Military leader

Choosing a leader in the army leader tab

Military leaders come in two types: land and naval. Land leaders can be placed in command of armies and come in two subtypes – generals and conquistadors. Naval leaders can be placed in command of navies and come also in two subtypes – admirals and explorers.

• Conquistadors and explorers can only be recruited if the nation has taken Quest for the New World, the first idea from the Exploration idea group. They are the only leaders capable of exploring Terra Incognita.
• A male ruler of a nation with a monarchic government or a government reform that can be made into a land leader at any time. It does not cost monarch points to do so, but the chance of dying increases slightly. Female monarchs may not be made into leaders.
• A male heir in a monarchy can be made into an army leader after he has reached maturity (age 15). It does not cost monarch points to do so but the chance of dying increases slightly. Female heirs may not be made into leaders.

A leader's skill is dependent on the army or navy tradition at the time they are hired. A monarch's or heir's skill is additionally affected by their military rating.

The odds of a general or admiral dying from combat are fairly low. Most leaders last around 12 years before dying.

Land leaders that drill armies may get an increase to their pips at times. A leader may increase more than once if they continue drilling. Leaders that win a battle may be awarded a special trait that enhances their performance.

Having at least one 3-star general or admiral is an age objective in the ‘Age of Revolutions’.

Recruiting cost

Leaders can be recruited any time. Recruiting cost of military leaders is computed as follows:

${\text{recruiting cost}}={\text{base cost}}\cdot \left(100\%+\sum {\text{recruiting cost modifiers}}+\sum {\text{all power cost}}\right)$

The base cost for recruiting a leader are 50 monarch power - miltary power for land leaders and diplomatic power for naval leaders.

Recruiting cost modifiers

The recruiting cost of leaders may be affected by general and type-specific modifiers which are summed.

General modifier

The general modifier ‘leader cost’ reduces the cost of all types of leaders.

	Conditions
−20%	Divine idea 3 “Friends in High Places”
−10%	The Legion of Honor government reform (tier 2 monarchy)
	Nobles of the Robe government reform (tier 4 monarchy)
	Great Man government reform (tier 1 tribal government)
+20%	Noblility privilege “Command of the Military”

Type-specific modifiers

Type-specific modifiers reduce only the cost of one leader type.

General

	Conditions
−50%	with 100% army professionalism
−10%	with ‘Nobility in Officer Corps’ privilege granted to Nobility estate
	with ‘Guaranteed Leadership of Host’ privilege granted to Tribes estate

	Traditions	Ideas	Bonuses	Policies
−33%	—	—	Afghan ambition	—
−10%	—	Aristocratic idea 5: International Nobility	—	—

Admiral

	Conditions
−25%	with ‘Burghers in the Admirality’ privilege granted to Burghers estate

	Traditions	Ideas	Bonuses	Policies
−25%	—	Maritime idea 6: Seahawks	—	—

Assigning and recalling leaders

Generals and conquistadors can only be assigned to armies that are not in battle, hostile territory, or embarked at sea. They can be assigned in provinces that are owned, allied, neutral, or uncolonized. Exiled units may assign leaders in the same circumstances non-exiled units are able to. Admirals and explorers can be assigned to any fleets within supply range that are not in battle. When assigning leaders to armies and fleets, it is possible to select leaders that are already assigned to another unit, if that unit is not in battle, in hostile territory, or on an Exploration mission. In this case, the chosen leader will immediately teleport over to lead the currently selected unit regardless of where he was previously located.

The requirement for recalling leaders is the same as that for assigning them, although generals can be effectively recalled from embarked armies by reassigning them.

Abilities

Leaders are rated on a scale of 0-6 for each of four skills: fire, shock, maneuver, and siege. Note that all leaders will have at least one pip in total.

Fire

Like leader shock, leader fire is added to the dice roll during the fire phase.

Shock

The leader's shock ability is added to the dice roll during the shock phase.

