Army

This page deals with the recruitment and maintenance of armies. For specific combat mechanics see land warfare. For different individual unit types see land units.

An army refers to a country's land forces.

The basic unit of land forces is the regiment, each consisting of 1000 soldiers at full strength. Each regiment is classed as Infantry, Cavalry or Artillery. Regiments are grouped into armies. Each army can be led by a general or conquistador.

Recruiting an army

Recruiting regular forces requires an owned, unoccupied province to recruit in, and three resources: manpower, ducats, and time. Each province can recruit one regiment at a time, though multiple regiments can be queued up in a single province. The base cost and time of a regiment depends on its type; this is then adjusted by any modifiers, in particular any buildings the province might have. Regiments start with 50% of maximum morale.

Manpower

Main article: Manpower

It takes 1000 manpower to recruit a regiment. Manpower is also used for reinforcing depleted regiments.

Regiment cost

Regiment cost is computed as follows: $\text{regiment cost} = \text{base cost} \cdot \left( 100% + \sum\text{regiment cost modifiers} \right)$

Base cost

The base costs for recruiting a regiment are:

• 10 for infantry
• 25 for cavalry
• 30 for artillery

Regiment cost modifiers

Regiment cost may be affected by general and type-specific modifiers which are summed.

General modifiers

General modifiers reduce the cost of all types of land units.

	Conditions
−20%	as Tengri country
−5%	for trading in iron
−10%	with parliament and “Expand the Army” as active issue
−33%	as optional difficulty bonus (for the player (very easy) or the AI (very hard))

Ideas and policies:

	Traditions	Ideas	Bonuses	Policies
−10%	Chernihiv traditions Kikuchi traditions	Quantity idea 3: Enforced Service Armenian idea 5: Sygnakhs Colonial idea 5: Colonial Militia Polish idea 5: Wojsko Komputowe	Lur ambition Toki ambition	Expansion-Defensive: Local Army Organization Plutocratic-Trade: Trade Kontor Network

Decisions and events:

	Event modifier	Trigger	Duration
−10%	Hanseatic Military Reform	Lübeckian event: “Tagfahrt” Option: ‘Reform the military’	until ruler changes.
−20%	The Land of Flames	Maravian event: “The Land of Flames”	for 1 year.

Type-specific modifiers

Some specific modifiers reduce only the cost of one unit type.

Infantry

	Conditions
+1%	for each percentage point of inflation

Ideas and policies:

	Traditions	Ideas	Bonuses	Policies
−20%	Mewari traditions	Imerina idea 7: Foloalindahy Maratha idea 3: Peasant Soldiers Burmese idea 7: Bayingyi	Georgian ambition	—
−15%	Ava traditions	—	—	—
−10%	Butua traditions Guarani traditions Jaunpuri traditions Lorraine traditions Malvi traditions Maravi traditions Nivernais traditions Polotskian traditions Sistani traditions Somali traditions	Arawak idea 1: Warrior Culture Bulgarian idea 4: Reform The Army Interlacustrine idea 5: Emitwe Kongolese idea 4: Initiation Rites Montenegrin idea 3: Clan Society Odoyev idea 5: Cities of the Upper Oka Valley Piratical idea 3: Buccaneers Romanian idea 5: Peasant Soldiers Slovak idea 5: Town Air Liberates Teutonic idea 1: Reform the Army Yaroslavlyian idea 3: Reform Boyars Zaporozhian idea 6: Army First	Baden ambition Tupi ambition	—

Decisions and events:

	Event modifier	Trigger	Duration
+10%	Mint Money	Revolution disaster event: “The Road to Bankruptcy” Option: ‘Mint more money’	until end of Revolution disaster.
+25%	Obsolete Forces	The Peasants' War disaster event: “Obsolete Forces” Option: ‘They have no place in our society’	until end of The Peasants' War disaster.
−10%	Grander Army	Offensive ideas event: “Isn't our Army Grand?”	for 10 years.
+10%	Less Grand Army	Offensive ideas event: “Our Army isn't so grand” Option: ‘Looks like recruitment will be a little harder’	for 5 years and 1 day.
+10%	Poor Iron	Generic event: “Iron ore quality problems”	for 2 years.
−5%	Military Focus	Republic event: “Misdirected Focus” Option: ‘It's all according to plan’	for 2 years.
+5%	Trade Focus	Republic event: “Misdirected Focus” Option: ‘Perhaps our focus has been a bit misdirected’	for 2 years.
−20%	Increased Land	Republic event: “A Strong Army or Navy?” Option: ‘A large army would be more beneficial’	for 10 years.
		Maritime ideas event: “Generals Bothered” Option: ‘Time to devote more attention to the army’	for 10 years.
−10%	Swedish Military Reforms	Swedish event: “The Military Reforms of Gustavus Adolphus” Option: ‘Regional Conscription’	for the rest of the campaign.
−10%	Complete Serfdom	Russian event: “The Reactionary Policy” Option: ‘Keep the Masses in Chains’	for the rest of the campaign.
+10%	Increased Freedom	Russian event: “The Reactionary Policy” Option: ‘Let us introduce the idea of 'Freedom'’	for the rest of the campaign.
+10%	Restricted Serfdom	Russian event: “Czar Paul I's Liberal Legislation” Option: ‘Restrict Serfdom’	for the rest of the campaign.
		Russian event: “Czar Alexander I's Liberal Legislation” Option: ‘Abolish serfdom’	for the rest of the campaign.
+20%	Greedy Janissaries	Ottoman event: “Janissaries Demand Pay” Option: ‘Pay them over time’	until the monarch's death.
−10%	Surplus Equipment	Quantity ideas event: “Surplus Equipment”	for 10 years.
−10%	Rajput Recruitment	Jaunpuri event: “The Rajputs of the Doab” Option: ‘Let us integrate them with our forces.’	for 10 years.
+10%	Nobility in Power	Aristocratic Coup disaster event: “The $ESTATE_NOBLES$ Seize Power”	until “Curtail the Nobility”.

Cavalry

	Conditions
+1%	for each percentage point of inflation
+20% / −20%	from cossacks estates (scales with loyalty and influence) (only with )
−20%	from tribes estates at high loyalty (scales with influence) (only with )
−10%	from trading in livestock

Ideas and policies:

	Traditions	Ideas	Bonuses	Policies
−20%	—	Aq Qoyunlu idea 2: Unite the Clans	—	—
−15%	Ilkhanid traditions	—	—	—
−10%	French ducal traditions Fulani traditions Hejazi traditions Indian Sultanate traditions Khivan traditions Polish traditions Takeda traditions Transoxianian traditions	Aristocratic idea 1: Noble Knights Al-Haasa idea 1: Desert Warfare Arabian idea 2: Arabian Horses Beloozero idea 1: Martial Heritage Charruan idea 4: Horse Adoption Circassian idea 1: Horsemen of the Steppe Couronian idea 7: Promote the Curonian Kings Mazovian idea 4: Szlachta Zasciankowa Nanbu idea 2: Owner of the 'Nine Gates' Odoyev idea 3: Commit to Tatar Ties Permian idea 2: Turkic Mercenaries Punjabi idea 6: Strength of the Misls Ryazan idea 2: Tatar Mercenaries Samtskhe idea 6: Frontier Warriors Serbian idea 3: Home of the Hussars Shiba idea 5: Oshu Ties Swedish idea 3: The 'Hakkapeliitta' Teutonic idea 1: Reform the Army West African idea 5: Royal Stables Yaroslavlyian idea 3: Reform Boyars Zaporozhian idea 6: Army First	—	Aristocratic-Economic: The Court of Wards and Liveries
−5%	—	Mahri idea 5: Mahra Camels	—	—

Decisions and events:

