War Academy (Age of Empires III)

This article is about the building in Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties. For the building in Age of Mythology: Tale of the Dragon, see War Academy (Age of Mythology).

War Academy
Information
Introduced in	Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties
Type	Building Military Barracks
Civilization(s)	Chinese
Age	Commerce Age
Use	Trains banner armies Upgrades Chinese infantry and cavalry
Building
Built by	Villager Military Wagon
Cost	200 Wood
Max. builders	8
Build time	30 seconds
Statistics
Size	4x4
Hit points	2,500
Line of Sight	12
Build XP	20
Kill XP	40

“	Chinese combination of Barracks and Stable. Trains infantry and cavalry in mixed groups. Also, upgrades infantry and cavalry.	”
—In-game description

The War Academy is a military building in Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties that is unique to the Chinese and is available once the Commerce Age is reached. It trains banner armies consisting of infantry and cavalry, fulfilling the role of a Barracks and a Stable, and contains upgrades for Chinese infantry and cavalry.

In-game information

“

The Chinese civilization has its own method of building an army, namely through the War Academy, which allows the Chinese to build more military units faster by training them in groups. These groups are called Banner Armies. Each Banner Army has a specialty, whether its speed and anti-infantry, or siege and artillery. The Banner Armies available at the War Academy are: Forbidden Army, Imperial Army, Ming Army, Old Han Army, Mongolian Army, Standard Army, and the Territorial Army.

”

Banner armies

Age	Army	Cost	Pop.	Consists of
	Old Han Army	255 food 180 wood	6	3 Chu Ko Nu 3 Qiang Pikemen
	Standard Army	255 food 170 coin	5	3 Chu Ko Nu 2 Steppe Riders
	Ming Army	345 food 120 wood		2 Qiang Pikemen 3 Keshiks
	Territorial Army	285 food 255 coin	6	3 Changdao Swordsmen 3 Arquebusiers
	Forbidden Army	480 food 360 coin	8	2 Iron Flails 2 Meteor Hammers
	Imperial Army	480 food 255 coin	7	3 Arquebusiers 2 Iron Flails

Further statistics

As War Academies unique to the Chinese, only technologies that they have access to are shown in the following table:

Building strengths and weaknesses
Strong vs.	Nothing
Weak vs.	Everything
Improvements
Hit points	Flying Buttress (+20%) Byzantine Legacy (+15%)
Cost	Tupi Forest Burning (-20% wood) Cree Textile Craftsmanship (-10%)
Build time	Cree Textile Craftsmanship (-25%)
Other	Haudenosaunee League (can train Haudenosaunee Tomahawks and Haudenosaunee Mantlets)

Home City Cards

As War Academies are unique to the Chinese, only their cards and other civilizations' TEAM cards are shown in the following tables:

Click for a list of Home City Cards related to the War Academy

Some cards are highlighted with:
Green	TEAM Shipment that is sent to each player in a team
Blue	Shipment that arrives fast (5 seconds)

Shared

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Improved Buildings	Building hit points +25%

• "TEAM Improved Buildings" is available to the Inca, Indians, and Maltese.

Chinese

Card	Description	Age
Improved Buildings	Building hit points +40%
TEAM Art of War	Barracks, War Academy, Caravanserai, Corral, and Stable cost -30%; Blockhouse, War Hut, Nobles' Hut, and Kallanka cost -10%
Land Reforms	Villager and rickshaw build work rate for buildings +50%; building build bounty +100%

Ethiopians

Card	Description	Age
TEAM 1 Camp Builder	Delivers 1 Camp Builder

Europeans

Card	Description	Age
TEAM House of Romanov	Barracks, War Camp, and War Academy hit points +100%; Blockhouse, Kallanka, War Hut, and Nobles' Hut hit points +50%; Watch Tower hit points +10%

• "TEAM House of Romanov" is available to the Russians, and also Swedes upon revolting to Finland.

Germans

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Reichsritter	Stable, Corral, and Caravanserai cost -50%; Nobles' Hut, War Academy, and War Camp cost -25%; Kallanka cost -15%

Mexicans

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Mariachi	For the next 30 seconds, military building training and research work rate +400%, unit speed +10%

Ottomans

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Military Wagons	Delivers 2 Military Wagons; enables Military Wagons to build Outposts

Spanish

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Spanish Road	Barracks cost -50%; War Academy and War Camp cost -25%; Blockhouse, War Hut, Nobles' Hut, and Kallanka cost -15%

United States

Card	Description	Age
TEAM Westward Expedition	Delivers 4 Military Wagons

Changelog

The Asian Dynasties

• The War Academy has 34 Line of Sight.

Definitive Edition

• With update 20322, the War Academy has 12 Line of Sight.

History

“

In the early seventeenth century, the Manchu emperor Nurhaci established the Eight Banners - administrative groups into which all families were placed, often based on lineage and tribal connections. These groups were broken down further into companies. Nurhaci wished to create a citizenry that could be called upon to wage war on enemies of the Manchu, as each company was required to furnish a number of soldiers, often 300, that together would form a larger regional banner army. Later, when Nurhaci's successors conquered the Mongols and the Han Chinese in the mid-seventeenth century, they incorporated these new warriors into the banner army system. During its height, the Eight Banners system included ethnic Manchu, Han Chinese, and Mongol soldiers. Although it began as a foreign military system forced upon the conquered, the system quickly evolved into the core administrative philosophy behind many government practices, such as the disbursement of salaries, distribution of land, management of property, and oversight of popular welfare and justice matters.

”

Gallery

In-game War Academy in the Commerce/Fortress Age

In-game War Academy in the Industrial/Imperial Age in the Definitive Edition

War Academy image from the Compendium section