if they produced more Tanks instead of AA Guns it would help this rating.

2 - Futurism: +250 Tourism to all Civilizations when a Great Writer, Artist or Musician is born.
This is fairly weak.

1 - Industrial Espionage: Spies steal technologies twice as fast.

Chances are you've already have a tech lead and it's difficult to find someone with any techs you are missing. But this is a tenent that would be more valuable on Deity
.
3 - Fortified Borders: +1 Local Happiness per Castle, Arsenal and Military Base.

Chances are you already have a puppet empire, and they love to build these buildings and will already have built lots of Castles and Arsenals.

1 - Universal Healthcare: +1 Local Happiness from each National Wonder.

Chances are you have fewer national wonders going autocracy; especially after you do the mass annexation following the level 2 policy with court houses makes any more national wonders very difficult to get.

Level 2 tenets

1 - Militarism: +2 Local Happiness per Barracks, Armory and Military Academy.

You really only need 1 designated military unit production city even going Domination. There's also much better happiness policies out there.

5 - Lightning Warfare: Great Generals receive +3 Movement. Armored units receive +1 Movement and +15% attack bonus, and ignore enemy ZOC.

This is one of the best tenets within autocracy; Tanks are great.

5 - Police State: +3 Local Happiness from each Courthouse. Build Courthouses in half the usual time.

Another excellent one for autocracy; with this one you can annex the cities (that are already out of resistance) and build court houses very quickly. Caution that this could slow down future policy acquisition.

3 - Nationalism: Unit Maintenance cost reduced by 33%.

Chances are you have a larger than normal army going domination so it should be significant.

5 - Third Alternative: Strategic Resources provide double quantity. +5 Food and Science in Capital.

Double aluminum! Double Oil!! Double Uranium!!!

4 - Total War: +25% Production towards Military Units. New Units receive +15 XP.

Would be a 5 except that this is partially competing against the policy that makes buying units cheaper.

Level 3 tenets
3 - Cult of Personality: +50% Tourism to Civilizations fighting a common enemy.
2 - Gunboat Diplomacy: Gain 6 more Influence per turn with City-States you could demand tribute from. Military units are 50% more effective at intimidating City-States.
4 - Clausewitz's Legacy: Receive a +25% attack bonus to all Military Units for the first 50 turns after this tenet is added.

Just like Freedom, in practice you really only want one of these (whichever tenet directly helps your chosen victory method; you don't want the others unless you changed your mind about what victory to go for) My relative ratings mostly reflect that you are most likely to be seeking a Domination victory and least likely to be seeking a Diplomatic victory when choosing Autocracy.

Overall, if going for domination victory or an active war mongling Cultural victory, Autocracy is a 5. Going for diplomatic victory even with active military, it's only a 4.

But if not planning offensive wars, then this tree would be a 0; if you are planning on being peaceful you should either select Liberty or Order.

 

[GoStu]

I'm outright shocked by some people's ratings of these tenets. I think they're being considered in a vacuum, so to speak, without remembering what this tree is for. This is the WAR tree for WARMONGERS and if you're not prepared to monger some WAR then you can shove off and go believe in namby-pampy Freedom or sheep-herd Order*.

Anyways...