Maneuver

The leader's maneuver affects the movement speed of the army or fleet it is assigned to.

Each point of land leader maneuver:

• reduces unit supply weight by 1, reducing attrition in low supply provinces. (This does not negate base attrition from sieges, winters, or "Attrition for Enemies" modifiers.)
• increases local reinforce speed by 10% in unowned (occupied, ally, subject or enemy) terrain, but not beyond 100%.
• River and strait crossing penalties can be negated if the attacking general has at least 1 more maneuver than the defending general.
• increases movement speed of armies by 5% for each pip. up to a maximum of 30%.
• increases the amount of units the Backline can reinforce per day by +1 per 2 maneuver pips of commanding general.

Each point of naval leader maneuver:

• increases engagement width by 10%.
• increases fleet trade power by 5%.

Siege

Siege pips have different effects for land and naval leaders:

• For land leaders, each siege pip adds +1 to the siege roll, making sieges go faster.
• For naval leaders, each siege pip adds +10% to the amount of development the fleet can effectively blockade.

Even with very high tradition, very few leaders have high siege pips, since siege pips are allocated a third as often as other pips (see below for details).

Ideas that improve leaders' abilities

The following ideas improve new leaders' abilities (up to the usual maximum of 6):

• land leader fire

	Traditions	Ideas	Bonuses	Policies
+1	—	Offensive idea 3: Superior Firepower Great 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 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 Cilli idea 2: Mercenary Captains Crimean idea 4: Despoilers Epirote idea 1: Legacy of Pyrrhus Hatakeyama idea 2: Indomitable Generals Hojo idea 2: Night Combat Horde idea 4: Steppe Leaders Iwi idea 6: Te Moko Jerusalem idea 5: Crusader Aristocracy Jurchen idea 3: Foreign Service LPC idea 1: Warlord Dukes Lithuanian idea 1: Warlord Dukes Lithuanian idea 1: Warlord Dukes Mexican idea 6: Heroes of the Revolution Mongolian idea 7: The Kheshig Norse idea 3: A Wall of Shields for the King 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 Oirat ambition Swedish ambition Tiwi ambition	Humanist-Quantity: Inspirational Leaders

• land leader maneuver

	Traditions	Ideas	Bonuses	Policies
+2	—	Evenk idea 6: Love of the Forest	Shawnee ambition	—
+1	Ainu traditions Burmese traditions Carib traditions Crimean traditions Herzegovinian traditions Norman traditions Ulmer traditions	Defensive idea 3: Improved Maneuver Air idea 6: Nomadic Traditions Albanian idea 2: Land of Ambushers Arabian idea 6: Clan Loyalties Brabant idea 2: Marsh Warfare Caucasian idea 3: Hit and Run Kazani idea 5: Steppe Warfare Mongolian idea 6: Mongolian Mobility Nagpuri idea 2: Exploit Harsh Terrain North Western Native idea 6: Canoe People Oirat idea 1: Fearsome Warriors of Tumu Permian idea 5: Warriors of the Taiga Qara Qoyunlu idea 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 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 Cilli ambition Meath ambition Sonoran ambition Urbinate ambition	Innovative-Offensive: Modern Siege Weapons

• naval leader fire

	Traditions	Ideas	Bonuses	Policies
+2	—	Dutch idea 4: Instructie voor de Admiraliteiten	—	—
+1	—	Naval idea 3: Naval Cadets Ferraran idea 7: The Ferraran Arsenal Norman idea 7: Great Commanders Tunisian idea 5: Board of Captains	Corsican ambition Madyas ambition Navarran ambition	Court-Naval: Naval Competence Act Naval-Innovative: The Nautical Education Act

• naval leader shock

	Traditions	Ideas	Bonuses	Policies
+1	—	Naval idea 1: Boarding Parties Danish idea 5: Naval Heroes Madyas idea 4: Masters of Maritime Warfare Norse idea 3: A Wall of Shields for the King	—	Naval-Religious: Zealous Captains