	Event modifier	Trigger	Duration
+25%	Obsolete Forces	The Peasants' War disaster event: “Obsolete Forces” Option: ‘They have no place in our society’	until end of The Peasants' War disaster.
−10%	Grander Army	Offensive ideas event: “Isn't our Army Grand?”	for 10 years.
+10%	Less Grand Army	Offensive ideas event: “Our Army isn't so grand” Option: ‘Looks like recruitment will be a little harder’	for 5 years and 1 day.
+10%	Poor Iron	Generic event: “Iron ore quality problems”	for 2 years.
−5%	Military Focus	Republic event: “Misdirected Focus” Option: ‘It's all according to plan’	for 2 years.
+5%	Trade Focus	Republic event: “Misdirected Focus” Option: ‘Perhaps our focus has been a bit misdirected’	for 2 years.
−10%	Increased Aristocracy	Liberum Veto event: “Further concessions demanded” Option: ‘We grant these concessions’	for 10 years.
		Plutocratic ideas event: “Aristocrats concerned” Option: ‘Maybe we can give a little’	for 10 years.
		Lithuanian event: “Magnates crave 'Polish Rights'” (3 events) Option: ‘More Rights than Duties’	for 10 years.
		English event: “The Northern Rebellion” Option: ‘Keep Norfolk in the Tower and start to negotiate’	for 5 years.
		English event: “The Northern Rebellion” Option: ‘Release Norfolk’	for 10 years.
		Dutch republic event (only ): “Nobles Look to the House of Orange” Option: ‘We'll pay that price and cede what power we need to.’	for 5 years.
+10%	Increased Plutocracy	Aristocratic ideas event: “Merchants complain” Option: ‘Maybe I can help’	for 10 years.
		Dynastic event: “Regent usurps The Throne” Option: Alas, it was destined.’	for 20 years.
−20%	Increased Land	Republic event: “A Strong Army or Navy?” Option: ‘A large army would be more beneficial’	for 10 years.
		Maritime ideas event: “Generals Bothered” Option: ‘Time to devote more attention to the army’	for 10 years.
−10%	Horse Population Boom	Quantity ideas event: “Horse Population Boom”	for 10 years.
−5%	Portuguese Trade Contacts	Malian event: “The Wangara and the Portuguese”	until Malian event “Portuguese Meddling” Option: ‘Act decisively to limit Portuguese influence.’
+25%	Nobility in Power	Aristocratic Coup disaster event: “The $ESTATE_NOBLES$ Seize Power”	until “Curtail the Nobility”.

Artillery

	Conditions
+1%	for each percentage point of inflation

Ideas and policies:

	Traditions	Ideas	Bonuses	Policies
−20%	—	Smolenskian idea 4: The Great Foundry	—	—
−15%	—	Rajputana idea 6: Expanded Artillery Arm Transoxianian idea 4: Turkoman Cannoneers	—	—
−10%	—	Russian idea 3: Russian Artillery Yard	—	—

Decisions and events:

	Event modifier	Trigger	Duration
+20%	Poor Copper	Generic event: “Poor Quality Copper”	for 2 years.
+10%	Western Military Influence	Russian event: “Extended Visit Pays Off” Option: ‘Our armed forces will benefit from this!’	for 10 years.
−10%	Cheap Iron	Quantity ideas event: “Cheap Iron”	for 10 years.

Recruitment time

The recruitment time of a regiment is computed as follows: $\text{recruitment time} = \text{base time} \cdot \left( 100% + \sum\text{recruitment time modifiers} \right)$

Base time

The base time for recruiting a regiment is:

• 60 days for infantry
• 90 days for cavalry
• 120 days for artillery

Recruitment time modifiers

Recruitment time can be affected by countrywide and provincial modifiers which are added.

Countrywide modifiers

	Conditions
−20%	for trading in copper
−10%	with parliament and “Expand the Army” as active issue
+2%	for each point of war exhaustion

Ideas and policies:

	Traditions	Ideas	Bonuses	Policies
−10%	Cornish traditions	Offensive idea 2: National Conscripts Aymaran idea 7: Ayni Duties Prussian idea 6: Regimental Cantons Tarascan idea 4: War Bonfires	—	—
−5%	—	Lunda idea 4: An Army Overnight	—	—

Events and missions:

	Event modifier	Trigger	Duration
−30%	Recruits Flock to the Standards	Offensive ideas event: “Recruits flock to the standards”	for 10 years.
+30%	Conscription Resisted	Offensive ideas event: “People don't want to be conscripted” Option: ‘Well I am sure we can slow down recruitment in the short term’	for 10 years.
−5%	Trade and Production Cutbacks	Noble republic event: “Military Spending” Option: ‘Well, trade and production aren't as important’	for 2 years.
+5%	Military Cutbacks	Noble republic event: “Military Spending” Option: ‘Cut back on military expenses’	for 2 years.
−10%	Legitimacy Questioned	English War of the Roses disaster event: “Legitimacy Questioned” Option: ‘How dare they question me?’	for 5 years or the end of the War of the Roses.
−5%	Western Military Influence	Russian event: “Extended Visit Pays Off” Option: ‘Our armed forces will benefit from this!’	for 10 years.
+50%	Sejm Refuse Troops	Polish culture event: “The Sejm refuse to allow the mobilization of more troops” Option: ‘Ok’	until monarchs death.
−15%	Thriving Arms Industry	Construction mission: “Create an army for our nation”	for 10 years.
		Construction mission: “Protect against $COUNTRY$”	for 10 years.

Provincial modifiers

	Conditions
+20%.0	for blockaded provinces
+30%.0	for looted provinces
+10%.0	for each point local unrest
−1%.0	per provincial tax income

Composition

See also: Battlefield unit deployment logic

To maximize combat effectiveness of an army, the ratio of infantry, cavalry and artillery is vital.

• To avoid the insufficient support penalty, an army must not surpass the maximum ratio of cavalry per infantry regiments.
• Artillery can fire from the second line, and therefore can vastly increase the effectiveness of an army.
• Artillery defends first line units from attacks with half of its defense points in the corresponding battle phase.
• Since artillery takes twice the normal damage when in the front line, it should be deployed in the second line. To achieve this, the number of artillery should not exceed the number of cavalry and infantry combined. Also reserves should be calculated to replace lost regiments in first line.
• With artillery being three times and cavalry two-and-a-half times more expensive than infantry, a more infantry heavy but cheaper army could be more cost-efficient, especially if a nation suffers from cavalry or artillery penalties. Eight infantry regiments can easily beat three infantry + two cavalry due to flanking effects.
• Having a 40 regiment army in a province with only 30 supply limit will cause massive attrition. It is wise to split an army in half when crossing territory with low supply limits in order to keep attrition at a minimum.

Example army relying on above information: (On plain terrain, with 11 combat width from technology and 15 base, 50% insufficient support limit)

+ 8 infantry, 5 cavalry reserves potentially not fielded if combat width too small

For Eastern/Western factions where there are few nation bonuses to cavalry combat effectiveness, cavalry should be fielded only to maximize flanking effectiveness. The number of cavalry should therefore change with flanking range at military technology 18 and 30. To understand why, consider that infantry begins with 1 flanking range and cavalry 2. This means that if you outnumber the enemy, there is only need for 2 cavalry units for the far-flanks as your infantry will flank one unit to the side. This dynamic changes at military technology 18 where infantry has 1 flanking range, but cavalry has 3. Here, a minimum of 4 cavalry units (2 on each side) is required. The dynamic changes for the last time at level 30, where 6 cavalry units will be required for maximize flanking.

For example:

• Early game: 8 infantry, 2 cavalry, 5 artillery

• Mid game: 18 infantry, 2 cavalry, 10 artillery

• Late game: 36 infantry, 4 cavalry, 20 artillery

• This rule does not apply to non-Eastern/Western nations who may have cavalry combat effectiveness bonuses and/or inferior infantry units compared to their Eastern/Western counterparts. Therefore, if you are playing Anatolian, Muslim or Nomadic factions and seek only combat effectiveness, field as many cavalry as the insufficient support limit allows.
• Fewer losses will be sustained with numerical superiority. When above 10:1, victory may be granted with no combat. To attain numerical superiority, it may require exceeding the supply limit temporarily, especially if forces are technologically inferior. By splitting forces, it is possible to lure an enemy into an unfavorable position without exceeding supply limits.
• When defending against a numerically superior army, fighting in terrain with an attacker combat penalty is ideal. Rough terrain gives from -1 to -2 combat penalty for the attacker and is added to river or strait crossing penalty and amphibious landing penalty.

Maintenance

An army needs a certain amount of money every month as maintenance. These cost can be influenced by the army maintenance slider of the economy interface. Reducing the maintenance slider can (multiplicatively) reduce maintenance cost by up to half, but also reduces reinforcement rates and morale. At 0% funding, regiments will not reinforce, and maximum morale will be reduced by 100% (additive with other percentage modifiers) to a minimum of 0.51 (the minimum required for an army to move).