Level 1 tenets
3 - Elite Forces: Wounded Military Units inflict 25% more damage than normal. You'll probably have to fight with some hurt units from time to time; often I'll stop a unit healing if it's at like 85+ HP and send it back to the front. This makes the unit stronger than if it was otherwise unhurt. Overall decent but depends a bit how you're using the Units.
3 - Mobilization: Gold cost of purchasing units reduced by 33%. Stacking this with Commerce and Big Ben can make reinforcements hilariously cheap. Shock troops, anyone? That said, the T2 tenet that makes building them cheaper means I can save gold for Buildings I'll need and put this off until later.
2 - United Front: Militaristic City-States gift units twice as often when at war with a common foe. Mehhhh... the militaristic city-states are okay if you've got a lot of them, but I have other priorities.
3 - Futurism: +250 Tourism to all Civilizations when a Great Writer, Artist or Musician is born. Helps stave off other Ideologies a bit. Works with Faith-Bought GWAM, if you have Aesthetics or To the Glory of God. Generally useful, albeit not terribly strong.
5 - Industrial Espionage: Spies steal technologies twice as fast. You're probably behind at least a little in tech if you're here in Autocracy land. This lets you move your focus to the bottom of the tech tree and steal the others from people beelining things like Globalization or Internet.
4 - Fortified Borders: +1 Local Happiness per Castle, Arsenal and Military Base. You will have puppets. Puppets love these buildings. Therefore, you love this tenet. Very good if you've got Neuschwanstein, which isn't too hard as it's in an unpopular direction and time on the tree. Also, these buildings cost no maintenance, so they become nice Happiness options.
1 - Universal Healthcare: +1 Local Happiness from each National Wonder. I have maybe two or three National Wonders if I'm off warmongering.

Level 2 tenets
4 - Militarism: +2 Local Happiness per Barracks, Armory and Military Academy. Build Barracks, Armories, and Military Academies in lieu of Coliseums, Zoos and Stadiums. Cheaper to maintain, faster to build with Honor, and same Happiness. Secondary function of more XP for troops might be handy.
5 - Lightning Warfare: Great Generals receive +3 Movement. Armored units receive +1 Movement and +15% attack bonus, and ignore enemy ZOC. One of the best tenets in the tree. Now your Armored units can wreak merry hell behind enemy lines and are pretty much impossible to slow down. Steal the Kremlin from some Order civ and enjoy the lulz as tanks build crazy fast.
3 - Police State: +3 Local Happiness from each Courthouse. Build Courthouses in half the usual time. You were annexing cities? Now that annoying 4 Gold courthouse at least gives you 3 Happiness and builds quicker. That said, T2 in Autocracy is crowded - this often fails to make the cut.
3 - Nationalism: Unit Maintenance cost reduced by 33%. Useful, but sometimes fails to make the cut as well. Can be a LOT of GPT. Depends how I'm feeling about Third Alternative.
3 - Third Alternative: Strategic Resources provide double quantity. +5 Food and Science in Capital. Entirely dependent on where the resources landed on the board. Often I conquer/great General enough, but this will suffice if I don't. Very powerful, but situational rates a 3 in my books.
4 - Total War: +25% Production towards Military Units. New Units receive +15 XP. Good for getting that extra promotion on a unit built without Brandenburg gate. Also useful for production bonus, although a bit tradeoff-ish with purchasing them. Overall great for replacing lost units with ones that are 3 Promotions deep.

Level 3 tenets
3 - Cult of Personality: +50% Tourism to Civilizations fighting a common enemy. Depends who the other Cultural leader(s) are, and how willing they are to go to war. Can be the single biggest boost, but could end up being worthless. Very powerful, but situational earns a 3 in my books.
3 - Gunboat Diplomacy: Gain 6 more Influence per turn with City-States you could demand tribute from. Military units are 50% more effective at intimidating City-States. In theory, you can use this to lean on City-states, overpowering Freedom's T3 tenet and not hard-capped by the number of trade routes you have. Sadly, it kind of falls apart in practice in my games as I have other uses for my military, and intimidating them all constantly is an expensive nuisance.
5 - Clausewitz's Legacy: Receive a +25% attack bonus to all Military Units for the first 50 turns after this tenet is added. Sure, it wears off... but think about the time that you can get your first T3 tenet, and then think of where you'll be 50 turns later. Game's probably over or almost over. In the meantime, GO KILL EVERYTHING. Your army is now almost two promotions up on anyone else, and your army is probably more promoted to begin with...

If it's a REALLY bad time for you to go to war for some reason, delay this tenet for your next pick. Timing this one is everything, people.


