Manpower

A country's manpower is its stock of men eligible for military service. Manpower is used to recruit and reinforce armies (except mercenaries and some special unit types). A country with exhausted manpower reserves will be crippled in its ability to wage war.

Maximum

The maximum manpower of a country is calculated as follows:

${{\text{maximum manpower}}=({\text{manpower increase}}+\sum {\text{province manpower}})\cdot (1+{\text{national manpower modifier}})}$

Manpower increase

The base value for every country is +10 000 men. Furthermore:

	Conditions
+500	as emperor per member state (excluding free cities) in the Holy Roman Empire
+1 000	as emperor per free city in the Holy Roman Empire
+100	as emperor per member state in the Holy Roman Empire after enacting ‘Expand the Gemeiner Pfennig’ imperial reform
+200	as elector per member state in the Holy Roman Empire after enacting ‘Expand the Gemeiner Pfennig’ imperial reform
+100 000	as invasion nation
+250	as Shogun per Daimyo during active ‘Sword Hunt’ government ability
−1 000	as Daimyo during active ‘Sword Hunt’ government ability of the Shogun
+5 000	with ‘Municipal Self-Defense’ (tier 5 republic) government reform
+2 000	for each Governor General's Mansion trade company investment

Province manpower

Province manpower is the amount of soldiers each province contributes to the national manpower maximum. It is computed as follows:

${{\text{province manpower}}=({\text{base}}+{\text{manpower increase}})\cdot (1+{\text{local manpower modifier}})\cdot (1-{\text{local autonomy}})}$

Therefore, for example, if base manpower is 1,000 and the local manpower modifiers added up to say 200% and local autonomy say 77%, then the calculation would be:
province manpower = 1,000 x 200% x (100%-77%) or
province manpower = 1,000 x 2 x (1.0-0.77) or
province manpower = 1,000 x 2 x 0.23 or
province manpower = 460

The manpower which is displayed in the province window also includes national manpower modifiers, but these are not actually applied when summing the manpower of all provinces. Instead they are applied after adding the national manpower increases.

Base

Province base manpower in 1444.

Base manpower is determined by the level of military development in a province. Each level of military development adds 250 men to the province base manpower. The starting development level of a province is a preset in the game files. See the economic list of provinces for these values.

The military development level of a province can be increased by spending military points. It can also be modified by a few special events, decisions and missions.

Local manpower increase

This local modifier is additional to base manpower.

	Conditions
+1 500	has Soldier's Households in a province producing grain, fish, livestock or wine
+750	has Soldier's Households

Local manpower modifier

	Conditions
+100%	Training Fields
+100%	The Kremlin with culture in East Slavic group (only with )
+75%	Core province
+50%	Barracks
+50%	Great Trail (native building)
+50%	The Kremlin with culture in East Slavic group (only with )
+50%	Belem Tower within area (only with )
+33%	Patriarch authority at 100% (in Orthodox provinces)
+33%	World Trade Center (level 3 inland center of trade) within the state
+25%	Land province
+25%	The Kremlin with culture in East Slavic group (only with )
+25%	Belem Tower within area (only with )
+15%	Belem Tower within area (only with )
+10%	Republican cultural sufferance as non-tribal republic
+10%	Seat in parliament
−15%	Non-accepted culture in the primary culture group
−33%	Non-accepted culture in a culture group other than the primary
−50%	Occupation
−1%	Per point of autonomy (applied multiplicatively)

Manpower in true faith provinces

	Traditions	Ideas	Bonuses	Policies
+20%	—	—	Livonian Knight ambition	—
+15%	—	Divine idea 7: Martyrs Latin idea 7: Frankokratia	—	Divine-Administrative: Omne Datum Optimum
+10%	—	Religious idea 2: Church Attendance Duty	—	—

	Conditions
+20%	being Defender of the Faith of tier IV or tier V
+10%	with ‘Magister Militum Dei’ government reform (tier 5 theocracy) after the third concession ‘Soldiers of Christ’ during the Council of Trent

