Good day. Tuesday has rolled around once more and that means it is time for our weekly Developer Diary for Europa Universalis IV. Today, we continue on from last week where we discussed Army Drilling to elaborate on how it can make an impact on having a better, more professional Army.

As part of the yet-unannounced expansion accompanying the 1.23 update, Your nation's army will have a Professionalism level, indicated both on the Unit view and the Military tab.

Your Army's Professionalism is a national value measuring how closely your army models a “modern” standing army versus heavy reliance on mercenaries. It is increased by:

• Drilling your armies (+1 per year if 100% forcelimit drills, to scale)
• Constructing military buildings: Barracks/regimental camps (+0.5 per tier)
• Recruiting Generals (+1 per general)

Conversely, Professionalism is decreased by

• Destroying military buildings: Barracks/regimental camps (-1 per tier)
• Recruiting Mercenaries (-0.25 per unit)

Professionalism has the following effect, scaling up from 0 to 100:

• Shock Damage +10%
• Fire damage +10%
• Movement Speed +20%

Additionally, low professionalism grants bonuses for the recruitment of mercenaries, starting from 0 and scaling down to nothing at 50 Professionalism.

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

All nations start the game with low to no Professionalism. Events, decisions and modifiers can affect these values positively and negatively, from standardizing your uniforms to deciding how extensively to loot fallen cities.

The value of your Army Professionalism unlocks a new interface look and new abilities for your armies at every 20 points. Starting at 0-19 professionalism, you'll have a more tattered look to your Unit view...

And as your army gains more Professionalism, the view grows more elegant

So what abilities are gained for each 20 Professionalism?

• 20 - Supply Depot Ability unlocked for army.

• 40 - Refill Garrison Ability unlocked for army

• 60 - Disbanded Units are returned to the manpower pool

• 80 - Military Generals cost half-price to recruit

• 100 - Your reserves take 50% less morale damage.

Supply Depot is an ability accessible in the revisited Unit view which, for a small MIL cost, established a depot in a province. Friendly supply in that entire area is increased by 50%. If the province is then occupied by a hostile force, the Depot will be destroyed, otherwise it lasts for 2 years.

Refill Garrison allows an army to take some of its manpower to restore the garrison of a fort instantly so you can proceed without having your new occupation snatched away.

Disbanded units are normally lost forever, however at 60 Professionalism you ensure that they return to the manpower pool

Half Price Generals cost is fairly self explanatory, they will cost 25MIL rather than the standard 50

Reserves, who normally take passive morale damage in large ongoing battles, will now take far less and can really turn the tide in a battle.

Caveat: All values/bonuses given in the dev diaries are subject to change pending testing and balance as development continues. Also as a note for modders, these abilities are all scripted in as modifiers and so can be used as you see fit.

That should cover the Drilling and Professionalism nicely. Next week we will take a look at a system which, overall, hasn't changed a whole lot in EU4's life, and how it had its influence on the Islamic world. Until then I....hold on, I have a feeling that people are wanting to see some other trade goods across the world, following the addition of 5 new goods. very well, let's look to the ....East!

And additionally, we felt that some local modifiers were in order:

That's it from us this week, see you next Tuesday!

 

[Koskenbleu]

Trin, why is it that my eurocentric worldview is threatened by even the smallest amount of attention given to other regions and cultures?

I like you!

 

[Benghi Bon]

Yet another overlapping mechanic... I'm done with this game.
I have nothing against this in itself but then get rid of army tradition! And preferably absolutism too. Oh and discipline.

You can't keep piling up mechanics which represent more or less the same thing. This is ages and institutions all over again.

Also having it dependent on buildings means that big countries will have a more professional army which is the opposite to what happened in reality. Small countries with limited manpower went for professional armies while larger countries only did so when their massive rabble armies were routed by smaller better trained enemies.

Well said really. There's so much clutter!

 

[Hopolit]

I like it, makes for more options with the military in peacetime. Sooooo..... Take my money and give me this DLC

 

[TheDungen]

It's one of the duties of a vassal to his lord. I'm not well-known about english history, but I know the normands were'nt fond of the frankish society where all men have to be a vassal, they certainly adapt the frankish ost to something more rational and usefull.