Overall rating of Ideology: 4/5. A lot of the tenets are very powerful in certain situations, especially the level 2 tenets - I'd rate most of them 4 to 5 in the right circumstances. Even the Level 1 tenets are good in the right situation. It's mostly a matter of understanding the current strategic and tactical situation and tailoring the Ideology to suit, which I like.

*disclaimer: Order is probably better if you're ahead and just want to kill off competitors to make it go faster / ease lategame boredom. Autocracy is more if you're the underdog prepared to kill your way to the top.

 

[GhostSalsa]

Autocracy's strength is a relatively even reward stream, so you benefit with just 3 tenants or with 10, unlike Freedom where you have to get 3 weak tenants just to get 3 very strong ones.

2 - Elite Forces: Wounded Military Units inflict 25% more damage than normal. No thanks. Also I dislike this because there's no way to see it itemized in damage pop-ups, so how do I know it's really there?
3 - Mobilization: Gold cost of purchasing units reduced by 33%. Ah, the best purchase discount policy in the whole game. The only problem is that Autocracy also gives you a 25% production bonus for units, so that sort of makes this one redundant. The decision to buy or build a unit is all about gold or production opportunity costs. Both bonuses reduce opportunity costs almost equally, so they are redundant.
2 - United Front: Militaristic City-States gift units twice as often when at war with a common foe. This is also a solid bonus on its own that becomes redundant with the gold discount and production bonus.
2 - Futurism: +250 Tourism to all Civilizations when a Great Writer, Artist or Musician is born. Ugh. I'm glad this was upped from 100, but... At best the 1000-1500 tourism from this policy will shave a two turns off going influential on your last culture victory target. You are still required to completely ensure your CV through other means.
3 - Industrial Espionage: Spies steal technologies twice as fast. I actually don't use this one a lot. Twice as fast of late-tech steal times is still too slow for me. Better to destroy tech leaders with war.
3 - Fortified Borders: +1 Local Happiness per Castle, Arsenal and Military Base. Decent. I don't like Arsenals and MBs though. Usually only get 2 happiness per city with this.
3 - Universal Healthcare: +1 Local Happiness from each National Wonder. This was underrated in the Freedom poll I think. Obviously it's a tall-favored policy but 8 happiness is never unwelcome.

Level 2 tenets
5 - Militarism: +2 Local Happiness per Barracks, Armory and Military Academy. 6 happiness per city from 3 gold maintenance, synergizes with the 15XP from Total War and the building discount from Honor. Incredible. This policy is what makes Autocracy work.
4 - Lightning Warfare: Great Generals receive +3 Movement. Armored units receive +1 Movement and +15% attack bonus, and ignore enemy ZOC. Rating high for fun factor more than usefulness. It's like getting to adopt a cool UA that no other civ has. Of course, it is useful too, but doesn't help tanks supplant bombers as the default war tech. I'd prefer the GG movement to be bundled with a level 1 tenant, there's too many good level 2 ones to make this attractive.
3 - Police State: +3 Local Happiness from each Courthouse. Build Courthouses in half the usual time. This was more impressive in Vanilla. Now is outshone by Iron Curtain and Militarism. Still ok.
5 - Nationalism: Unit Maintenance cost reduced by 33%. Beautiful.
2 - Third Alternative: Strategic Resources provide double quantity. +5 Food and Science in Capital. Pfft. Double oil and aluminum is great but I've usually conquered half a continent by the time I would consider this policy, and have plenty of both.
5 - Total War: +25% Production towards Military Units. New Units receive +15 XP. Level 3 units in every city. Incredible. Autocracy is great.

Level 3 tenets
1 - Cult of Personality: +50% Tourism to Civilizations fighting a common enemy. Pfft. If anyone's fighting the same enemies as me, they must have bad culture anyway, because my enemies are the civs with strong culture.
3 - Gunboat Diplomacy: Gain 6 more Influence per turn with City-States you could demand tribute from. Military units are 50% more effective at intimidating City-States. Very hard to use on Immortal, the AI has crazy military strengths. But useful for keeping your embedded city-states loyal.
3 - Clausewitz's Legacy: Receive a +25% attack bonus to all Military Units for the first 50 turns after this tenet is added. 50 turns is a significant fraction of the game, especially in the late half. Still, hard to choose this over additional level 1 and 2 tenants.

