Reddit reviews Strategy Games: A Strategic Introduction

The thing is, There are pretty much more then a dozen RTS games out there, and I think Im selling it short, so to buy him a book about RTS games in general is practically impossible, because they vary a lot in theme, and in gameplay, you could become an expert in one game, say, Age Of Empires 3, and be completely obliterated in online multiplayer in Starcraft II, or be an expert in Command & Conquer 3, but struggle A LOT with Homeworld, just because even though all those games share quite a few similarities, they just do not work exactly the same, you could apply some very general strategic thinking of course, but ultimately, you would have to modify the details, for the different intricacies that each game offers.

Just Imagine, Ill tell you some themes and/ or types of games that belong in the RTS category but are kind of different from one another:

Historic (Kind of): Age Of Empires(Medieval), Rise Of Nations (Medieval- Modern Era)

Fantasy: Lord Of The Rings: Battle For Middle Earth 2, Warcraft 3

Scifi: Starcraft 2, Sins of a Solar Empire, Command & Conquer 3, Homeworld, Supreme Commander 1, 2

World War 2: Company Of Heroes 1, 2, Men of War

All these games, being RTS, have similarities, but have features that make them distinct from the others. Some of these Features can be pretty unique, and so any special tactic, or strategic plan you use for one game will almost definitely not work for the other.

So If you would really like to buy him a book, I think you would have to get to know some, or at least one of his favourite RTS games that he is playing, and look for a gameplay guide for that game in particular, I think there are some out there

Well, I hope you have good luck finding that book

I guess you could ask again here when you get info on what game or games he is playing right now, hehe

edit: another thing that I thought you could do is, having known one of his favourite RTS games, you could search for art related to that game, such as posters, Battle unit portraits, map designs, etc. Print them, and have them framed, and also give that as a gift maybe...

Edit 2: Ok, So I got curious, and searched a little, this is what I could find:

Strategy Games: A Strategic Introduction by Steffen Von Urydberg https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07JR1QCJS/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_U_x_QFbADb53VS8E3

It looks very generalized, but it may cover up, kind of, what you were asking, and relate to all strategy games

Cheers!