National manpower modifier

	Conditions
+50%	with difficulty set to ‘very easy’
+33%	with Golden Liberty privilege available for Elective Monarchies
+30%	with the Crusade triggered modifier
+25%	Scaling at 100% estate's land ownership with the Increased Levies privilege for Nobility estate or Marathas estate
+25%	as march
+25%	with Revolutionary Empire Tier 1 Government Reform
+20%	With Larger Tribal Host privilege for Tribes
+20%	with Tsardom Tier 1 Government Reform
+15%	with Nayankara System Tier 1 Government Reform
+15%	with Misl Confederacy Tier 1 Government Reform
+15%	with Strengthen Noble Privileges Tier 2 Government Reform
+10%	as steppe nomads (modified by government rank)
+20%
+30%
+10%	with Freya as personal deity as Norse nation
+10%	with a Master Recruiter advisor
+10%	as revolution target
+5%	with parliament and “Conduct Nationwide Census” as active issue
+0.2%	for each percentage point of legalism (positive piety) as a Muslim nation
−10%	with The Guilds in power as merchant republic
−25%	during the Plutocratic Coup disaster

Ideas and policies:

	Traditions	Ideas	Bonuses	Policies
+33%	Russian traditions	Quantity idea 1: Levée en Masse Italian idea 4: The Office of Censor Tverian idea 7: National Army	Roman ambition	—
+25%	Desmondian traditions Golden Horde traditions Great Shun traditions Great Yuan traditions LPC traditions Lotharingian traditions Mongolian traditions Siamese traditions	Aq Qoyunlu idea 4: Dynastic Appanages Ayutthayan idea 2: The Corvee System Burgundian idea 7: Create the Regimental System Burmese idea 1: Mandala System Chagatai idea 7: The Glory of Conquest Crimean idea 7: Accept Nogai Protectorates Dai Viet idea 4: Village Militia Daimyo idea 6: Armies of the Daimyo Horde idea 7: The Glory of Conquest Iroquois idea 2: Keepers of the Western Door Kazani idea 4: Legacy of the Great Horde Oirat idea 7: The Glory of Conquest Polish idea 3: Piechota Wybraniecka Prussian idea 6: Regimental Cantons Qara Qoyunlu idea 1: The Black Sheep Shan idea 7: Expansionism Tuscan idea 7: Territorial Ambition	Aksumite ambition Aztec ambition Chinese ambition Jerusalem ambition	—
+20%	Angevin traditions Bregenzer traditions Danish traditions Franconian traditions French traditions Hatakeyama traditions Hindustani traditions Rassid traditions Shiba traditions Sicilian traditions Swabian traditions Yamana traditions	Afghan idea 3: Tureh Australian idea 3: The Eureka Rebellion Ava idea 5: Recruit from the Hill Tribes Bengali idea 3: Bengal's Endlessly Productive Rice Fields Central Algonquian idea 3: Medicinal Infusions Chernihiv idea 3: Expand Regimental Barracks Cherokee idea 3: Red Chiefs Federation idea 1: Council of Elders Hosokawa idea 5: Ashigaru Hungarian idea 2: Bulwark of Christianity Japanese idea 1: Reformed Land Holding Lur idea 3: A Haven for Dissenters Native idea 6: War and Peace Chiefs Novgorod idea 5: Grand Duke's Army Oda idea 7: Kenchi Otomo idea 1: Unite the Clans Punjabi idea 4: The Khalsa Scottish idea 3: Rein in the Clans Shawnee idea 7: Private War Parties Swedish idea 7: Union and Security Act Tiwi idea 1: Yiminga Utsunomiya idea 5: Unify the Shimotsuke Lands Wallachian idea 7: Abolition of Serfdom Westphalian idea 3: Universal Conscription	Khmer ambition Milanese ambition Neapolitan ambition Scandinavian ambition Semien ambition Zaporozhian ambition	Aristocratic-Exploration: The Colonial Nobility Act Espionage-Plutocratic: The Military Allotment Act