Regiment maintenance cost

The maintenance cost (at a full maintenance slider) of a regiment is computed as follows:

${\begin{aligned}{\text{regiment maintenance cost per month}}=&\ 0.02\cdot \left({\text{regiment strength}}\right)\cdot \left({\text{base regiment cost}}\right)\cdot \left(100\%+\sum {\text{regiment cost modifiers}}\right)\\&\cdot \left(100\%+\sum {\text{land maintenance cost modifiers}}\right)\\&\cdot \left(100\%+0.02\cdot {\text{military technology}}\right)\end{aligned}}$

In other words, they cost 2% of their recruitment cost, multiplied by the sum of all maintenance modifiers, multiplied by the technology factor, per month. Therefore, any modifier that affects the cost of creating new regiments (at the time of recruitment) also affects the maintenance of units.

Maintenance cost modifiers

These modifiers affect the maintenance cost of land units and generally work additively, except for the maintenance impact of +2% per military technology, which is multiplicative with all other factors.

	Conditions
−25%	for having a native council government
−20%	from having 100% militarization with Prussian Monarchy (scales with militarization) (only with )
−20%	for raising war taxes for up to two years
−15%	for being the revolution target.
+10% / −10%	from nobility estates (scales with loyalty and influence) (only with )
−10%	for having a grand captain as advisor
−10%	for trading in salt
−10%	with parliament and “Quartering of Troops” as active issue
−10%	for having the reform “A Unified Army” as Mayan country

Ideas and policies:

	Traditions	Ideas	Bonuses	Policies
−5%	Amago traditions Golden Horde traditions Manchu traditions Munster traditions	Defensive idea 4: Regimental System Economic idea 6: Nationalistic Enthusiasm Quantity idea 4: The Old and Infirm Chosokabe idea 1: Ichiryo Gusoku Hanoverian idea 3: Shützenfest Horde idea 3: Horse Supplies Moroccan idea 6: Slave Soldiers Najdi idea 6: Unite the Tribes	Aq Qoyunlu ambition Arawak ambition Nubian ambition Scottish ambition Tyrconnell ambition	Administrative-Quantity: Provincial Taxation System

Decisions and events:

	Event modifier	Trigger	Duration
−10%	The Great Army Reorganization	Swedish event: “The Great Army Reorganization” Option: ‘Reform the army’	for the rest of the campaign.
−10%	The Brandenburg Recess	Brandenburg/Prussia event: “The Brandenburg Recess” (only with ) Option: ‘They shall dance to my tune or the devil will fetch me!’	until the death of the current ruler.
+10%	Administrative Problems	Quantity ideas event: “Administrative Problems”	for 10 years.
−10%	Regimental Pride	Defensive ideas event: “Regimental Pride”	for 10 years.
−15%	Thriving Arms Industry	Construction mission: “Create an army for our nation”	for 10 years.
		Construction mission: “Protect against $COUNTRY$”	for 10 years.

Total maintenance cost

See also: Force limit

The total maintenance cost of an army also depends on the land force limit of the country. If a country has more regiments than its land force limit, maintenance of all units will be multiplied by the ratio of units – with the units over the force limit counting twice – to the force limit. For example, if a country has 15 regiments and a land force limit of 10, the maintenance of each regiment is doubled.

Quality

While quantity is an important factor in warfare, quality could be considered even more crucial in the grand scheme of things. An army outnumbered by 10,000 men can find victory in better discipline and morale, and as an opponent of war-orientated European continentals such as France and Prussia, many will most likely experience the effects of these high-quality armies at some point.

Choosing the right land units as military technology advances can synergize well with a country's national ideas and abilities. At any point, it is better to upgrade troops when possible and pick the specific variation afterwards than stay with the older weaker troop type.

Several idea groups can be taken to progressively improve armies' performance on the battlefield. Additionally, some countries get specific bonuses resembling the strength their army had in actual history.

Morale improvements

Morale indicates how long an army can keep fighting without routing. It is affected by both prestige and power projection, which increase morale by +0.1% for every point.

Army morale

	Traditions	Ideas	Bonuses	Policies
+20%	—	French idea 2: Elan! Prussian idea 3: Army Professionalism	—	—
+15%	Andalusian traditions Castilian traditions Nagpuri traditions Spanish traditions	Defensive idea 2: Military Drill Air idea 2: Cross of Agades Highlander idea 1: The Wallace Polish idea 7: Focus on Field Defenses	Texan ambition	—
+10%	Aq Qoyunlu traditions Austrian traditions Ava traditions Beninese traditions Burgundian traditions Butua traditions Chernihiv traditions Client State traditions Deccani traditions Dhundhari traditions Dithmarscher traditions Hatakeyama traditions Hojo traditions Huron traditions Irish traditions Khorasani traditions Liège traditions Moldavian traditions Mysorean traditions Nepalese Princedom traditions Oda traditions Ogasawara traditions Pacific Northwest traditions Persian traditions Pomeranian traditions Provençal traditions Punjabi traditions Rajputana traditions Rûmi traditions Transoxianian traditions Tsutsui traditions Welsh traditions	Plutocratic idea 2: Abolished Serfdom Ajami idea 3: Legacy of the Ilkhans Amago idea 4: Ten Brave Warriors American idea 4: Lessons of Valley Forge Aragonese idea 7: Protect the Little Folk Ardabili idea 1: The Safavid Order Aymaran idea 5: The Tinku Rites Ayyubid idea 3: Righteousness of the Faith Aztec idea 4: Eagles and Jaguars Bulgarian idea 6: Military Flexibility Carib idea 3: Resistance towards the Pailanti'po Catalan idea 6: 'Lliures o Morts' Cebu idea 1: Lumaya’s Ambition Chachapoyan idea 1: Warriors of the Clouds Charruan idea 6: Garra Charrua Cherokee idea 5: Ghigau Chiba idea 2: Dream of Masakado Creek idea 7: Red Sticks Daimyo idea 4: The Five Rings Desmondian idea 3: Gaelic Bastion Finnish idea 7: The Anjala Conspiracy French ducal idea 7: La Petite Nation Frisian idea 3: Dutch Courage Fulani Jihad idea 4: Imans and Emirs Galician idea 5: Santiago y Cierra! Garhwali idea 3: Martial Diplomacy Gelre idea 5: The Gelderland Wars Great Yuan idea 2: A Savage Kingdom Holy and Enchanted Imerina idea 2: The Twelve Sampys of Imerina Ionian idea 1: Frankokratia Kangra idea 3: Martial Heritage Khmer idea 1: Preah Ko Preah Keo Kikuchi idea 4: Fortify the Domain Kildarean idea 3: Silken Thomas Krakowian idea 1: Legendary Legacy K'iche idea 6: K'iq'ab's Vengeance Luban idea 4: Encourage the Kasala Tradition Lur idea 6: Rise of the Lurs Manipur idea 2: Martial Traditions Mayan idea 7: Caste War Medri Bahri idea 5: Independent Traditions Mexican idea 7: Grito de Delores Miao idea 3: Unity of the Tribes Mindanao idea 6: Guerrilla Warfare Muscovite idea 4: Pomestnoe Voisko Mushasha idea 1: Fervent Millenarianism Nanbu idea 1: Genji in the North Native idea 1: Counting Coups Neapolitan idea 4: Crush the Power of the Barons Nepali idea 5: The Royal Kumari Nivernais idea 4: True Frenchmen Pegu idea 4: Ramannadesa Rassid idea 1: The Living Imam Sadiyan idea 1: Land of Glory Samtskhe idea 4: Independent Ambitions Semien idea 1: Legacy of Queen Judith Serbian idea 7: Balkan Hajduks Shiba idea 4: Atsuta Shrine Shimazu idea 1: Satsuma Hayato Shoni idea 2: Defender of Japan Slovak idea 7: Slovak National Awakening Songhai idea 3: Jihad Against the Pagans Takeda idea 1: Leader of Kai Genji Timurid idea 2: The Mantle of the Great Khan Tokugawa idea 1: Mikawa Bushi Trebizondian idea 5: The Lessons of the Fourth Crusade Uesugi idea 4: Dragon of Echigo Yarkandi idea 5: Holy Warriors Yi idea 7: Children of the Black Tiger	Ajuuraan ambition Athenian ambition Circassian ambition Colonial ambition Cornish ambition Dai Viet ambition Kievan ambition Kitabatake ambition Ryazan ambition	Religious-Quantity: Field priests and Soldier's prayer books
+5%	—	Russian idea 7: Broaden the curriculum of the Cadet Corps	—	Quality-Religious: The Military Zeal Act

Morale recovery improvements

Morale recovery affects how long an army will take to recover to full morale after it was lost in a battle or by changing the maintenance slider.

