Force limit

A force limit is a soft limit on how many ships or regiments a country can possess. It can be exceeded at a monetary price.

If a country goes past its force limit, the maintenance cost per unit will increase by twice as many percent as they are above the force limit, eventually making further expansion of the army or navy prohibitively expensive.

There are two independent force limits, one for naval units and one for land units, but both operate largely the same.

Computing force limit[edit | edit source]

Province modifiers[edit | edit source]

Provinces contribute to the force limit through their development level and through the following modifiers and buildings. Note that only coastal provinces may contribute to a country's naval force limit.

Condition	Land force limit	Naval force limit
Per development	+0.1	+0.1
Trade good bonus: Grain (only with Rights of Man)	+0.5	0
Trade good bonus: Naval supplies (only with Rights of Man)	0	+0.5
Regimental Camp	+1	0
Conscription Center	+2	0
Shipyard	0	+2
Grand Shipyard	0	+4
Important center of trade	0	+2
Being in trade company	0	+0.5
Local autonomy (per 1%)	-1%	-1%*

Country modifiers[edit | edit source]

Condition	Force limit modifier
Condition	Land	Naval
Base for every nation	+6	+12
Army Organizer advisor	+10%	0
Subject nation	-3	-6
March nation	+30%	+30%
Trading in bonus: Grain	+20%	0
Trading in bonus: Naval supplies	0	+20%
Being the revolution target	+40%	+40%
Being an invading nation	+100	+100
Fortified House unique native building	+10	0
Per large colonial nation	+5	+10
Per state of the Holy Roman Empire (Emperor only)	+0.5	0
Per Officer's Mess (trade company investment)	+5	0
Per Admiralty (trade company investment)	0	+5

More sources of force limit[edit | edit source]

Ideas and policies[edit | edit source]

Ideas and policies that increase force limits:

Land force limit

	Traditions	Ideas	Bonuses	Policies
+33%	—	Russian idea 4: Life-Long Conscription	Full Quantity	—
+25%	Chickasaw traditions Daimyo traditions Nepali traditions Satake traditions Scottish traditions Sindhi traditions Zulu traditions	Hessian idea 6: Hessian Mercenaries Moldavian idea 3: Upper Boyars Permian idea 7: Permian Army Reform Ryazan idea 1: The Arsenal of Ryazan Sonoran idea 6: Uniting the Outlaws Tripuran idea 4: Extended Military Control	Kamilaroi ambition Muscovite ambition Ottoman ambition Rûmi ambition Sukhothai ambition Welsh ambition	—
+20%	Arawak traditions Imagawa traditions Incan traditions Mazovian traditions Shoni traditions Toki traditions Tverian traditions Westphalian traditions	Albanian idea 1: All Lands Under Skanderbeg Ando idea 3: Clan Unification Ava idea 2: Rajadhiraja Cornish idea 5: Cornish Royalist Army Deccani idea 4: Empower the Paigah Goslar idea 5: Hunting Down the Robber Barons Hosokawa idea 4: The Eastern Army Mori idea 2: Leader of Kokujin Ikki Thomondian idea 2: Subdue the Clans	Baluch ambition Lan Xang ambition Laotian ambition Somali ambition	—
+15%	—	Offensive idea 6: Grand Army Roman idea 4: The Roman Legions Rothenburg idea 4: The Knights of the Hinterland Tyrone idea 4: Arming the People	—	—
+10%	—	Corsican idea 4: The Corsican League	—	Diplomatic-Quantity: The Pen Relies on the Sword Act Economic-Quantity: Agricultural Cultivation Quantity-Expansion: Colonial Garrisons
+5%	—	—	—	Divine-Exploration: Render Unto Caesar