+15%	Arabian traditions Ardabili traditions Bengal Sultanate traditions Caucasian traditions Colognian traditions Gond traditions Holstein traditions Jurchen traditions Lunda traditions Ruthenian traditions Trierian traditions West African traditions	Aristocratic idea 2: Serfdom Indigenous idea 5: Controlled Burns Albanian idea 7: Break The Power Of Princes Andalusian idea 5: Jund Settlements Ashanti idea 5: Centralized Coalition Ayyubid idea 2: Ancestral Heritage Baluch idea 4: Reorganization of the Army Bornean idea 5: Encourage Immigration Chosokabe idea 2: Seven Clans of Tosa Creek idea 5: Micos Leadership Dahomey idea 2: Slave Hunts Estonian idea 1: Brotherhood of Blackheads Farsi idea 6: Integrate the Qashqai Garjati idea 3: Tribal Feudatories Great Qing idea 2: The Green Standard Army Guarani idea 5: Missions Settlements Hadramhi idea 2: Tribes of Hadramut Hojo idea 6: Unification of Kanto Interlacustrine idea 1: Source of the Nile Karelian idea 1: Ladoga Fishing Industry Malvi idea 1: The Rajputs Malwa Manchu idea 1: United Three Jurchens Mewari idea 5: Recall the Purbias Montenegrin idea 7: Cojstvo I Junastvo Muiscan idea 4: The Tale of Bochica Mushasha idea 4: Arabistan Nepali idea 3: Our Valleys United Offaly idea 7: The Buannacht Ogasawara idea 4: Unification of the Kori Persian idea 1: The Qizilbash Rajput idea 1: Clan Loyalties Rajputana idea 2: King of Petty Princes Ryazan idea 1: The Arsenal of Ryazan Siberian idea 6: Successful Raids Somali idea 3: Somali Clans Tapuian idea 7: Unite The Tribes Tarascan idea 6: Otomi Settlements Toki idea 3: Banner of Bellflower Tumbuka idea 2: Central Melting Pot Tupi idea 4: Slash And Burn Tyrone idea 4: Arming the People Württemberger idea 2: Swabian League	Ainu ambition Asturian ambition Miao ambition Sindhi ambition	Court-Aristocratic: Universal Serfdom Act
+10%	Assamese traditions Banteni traditions Beninese traditions Dali traditions Hejazi traditions Lan Na traditions Mapuche traditions Maratha traditions Moravian traditions Sami traditions Transylvanian traditions Ulster traditions Zambezi traditions	Ajami idea 5: Tribes of Iraq-e Ajam Anatolian idea 2: Seljuq Marches Bosnian idea 3: Empower Bosnian Nobility Byzantine idea 2: Repopulation of the Countryside Carib idea 7: Integrate the Garifuna Chimu idea 7: The Mit'a Danziger idea 3: Centralized Population East India idea 4: Presidency Armies Granada idea 6: Moors Highlander idea 6: The Arming Act Incan idea 4: Drafted Hatun Runas Indian Sultanate idea 4: Counting the People Kangra idea 2: Riches of the Kangra Valley Khorasani idea 3: Princely Appanages Kildarean idea 7: Royal Irish Army Kongolese idea 2: Elephant Hunts Kurdish idea 3: Kurdish Tribes Mahri idea 3: The Mahra Tribes Malagasy idea 4: Martial Traditions Malian idea 3: Reclamation of Land Manipur idea 5: Unite the Hill Tribes Maravi idea 3: A Fertile Land Pisan idea 7: Fund the Masnada Romanian idea 5: Peasant Soldiers Rothenburg idea 7: Klingentorturm Sardinian-Piedmontese idea 4: Royal Sardinian Army Siddi idea 4: The Siddi Diaspora South Indian idea 3: Polygar System Yarkandi idea 6: Black Mountain and White Mountain Yemeni idea 5: Uniting the Yemeni Tribes	Central Algonquian ambitions Deccani Sultanate ambition Eastern Algonquian ambitions Mindanao ambition Telugu ambition	Administrative-Horde: Steppe Supplies Administrative-Plutocratic: The Land Inheritance Act Diplomatic-Plutocratic: Mandatory Service Divine-Exploration: Render Unto Caesar Espionage-Quantity: The Mercenary Registration Act Expansion-Plutocratic: Taxation with Representation
+5%	—	National idea 5: Peasant Levy	—	—

Using manpower

Raising new regiments, as well as replenishing existing ones that have lost men due to battles or attrition, will draw men from the manpower pool. Mercenaries do not require manpower to raise or reinforce, but are much more expensive and are only available in limited amounts. All regiment types (infantry/cavalry/artillery) require the same amount of manpower. Nation-specific special units, such as Russian streltsy and Ottoman janissaries, as well as units created through estate interactions, don't cost manpower to raise but do require it to reinforce, with the exception of Manchu banners.