• naval leader maneuver

	Traditions	Ideas	Bonuses	Policies
+1	Madyas traditions	British idea 7: Britannia Rules the Waves Hawaiian idea 7: Legendary Voyagers Mahri idea 4: Pilots of the Arabian Sea Mogadishan idea 2: Somali sailors Omani idea 6: Skilled Captains Somalian idea 4: Zeila and Berbera Swahili idea 2: Monsoon Season	—	Court-Naval: Naval Competence Act Innovative-Maritime: New Naval Tactics Maritime-Offensive: Hold the Weather Gauge

Formulas for stars

The formula that gives the total number of stars on a general is:

${\text{stars}}=\lfloor {\frac {{\text{fire}}+{\text{shock}}}{6}}+{\frac {{\text{maneuver}}+{\text{siege}}}{18}}+1\rfloor$

where ${\text{fire, shock, maneuver, siege}}$ refer to the general's pips.

Formulas for point distribution

This section is based on actual game code, not experimentation.

Summed up, a pool of points is generated, and then semi-randomly distributed between the different abilities.

Pool

First, a pool of points is generated using the following process:

1. Start with $\text{random}(1-6) + \left\lfloor \frac{\text{effective tradition}}{20} \right\rfloor$.
2. (effective tradition)% chance of +1.
3. (effective tradition − 20)% chance of +1.
4. (effective tradition − 40)% chance of +1.
5. (effective tradition − 60)% chance of +1.
6. (effective tradition − 80)% chance of +1.
7. 50% chance of +1.

Effective tradition is computed as follows:

Leader type	Effective tradition
Generals	Army tradition
Conquistadors	0.8 × army tradition
Rulers/heirs	0.5 × army tradition + 7 × military skill
Admirals	navy tradition
Explorers	0.8 × navy tradition

Below is the ranges, mean values and probabilities for pool generation a number of different military tradition levels:

Tradition	Min	Max	Mean	Percentage probability of rolling pool of at least:
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17
0%	1	7	4	100	91.67	75	58.33	41.67	25	8.33	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
20%	2	9	5.2	100	100	93.33	78.33	61.67	45.00	28.33	11.67	1.67	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
40%	3	11	6.6	100	100	100	96	84.33	68.33	51.67	35	18.33	5.67	0.67	0	0	0	0	0	0
60%	4	13	8.2	100	100	100	100	98.4	91.33	77.93	61.67	45	28.33	13.27	3.67	0.4	0	0	0	0
80%	5	15	10	100	100	100	100	100	99.68	96.99	88.65	74.68	58.34	41.67	25.32	11.35	3.01	0.32	0	0
100%	7	17	12	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	99.68	96.99	88.65	74.68	58.34	41.67	25.32	11.35	3.01	0.32

Distribution

This pool is then distributed between the different stats.

If the pool is larger than 10, it is reduced by 4, and 1 point added to each ability. Since the maximum pool is 17, this can only happen twice.

Bonuses (see #Ideas that improve leaders' abilities) are then added

Then, the remaining pool is distributed point by point as follows:

• $which = random(0-9)$
• If land leader, and which = 0, and siege < 6: $siege = siege + 1$
• Else, if which < 4, and shock < 6: $shock = shock + 1$
• Else, if which < 7, and fire < 6: $fire = fire + 1$
• Else, if maneuver < 6: $maneuver = maneuver + 1$
• Else, go back to generating a new $which$

Effectively, this means that each point has a 10% chance of being assigned to siege, 30% of shock, and 30% of fire, 30% of maneuver, but when individual points are capped, the points are lost.

Types of leaders

Ruler

A country with any non-theocratic form of government can turn its male rulers into generals. Additionally, theocracies with the Monastic Order, Crusader State or Magister Militum Dei reforms can turn its male rulers into generals, and custom nations that are allowed to recruit female leaders may turn their female rulers into military leaders.

