All of the information in this was taken from www.gamers.com in the AoE Bible. It is much more comprehensive than this, but I thought the Academy needed something like this, so I condensed it. Your comments would be useful. Some of this stuff is pretty basic; it pretty much geared to newbies and rookies.

Leading Tool Civilizations

Shang
The key to Shang is their versatility. Shang can build all units up to Bronze, they have cheap villagers, double strength walls, and great Priests. Cheap vills use less food and let you Tool and Bronze faster.

Assyria
Assyrians have fast vills and increased rate of fire for Tool Age Bowmen. Bowmen are very effective at killing vills, and only require one upgrade to be effective. Vills can evade Bowmen pretty easily though, and in RoR, slingers will murder Bowmen. If you suspect your opponent is going to use slingers, throw in a few scouts or Axemen.

Phoenicia
The Phoenician woodcutting bonus means fewer vills will have to chop wood. Essentially you have extra vills. They are a good civ to use for Tool Bowmen, because their woodcutting bonus will apply to building as well as military units.

Rome
Rome is strong in Tool Age due to its discounted buildings, especially towers. That way you can assign fewer vills to wood and stone, meaning you can put more on food. Rome's great Bronze Age Barracks units mean that they won't be wasted when you build one. Also, if you can get some vills into an enemy town, an order of those cheap towers should meet a hungry enemy's diet of arrows. J

Boom
A Boom doesn't use a full scale Tool attack and starts highly defensive. Later on, it turns highly offensive. Usually a boomer will utilize a mid-sized Tool army late in Tool, usually during a Bronze. Other than the obvious reason of taking out enemy vills, this also clears up some housing space.
A BOOM SHOULD BE USED IF YOU CAN BE WALLED IN EASILY AND HAS ACCESS TO LOTS OF FISH AND GOLD THAT CAN BE WALLED IN.
The objectives for Booming are:
1. Making about 30 vills BEFORE Tooling(including fishing boats)
2. To continue to make boats during the Tool upgrade.
3. To spread out your production and quickly wall in Tool to slow the enemy's army in Tool or Bronze.
4. Disrupt enemy's economy w/a late Tool Age attack. (Optional, the best usually try to)
5. Absorb and deflect opponent's attack. (Who usually hits Bronze before you)
6. To hit Bronze a few minutes slower than normal, but w/about 40 total vills(Vills/boats)

A Boom can be detected because he usually hits Tool w/about 30 Vills, he'll Tool pretty slow, and then his vill count jumps dramatically as he mass produces boats. Booming works best on maps w/a lot of water and is best with Shang, Phoenician, or Minoan.
One way to defeat the Boom is a Tool Rush or a very fast hit in Bronze, somehow getting around his walls. Booming is incredibly strong on a big map. Don't wait long to attack a boomer, or else he'll convert his economy into something useful.

Pass
Passing is jumping through the Tool Age quickly. It's a very offensive strategy, little or no resources are spent on walls or defense in general. You want the battle to take place on the enemy's soil. This is the ultimate Bronze rush, where no resources are spent on upgrades, extra builds, vills, or units in Tool. Usually, 20-24 vills is an appropriate amount. The goal is to hit Tool with a finished barracks, about 700 food, and 300 wood. Use about 7-8 vills to build two Tool buildings needed to go to Bronze. In the meantime, the other 100 food should have been collected. In a perfect Pass, you'll have exactly zero food and zero wood right after you hit the Bronze button. The best Pass strategies have a Bronze in 11 minutes, but a Bronze under 13 minutes is pretty good.
You can recognize a Pass strat in Tool when no additional vills are made in Tool, his exploration isn't very high, and he only has 1 technology researched, the technology you get for hitting Tool. The best way to defeat a Pass is one, Tool Rush, or two, wall your production and Boom.