Manpower recovery

Manpower replenishes over time until it reaches the maximum level. It takes a base time of 10 years to fill the manpower reserves from zero. The monthly recovery rate is:

${{\text{monthly manpower recovery}}={\frac {({\text{manpower increase}}+\sum {\text{province manpower}})\cdot (1+{\text{national manpower modifier}})\cdot (1+{\text{manpower recovery speed}})}{120}}}$

or 100, whichever is greater.

Manpower recovery speed

Manpower recovery speed modifies the recovery rate of province manpower.

	Conditions
+100%.0	as invasion nation
+50%.0	with enabled player or AI bonuses.
+20%.0	as march
+20%.0	owning Chichen Itza while province culture is in Mayan group and accepted (only with )
+15%.0	as Fetishist nation with Cult of Enkai.
+15%.0	as Catholic nation with Papal action“Proclaim holy war”
+15%.0	owning Chichen Itza while province culture is in Mayan group and accepted (only with )
+10%.0	with Landholders Tier 8 Government Reform
+10%.0	with External Mission Tier 2 Government Reform
+10%.0	as Orthodox nation with Icon of St. Michael active
+10%.0	as Coptic nation with the blessing Encourage Warriors of the Faith active
+10%.0	with parliament and “Support the War Effort” as active issue
+10%.0	with the temples in power as celestial empire (without )
+10%.0	with “Parish Registers” aspect as Protestant country
+10%.0	as Inti country with Organized Recruitment reform.
+10%.0	owning Chichen Itza while province culture is in Mayan group and accepted (only with )
+5%.0	for trading in cocoa
+0.5%	for each percentage point of revanchism
+0.2%	for each point of militarization as Prussia
+0.1%	for each point of army tradition
−1%.0	for each point of war exhaustion
−20%.0	for having Recruitment Sabotaged
−100%.0	if bankrupt

Ideas and policies:

	Traditions	Ideas	Bonuses	Policies
+25%	—	Palawa idea 7: Enduring People	—	—
+20%	Ruthenian traditions Rûmi traditions Sundanese tradition	Plutocratic idea 7: Emancipation Quantity idea 2: The Young can Serve Adalite idea 1: Our Infinite Struggle Anatolian idea 4: Ghazi Cossack idea 1: Escaped Serfs Georgian idea 5: Sadrosho Districts Golden Horde idea 5: Logistics of the Khan Hawaiian idea 5: Kanawai Mamalahoe Horde idea 6: Logistics of the Khan Iroquois idea 5: Mourning Wars Jurchen idea 4: The Borderlands Karamanid idea 2: Ghazi Liège idea 2: The Wars of Liège Northeastern Woodlands idea 3: Bear Clan Ottoman idea 2: Ghazi Revolutionary French idea 5: Jourdan Law Romanian idea 1: Flexible Recruiting Swedish idea 4: Indelningsverket Zulu idea 2: The Ukubuthwa	Rigan ambition Wallachian ambition	—
+15%	Divine traditions Kitaran traditions Latgalian traditions Lithuanian traditions Lithuanian traditions Maratha traditions Native traditions Serbian traditions Siouan traditions Swabian City-State traditions Tyrconnell traditions	Assamese idea 4: Reform the Paik System Bayreuther idea 6: Gravenreuther Stift Catalan idea 5: Miquelets Chagatai idea 2: Ceaseless Border Wars Great Qing idea 2: The Green Standard Army Hanseatic idea 5: Hanseatic Levy System Knights Hospitaller idea 2: Assistance to the Suffering Mamluk idea 3: Purchase New Mamluks Norse idea 1: Eternal Struggle Oirat idea 6: Defiance of the Dzungars Ryazan idea 3: Land Charters Shimazu idea 2: Satsunan School Teutonic idea 2: Recruit Peasants Württemberger idea 4: Swabian Circle	Chiba ambition Hojo ambition Karelian ambition Kurdish ambition Mexican ambition Shan ambition	Administrative-Horde: Steppe Supplies Administrative-Quantity: Provincial Taxation System
+10%	Albanian traditions Ardabili traditions Chinese traditions Imerina traditions Nepalese Princedom traditions Nepali traditions Rajput traditions Ruthenian traditions Tupi traditions Yaroslavlyian traditions Zaporozhian traditions	Aztec idea 3: Telpochcalli Bahmani idea 1: Gharbians Balinese idea 7: Rivals to Slaves Crimean idea 6: Settle the Crimean Steppe Eora idea 4: Protect the Ancestral Land Great Shun idea 1: Humble Beginnings Lunda idea 4: An Army Overnight Luxembourg idea 5: The Spanish Road Moldavian idea 2: Razesi Peasants Nivernais idea 6: Morvan Wet Nurses Persian idea 6: Promotion of Irrigation Ryukyuan idea 7: The Three Mountains	Highlander ambition Tarascan ambition Yi ambition	Quality-Exploration: Superior Supply Systems
+5%	—	Danziger idea 6: Continued Independence	—	—