 

[KmDubya]

Autocracy is my favorite ideology and for me makes the most fun games. I especially like it when I am behind, when my starting location is weak or when forced into early warfare that resulted in poor relationships with everyone else. You are the blacksheep of the world and you need an ideology that lets you tell the rest of the world to stuff it.


Level one

0 - Elite Forces: Wounded Military Units inflict 25% more damage than normal. -This only reduces the penalty, it does not make a slightly wounded unit stronger than an unwounded one. This would be one of the last two I would pick

4- Mobilization: Gold cost of purchasing units reduced by 33%. -If I have commerce and Big ben this would be a 5. It really shines with air units and submarines as they can not be upgraded.

0- United Front: Militaristic City-States gift units twice as often when at war with a common foe. -The free units that you get are unpromoted and are usually SAM batteries. When every city you have is producing level III units free unpromoted ones are not very useful. This would be the last policy I would take

4- Futurism: +250 Tourism to all Civilizations when a Great Writer, Artist or Musician is born. -One of the first two policies I always take. To maximize the benefit I do not generate any GWAM prior to taking the policy and always try to get an early ideology by entering the industrial age with Industrialism in order to get early coal and factories. This lets you ignore early tourism and quickly get to an equal ideological pressure with the world. You can generate the first two of the GWAMs in less than 30 turns and generate 1500 tourism with everyone and still be able to use their one time ability

4- Industrial Espionage: Spies steal technologies twice as fast. -usually one of the first two picks. The speed increase lets you place in a secondary city and steal as fast as a normal spy in the capitol without the risk of having a counterspy in the city.

3- Fortified Borders: +1 Local Happiness per Castle, Arsenal and Military Base. -Not a bad filler pick, puppets tend to build these no maintenance buildings and it has a nice synergy with the castle mountain wonder

3- Universal Healthcare: +1 Local Happiness from each National Wonder. -Again a not bad filler pick, it would usually get me 5+ happy

Level 2 tenets

5- Militarism: +2 Local Happiness per Barracks, Armory and Military Academy. -Either my first or second pick depending on happiness. This is what lets you thumb your nose to the Order world. A low maintenance cheap to construct or buy +6 happy per city

3- Lightning Warfare: Great Generals receive +3 Movement. Armored units receive +1 Movement and +15% attack bonus, and ignore enemy ZOC. -I hardly ever take it as it would be my fourth or fifth pick depending on third alternative and strategic resource access. Tanks are fun but just not that useful

2- Police State: +3 Local Happiness from each Courthouse. Build Courthouses in half the usual time. -I run out of picks before I would choose this. It only works in conquered cities that I occupy. Since the only cities at this stage that I would be keeping are capitals, it is a pretty limited bonus. Especially when you have militarism and its +6 happy already

4- Nationalism: Unit Maintenance cost reduced by 33%. -Another excellent policy that can save a lot of gold per turn

4- Third Alternative: Strategic Resources provide double quantity. +5 Food and Science in Capital. If you are low on strategic resources this absolutely rocks. The food and science are nothing special but double resources can be great. Bust out an extra dozen level III frigates with range and any coastal city is yours.

5- Total War: +25% Production towards Military Units. New Units receive +15 XP. -This is the second policy that makes autocracy great. Level III units right out of the box and unlike the lovingly nurtured Honor high level units, these units are disposable. You can make as many as you want. It also helps when you buy units. This lets you slow build super units in your heroic epic and churn out level III fodder everywhere via hammers or gold.

Level 3 tenets

3- Cult of Personality: +50% Tourism to Civilizations fighting a common enemy. -Can add a lot of tourism but takes some manipulating to accomplish. I found staying in perma war with the weakest civs can let me bribe the more powerful civs into joining a war to get the bonus.