A ruler leading troops into battle faces the risk of dying on the battlefield. This can be used to shorten the reign of a bad ruler for a better one, particularly if the country is a monarchy and the heir has decisively better stats (likewise, this can be used to get rid of a bad heir in the hope of a better one). Do note, however, monarchies face an additional −1 stability hit if their ruler or heir dies on the battlefield, for a total of −2 stability in the case of the ruler. The chance of a ruler or heir dying in battle is directly proportional to the number of days a battle lasts.

Heir

An adult male heir may also be converted into a general and, like his ruler counterpart, also faces the risk of death on the battlefield. Heirs that will die this way will also cause a −1 stability hit upon death. Republics cannot use this option as they have no heir. Custom nations that can recruit female generals are allowed to turn their female heirs into generals.

General

Generals are the ordinary leaders of land armies and give them bonuses, which are based on the general's stats. They cannot explore Terra Incognita unless they are at war with the owner of the province.

A number of ideas allow the recruitment of female generals:

	Traditions	Ideas	Bonuses	Policies
yes	Southwestern traditions	Bregenzer idea 1: Lady of Bregenz Kaurna idea 1: Totemic Matriarchy Orleanaise idea 2: The Maid of Orleans Samoan idea 3: Maulu'ulu Southeastern Woodlands idea 2: Matrilineal Lineage Tiwi idea 1: Yiminga	—	Diplomatic-Plutocratic: Mandatory Service

Conquistador

See also: Colonization#Discovery

Only troops led by a conquistador can enter and explore land provinces classified as Terra Incognita. (Although regular generals can do it too if the country is at war with the nation controlling the terra incognita.) A conquistador gets 20% fewer pips (before idea modifiers and similar) compared with a general.

Admiral

Admirals are the ordinary leaders of fleets and give them bonuses, which are based, like generals, on the given admiral's stats. They cannot explore Terra Incognita.

Explorer

See also: Colonization#Discovery

Explorers are essentially admirals who can enter and explore sea provinces classified as Terra Incognita. They will die if their entire exploration fleet succumbs to the sea and all ships sink, and (with El Dorado) can conduct Exploration missions to reveal territory. An explorer gets 20% fewer pips (before idea modifiers and similar) than an admiral. Explorers are only available through the Exploration idea group unless playing as Portugal, which starts with one; Norway, whose second national idea allows recruitment of explorers and conquistadors; Russia, which can gain one from completing a mission in Siberia; or a custom nation with a national idea allowing it to recruit explorers and conquistadors.

Leader upkeep

All countries have a number of leaders they can maintain without upkeep. Exceeding this number of either type of leader - land or naval - will incur monthly upkeep costs. Each land leader over the leader limit costs 1 per month and each naval leader over the leader limit costs 1. Rulers and heirs that have been turned into leaders do not count against the leader limit and will also never cost any upkeep.

All countries have a base value of 1 leader without upkeep. Further free leaders are granted by the following:

	Conditions
+1	for all AI controlled countries
	with difficulty set to ‘very easy’ for human players
	for embracing feudalism
	as emperor of the Holy Roman Empire (or rome reborn modifier)
	as Curia controller
	with at least 25 power projection
	as empire
+1.25	land leaders for each 100 land force limit
+1.25	navy leaders for each 100 naval force limit

Ideas and policies:

	Traditions	Ideas	Bonuses	Policies
+1	—	Colonial idea 7: Liberty Heroes Piratical idea 3: Buccaneers Takeda idea 6: Twenty-Four Generals Ulster idea 1: Highland Connections	Kongolese ambition	—

Events and estate interactions:

	Event modifier	Trigger	Duration
+1	Dhimmi Nobles	Dhimmi estate interaction: “Promote Dhimmi Nobles”	for 30 years.
−1	Reduced Number of Generals	Tribes estate event: ‘Demands of the $ESTATE_NOMADIC_TRIBES$’ Option: “Agree”.	for 5 years.