Estates:

	Estate
+5% - +20%	with loyal nobility estate (scaled by influence)
+5% - +20%	with neutral nobility estate (scaled by influence)
−2.5% - −10%	with disloyal nobility estate (scaled by influence)
+5% - +20%	with loyal tribes estate (scaled by influence)
+5% - +20%	with neutral tribes estate (scaled by influence)
−10% - −40%	with disloyal tribes estate (scaled by influence)

Strategy

The below is one of many player suggested strategies for Manpower. Bear in mind, due to the dynamic nature of the game, it may unfold differently for other players.

Manpower is one of the three greatest limits on a nation's ability to expand, the others being money and monarch points. As a small nation it accumulates slowly and can be consumed in large amounts by a single unsuccessful battle. Some things to keep in mind to save or conserve manpower are:

• Rebels eat up valuable manpower for no gain. Keeping unrest low, through harsh treatment, is equivalent to trading monarch points for manpower. Other methods of lowering unrest (raising autonomy, hiring an advisor, etc.) trade money for manpower, so balance assets in short supply against those that are more plentiful.
• Once a nation has replenished its manpower pool up to the maximum, any excess manpower is not accrued and essentially lost. Consider raising new regiments, even exceeding the force limit if money is plentiful, in order to stockpile manpower.
• Mercenaries don't cost national manpower, instead they draw from a pool of their own, and they do cost extra cash, but cannot be drilled. In most situations they should not be kept around during peacetime since they cost more. But if you are out of manpower having mercenaries to fight rebels is one way to get your own manpower to grow faster.
• Full strength units do more damage than reduced strength ones. Consider consolidating regiments in an army after a battle but don't do so consistently if the units are only slightly to moderately damaged and may reinforce up to full strength before the next anticipated battle.
• Each regiment in an army (of a particular type) reinforces at the same rate and costs the same to reinforce. The more regiments are below full strength, the faster the army will reinforce, but also the more money you will spend on reinforcing it. So if you need to fill a partial army quickly, it is better not to consolidate early; conversely, if your income is poor and you already have many loans, it may be better to consolidate some to reduce reinforcement costs.
• If shift-consolidating units, decide whether to save the emptied regiments, which can take between 5 and 20 months to completely refill, or disband them and recruit new regiments which will only take from one to three months, but will then need time to recover morale and be moved into place near the war-zone, and will have zero drill and will cost more ducats.
• Unless the manpower pool is at maximum, avoid attrition whenever possible. For short sea voyages, set sail at the beginning of the month as units at sea suffer attrition and it is senseless to lose a month's worth of manpower while sailing between ports that are less than a month apart.
• Also on attrition, sieges are great consumers of manpower. Try to keep only slightly more than the required numbers to hold the siege. Disease outbreak will eat up 10% of a besieging force, so at least that much more is prudent but be prepared to add to the siege force periodically if numbers drop too close to the minimum required to advance it. If you haver mercenaries - you can always let them siege a fort to save your own manpower.
• Having manpower to refill units is, arguably, more important than having a greater force cap. That makes barracks and training fields more important than regimental camps and conscription centers.

Footnotes

Mechanics

Defense

Fort • Zone of control

Customization

Nation designer • Random New World

Ages and Institutions

Ages • Institutions

Innovativeness and Technology

Innovativeness • Technology