Army morale recovery

	Traditions	Ideas	Bonuses	Policies
+15%	—	—	—	Quality-Administrative: The Liquor Act
+5%	Armenian traditions Fulani traditions Hungarian traditions Ryazan traditions	Pskovian idea 2: Legacy of Daumantas	Fully Offensive Persian ambition	Expansion-Defensive: Local Army Organization Religious-Quantity: Field priests and Soldier's prayer books

Discipline improvements

Discipline is a very important combat modifier, as it both multiplies the amount of casualties and the morale cost of these casualties. It starts off at 100%.

	Traditions	Ideas	Bonuses	Policies
+5.0%	Anatolian traditions Asakura traditions Couronian traditions Finnish traditions Imagawa traditions Japanese traditions Knights Hospitaller traditions Nanbu traditions Ottoman traditions Roman traditions Romanian traditions Shawnee traditions Teutonic traditions Wallachian traditions	Offensive idea 7: Esprit de Corps Ando idea 6: True Shogun of Oshu Bavarian idea 6: Found a Professional Army Bharathi idea 4: Indian Army British idea 5: Reform of Commission Buying Burgundian idea 4: Reform of the Feudal Army Butua idea 5: Regular Training Byzantine idea 6: The New Imperial Army Candarid idea 5: Legacy of the Candar Corps Chosokabe idea 4: 100 Article Code Dahomey idea 5: The Amazons Daimyo idea 1: Bushido Deccani idea 5: Modernize the Sarf-e-Khas Divine idea 1: Holy Order Hessian idea 5: Modernization of the Hessian Army Hungarian idea 3: Found the Black Army Irish idea 7: Nationalized Gallowglass Septs Iroquois idea 6: Warriors Unity Jerusalem idea 3: Frontier State Kaffan idea 6: King of Kings Kangra idea 7: Tigers of the Himalayas Khmer idea 5: European Mercenaries Kongo idea 7: Defend Against the Colonists Malian idea 4: Mandinka Warrior Spirit Mamluk idea 4: Reform of the Army Mapuche idea 2: Clava Clubs Mewari idea 7: Reorganized Rajput Regiments Ming idea 2: Revive the Three Grand Divisions Mughal idea 1: The Jagir and Mansabdari Systems Munster idea 4: Spanish Ties Münster idea 5: Soldiers of the Imperial Armies Mutapan idea 1: Mwenemutapa Otomo idea 3: Loyal Retainers Pacific Northwest idea 1: Great Whale Hunts Persian idea 3: Found the Ghulams Polish idea 6: Found the Foreign section Punjabi idea 7: Reforming the Punjabi Army Rigan idea 7: Restore the Brothers of the Sword Rûmi idea 1: Abul-Fath Saxon idea 7: The Saxon Circle Shimazu idea 4: Tsurinobuse Swedish idea 2: Swedish Steel Tibetan idea 6: The Way of the Ancients Tokugawa idea 3: Hatamoto Uesugi idea 6: Agakita-shu Vijayanagar idea 7: An Army for the City of Victory	Full Quality Amago ambition Ansbach ambition Ayyubid ambition Carib ambition French ambition Hanoverian ambition Hindustani ambition Karamanid ambition Manx ambition Mysorean ambition Nepali ambition Ogasawara ambition Papal ambition Prussian ambition Rajput ambition Rajputana ambition Ruthenian ambition Songhai ambition Spanish ambition Swiss ambition Ambition of Theodoro Timurid ambition Tuscan ambition Yamana ambition	Economic-Quality: Weapon Quality Standards
+3.0%	—	Austrian idea 7: Hofkriegsrat	—	—
+2.5%	—	Incan idea 4: Drafted Hatun Runas National idea 1: Preserve Our Troops Norwegian idea 7: Write New Sagas	—	—

Combat ability improvements

Combat ability is a value that is multiplied with the units' damage dealt (both for casualties and morale), making it work similarly like discipline, but only for a specific type of unit while discipline affects infantry, cavalry and artillery alike. It also has no effect on military tactics, unlike discipline.

Infantry combat ability

	Traditions	Ideas	Bonuses	Policies
+20%	Swedish traditions	Prussian idea 5: The Goose Step	—	Innovative-Quality: Modern Firearm Techniques
+15%	—	Italian (cU) idea 2: The Tradition of the Legion Hindustani idea 1: Sepahi	Bulgarian ambition Japanese ambition	—
+10%	Ashanti traditions Aztec traditions Beloozero traditions Bengal Sultanate traditions Bengali traditions Chosokabe tradition Date traditions English traditions Georgian traditions German traditions Gujarat Sultanate traditions Hosokawa traditions Iroquois traditions Lur traditions Malvi traditions Mewari traditions Milanese traditions Mindanao traditions Mushasha traditions Oda traditions Québécois traditions Rassid traditions Shimazu traditions Slovak traditions Songhai traditions Swiss traditions Tokugawa traditions Tripuran traditions Tyrone traditions Vijayanagar traditions Yemeni traditions Zambezi traditions	Quality idea 1: Private to Marshal Ainu idea 7: Fierce Resistance Amago idea 2: Izumo Shugo Arawak idea 5: Arawak Raiders Asakura idea 4: Asakura Soteki Brazilian idea 4: Halting Foreign Incursions Butua idea 3: Empowering the Rozwi Carib idea 2: Poisonous Warfare Caspian idea 2: A Time of Turmoil Chickasaw idea 2: Spartans of the Lower Mississippi Chinese idea 5: Firearm Training Croatian idea 7: Pandurs Dai Viet idea 1: The Great Proclamation Deccani Sultanate idea 4: Purchase Habshis Dithmarscher idea 1: Resistance to Feudalism Ethiopian idea 7: Reformed Armies French ducal idea 3: Qui Ruit Et Lethum Galician idea 7: Irmandinos Garjati idea 5: Jungle Warfare Gond idea 5: Raiding the Lowlands Greek idea 3: Klephtic Recruitment Guarani idea 7: Royal Armaments Interlacustrine idea 6: Unity of the Clans Jaunpuri idea 7: Modernization of the Army Laotian idea 5: Laotian Elephant Cavalry Leonese idea 7: Leonese Nationalism Maravi idea 5: Serving Abroad Nepali idea 6: The Gurkhas Orissan idea 1: Lord of the Elephants Ormond idea 1: English Service Polish idea 3: Piechota Wybraniecka Roman idea 4: The Roman Legions Sadiyan idea 6: Reform the Sadiya Armies Satake idea 4: Kashima Jingu Shiba idea 7: Mogami Family Somali idea 4: Offensive Warfare Tarascan idea 1: Copperworking Teutonic idea 3: Adjust our Infantry Tactics Tsutsui idea 1: Warrior Monks Tupi idea 3: It Is A Good Day To Die Tverian idea 6: Tverian Tercio	Deccani ambition Imerina ambition Indian Sultanate ambition Korean ambition Malian ambition Mayan ambition Montenegrin ambition Nepalese Princedom ambition Nivernais ambition Polotskian ambition Sistani ambition Serbian ambition Uesugi ambition	—
+5%	—	Athenian idea 7: Athenian Army Reform Bohemian idea 3: Wagenburg Kongo idea 5: The Triangle Trade Ryazan idea 5: March of Russia Tunisian idea 1: Catalan Guard	—	—

