Very applied magic / THE FIELD NOTES
Age of Wonders 4
Invent a fantasy people, open a spellbook, and take your arguments to the battlefield.
The basics
Find your footing. Three short notes to get you into the game.
Create a fantasy people
Forms, societal traits, and arcane choices define your faction. Start with a fantasy you enjoy.
Try it next sessionWrite your faction’s identity in one sentence.
Learn the two scales
Empire building happens alongside turn-based tactical battles. Practice reading both maps.
Try it next sessionFollow one army from exploration into combat.
Open the spellbook
Tomes provide magical paths that develop your faction and can transform its people.
Try it next sessionRead one tome’s options before selecting it.
Connect the dots
Intermediate starting points: questions to explore once the main systems feel familiar.
Make your tome choices fit together
Consider how a new magical direction complements what your faction already does.
Try it next sessionExplain the job of your next tome.
Watch what happens in battle
Tactical combat lets you observe your army’s strengths and problems directly.
Try it next sessionRecord one decision to change in your next battle.
Respond to the realm
Different realms, events, and opponents change the challenge. Adapt your plan to the world you find.
Try it next sessionChoose one change prompted by this particular map.
The deep end
PLANNED / NOT YET WRITTENThis is our desk. Joshua and I will fill it with tested strategies, campaign notes, and the mistakes worth learning from.
Tome combinations
This guide is on our list. We’ll add the approach, an example from a real campaign, and where it falls apart.
Before it joins the notebookRecord the game version, expansions and mods, starting conditions, and what we actually tested. No strategy has been published here yet.
Tactical battle breakdowns
This guide is on our list. We’ll add the approach, an example from a real campaign, and where it falls apart.
Before it joins the notebookRecord the game version, expansions and mods, starting conditions, and what we actually tested. No strategy has been published here yet.
Faction experiments
This guide is on our list. We’ll add the approach, an example from a real campaign, and where it falls apart.
Before it joins the notebookRecord the game version, expansions and mods, starting conditions, and what we actually tested. No strategy has been published here yet.
The reading behind these notes
These starter notes draw on the official game descriptions below. The exercises and intermediate connections are suggested ways to learn, not tested optimization guides.
Official Paradox game overview ↗Sources reviewed 16 September 2026. Broad concepts only; no patch-specific validation. Features and interfaces may vary with updates, expansions, mods, and platform.