Probe to Play
The final Tool Age strat with the objective of passing through Tool and hitting in Bronze is Probe to Play(PtoP). This is a lot like the Pass, but it delays Bronze time a little to make a small attack in Tool. Sometimes this attack is made w/units that are made before the Bronze upgrade starts, delaying the Bronze time, other times this attack is made with units made after the Bronze upgrade is started, creating a weaker offensive army. The main objective is to hit Bronze fast while using a small Tool Age attack to slow the enemy down. This was originally called Resource Equalisation (Yes, it is spelled "equalisation". Celestial_Dawn, an excellent player from Australia, spelled it that way.)
A PtoP start is basically offensive, with the main objective being to hit Bronze a little after your enemy but w/a better economy. Non-Shang players often use this tactic to buy time to develop a military, so it often involves defensive elements. The small Tool attack is to buy time to wall in you resources. A PtoP strat works on a Pass because the Tool attack hits an undefended economy. It also gets a "probing" view of their town, as well as locate their resources are, so your Bronze troops know where to hit, while your enemy's Bronze troops are looking for your vills.
This strat is tough to detect. It looks a great deal like a Pass. Typical signs are:
1. Bronzing with 20-24 vills.
2. Researching a few technologies right after Tooling
3. A small attack at about 11 minutes with Tool troops.

Push
The Push involves a full-scale Tool Age attack. Push is taken from a Probing Rush (P from Probe and ush from Rush=Push). Of the four Tool attacks (Blitz, Brush, Rush, and Push) this is the most powerful with the most units, but it's the slowest. It is the most versatile also, allowing you the option of progressing quickly to the Bronze Age or fighting a prolonged Tool battle.
The objective of the Push is to Tool before your opponent, attack quickly, then (depending what you find in the enemy's town) wage a full scale Tool war or go to Bronze. This delays your decision until you know what your enemy is doing.
Scouting is essential. Send one of your first Vills (with Shang, you can send one of your first three, with others, number six or seven) to explore the map.
To use the Push, go quickly into tool after making 18-20 vills. Don't use fishing boats, but shore fish are very useful. To get the fastest Tool time, get only enough wood for four houses and two Tool buildings. Once you get two Tool buildings, ALL of your vills should be collecting food. Try to find a sweet spot to build your storage pit. Remember, go with shore fish instead of berries if possible. If you assign more than two vills to collect each set of shore fish, they'll bump into each other and end up sitting around idle.
Once you begin to Tool upgrade, you should have very little wood. Move most of your vills from food back to wood. Here's a big advantage of having your pit near your food. Hopefully you won't need to make a different food-gathering building. Your objectives:
1. Locate the enemy.
2. Complete a barracks before you arrive at the Tool Age (probably near your base somewhere, unless you found the enemy quickly and your vill is idle near the enemy-build it there.)
3. Hit Tool with around 350 food and 150 wood.
You should hit Tool between seven and nine minutes. Immediately build a Stable near the enemy and begin researching Toolworking and Leather Cavalry Armor upgrades at your pit. Quickly build another house. Then start making Scouts.
It's important to use Scouts in the Push strat because one of the main objectives is to explore the enemy territory. Don't build another military building unless your Scouts are doing a good job killing enemy vills.
Don't attack large groups of vills until you have at least two Scouts. If their vills are going to kill your Scouts, move them away. Try to get the enemy's vills to follow, so they are collecting resources.
If you find vills trying to build a building, do everything you can to stop them. Don't chase them until you kill them, just prevent anyone from working on it. You might be able to delay his Bronze time too.
If the first two Scouts are doing well, keep training Scouts and consider making another military building. Use your Scouts to sweep out hidden packets of vills. If you have 3-4 Scouts searching and you can't find any vills, keep looking but stop training Scouts. Now start saving food for Bronze.
If your two Scouts get stopped, stop training Scouts, wall your area, and go to Bronze.

Tool Rush
The Tool Rush is the foundation of Tool Age warfare. It's fast, offensive, and powerful. It's similar to the Tool Push, but it hits faster and is a more determined attack. You Tool with about 16 vills. The average Tool time is from seven to nine minutes.
The main objective is to attack an undefended opponent. It's a full-scale attack in the Tool Age. You keep producing military units until you kill them or your attack is repelled. A failed Tool Rush should hurt the enemy enough to get you to Bronze first.
Just like the Tool Push, switch your vills to food after you finish your first two Stone Age buildings. Switch them back to wood as needed after clicking Tool upgrade, then distribute them as appropriate.
16 vills, a fast Tool time, and a high exploration show the signs of a Tool Rush. The best way to defend it is not to advance into Bronze right away. You need to spend your resources on repelling the rush. Try to wall off your resources too. You may attack a one or two man force without upgrades with you peasants. Then build units to counter their units. If they are using Bowmen, make slingers, If they are using Scouts, Axes, or Clubs, then make Slingers.
A classic finish is called the Kiss of Death. This involves walling in your opponents Town center. He will get the message "not enough room to place unit".