4- Gunboat Diplomacy: Gain 6 more Influence per turn with City-States you could demand tribute from. Military units are 50% more effective at intimidating City-States. -Helps when you need to stop another civ from winning diplomacy. It won't get you all of the city states but it will get you enough to stop anyone else from winning. With some effort and well clustered city states you can gain control of the WC and force through your religion or ideology.

5- Clausewitz's Legacy: Receive a +25% attack bonus to all Military Units for the first 50 turns after this tenet is added. -If you are going for domination fifty turns is plenty of time to run the map. This coupled with your level III units out of the box is pretty much game over.

 

[peddroelm]

Level 1 tenets
0 - Elite Forces: Wounded Military Units inflict 25% more damage than normal. [MEH]
5 - Mobilization: Gold cost of purchasing units reduced by 33%. [BigBen + Commerce + Autocracy game breaking combo]
0 - United Front: Militaristic City-States gift units twice as often when at war with a common foe.[MEH not worth the price]
1 - Futurism: +250 Tourism to all Civilizations when a Great Writer, Artist or Musician is born.[MEH - can help get quicker to the livesaving exotic but other policies do more]
3 - Industrial Espionage: Spies steal technologies twice as fast. [Spies sent vs order civs die twice as fast YAY! Still a very potent policy]
4 - Fortified Borders: +1 Local Happiness per Castle, Arsenal and Military Base. [puppets like to build castles. You cannot build/buy +XP buildings in puppets without annexing. Neuschwanstein rulez]
3 - Universal Healthcare: +1 Local Happiness from each National Wonder. [happy oxigen bubble I usually need until I manage to get the tourism situation under control]

Level 2 tenets
5 - Militarism: +2 Local Happiness per Barracks, Armory and Military Academy. [tons of happy]
5 - Lightning Warfare: Great Generals receive +3 Movement. Armored units receive +1 Movement and +15% attack bonus, and ignore enemy ZOC.[tanks are not the dominant military unit of the era. Airplanes are. Luxury. EDIT - played a Hun game - ended up with 205+ over promoted horses - game over at combustion -did not research flight] Landship spam can win deity
2 - Police State: +3 Local Happiness from each Courthouse. Build Courthouses in half the usual time. [if you need to annex you can also build/buy the XP buildings - You can only get so much local happiness from a city]
3 - Nationalism: Unit Maintenance cost reduced by 33%.[lots of gold. But gold is usually not the problem at that stage (happy)..Autocracy/BB/Commerce can convert gold to happy at a pretty decent rate (annex + rush buy courthose+XP/castle)]
5 - Third Alternative: Strategic Resources provide double quantity. +5 Food and Science in Capital.[can be a live saver. Will bring extra cash and growth for the capital - pick ASAP]
5 - Total War: +25% Production towards Military Units. New Units receive +15 XP. [THE Autocracy policy. Pick when ready to start building/rushing units for the great and final war]

Level 3 tenets
1 - Cult of Personality: +50% Tourism to Civilizations fighting a common enemy.[ MEH - situational - not worth it]
1 - Gunboat Diplomacy: Gain 6 more Influence per turn with City-States you could demand tribute from. Military units are 50% more effective at intimidating City-States. [cannot make it work on deity]
4 - Clausewitz's Legacy: Receive a +25% attack bonus to all Military Units for the first 50 turns after this tenet is added. [solid pick for the final great war once happy and gold are taken care of]

 

[kb27787]

people seem to forget that you need tanks to finish a city off...
Lightning warfare is the difference between capturing the city and getting it over with and being stuck having to kill the AIs carpet of units since they block your melee units with ZOC from taking the city for 20 turns...

 

[GhostSalsa]

people seem to forget that you need tanks to finish a city off...
Lightning warfare is the difference between capturing the city and getting it over with and being stuck having to kill the AIs carpet of units since they block your melee units with ZOC from taking the city for 20 turns...

