Kidding aside, I do only have a couple of weeks between semesters, and it looks like I’ll be busy playing either Heroes of Might and Magic V, or this new expansion, Civilization IV: Warlords, when I should be cleaning my house. Yep, a total lack of discipline. But, it sure is fun!

Civilization IV: Warlords is an expansion for Civilization IV, which offers eight new scenarios, three new leader traits, several new leaders, a new Great General, a new vassal condition in the diplomacy options, six new civilizations and lots of new, unique buildings and units. While the PR blurbs promote the Great General as a game-changing addition, it’s really the new scenarios, civilizations and other new items that make this a worthwhile addition to the original game. While the Great General does give a slight added bonus to battles in certain situations, it doesn’t really have all that much of an effect on the overall war effort in any given campaign. The new leader traits, vassal condition and new scenarios have more of an impact on the gameplay overall than the Great General.

The new leader traits are Imperialistic (100% Great General emergence/ 50% faster production settlers), Protective (Free promotion [drill 1] archery, siege and armored units/double production speed walls & castle) and Charismatic (+1 happiness all cities/ +1 happiness monument and broadcast tower). Traits have also been reassigned to existing leaders in order to incorporate these new traits evenly. Of these traits, the Protective and Imperialistic seem the better deals.

The six new civilizations are: Carthaginian, Celtic, Korean, Ottoman, Persian, and Viking. Each of these civilizations has a new unique unit and building which replaces one from the original game, as do the existing civilizations as well, a change from the original game. However, the effect is minimal as the statistics only differ a little, if any, for each.  These new units and buildings are more for aesthetic purposes, which are pleasing. The Viking berserkers are cool!

There are also new units that are available for all civilizations, such as the Trireme naval battle ship and the Trebuchet, a siege war machine. The Trebuchet is the ultimate in fighting machines, as it really can cause some major damage to enemy cities. The Trireme is a good addition, but as it can’t carry troops, its use is limited.

Other new items include three new wonders, the Great Wall, The University of Sankore and the Temple of Artemis. The Great Wall can be built around your city capital cultural borders and has a protective benefit of keeping the barbarians out, and also doubles Great General points for battles within the city limits. The other two buildings give added benefits for trade and research. Sankore and Artemis are actually built in specified locations that don’t change, but still give benefits to the city that built them. The Great Wall is the most useful.

The Great Generals are utilized as all Great People, and can be designated as a Great Military Instructor or can construct a military academy in a city, which will in turn receive a 25% production bonus for military units. A Great General can also be attached to a unit as a warlord, which will give added abilities to the attached unit.  In theory, the warlord option sounds wonderful, but in reality the other options for the General are more useful over the long haul. As a warlord, it’s pretty much a one-shot deal, as the added abilities only apply to one unit, and if that unit expires, the warlord does, too. Each unit only has three people, so a solitary unit isn’t that big of a deal. 

To be sure, the added benefits are cool and make for one powerful elite unit, with special promotions such as Medic III (healing), Tactics (increased chance of withdrawal from battle), Combat VI (+25% strength), Leadership (50% more experience from combat) and other like abilities available to that unit. But, one unit can’t be everywhere at once. And, while the first Great General is gained early on as the required number of points is minimal at this point, subsequent Generals are dependent on ever increasing points, which are gained from experience points earned during battle. It takes a long time to get points solely from battles. I received my first General early, but it took forever to gain the second one, well into the industrial age, as I wasn’t at war with anyone by then, having created a vassal with my former adversary. So, having the General become an instructor or build an academy seems a better deal.

The new scenarios include six traditional, mainly historical events, and two campaigns that bend history a bit more. They include the Peloponnesian War, the Vikings and the Rise of Rome. I thoroughly enjoyed the Vikings, and the fun of running around and stealing, finding treasure and holding cities for ransom.  The Peloponnesian campaign involves sea battles more than anything else, and the Rise of Rome is a non-traditional Civ game where four other separate nations have to be subdued for a conquest victory. Each of these scenarios has unique units and buildings. The only complaint I have with scenarios in general are the time limits they impose on victory conditions, I’m a turtler by nature, but managed to win anyway by choosing a slightly lower difficulty setting, to slow down my opponents.

As stated previously, I’ve been having a blast with this expansion all week. With all the new features, it really does add tremendously to the original game. While the new units and buildings aren’t much different in practical use, they add plenty of visual variety and help to distinguish each civilization. The new scenarios are also a hoot to play!

Patches to the original game are included in this expansion, but I’m still confused about the way resources connect to cities, as the manual for the original game states that resources are utilized by cities as long as they’re within the cultural boundaries, but for some reason, mine seem to only work if connected by roads, regardless of whether they’re in or out of the borders. The Warlord manual doesn’t address this issue, as it only discusses the new features. For instance, my cities with horse pastures don’t appear to allow for production of units with riding abilities until the horse pastures have a road to the city. I don’t know if I just don’t comprehend this whole issue, or if it’s a design glitch that’s not been addressed. But this is a very minor detail, as it’s very easy to build roads.

This is a great expansion, but the main question people will have will be if it’s worth the $25-$30 it currently costs. While I think that $20 would be a better price for any expansion, there’s a whole lot of new stuff to play with in this add-on. The new scenarios and civilizations really do add a great deal to the existing game, and, while many people haven’t had time to get tired of the original yet (it hasn’t been a year since the original game’s release), other, more die-hard gamers who’ve exhausted the original will find this expansion really does breathe new life into the old. So, yes, I do think that this expansion is worth the expenditure.
 

Gameplay: 8.5
This expansion is as fun as its predecessor, and that’s saying a lot. All the new stuff fits in seamlessly with the existing game, and manages to incorporate new features with the old in a way that offers a change in scenery, but doesn’t distract from the original intent of the game.

Graphics: 8
It all looks pretty neat! However, players really have to zoom in to appreciate all the artwork.

Sound: 8.5
More great period music! I really enjoyed the music in the industrial age, it sounded like Oklahoma.

Difficulty: Medium
Easy enough to play, and the manual explains all the new items in exhaustive detail.

Concept: 7
There’s not a whole lot of innovation, but there’s no need to change what isn’t broken.

Multiplayer: 8
The multiplayer works pretty much the same as before.

Overall: 8.5
A great addition to a great game.