Brush
The Brush is the second fastest, next to the Blitz. Tooling with 14 vills, you sacrifice your economy for a chance to hurt your enemy. If you fail, you're dead.
The objective is to jump to Tool and attack right away, often before the enemy has even saved up enough food to Tool. This is much more powerful if you find you pit near wood and fish, or at least wood and wildlife. Make your second building a barracks. The Barracks units work best for a brush because they are the most powerful early in the game.
You can recognize a Brush strat because he'll Tool with about 14 vills. You may think he is a newbie, but if he kept up a constant stream of vills, you're about to get Brushed.
Try to keep 120 wood in reserve. Don't boom in stone, you need to hit Tool so you can wall. Walls stop Brushes, but your enemy wants to hit you before you can wall. Dock fishing can stop a brush too. If you can wall off your woodcutters and dock, your economy will eventually win out. Spread out your production also. When his army hits, run! Fighting a Brusher's army with your vills is a very bad idea. This is where you can use that 120 wood, make a Storage Pit.

Blitz
The Blitz is the fastest of the rushes. The Blitz sacrifices all economy and any hope of Bronzing for pure Tool speed. It's been said that:

My tool rush is always devastating, but not always to my enemy.

-Malachi

(taken from http://www.ns.net/~thump/quotes.htm)

The Blitz gives a great chance for you to kill yourself in a failed attack. You should Tool with about 12 vills and try to hit your enemy even before he starts to Tool. You should hit Tool between six and seven and a half minutes.
You need a great starting spot(with shore fish near wood), don't even consider Blitzing. You'll only have 12 vills, and one will be scouting, you need to make shifts in workload between food and wood. Your scout also has to find your enemy within three or four minutes or the Blitz might fail. Build a barracks near the enemy's town in the Stone Age and gather the wood so you can make a second military building immediately upon Tooling.
Axes work well in a Blitz, so your first two military buildings should be barracks. In Stone, you should make Clubs to be upgraded into Axes. In Tool, first research Leather Armor and then Toolworking. Build another Barracks and continue to make clubs. A group of four Clubs should be sent into their town so they turn into Axes when they get there. Keep making Axes, the occasional vill, and the houses necessary.
Assyria or Phoenicia works well with Bowmen thrown into the mix. Hittite has the attack bonus for the Bowmen, but no speed-to-Tool bonuses. Romans could work with a few towers tossed in there.
Once you've killed all the enemy vills or forced them to run away, follow them with a single Axer, or if you've made any Bowmen, those. Use the Axes to start destroying buildings. You should have about 12 military units.
Your main target is the enemy's TC. If he has no TC, he can't Bronze. A good Tool Blitz should destroy his TC at about 12 minutes. Best-case scenario: Enemy has 800 food, Bronzes, you destroy his TC. He loses his TC and 800 food. If you get hit by a Blitz, and you are upgrading your age, and in danger of losing your TC, cancel the upgrade.
Next target is the Storage Pit. Without a Pit or TC the enemy can't get wood, and without wood the enemy can't relocate his workers. Docks, if any, come next. Then houses. Granaries are of no strategic value, so destroy them last. Detail an Axeman to guard the Granary so no one uses it. Soon you'll want a stable to hunt down the remaining vills. Don't let them dock fish under any circumstances.
You should Tool in under six minutes and be in the enemy town by about seven to seven and a half minutes with upgraded Axemen. He might no have started the Tool upgrade yet.
It's easy to detect a Tool Blitz because the enemy will stop at about 12 vills and Tool very fast. Defending against a good Blitz is very tough, even if you know it's coming. The best solution is to have about 120 wood before your enemy attacks. Scatter your vills when he attacks, don't let the Axes follow you. If you Tooled, research the wall and wall in your pocket of lumber production. Build a dock or two and start making boats to dock fish. If you can Bronze in less than 17 minutes, you'll totally destroy the Blitzer.
Most people will laugh when you Tool with 12 vills and attack with Clubs, but when they change to Axes and keep on coming, his disposition will change real fast. The real advantage of the Blitz is that most people underestimate what you can do under the ten-minute mark. You must totally destroy your enemy, and not let their economy back on track. I wouldn't recommend you Blitz in team games. In a 3vs3, probably only one, if any, of you will have to resources to Blitz. You will effectively take yourself out of the game. Even if you cause critical damage to one enemy, his teammates can rescue him, and if he gets even on vill out, he'll probably recover.