I don't find this to be true in practice. Most notably since BNW's warmonger penalty discourages losing-and-retaking cities, I'd rather kill the carpet first if possible. Pillaging roads behind enemies lines helps keep the city cut off and that can be done with a Lancer.

That said, tanks are great when you are willing to throw away your techs for them. Actually with Lightning Warfare you don't even need bombers, 4 tanks with march are strong enough to beat a 120 city down on their own.

 

[peddroelm]

people seem to forget that you need tanks to finish a city off...
Lightning warfare is the difference between capturing the city and getting it over with and being stuck having to kill the AIs carpet of units since they block your melee units with ZOC from taking the city for 20 turns...

paratroppers/ Xcom do a much better job at capturing cities beat by air units than tanks (better range/ and inherently ignore ZOC of the units they fly past ).. Tanks minor bonus is getting vision on the city in the first place so you can attack with air units // paratroop in if you cannot spare the spy ...

.. Actually with Lightning Warfare you don't even need bombers, 4 tanks with march are strong enough to beat a 120 city down on their own...

that is also true but will only really come in to play for a handfull of horse civs like Mongolia/Arabia/Huns/Russia/Siam/.. who usually end up with masses of overpromoted cavalry units to upgrate from ...Mongolia takes the cake of course with the khan uber healing behind enemy lines (only thing that comes close to matching air repair in power - then again you can stack khan uber healing with air repair so mongolian air units still come out ahead)

 

[GhostSalsa]

that is also true but will only really come in to play for a handfull of horse civs like Mongolia/Arabia/Huns/Russia/Siam/.. who usually end up with masses of overpromoted cavalry units to upgrate from

or any vanilla calvary with Honor. But yes, works best with a trained calvary force so you can include double-Medic promos.

 

[vibe96]

Level 1 tenets
2 - Elite Forces: Wounded Military Units inflict 25% more damage than normal.
3 - Mobilization: Gold cost of purchasing units reduced by 33%.
1 - United Front: Militaristic City-States gift units twice as often when at war with a common foe.
2 - Futurism: +250 Tourism to all Civilizations when a Great Writer, Artist or Musician is born.
3 - Industrial Espionage: Spies steal technologies twice as fast.
1 - Fortified Borders: +1 Local Happiness per Castle, Arsenal and Military Base.
2 - Universal Healthcare: +1 Local Happiness from each National Wonder.

Level 2 tenets
5 - Militarism: +2 Local Happiness per Barracks, Armory and Military Academy.
3 - Lightning Warfare: Great Generals receive +3 Movement. Armored units receive +1 Movement and +15% attack bonus, and ignore enemy ZOC.
3 - Police State: +3 Local Happiness from each Courthouse. Build Courthouses in half the usual time.
4 - Nationalism: Unit Maintenance cost reduced by 33%.
2 - Third Alternative: Strategic Resources provide double quantity. +5 Food and Science in Capital.
5 - Total War: +25% Production towards Military Units. New Units receive +15 XP.

Level 3 tenets
2 - Cult of Personality: +50% Tourism to Civilizations fighting a common enemy.
4 - Gunboat Diplomacy: Gain 6 more Influence per turn with City-States you could demand tribute from. Military units are 50% more effective at intimidating City-States.
5 - Clausewitz's Legacy: Receive a +25% attack bonus to all Military Units for the first 50 turns after this tenet is added.

 

[Callonia]

Level 1 tenets
2 - Elite Forces: Wounded Military Units inflict 25% more damage than normal.
3 - Mobilization: Gold cost of purchasing units reduced by 33%.
4 - United Front: Militaristic City-States gift units twice as often when at war with a common foe.
5 - Futurism: +250 Tourism to all Civilizations when a Great Writer, Artist or Musician is born.
5 - Industrial Espionage: Spies steal technologies twice as fast.
4 - Fortified Borders: +1 Local Happiness per Castle, Arsenal and Military Base.
1 - Universal Healthcare: +1 Local Happiness from each National Wonder.