Fascinating.
Well they didn't go with a fully germanic model either, because part of what got them in trouble with the saxons were that the saxons had very different laws from the normans, for an example all germanic peoples have the concept of living of the land, where farmers were allowed and expected to take certain things from their lieges forests to compliment their farming (no hunting, no nuts, are the exceptions I can recall right now), well the normans didn't have that the saxons did so the normans ended up declaring those people outlaws, it's where the whole outlaws in the robin hood story comes from. Also survived to this day in Scandinavia as part of the freedom to roam.
So anyway the normans who first settled normandy would have had those rules, seeing as they were in use in Scandinavia and still are, but it is obvious they adapted that to the french system in some things at least.

 

[Shadowstrike]

I'm going to echo some of the others in this thread and say that I'm a little worried about the introduction of additional mechanics that further complicate the game, and don't really represent anything historical even in an abstracted way. As others have pointed out, this is duplicative with army tradition, and this is now something additional we will have to keep in mind as we go through the game (I guess it acts as a passive bonus if you don't use mercenaries). But to that point, it doesn't make sense why recruiting mercs would lower your army's professionalism: indeed, mercenaries often added a professional element to armies earlier in this period, as compared to the seasonal levies that were raised - look at the Hungarian Black Army for instance,

 

[TheDungen]

I'm going to echo some of the others in this thread and say that I'm a little worried about the introduction of additional mechanics that further complicate the game, and don't really represent anything historical even in an abstracted way. As others have pointed out, this is duplicative with army tradition, and this is now something additional we will have to keep in mind as we go through the game (I guess it acts as a passive bonus if you don't use mercenaries). But to that point, it doesn't make sense why recruiting mercs would lower your army's professionalism: indeed, mercenaries often added a professional element to armies earlier in this period, as compared to the seasonal levies that were raised - look at the Hungarian Black Army for instance,

Yeah like I pointed out earlier mercs were generally surviving levies from some other war who banded together to make a living using the one skill they did have. Professional armies was what happened when countries made sure to hold on to these veterans instead of letting them slip away.

 

[otaats]

Not sure if i like the whole professional army/drilling thing. It will give more edge to the superpowers that can afford full maintenance all the time (Ottomans, France, Ming) and absolutely wreck smaller countries trying for harder achievements in game. Because they can't train as much regiments, if they can train any, to be on par.

 

[Aotrs Commander]

Hmm. Not sure the attempt to redress the mercenary balance with professionalism will help much. Granted, I am a player only 3/4 through my second game (both games going as wide and map-paint-y as possible), but I tend to use mercenaries as just standing army infantry (with regular cavalry and artillery). (Even in my current game, where I am basically going full Space Marines.)

So it sort of seems to suggest that if you are going to use mercenaries at all, you can more or less just forget professionalism (and get even more mercenaries than before) - especially if you start with it low; it seems it is much easier to lose professionalism than to gain it. (Such as if, for example, you are a small nation in an emergancy, you're going to likely lose quite a lot of professionalism hirign mercs to dig you out of a jam that you won't be easil be able to recoup.)

A lot of it, I guess, will depend on whether professionalism (or drilling) decays like army tradition.

I am no expert, I freely admit, but these were the first things that struck me.

We shall, I guess, see.

 

[mursolini]

Well the thing is that when pikes and crossbows make the knights less effective than much cheaper troop types the old warrior cast becomes obsolete, in a way the knights were themselves mercenaries, fighting for the price of being allowed to tax certain lands.

Knights were not mercenaries. They were landlords, who owned villages, pesants and such. They had plenty of peace time activities to do, and were not willing to fight unless they had to.

Armored cavalry existed in some or other form till Napoleonic wars. You`re confusing a particular combination of equipment and tactic with a class of people.
Cavalry man still were nobility or at least came from wealthy family for a pretty long period.

Anyway then those become obsolete and are replaced by huge levy armies and more classic mercenaries (who were themselves usually the levies from some other war who kept on using the one skill they did have). The professional armies grew out of new methods of using new weapons requiring more skill and suddenly keeping on to those veterans rather than allowing them to wander of and become mercenaries became a priority. Army professionalism didn't replace the need for mercenaries it replaced the availability of them. Oh also the thirty years war killed of pretty much all the old ones.

Actually, quite the opposite. Smothbore Musket is the simplest weapon, which doesn`t take more than a few month to master to perfection. Swords, spears, bows and such required far more time to master.

One doesn`t become mercenary without reason. Usually the reason was that war could advance you in society way beyond any other carrier path that was opened to you. Sons who would inherit little to none were the usual material.

Profecional officers being mercenaries was very common as far as 18 century.

But with the world war era the sheer number of causalities made professional soldiers not viable for total war. The only reason there are still professional armies today is that we very rarely see total war any more.