Chance of death and life expectancy

Every day, a military leader that has been employed for at least 5 years has a daily chance of death ${\frac {max(a-20,0)+1+g+5\cdot b}{18250}}$ where $a$ is the number of years elapsed since the leader was hired, $g$ is 1 if assigned to an army and 0 otherwise, and $b$ is 1 if in a battle or siege and 0 otherwise.

Years since hiring	Yearly chance of death			Life expectancy
	Unassigned	Assigned	In battle/siege	Unassigned	Assigned	In battle/siege
0	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	24.2	20.4	11.9
1	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	24.2	20.4	11.9
2	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	24.2	20.4	11.9
3	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	24.2	20.4	11.9
4	0.0%	0.0%	0.0%	24.2	20.4	11.9
5	2.0%	3.9%	13.1%	24.2	20.4	11.9
6	2.0%	3.9%	13.1%	24.5	21.0	12.8
7	2.0%	3.9%	13.1%	24.9	21.6	13.8
8	2.0%	3.9%	13.1%	25.2	22.2	14.7
9	2.0%	3.9%	13.1%	25.6	22.7	15.6
10	2.0%	3.9%	13.1%	25.9	23.3	16.6
11	2.0%	3.9%	13.1%	26.2	23.8	17.5
12	2.0%	3.9%	13.1%	26.5	24.3	18.4
13	2.0%	3.9%	13.1%	26.8	24.8	19.3
14	2.0%	3.9%	13.1%	27.1	25.3	20.1
15	2.0%	3.9%	13.1%	27.3	25.7	21.0
16	2.0%	3.9%	13.1%	27.6	26.1	21.8
17	2.0%	3.9%	13.1%	27.8	26.5	22.6
18	2.0%	3.9%	13.1%	28.0	26.9	23.4
19	2.0%	3.9%	13.1%	28.2	27.2	24.1
20	2.0%	3.9%	13.1%	28.4	27.5	24.8
21	3.9%	5.8%	14.8%	28.5	27.8	25.5
22	5.8%	7.7%	16.5%	28.8	28.2	26.2
23	7.7%	9.5%	18.1%	29.2	28.7	26.9
24	9.5%	11.3%	19.8%	29.7	29.2	27.7
25	11.3%	13.1%	21.4%	30.2	29.8	28.4
26	13.1%	14.8%	22.9%	30.8	30.5	29.2
27	14.8%	16.5%	24.4%	31.5	31.2	30.1
28	16.5%	18.1%	25.9%	32.2	31.9	30.9
29	18.1%	19.8%	27.4%	32.9	32.7	31.8
30	19.8%	21.4%	28.9%	33.7	33.4	32.6
31	21.4%	22.9%	30.3%	34.4	34.2	33.5
32	22.9%	24.4%	31.6%	35.2	35.1	34.4
33	24.4%	25.9%	33.0%	36.1	35.9	35.3
34	25.9%	27.4%	34.3%	36.9	36.8	36.2
35	27.4%	28.9%	35.6%	37.8	37.6	37.1
36	28.9%	30.3%	36.9%	38.6	38.5	38.0
37	30.3%	31.6%	38.2%	39.5	39.4	39.0
38	31.6%	33.0%	39.4%	40.4	40.3	39.9
39	33.0%	34.3%	40.6%	41.3	41.2	40.8
40	34.3%	35.6%	41.8%	42.2	42.1	41.8
41	35.6%	36.9%	42.9%	43.1	43.0	42.7
42	36.9%	38.2%	44.1%	44.0	44.0	43.7
43	38.2%	39.4%	45.2%	45.0	44.9	44.6
44	39.4%	40.6%	46.3%	45.9	45.8	45.6