When opening up autocracy for the first time I like to lead off with Industrial Espionage/ Futurism first because I'm getting warmed up and none of the first policies really support warmongering. The act of doing this strengthens your defense as you get ready while gathering culture for 2nd tenet policy before you start warmongering as soon as you get one.

Then for Policies that got picked with a 4 is ones that get picked up next because at this point I have alot of soldiers ready to go and start warmongering. Anything is just icing on the top of cake except for Universal Healthcare. +1 happiness.. yaya..

Level 2 tenets
4 - Militarism: +2 Local Happiness per Barracks, Armory and Military Academy.
4 - Lightning Warfare: Great Generals receive +3 Movement. Armored units receive +1 Movement and +15% attack bonus, and ignore enemy ZOC.
2 - Police State: +3 Local Happiness from each Courthouse. Build Courthouses in half the usual time.
5 - Nationalism: Unit Maintenance cost reduced by 33%.
1 - Third Alternative: Strategic Resources provide double quantity. +5 Food and Science in Capital.
3 - Total War: +25% Production towards Military Units. New Units receive +15 XP.

I typically start warmongering when I get Nationalism because it gives you such a huge gpt boost. Lightning Warfare is for some odd reason, hated by alot in civfanatics from what I read.... I suspect its because tanks is "melee". But with this Policy, My panzers can easily reach 8 movement if I remember correctly, or is it 9? I shred enemy formations with alot of massed panzer charges. ZoC? What ZoC? What's more, your great generals can now keep up with panzers for the first time! Everything else is nice nice. Third Alternative is the policy you pick up when You got screwed over badly by the map. Conquered half of the world but still only 4 oil? Now you have eight! Eight Panzers is better than four.

Level 3 tenets
5 - Cult of Personality: +50% Tourism to Civilizations fighting a common enemy.
5 - Gunboat Diplomacy: Gain 6 more Influence per turn with City-States you could demand tribute from. Military units are 50% more effective at intimidating City-States.
5 - Clausewitz's Legacy: Receive a +25% attack bonus to all Military Units for the first 50 turns after this tenet is added.

Level 3 Tenets of Autocracy is equally overpowered. So I'm going to keep this simple.

First one that's good to pick is Gunboat Diplomacy, this strengthens your hold on home territory and tears the city states that out of greek's pocket and into yours. If you have Oligarchy Garrisons, then nearby city states will automatically join you because they have calculated annihilation and woe and doom if they oppose you. Plus it keeps me from conquering them because if they're allied to me, why kill them. If you see city states with 900+ Influence, send in your elite spies and have several units chilling nearby. With time, that city state will be yours through enough turns and election rigging.

At the point where I pick up Cult of Personality is the point where my homeland defenses is really strong and impenetrable so I'm launching alot of wars abroad and particpating in alot of wars. Even when some of them is phoney. This will allow you to rack up crazy amount of tourism. 2500+ Tourism a turn? Yes please. Weak neighbors will be impressed into your culture by force.

Clausewitz's Legacy is the policy you save after you conquer the whole world except for the last holdout like a runaway Hiawatha. Build up alot of troops and navy/panzers. Launch nukes and pop the legacy then go blitzkrieg on his ass. You might be outnumbered, but your soldiers is now overpowered. Just don't attack Moscow in winter. But fortunately for my budding emperors, there is no winter in Civ 5.

As long as you're competent, a runaway Hiawatha with 500+ ships and possibly the same amount in land forces is no match for you with correct use of Clausewitz's Legacy. Its the policy that you simply don't take unless you must try to maximize the chances of winning, 50 turns is very generous. When considering that most of the damage might occur in first 10 turns but by fortune should Hiawatha manage to drag the war out? You have 40 more turns!