Naval force limit

	Traditions	Ideas	Bonuses	Policies
+50%	Dutch traditions Northeastern traditions	Maritime idea 4: Grand Navy Danish idea 3: The King's Sea Knights Hospitaller idea 6: Scourge of the Corsairs	—	—
+33%	Malaccan traditions	Gutnish idea 6: Gutnish Merchant Navy Karelian idea 5: Baltic Shipyards Navarran idea 2: Shipbuilding Experts	Cypriot ambition	Maritime-Expansion: Naval Infrastructure
+25%	Castilian traditions Kilwan traditions Moroccan traditions Sulawesi traditions	Exploration idea 7: Global Empire Alaskan idea 6: Alaskan Navy Berber idea 1: Barbary Pirates Candarid idea 6: Sinop Shipyard Couronian idea 5: Couronian Colonization Dalmatian idea 6: The Independent Arsenal Estonian idea 2: Baltic Ties Genoese idea 6: Setup the Office of Grand Admiral Hadramhi idea 5: Sailors of the Indian Ocean Hormuz idea 7: Hormuzi Naval Expansion Ionian idea 5: Naval Expansion Kono idea 1: Shugo of Iyo Leonese idea 5: Expand the Leonese Navy Orissan idea 7: Heritage of the Sadhabas Pomeranian idea 7: German Navy So idea 6: Port Maintenance Somalian idea 6: Indian Merchants Spanish idea 4: A Spanish Armada Sumatran idea 7: Rule of The Sea Venetian idea 1: Venetian Arsenal West Indies idea 7: Colonial Legacy	Breton ambition Cham ambition Hamburger ambition Malagasy ambition Tunisian ambition	—
+20%	Corsican traditions Sardinian traditions	Mogadishan idea 6: Horn of Africa Naxian idea 1: Maritime State Ragusan idea 4: Ragusan Arsenal Sligonian idea 6: Sligo's Naval Ambition	Al-Haasa ambition	—
+15%	Croatian traditions	—	—	Maritime-Defensive: The Fleet is our Wooden Wall
+10%	—	Aragonese idea 2: Protection of the Coastlines Provençal idea 6: Toulon Dockyard Samoan idea 2: Fa'a Samoa	—	Horde-Maritime: Riverine Navy

Government[edit | edit source]

Land force limit[edit | edit source]

Type	Modifier
Steppe nomads	+10%/+20%/+30% depending on government level
Tribal Federation	+10%
Dutch Republic	+25% if the Orangists are in power
Revolutionary republic	+20% if the Girondists are in power
Shogunate	+0.5 land force limit per subject daimyo if Sword Hunt decision has been taken (only with Mandate of Heaven)
Daimyo	−2 if subject to the Shogun who has taken the Sword Hunt decision (only with Mandate of Heaven)

Naval force limit[edit | edit source]

Type	Modifier
Dutch Republic	+10% if the Statists are in power
Pirate Republic	+50%

Subjects[edit | edit source]

Vassals and client states give +1 + 10% of their land force limit to their master.
Marches give +1 + 20% of their land force limit to their master.
Large (10 or more provinces) colonial nations give +5 land force limit and +10 naval force limit to their master.
Junior partners in a personal union don't increase the land force limit of their masters.
if a subject owns Fuerte del Morro, the naval force limit of the overlord is increased by 10%/+20%/+30%(only with ). This is a modifier for the overlord which is independent of the force limit of the subject.

Following ideas and policies increase land force limits increased by subjects.

For example, an increase of 100% would mean that all above mentioned bonuses would be doubled (2 + 40% instead of 1 + 20% land force limit from marches or 10 instead of 5 from colonial nations).

	Traditions	Ideas	Bonuses	Policies
+100%	—	Influence idea 7: Marcher Lords Andalusian idea 2: Taifa Administration Ashikaga idea 7: Reform the Shogun - Shugo System Bosnian idea 5: Land of Princes Herzegovinian idea 5: Land of Princes Latin idea 1: Emperor of Constantinople Majapahit idea 1: Nusantara Tributaries	—	Horde-Influence: Kharash Influence-Aristocratic: Autonomous Estates Influence-Economic: Vassal Obligations Act Plutocratic-Influence: Unified Army Command
+50%	—	—	—	Mercenary-Influence: Client State Act
+30%	—	Tongan idea 2: Pulotu's Creation	—	—

Effect on maintenance[edit | edit source]

If a country has more land or naval units than the corresponding force limit, maintenance for those units will be multiplied by the ratio of units to the force limit, with the units over the force limit counting twice^[1]. ${\text{Maintenance increase}}={\frac {{\text{Force limit}}+{\text{Number of units over the force limit}}\cdot 2}{\text{Force limit}}}$

For example, having 12 regiments of infantry while at a force limit of 10 will increase maintenance for all regiments by 40%, independent of the type of unit.

As can be seen, going over the force limit will very quickly increase the maintenance costs and should only be done when absolutely necessary. Going over the land force limit will not increase the costs for naval units and vice versa.

Total maintenance cost[edit | edit source]

The total maintenance cost of an army or navy is:

${\text{total maintenance cost}}={\text{average base maintenance}}\cdot {\text{number of units}}$

Or, when above force limit:

${\text{total maintenance cost}}={\text{average base maintenance}}\cdot {\text{Maintenance increase}}\cdot {\text{number of units}}$

In this case, when above the force limit:

A multiplier to force limit has the same effect as a reciprocal multiplier to maintenance.
The number of units that can be fielded for a fixed maintenance cost grows as the square root of the force limit.