Cavalry combat ability

	Traditions	Ideas	Bonuses	Policies
+33%	—	Polish idea 4: Winged Hussars	—	—
+20%	Aq Qoyunlu traditions Great Yuan traditions Hungarian traditions Ilkhanid traditions Mughal traditions Qara Qoyunlu traditions	Burmese idea 2: Elephant Warfare Crimean idea 1: Genghisid Legacy Golden Horde idea 3: Tatar Traditions Horde idea 2: Traditions of the Great Khan Kazani idea 3: Warrior Society Lithuanian idea 5: Lithuanian Hussars Transoxianian idea 1: Mawarannahr, the land Beyond the River	—	Aristocratic-Espionage: Noble Loyalty Act
+15%	Delhian traditions Khorasani traditions Persian traditions	Afghan idea 5: Durrani Imperialism Anatolian idea 3: Akîncî Cavalry Ansbach idea 7: Dragoons of Ansbach Ardabili idea 2: The Qizilbash Bharathi idea 1: Modernized War Elephant Tactics Chernihiv idea 2: Field Cossack Regiments Couronian idea 7: Promote the Curonian Kings Finnish idea 2: The Hakkapeliitta Karamanid idea 3: Karamanid Cavalry Khivan idea 1: Horde Legacy Manchu idea 4: Link with the Mongol Dynasty Maratha idea 1: Tradition of Military Service Ottoman idea 3: Timar System Rajput idea 3: Marwari Horses Rajputana idea 3: Marwari Horses Ruthenian idea 3: Zaporozhian Cossacks Serbian idea 4: Alemannic Guard Shirvani idea 3: Tribesmen of the Caucasus Transylvanian idea 1: Unio Trium Nationum	Ava ambition Hejazi ambition	—
+10%	Al-Haasa traditions Bahmani traditions Bavarian traditions Croatian traditions Deccani Sultanate traditions Hanoverian traditions Indian Sultanate traditions Mamluk traditions Mazovian traditions Mossi traditions Northumbrian traditions Takeda traditions Teutonic traditions	Aristocratic idea 1: Noble Knights Quality idea 3: Finest of Horses Ayyubid idea 4: Elite Warriors Berber idea 5: Tuareg Cavalry Caucasian idea 7: Cavalry Armies Gujarati Princedom idea 1: Kathiawari Horses Kildarean idea 5: Curragh Horsemanship Lan Xang idea 2: Elephant Cavalry Moroccan idea 6: Slave Soldiers Nubian idea 6: Desert Cavalry Sukhothai idea 7: War Elephants Vijayanagar idea 2: Arab Horses Wurzburgian idea 3: Franconian Circle	Charruan ambition Punjabi ambition Vindhyan ambition	—
+5%	—	Circassian idea 1: Horsemen of the Steppe Ogasawara idea 3: Kiso-uma	—	—

Artillery combat ability

	Traditions	Ideas	Bonuses	Policies
+10%	—	Quality idea 7: Massed Battery Bharathi idea 7: Develop Rocket Technology Russian idea 3: Russian Artillery Yard Smolenskian idea 6: Artillery Before All	Otomo ambition Satake ambition	Offensive-Economic: Horse Artillery
+5%	—	Athenian idea 7: Athenian Army Reform	—	—

General improvements

These modifiers affect the base attributes of the military leader and are added on top of them.

Land leader shock

	Traditions	Ideas	Bonuses	Policies
+1	Manchu traditions Qara Qoyunlu traditions Scottish traditions Shirvani traditions Timurid traditions	Offensive idea 1: Bayonet Leaders Ajuuraan idea 6: Expelling the Infidel Aq Qoyunlu idea 1: The White Sheep Arawak idea 7: Jungle Warfare Bengal Sultanate idea 5: Conquest of the Gangetic Plain Charruan idea 3: Bolas Warfare Chiba idea 5: Katori Jingu Crimean idea 4: Despoilers Hatakeyama idea 2: Indomitable Generals Hojo idea 2: Night Combat Horde idea 4: Steppe Leaders Jerusalem idea 5: Crusader Aristocracy Lithuanian idea 1: Warlord Dukes Mexican idea 6: Heroes of the Revolution Oda idea 3: Oda Generals Rassid idea 6: Like Salt Dissolves in Water Shan idea 5: Raiders Shoni idea 5: Bear of Hizen Tibetan idea 2: Bön Influence. Tyrconnell idea 5: Lessons of Knockavoe Wallachian idea 5: Legacy of the Impaler Yamana idea 4: The Western Army	Air ambition Arabian ambition Manchu ambition Swedish ambition	Humanist-Quantity: Inspirational Leaders

Land leader fire

	Traditions	Ideas	Bonuses	Policies
+1	—	Offensive idea 3: Superior Firepower Ming idea 7: The Red Cannon Rajput idea 6: Martial Ethos Smolenskian idea 5: Hold The Line	Bohemian ambition Mori ambition Oda ambition Qara Qoyunlu ambition Utsunomiya ambition	Expansion-Quality: The Mining Act

Land leader maneuver

	Traditions	Ideas	Bonuses	Policies
+2	—	—	Shawnee ambition	—
+1	Ainu traditions Burmese traditions Carib traditions Crimean traditions	Defensive idea 3: Improved Maneuver Air idea 6: Nomadic Traditions Albanian idea 2: Land of Ambushers Arabian idea 6: Clan Loyalties Caucasian idea 3: Hit and Run Kazani idea 5: Steppe Warfare Nagpuri idea 2: Exploit Harsh Terrain Pacific Northwest idea 5: Legacy of Raven Permian idea 5: Warriors of the Taiga Qara Qoyunlu 4: Dynamic Warfare Romanian idea 2: Skilled Commanders Tapuian idea 5: The Way of the Jaguar Tyrone idea 6: Ambush Warfare Zaporozhian idea 4: Hit And Run	Lithuanian ambition	Quantity-Exploration: Hired Adventurers

Leader siege

	Traditions	Ideas	Bonuses	Policies
+1	—	Nepali idea 7: Envelopment and Blockade Oda idea 4: Influential Strongholds	Full Aristocracy Meath ambition	Innovative-Offensive: Modern Siege Weapons

Army tradition

Main article: Military tradition#Army tradition

Army tradition provides powerful boons to the offensive power of armies. It also provides a higher chance of getting land leaders with a high fire/shock/maneuver/siege value. 100 army tradition gives the following bonuses, which scale linearly to 0% at 0 tradition.

At 100:

	+10%	Recover army morale speed
	+25%	Morale of armies
	+10%	Manpower recovery speed
	+5%	Siege ability
	+0.10	Commanderies faction influence
	+0.10	The aristocrats influence
	+0.10	Girondists influence
	+0.10	Militarization of state

Supply and attrition

An army will take attrition damage on the first day of each month if the total supply weight of all non-hostile armies in the province exceeds the supply limit of that province. This can happen even in owned provinces. The amount of attrition depends on the supply weight of all troops in that province in comparison to the local supply limit.

Supply weight

Each regiment in an army has a supply weight of 1. The total supply weight of an army with a leader is reduced by 1 for each point of maneuver the leader has. Province modifiers that increase attrition act by increasing the supply weight of each army in addition to increasing attrition. The final attrition damage for an army is determined by this formula:

$\text{attrition (} \% \text{)} = \left( \frac{ \# \text{ of troops} }{1000} + \text{Unit Weight attrition modifiers} - \text{TRUNC(supply limit)} \right) \cdot \frac{10}{ \text{TRUNC(supply limit)} } + \text{province attrition modifiers}$

where

${\text{supply limit}}=({\text{base}}+{\text{terrain bonus}})\cdot (1+{\text{supply limit efficiency}})$

The only exception to this is if an army has moved into a province where two hostile forces are engaged in combat. As the combatants are temporarily neutral to the newly arrived army, some of their supply weight will still be added to this armies' and may cause attrition.

Supply limit

The base supply limit of each province depends on the terrain type:

Source	Supply limit
Base	+6
Farmlands	+10
Grassland	+8
Drylands	+7
Coastline	+6
Highlands	+6
Savannah	+6
Steppes	+6
Woods	+6
Hills	+5
Jungle	+5
Marsh	+5
Coastal Desert	+4
Desert	+4
Glacier	+2
Mountains	+4
Forest	+4

E.g.

This is then adjusted by supply limit efficiency modifiers. All modifiers below stack additively:

Amount	Source
+50%	Province is coastal
+50%	Area of the province has a supply depot
+25%	Owner of province
+10%	Military Access/Allied/Controlled/Cored Enemy Province
+2%	Per development level
up to −50%	Proportional to the level of devastation
−20%	Arid climate
−30%	Tropical climate
−40%	Arctic climate
−10%	Mild winter
−20%	Normal winter
−30%	Severe winter
−10%	Mild monsoon
−20%	Normal monsoon
−30%	Severe monsoon
+50%	Military technology level 5
+50%	Military technology level 12
+50%	Military technology level 17
+50%	Military technology level 19
+50%	Military technology level 27
+50%	Military technology level 31

There are currently no ideas to alter this further.

Attrition damage

Under normal circumstances, the amount of attrition is x%, where x is 10/supply limit, for each point of supply weight in excess of the local supply limit, up to a maximum of 5%. Armies that are besieging hostile provinces take 1 unit of supply weight extra attrition, regardless of their size. An army trying to take back its own captured province does not suffer this penalty. For the duration of a battle, the armies engaged do not suffer attrition.