 

[bcaiko]

Level 1 tenets

1 - Elite Forces: Wounded Military Units inflict 25% more damage than normal. Since G&K, the wounded penalty hasn't really mattered much. And by the time you have an Ideology, your units are going to be powerful enough that probably aren't suffering much from it anymore. Might help your airforce, but I still wouldn't want to waste a whole social policy on it. This should have been 50%.
4 - Mobilization: Gold cost of purchasing units reduced by 33%. Emergency Battleship, discount prices! In addition to the Honor policy, this tenant is literal gold.
1 - United Front: Militaristic City-States gift units twice as often when at war with a common foe. I almost never get Militaristic City-States in my game. If I do, who says they're my ally? And the City-States often gift me units I don't want, without the proper promotions. This should have allowed you to choose the unit gifted or always get a Unique.
3 - Futurism: +250 Tourism to all Civilizations when a Great Writer, Artist or Musician is born. This is alright. Though +250 isn't going to do too much against the cultural leader in a game.
4 - Industrial Espionage: Spies steal technologies twice as fast. If you're going domination, and therefore forced into going wide, this is a great tenant. The science per city penalty will eventually take its tole, and being able to continue to steal techs within a reasonable time from your next neighbor/victim is highly appreciated.
2 - Fortified Borders: +1 Local Happiness per Castle, Arsenal and Military Base. Why did this not include walls? I get that Autocracy happiness is centered on Prora (which is a *fantastic* wonder), but there's almost no happiness to be found in the early tenants of Autocracy.
4 - Universal Healthcare: +1 Local Happiness from each National Wonder. It's only a "4" here, because it's the one place you can go for assured, badly needed happiness in Autocracy.

Level 2 tenets
5 - Militarism: +2 Local Happiness per Barracks, Armory and Military Academy. Fantastic! Barracks are so easy to build at this point in the game, there's no excuse for not having the 2 extra happiness in each city.
5 - Lightning Warfare: Great Generals receive +3 Movement. Armored units receive +1 Movement and +15% attack bonus, and ignore enemy ZOC. A great boon if you get to the point of needing tanks. I'm of the opinion horse and armor units ought to ignore ZOC anyway.
3 - Police State: +3 Local Happiness from each Courthouse. Build Courthouses in half the usual time. This would be higher, but the per city penalties are just too high now. I want to avoid taking many cities if I can, and certainly avoid annexing them when I do. So no need for many Courthouses.
4 - Nationalism: Unit Maintenance cost reduced by 33%. I am pro-free money and more military.
4 - Third Alternative: Strategic Resources provide double quantity. +5 Food and Science in Capital. This can be useful in certain circumstances. Though truth be told, +5 science isn't much, that amount will inevitably be increased by university percentage bonuses, ect. The strategic resources can be used for AI trade, or the oil can be put to flat out use.
5 - Total War: +25% Production towards Military Units. New Units receive +15 XP. If brought online before you start building your airforce, this is a great ability. This, plus all the Brandenburg Gate, Barracks, Armory and Military Academy means 4 free promotions upon building a bomber.

Level 3 tenets
3 - Cult of Personality: +50% Tourism to Civilizations fighting a common enemy. I can see how this could be useful, but given the nasty warmonger penalties in the game now and the reluctance of the AI to go to war, I'm not convinced you'll have friends or war to support a culture by conquest strategy with this.
2 - Gunboat Diplomacy: Gain 6 more Influence per turn with City-States you could demand tribute from. Military units are 50% more effective at intimidating City-States. Improved since release, but still not useful at doing its job on higher difficulties.
5 - Clausewitz's Legacy: Receive a +25% attack bonus to all Military Units for the first 50 turns after this tenet is added. Frankly, this is a "win more" bonus, but it will cause you to WIN MOAR!

 

[bcaiko]

I'm outright shocked by some people's ratings of these tenets. I think they're being considered in a vacuum, so to speak, without remembering what this tree is for. This is the WAR tree for WARMONGERS and if you're not prepared to monger some WAR then you can shove off and go believe in namby-pampy Freedom or sheep-herd Order*.

It also touts itself as being good at Diplomacy and Culture (really through culture by conquest). To that end, viewing the tenants inside those perspectives is reasonable.