War College

A War College is a type of Town Building that any race may construct. A town must contain a Barracks before it can construct a War College. The War College's base construction cost is.

The War College is the epitome of the military development branch, and provides a single but extremely important bonus to any unit-producing town: When this structure is present in a town, any new Normal Unit produced here will start with, giving it at least a rank of "Veteran". This gives the unit a few important bonuses as soon as it is created, making it much more suitable for combat and allowing it to reach "Elite" level within a very short time.

The War College unlocks no new buildings or units. It is constructed only for the bonus described above.

The War College requires an Upkeep Cost of per turn for its maintenance. If you're pressed for Gold, a War College can be sold back for ?.

Description
After a town has completed building a Barracks, the next step in raising its troop quality is to construct a War College, a building that allows both officers and soldiers receive the most professional training that money can buy.

The War College appears as a large keep - almost a castle of its own. The central structure is hidden behind a strong outer wall made of green bricks, with strong towers at each corner, a strong wooden gate, and battlements atop its high walls. Banners similar to those seen on the front of the Fighters' Guild (Caster of Magic) are hung at the front of this structure as well. The central hall houses the scholars and provides accommodations for both officers and scholars, as well as facilities for education on warfare.

Races and Construction
All races have access to the War College. Construction costs and requires a Barracks.

Continuous Effects
While the War College is present in a town, any new Normal Unit produced in this town will get for free (starting with 81 Experience Points instead of only 1).

A unit with has an Experience level of "Veteran". This translates to a bonus (relative to units with no experience) of +2 Attack strength (melee/ranged), +1 Thrown/Breath weapons,, and. It obviously also means that the unit will take less time to reach its highest Experience levels ("Elite") and gain more bonuses - assuming the unit survives long enough to reach it.

The resulting units are significantly better at combat, and thus are more likely to win their first engagements with the enemy. New units no longer have to spend so many turns waiting to get their first or second experience levels (or risk themselves in combat trying to reach them).

Note that this effect applies to all Normal Units produced in the same town as the War College. Even Settlers, who are decidedly non-combat units, get this Experience bonus. However, new Mercenaries and Heroes do not benefit from the War College, as they are not actually produced by the town itself.

Finally, note that wizards possessing either the Warlord Retort, the Crusade spell, or both, will have their new units starting at either "Elite" or "Ultra-Elite" level instead of "Veteran". For these wizards, units produced at a town containing a War College are still created with only, but these points translate to a higher Experience Level thanks to the Retort/Spell. Read the Warlord and Crusade articles for more information on this.

Unlocked Town Buildings
The War College represents the ultimate end of the military development branch. It unlocks no new Town Buildings for construction.

Unlocked Normal Units
The War College unlocks no new units of any kind for any race. It only improves existing unit types when they are produced at this town.

Strategy
With its excellent Experience bonus, the War College can be seen as essential in any major unit-production center that is capable of building it. The benefits of having new units start off at a higher Experience level should be obvious: they are much more suitable for combat straight off the production line, and take much less time and/or combat to reach the highest Experience level possible.

As a result, a town that can construct the War College will often become the primary center for unit production, and should be given priority to create all new units for your army - unless it is too far from the front lines.

It is not necessary to build a War College in each and every town you own. The high Upkeep Costs of this structure mean that it is often wasteful to build it all over the place, and it has little relevance in towns that won't be producing a steady stream of units. Do however try to produce most or all of your units at towns that do contain this building.