Example: An army with 20 supply weight in a province with 17 supply limit would normally take (20 - 17)*(10/17) = 1.76% attrition each month. If that army were besieging a hostile province it would suffer (20 + 1 - 17)*10/17 = 2.35% attrition.

Attrition damage is applied before reinforcements, so an army suffering from attrition will not take noticeable damage unless the attrition exceeds the reinforcement rate. This can mask an otherwise severe drain in manpower due to attrition, so players are advised to pay careful attention to any army with the attrition icon (). The attrition damage taken by a unit is proportional to the current strength of the unit and not the maximum strength of the unit.

Attrition modifiers

Climates that increase attrition according to the in-game tooltips act by increasing each army's supply weight instead. Devastated provinces will also increase local attrition rates. Attrition stacks additively.

Modifier	Supply Weight	Extra Attrition for Enemies
Arctic	-40%	+1%
Tropical	-30%	+2%
Arid	-20%	+1%
Mild Winter	-10%	+1%
Normal Winter	-20%	+2%
Severe Winter	-30%	+3%
Devastation	Up to -50%
General Maneuver Pips	-(1-6)

The 7th idea of the Defensive Ideas group, Improved Foraging, reduces all attrition taken by friendly armies by 25%, applied multiplicatively. For example, an army under the supply limit with Improved Foraging besieging an enemy province takes 0.7% monthly attrition. It would make sense for the attrition to be 0.75% monthly, but the attrition display indicates 0.7%. The bonus for completing the Defensive Ideas group causes enemy troops to take 1% attrition on top of normal attrition values while in friendly territory.

Ideas which reduce attrition are applied after reaching the attrition cap, so an army with -25% attrition damage has an effective maximum attrition of 4%.

Unique national ideas, idea groups and policies which affect land attrition:

	Traditions	Ideas	Bonuses	Policies
−25%	—	Defensive idea 7: Improved Foraging	—	Humanist-Defensive: The Preparation Act Quality-Exploration: Superior Supply Systems
−20%	Kongo traditions	Horde idea 1: The Life of a Steppe Warrior	—	—
−15%	Ainu traditions Arabian traditions Canadian traditions Siberian traditions	Charruan idea 2: Legacy of the Pampas Cossack idea 3: Steppe Riders Dhundhari idea 7: Pindari Mercenaries Zaporozhian idea 3: Steppe Riders	—	—
−10%	Ethiopian traditions Khivan traditions Kongolese traditions Malian traditions Pacific Northwest traditions	Quantity idea 7: Expanded Supply Trains Aymaran idea 3: Chu'uqi Production Burmese idea 6: Organized Military Campaigns Clanricarde idea 5: To Hell or to Connacht Hejazi idea 4: Desert Warfare Incan idea 7: Tambo Waystations Sami idea 6: Living off the Land Tapuian idea 1: Hunter Gatherers Texan idea 4: Vaqueros Venetian idea 7: Found the provveditori ai beni inculti	Chickasaw ambition	—

Land Attrition is capped at -80%, resulting in 1% maximum attrition.

Additionally, there are ideas that give a malus to attrition to enemies on a nation's territory:

	Traditions	Ideas	Bonuses	Policies
+1.0	Brazilian traditions Caucasian traditions Dai Viet traditions Interlacustrine traditions Garhwali traditions Kangra traditions Kongolese traditions Leinster traditions Luban traditions Lunda traditions Mapuche traditions Montenegrin traditions Northumbrian traditions Offaly traditions Ogasawara traditions Polotskian traditions Sadiyan traditions Tripuran traditions Tumbuka traditions Welsh traditions	Afghan idea 7: Graveyard of Empires Ainu idea 5: Hunters and Warriors Assamese idea 3: River Warfare Baluch idea 1: Natural Defenses Beloozero idea 6: Boreal Warfare Berber idea 2: Desert Warfare Bosnian idea 7: Over the Hills and Through the Woods Carib idea 4: Rainforests of the Guyana Chachapoyan idea 7: Cloud Forests Charruan idea 5: Resist Conquistadors Chickasaw idea 3: Nighttime Raids Cornish idea 2: Cornish Rebels Divine idea 6: Turn the Other Cheek Finnish idea 6: The White Death Flemish idea 7: Noose-Bearers Gond idea 3: Tigers and Elephants Hadramhi idea 1: Death Has Come Highlander idea 2: The Highland Clans Khivan idea 2: Deserts of Khiva Kuban idea 5: Ngesh Dancing Kurdish idea 1: Mountain Warriors Luzon idea 2: Conquest of Paradise Mayan idea 6: Remote Isolation Miao idea 6: Mountain Retreats Munster idea 3: Hill Raiders Mushasha idea 3: Swamp Warfare Najdi idea 4: Bedouin Raiders Nubian idea 3: Warriors of the Sahara Desert Romanian idea 3: Scorch the Lands and Poison the Wells Sami idea 1: Land of the Midnight Sun Shawnee idea 2: Dark and Bloody Ground Siberian idea 1: Hunters of the North Sinhalese idea 7: Sinhalese Guerrilla Warfare Sulawesi idea 7: Asymmetrical Resistance Tirhuti idea 5: Riverine Landscape Tsutsui idea 4: Mountain Warfare Ulster idea 4: Rapparees Vindhyan idea 5: Untamed Lands Yi idea 2: Deep in the Mountains	Fully Defensive Armenian ambition Moroccan ambition	Defensive-Religious: Edict of Resistance Influence-Quantity: Guerilla Warfare

Reinforcements

Army regiments that have taken casualties will gradually reinforce up to their full strength according to available manpower, or if they are mercenaries - usually at a significant cost. However, if they gain more soldiers monthly than they lose to attrition, there is no extra cost beyond base army maintenance, so reinforcement speed modifiers can save you a lot of money - even so, beware of heavy attrition.

Reinforcement speed

The number of reinforcements that each regiment can receive in a month is:

${\text{reinforcements per month}}=100\ \cdot \ {\text{army maintenance factor}}\ \cdot \ {\text{local reinforcement modifier}}\ \cdot \ \left(100\%+\sum {\text{global reinforcement modifiers}}\right)$

army maintenance factor

The army maintenance factor scales linearly with the position of the army maintenance slider. It is 50% if the slider is at the far left and 100% if the slider is at the far right.

local reinforcement modifier

The local reinforcement modifier is 100% in owned provinces, 10% in uncolonized provinces, and 50% otherwise, be it a neutral, subject, ally, enemy, or occupied province. If the army has a leader, each point of maneuver will increase the local reinforcement modifier by +10% additively up to a maximum of 100%. An army that has been in battle will suffer a temporary −40% penalty to their local reinforcement modifier for the current month if they are not in owned territory.

global reinforcement modifiers

The reinforcement speed modifiers from ideas, policies, advisors etc. are summed up.

Reinforce speed is affected by the following:

	Conditions
+33%	with a quartermaster as advisor
+33%	with a general with 'Battlefield Medic' trait
−25%	is bankrupt

Ideas and policies:

	Traditions	Ideas	Bonuses	Policies
+33%	—	Defensive idea 6: Supply Trains	—	—
+30%	—	Austrian idea 7: Hofkriegsrat	—	—
+15%	Serbian traditions Yaroslavlyian traditions	Yi idea 3: Chain of Zimo Domains	Tverian ambition	Quality-Administrative: The Liquor Act
+10%	Tupi traditions	—	Khivan ambition	—
+5%	—	Siberian idea 6: Successful Raids	—	—

All values above can be seen or deduced from the tooltip over each army's total soldier count.

Reinforce cost

${{\text{reinforcement cost}}=0.4\cdot {\frac {\text{arriving base reinforcements}}{1000}}\cdot {\text{base regiment cost}}\cdot \left(100\%+\sum {\text{regiment cost modifiers}}\right)\cdot \left(100\%+\sum {\text{land maintenance cost modifiers}}\right)\cdot \left(100\%+2\%\cdot {\text{military technology}}\right)}$

• The base reinforcements are up to 100 per Regiment, depending on army status and location.
• Additional reinforcements from reinforcement speed modifiers don't cost extra.