We see profecional soldiers today, because conscripts are really bad at handling good equipment. The type of army we will see in ww3 would depend on economic balance of needed profecionalism vs cheapness of mass labor.

The game should really structure the units diffrently, there shoudl be barely any standing armies at the onset of the game instead there should be CK2 stil levies, a percentage of the ones used should be returned to the manpower pool a the end of the war and a percentage should be added to a global (or regional) mercenary pool. Over time we should be given the ability to rise standing armies reducing the number of raised troops and as such the manpower to the merc pool.

You seem to insist that mercenaries have to be expirienced people and have to obtain real combat expirience before becoming a mercenary. That, is very far from reality. People that run away from poverty, hunger, war, or problems with law become mercenaries just as easilly as war veterans do.

 

[FleetingRain]

@DDRJake , may I ask you to change Oman's flag to this one I made in my suggestion thread? The current one is/was for the Sultanate of Muscat, while the one I linked has the coat of arms of the Imamate of Oman, which is what the current Oman is set to represent.

 

[ZomgK3tchup]

Really like the UI changes here. Could you please also normalize Province modifiers so they are same Size. Thank you

The large modifiers are supposed to be permanent/recurring ones like climate, winter, and CoTs. I don't know why the attrition symbol isn't the same size, but originally, they were also the ones furthest to the right.

 

[TheDungen]

Knights were not mercenaries. They were landlords, who owned villages, pesants and such. They had plenty of peace time activities to do, and were not willing to fight unless they had to.

Armored cavalry existed in some or other form till Napoleonic wars. You`re confusing a particular combination of equipment and tactic with a class of people.
Cavalry man still were nobility or at least came from wealthy family for a pretty long period.

Actually, quite the opposite. Smothbore Musket is the simplest weapon, which doesn`t take more than a few month to master to perfection. Swords, spears, bows and such required far more time to master.

One doesn`t become mercenary without reason. Usually the reason was that war could advance you in society way beyond any other carrier path that was opened to you. Sons who would inherit little to none were the usual material.

Profecional officers being mercenaries was very common as far as 18 century.

We see profecional soldiers today, because conscripts are really bad at handling good equipment. The type of army we will see in ww3 would depend on economic balance of needed profecionalism vs cheapness of mass labor.

You seem to insist that mercenaries have to be expirienced people and have to obtain real combat expirience before becoming a mercenary. That, is very far from reality. People that run away from poverty, hunger, war, or problems with law become mercenaries just as easilly as war veterans do.

Except none of what you just said is even remotely the reality of things.

 

[Old Tercio]

shouldn't fully professional army be composed 100% of mercs? i mean those are people who do war for living vs bunch of drafted peasants

By the 1520s in Europe, Armies started to become permanent, the best example is Charles V's Tercios which was the first professional army in Europe.

 

[Bombapow]

If/When Hungary decides to "Abolish the Black Army", will it have an increase on professionalism?

 

[Old Tercio]

Yeah like I pointed out earlier mercs were generally surviving levies from some other war who banded together to make a living using the one skill they did have. Professional armies was what happened when countries made sure to hold on to these veterans instead of letting them slip away.

To add to this, Monarchs would now supply these units with arms and other supplies, so such levies became a standing army which became a profession

 

[Old Tercio]

Not sure if i like the whole professional army/drilling thing. It will give more edge to the superpowers that can afford full maintenance all the time (Ottomans, France, Ming) and absolutely wreck smaller countries trying for harder achievements in game. Because they can't train as much regiments, if they can train any, to be on par.

This game isn't meant for Balance like other games, it's an asymmetrical game.

 

[Furleppe]

It's neat idea but if it won't affect things like army tradition, discpiline, quality/quantity ideas, imho it will be disappointing and another wasted opportunity.

 

[nagatofag]

AI keep built regimental camps in every single province, and if I want to built something more useful on fresh conquered lands (like manufactory+workshop)... goodbye, professionalism? Because my army will surely become less professional, if I destroy some captured enemy military buildings, yeah.

 

[CharlesII]

I feel like Professionalism should be -shock and -fire damage received instead, as drilling already increases shock and fire.

 

[bestbrian]

I don't like the deleting of buildings affecting professionalization. The AI sucks at buildings. Every time I delete a regimental camp to build a manufactury on a cloth province, I'll be impacting my hard-earned modifiers. The player shouldn't be penalized for correcting the AI's failures.

Also, Mercs shouldn't benefit from national ideas and modifiers; that'll make them less attractive as the game progresses.