45	40.6%	41.8%	47.3%	46.8	46.8	46.5
46	41.8%	42.9%	48.4%	47.8	47.7	47.5
47	42.9%	44.1%	49.4%	48.7	48.7	48.4
48	44.1%	45.2%	50.4%	49.7	49.6	49.4
49	45.2%	46.3%	51.4%	50.6	50.6	50.4
50	46.3%	47.3%	52.3%	51.6	51.5	51.3
51	47.3%	48.4%	53.3%	52.5	52.5	52.3
52	48.4%	49.4%	54.2%	53.5	53.4	53.3
53	49.4%	50.4%	55.1%	54.4	54.4	54.2
54	50.4%	51.4%	56.0%	55.4	55.4	55.2
55	51.4%	52.3%	56.9%	56.4	56.3	56.2
56	52.3%	53.3%	57.8%	57.3	57.3	57.1
57	53.3%	54.2%	58.6%	58.3	58.3	58.1
58	54.2%	55.1%	59.4%	59.3	59.2	59.1
59	55.1%	56.0%	60.2%	60.2	60.2	60.1
60	56.0%	56.9%	61.0%	61.2	61.2	61.0
61	56.9%	57.8%	61.8%	62.2	62.1	62.0
62	57.8%	58.6%	62.5%	63.1	63.1	63.0
63	58.6%	59.4%	63.3%	64.1	64.1	64.0
64	59.4%	60.2%	64.0%	65.1	65.1	65.0
65	60.2%	61.0%	64.7%	66.1	66.0	65.9
66	61.0%	61.8%	65.4%	67.0	67.0	66.9
67	61.8%	62.5%	66.1%	68.0	68.0	67.9
68	62.5%	63.3%	66.8%	69.0	69.0	68.9
69	63.3%	64.0%	67.5%	70.0	70.0	69.9
70	64.0%	64.7%	68.1%	71.0	70.9	70.9
71	64.7%	65.4%	68.7%	71.9	71.9	71.9
72	65.4%	66.1%	69.4%	72.9	72.9	72.8
73	66.1%	66.8%	70.0%	73.9	73.9	73.8
74	66.8%	67.5%	70.6%	74.9	74.9	74.8
75	67.5%	68.1%	71.1%	75.9	75.9	75.8
76	68.1%	68.7%	71.7%	76.9	76.9	76.8
77	68.7%	69.4%	72.3%	77.9	77.8	77.8
78	69.4%	70.0%	72.8%	78.8	78.8	78.8
79	70.0%	70.6%	73.4%	79.8	79.8	79.8
80	70.6%	71.1%	73.9%	80.8	80.8	80.7
81	71.1%	71.7%	74.4%	81.8	81.8	81.7
82	71.7%	72.3%	74.9%	82.8	82.8	82.7
83	72.3%	72.8%	75.4%	83.8	83.8	83.7
84	72.8%	73.4%	75.9%	84.8	84.8	84.7
85	73.4%	73.9%	76.4%	85.8	85.7	85.7
86	73.9%	74.4%	76.9%	86.7	86.7	86.7
87	74.4%	74.9%	77.3%	87.7	87.7	87.7
88	74.9%	75.4%	77.8%	88.7	88.7	88.7
89	75.4%	75.9%	78.2%	89.7	89.7	89.7
90	75.9%	76.4%	78.7%	90.7	90.7	90.6
91	76.4%	76.9%	79.1%	91.7	91.7	91.6
92	76.9%	77.3%	79.5%	92.7	92.7	92.6
93	77.3%	77.8%	79.9%	93.7	93.7	93.6
94	77.8%	78.2%	80.3%	94.7	94.7	94.6
95	78.2%	78.7%	80.7%	95.7	95.6	95.6
96	78.7%	79.1%	81.1%	96.6	96.6	96.6
97	79.1%	79.5%	81.5%	97.6	97.6	97.6
98	79.5%	79.9%	81.8%	98.6	98.6	98.6
99	79.9%	80.3%	82.2%	99.6	99.6	99.6

Footnotes

Mechanics

Defense

Fort • Zone of control

Customization

Nation designer • Random New World

Ages and Institutions

Ages • Institutions

Innovativeness and Technology

Innovativeness • Technology