Ideas and policies:

	Traditions	Ideas	Bonuses	Policies
−25%	—	Uesugi idea 3: Kamakura Office	—	—
−20%	—	—	—	Influence-Offensive: Foreign Conscription Centers

Mercenaries

Mercenary forces can serve as a supplement – or replacement – for a country's regular forces. They are only available in limited number. Mercenaries can be recruited in any controlled province (including occupied territory), unlike regular forces which require cored ownership or a subject province. Mercenaries are more expensive to maintain than regular forces. They are also quick to recruit and do not cost any manpower to build or reinforce.

Differences from regular forces

• Recruitment time x0.25.

• This is a multiplier, not a -75% modifier.

• No manpower cost to recruit or reinforce.
• More expensive in both cost and maintenance
• No unlimited amount available

Mercenary support limit

The number of mercenaries a nation can field is determined by their mercenary support limit, which replaced the mercenary pool. Every country has a base of 20 regiments plus 30% of its regular land force limit. This sum is modified by the available mercenaries modifier.

$\text{Mercenary support limit} = \left(20 + 30% \cdot \text{land force limit}\right) \cdot \left( 100% + \sum\text{available mercenaries} \right)$

Available mercenaries

The available amount of mercenaries is modified by:

	Conditions
+5.0%	for raising war taxes for up to two years
+12.5%	during the English “War of the Roses” disaster.
+0.3%	per point of army professionalism below 50 (i.e. 15% at 0, 0 at 50% or higher).

Ideas and policies:

	Traditions	Ideas	Bonuses	Policies
+50%	—	Burgundian idea 3: Promote the Estates General Tyrconnell idea 7: Scottish Ties	Vijayanagar ambition	Diplomatic-Offensive: The Underhanded Diplomacy Act
+25%	—	Administrative idea 5: Mercenary Recruitment Pskovian idea 5: The Knights Guard	—	Espionage-Quantity: The Mercenary Registration Act
+20%	—	Aristocratic idea 7: Noble Connections	—	—
+15%	—	Caucasian idea 2: Alan Mercenaries	—	—
+10%	—	Plutocratic idea 1: Tradition of Payment	—	—

Events:

	Event modifier	Trigger	Duration
+50%	Swedish Mercenary Core	Swedish event: “The Military Reforms of Gustavus Adolphus” Option: ‘Mercenary Core’	for the rest of the campaign.
+50%	Mercenaries flocking to the standard	Plutocratic ideas event: “Mercenaries flock to the Standard”	for 10 years.
+50%	Glut of Mercenary Companies	Administrative ideas event: “Glut of Mercenary Companies”	for 10 years.
−15%	Curtailed Mercenaries	Event: “Cruelty of Mercenaries” Option: ‘We should prevent this from happening in the future.’.	for 5 years.
+25%	Scottish Mercenaries	Thirty Years' War event: “Scottish Mercenaries”	for 30 years.

Note: The ‘available mercenaries’ modifiers affect also the maximum number of regiments for condottieri (only with Mare Nostrum DLC).

Mercenary recruitment cost

Mercenary recruitment cost is computed as follows:

$\text{Mercenary recruitment cost} = \text{base regiment cost} \cdot \left( 100\% + 50\% \text{ for being mercenary} + 1\% \text{ per mercenary regiment} + \sum\text{mercenary cost modifiers} \right)$

The base regiment costs are:

Regiment Type	Base Cost
Infantry	20
Cavalry	35
Artillery	40

Recruitment cost of mercenaries is not affected by regiment cost modifiers, but is affected by the following:

	Traditions	Ideas	Bonuses	Policies
−25%	—	Administrative idea 1: Organized Mercenary Payments	—	—

	Modifier
+50%	Base
+1%	Per mercenary regiment already existing or being recruited
−0.33%	Positive Prestige (per point)
+0.33%	Negative Prestige (per point)

Mercenary maintenance cost

${\text{Mercenary maintenance per month}}=0.02\cdot \left({\text{regiment strength}}\right)\cdot \left({\text{base regiment cost}}\right)\cdot \left(100\%+\sum {\text{regiment cost modifiers}}\right)\cdot \left(100\%+150\%{\text{ for being mercenary}}+\sum {\text{mercenary maintenance modifiers}}\right)\cdot \left(100\%+2\%\cdot {\text{military technology}}\right)$

Note that for mercenary maintenance:

• There is a +150% modifier to mercenary maintenance.
• This is affected by mercenary maintenance modifiers.
• This is computed off the regular recruitment cost, not the mercenary recruitment cost.
• Normal land maintenance doesn't have any impact on mercenary maintenance

• Mercenary maintenance cost can be affected by the following:

	Traditions	Ideas	Bonuses	Policies
−15%	Ansbach traditions Caspian traditions German traditions Malabari traditions Novgorodian traditions Swedish traditions Telugu traditions Ulster traditions	Administrative idea 3: Benefits for Mercenaries Aragonese idea 1: Mercenary Princes Ashanti idea 3: The Akan Coalition Ayutthayan idea 3: Foreign Mercenaries Burgundian idea 2: The Compagnies d'Ordonnance Byzantine idea 1: Regulations for Mercenaries Client State idea 6: Recruitment Centers Daimyo idea 5: Wandering Ronin Danziger idea 4: Hanseatic League Member Gutnish idea 2: Invite Mercenaries to Visby Huron idea 2: Hire Allied Warriors Italian idea 2: Italian Condottieri Kurdish idea 5: Kurdish Mercenaries Milanese idea 4: The Age of the Condottieri Navarran idea 2: Navarrese Company Pomeranian idea 5: Mercenary Contracts Savoyard idea 3: Mercenary Tradition Serbian idea 6: Mercenary Armies Smolenskian idea 3: Western Mercenaries South Indian idea 4: South Indian Mercenaries Swahili idea 5: Recruit the Unbelievers Swiss idea 2: Swiss Mercenaries Theodorian idea 1: Principate Guards Thomondian idea 4: Foreign Contracts Tuscan idea 2: Condottieri Wallachian idea 3: Mercenary Guard Yaroslavlyian idea 4: Siberian Mercenaries Zambezi idea 1: Warrior Culture	Hessian ambition	Administrative-Diplomatic: The Recordkeeping Act Espionage-Quantity: The Mercenary Registration Act
−10%	—	Caucasian idea 2: Alan Mercenaries Mahri idea 2: Mercenary Traditions National idea 3: Regulated Contracts Pskovian idea 3: Balt Mercenaries	—	—

	Modifier
−25%	with a ruler which has the ‘Fierce Negotiator’ personality
−15%	trading in Cloth

Mercenary discipline

Some ideas and bonuses increase the discipline of mercenary regiments:

	Traditions	Ideas	Bonuses	Policies
+5.0%	—	Offaly idea 1: The Gallowglasses Tunisian idea 1: Catalan Guard	—	—
+2.5%	—	Plutocratic idea 1: Tradition of Payment Sindhi idea 7: Recruit Balochi Tribesmen Tyrone idea 7: The Wild Geese	—	—

Events:

	Event modifier	Trigger	Duration
+10%	Black Army	Hungarian event: “The Army of [Root.Monarch.GetName] [Root.Monarch.Dynasty.GetName]” Option: ‘Our army will be an elite force.’	for the rest of the campaign.

Special regiment categories

Aside from regulars and mercenaries, there are five other categories of units with unique recruitment mechanics and modifiers that are each available only to countries that meet certain conditions. Because they are each recruited in a unique way, none cost ducats, manpower, or time to recruit, but unless stated otherwise they start at low morale and are maintained and reinforced at the same ducat and manpower cost as regulars.

Banners

Banners are a special unit category available to nations that have Manchu as their primary culture and are available to the Mongol Empire. Banner units are displayed with a purple background in the army view. The total number of Banners can be viewed in the Military tab (shortcut .) by hovering over the total number of individual unit type. Banners have +5% discipline -- they can still be drilled -- and can be cavalry or infantry.

Banners are recruited in the state interface in states with primary culture cores (can be territorial cores). For Mongol Empire, this can be any culture that is set as the primary culture of the empire. For all others, banner units will no longer be available if primary culture is changed beyond Manchu. The exact unit type (cavalry vs infantry) depends on the total army composition. A newly raised banner unit will be cavalry unless the total cavalry proportion is at or over the cavalry to infantry ratio of the raising nation.

In each state, 1 banner regiment can be recruited for every total 10 development (rounded down) from provinces that are of the nation's primary culture. Availability is modified by the possible manchu banners modifier. It costs +1% corruption per banner regiment raised divided by the country's force limit.

Unlike other special unit categories, banner units spawn at full morale but only have 100 men when recruited and must be reinforced to full strength. They reinforce at the normal reinforcement rate. However, they cost no manpower to reinforce, meaning that after the initial corruption cost of recruiting them, they can be thought of as powerful mercenaries with the cost of a normal army.

Available Banners

The amount of banners raised per 16 primary-culture development is modified by:

	Traditions	Ideas	Bonuses	Policies
+25%	—	Manchu idea 3: The Eight Banners	—	—

• The Age of Absolutism ability Manchu Banners, available only to Manchu and Qing, gives +50%.
• Each age after the age of discovery gives a cumulative +50%.

For example, Mongol Empire in Age of Revolutions gets +150% possible banners. With that, 1 banner regiment can be raised per 11 primary-culture development.

Streltsy

Streltsy are a special unit category available only to countries with one of the three governments unique to East-Slavic-culture nations (Veche Republic, Russian Principality, and Tsardom), and are displayed with a silver background in the army view. Streltsy are always infantry and have +10% fire damage compared to other unit categories.

They can be recruited by using the government action "Raise Streltsy", which will raise a number of Streltsy infantry regiments equal to 20% of your force limit in your capital while also reducing war exhaustion by 2. However, over-reliance on Streltsy is penalized: for each 1% of the country's force limit composed of Streltsy, a +1% stability cost modifier malus is applied (this malus on the stability boost can be removed by disbanding the Streltsy units).

Cossacks

Cossacks are a special unit category available only to countries that have access to the cossacks estate, and are displayed with a gold background in the army view. Cossacks are always cavalry and have a +10% shock damage bonus.

Cossacks can be recruited with the cossacks estate interaction "Raise Cossack Host", which will recruit one cossack cavalry regiment per province assigned to the cossacks, up to a maximum of 5 regiments (10 if their influence is over 60). This interaction is available at 50 loyalty, 40 influence, and will add +5 influence and −15 loyalty to the cossacks while having a 5 years cooldown.

Janissaries

Janissaries are a special unit category available only to countries with the Ottoman government, and are displayed with a red background in the army view. They are elite infantry troops with −10% fire damage received, −10% shock damage received, and +100% army drill gain modifier. However, unlike other special units, janissaries are +100% costlier to reinforce.

Janissaries can be recruited from the state interface of states comprising heathen provinces: each 10 heathen development in the state gives 1 janissary regiment. This costs 10 military power per regiment raised. Over-reliance on janissaries may trigger the Janissary Coup disaster after the end of the 'Age of Discovery'.

Rajputs

Rajputs are a special unit category available only to countries that have access to the Rajputs estate, and are displayed with a blue background in the army view. Rajput are always infantry and have a +5% morale bonus as well as a −25% army drill decay modifier. Unlike other special units, they are −50% cheaper to reinforce.

Rajputs can be recruited with the Rajputs "Recruit Rajput Regiments" estate interaction, which will recruit one Rajput infantry regiment per province assigned to the Rajputs, up to a maximum of 10 regiments. This interaction is available at 50 loyalty, 40 influence, and will add +5 influence and −15 loyalty to the Rajputs estate while having a 5 years cooldown.

Army professionalism and drilling

Cradle of Civilization introduced two new and linked concepts to the area of army management. Professionalism is an overall rating for a nation's land forces, while Drill level is specific to each regiment. Well drilled units are more effective in combat, and having units conduct drill is one of the primary means of building up a high level of professionalism, which unlocks new abilities for a nation's armies.

Army professionalism

Each nation's army has a professionalism level (from 0% to 100%) measuring how closely an army models a professional standing army versus the feudal levies of the middle ages or the heavy reliance on mercenaries of the beginning of this period. The level of army professionalism can be found at the top of the military tab in the country view. It has the following effects, scaling from 0% to 100%:

• +10% Shock damage dealt
• +10% Fire damage dealt
• +20% Siege ability

Scaling down from 0% to 50%, there are also bonuses for recruiting mercenaries:

• −15% Mercenary cost
• +15% Available mercenaries

Additionally, the value of army professionalism unlocks a new interface look and new abilities for armies every 20 points:

20% – Salaried Soldiers

May build supply depots: for 20 military power, an army can establish a supply depot in a friendly-controlled province. The supply depot will increase the friendly supply in the entire area by 50% and all friendly troops will reinforce as if they were in their home territory (ie the local reinforcement rate will be 100% instead of 50% even outside the national borders). If the province is occupied by a hostile force, the depot will be destroyed, otherwise it lasts for 5 years.

40% – Regiment Mustering

May refill garrison: allows a unit to take some of its infantry strength to restore the garrison of a fort instantly, working in your own forts, as well as friendly and occupied enemy forts.

60% – Conscription Army

Regain manpower when disbanding: instead of the manpower disappearing, disbanded regiments now return their soldiers to the manpower pool.

80% – Permanent Army

−50% Reduced morale damage taken by reserve – regiments in the back row during a day of battle normally take passive morale damage in large ongoing battles, but will now take −50% as much.

100% – Professional Army

−50% General cost

+100% Army drill gain modifier

There are certain actions that will increase/decrease the army professionalism value.

• Drilling armies (+1% per year if 100% of the force limit is drilling, to scale)
• Recruiting generals (+1% per general)
• Recruiting mercenaries decreases professionalism by −0.15% per regiment
• Hitting the Slacken Recruitment Standards button (adjacent to the buttons for activating and deactivating forts) will lower the army professionalism by −5% (to a minimum of 0%), but will give a nation two years' worth of manpower.

Certain events and decisions will influence army professionalism as well.

Drilling

A muscovite army currently drilling.

Every (non-mercenary) regiment in a nation's army has an individual drill level (from 0% to 100%). Regiments with a high drill rating will be more effective in combat. Scaling with the level of a regiment's drill value the benefits are:

	+10%	Shock damage
	+10%	Land fire damage
	−10%	Fire damage received
	−10%	Shock damage received

Scaling up to 100, the average drill value of the regiments of an entire army gives:

+20%

Movement speed

(This means mercenary regiments will slow down an otherwise fully-drilled army while not completely negating the movement speed gain.)

Drilling can be initiated by pressing the drill button at the bottom of the army interface. Any army with a leader assigned can be drilled (unless it is composed entirely of mercenaries). While drilling it will incur the full maintenance cost regardless of the army maintenance slider on the budget screen, and its morale will be lowered severely. At the end of each month, the drill value of each non-mercenary regiment in the army will increase by a base of +0.83 per month, amplified by any drill gain modifiers.

Since mercenaries do not benefit from drilling, it is recommended to detach them from drilling armies if the maintenance slider is low, in order to save money.

During drilling, the leader of the army also has a chance of gaining additional leader pips. This likelihood depends on how much of the army they are drilling, relative to the force limit (around 10% yearly chance at 100% of the force limit currently drilling in a single army led by the leader).

A regiment's drill value will decrease for two reasons. When not drilling, it degrades over time(base −0.20 per month). When a unit takes losses (from battle or attrition) and receives reinforcements, the new troops are considered un-drilled and will lower the regiments rating proportional to their numbers. (Example: an full strength regiment with 100% drill that takes 400 casualties will be at 60% drill when fully reinforced)

The speed at which armies are drilled can be improved with the following modifiers:

	Conditions
+40%	Enacting certain decisions (in exchange for increased maintenance)
+100%	Janissary units
+100%	from having maximum army professionalism
+50%	Sikh Guru

Movement

Amphibious landings

Amphibious landings from transport fleets will always take 12 days to complete if moving into non-hostile territory, and 36 days if moving into hostile territory. Boarding a friendly transport from land will always take 12 days as well. These times are reduced by the maneuver rating of leaders.

Three way battles

If an army stops in a province in which two hostile forces are engaged in combat, it will wait on the sidelines and engage the victor once it emerges from battle. The victor from the first battle will now act as an attacker, and will suffer all terrain penalties appropriate for the province (unless that side controls a fort in the province, in which case it is the defender as normal). On the other hand, if only one of them is hostile, the newly arriving army will join the battle on the other side even if the non-enemy army is fighting in a different war.

Terra incognita

During peace time, only armies led by a conquistador may enter terra incognita provinces and explore them. In war time, all armies may enter terra incognita provinces if that province is controlled by hostile forces. If a terra incognita province is revealed while an army is attempting to move into it, its movement progress will immediately be updated, which can result in it teleporting into the province.

References

Warfare