How to Create an Army in Manor Lords

To create military units, you need two things: men and military (sidearms, shields, warbows, spears, polearms). Only the male population of your village can be called to arms to participate in battles. By hovering over the Population icon, you can check the number of men in your settlement. That’s how many combat units you can create.

Weapons and armor can be produced independently by constructing corresponding Extensions in Burgage Plots level 2 and above, or purchased for silver through the Trading Post.

How to Call Men to Arms (Mobilization and Demobilization)

The men of your settlement become combat units not permanently. They can be “demobilized,” after which they will revert to ordinary citizens and resume their daily activities.

To call men to arms, open the Army (V) section and click “Create New Unit.” In the current version of the game, there are 5 types of units available: Footmen Militia, Spear Militia, Polearm Militia, Archer Militia, and elite units Retinue (I will talk about them separately).

The maximum squad size is 36 units, and you can have a maximum of 6 squads simultaneously, including Retinue and Mercenaries. Click on the desired unit type, and it will appear in the list below.

If the counter of available units is not full (for example, 23/36), it means that you lack recruits or weapons. Hover over such a squad in the list, and a tooltip will appear in the popup window indicating what exactly you are missing. Note that you can call any squad to arms, even if it consists of only 1-2 units.

Mobilization of squads

Open the Army (V) section. Select the squad in the list, click the “Rally” button, and specify the location where your units should arrive.

The men of your village will immediately arm themselves and move to the rally point. After that, you will be able to control your squad and give it various combat orders.

Demobilization of squads

If your settlement is not threatened, the army needs to be disbanded and the men returned to their workplaces. Keeping the army mobilized in peacetime does not make sense, at least in the current version of the game.

To disband a squad, open the Army (V) section, select it in the list, and click “Disband Unit.” Retinue and Militia will return to their civilian activities. If the squad is Mercenaries, it will simply disappear.

Note that disbanding squads does not “consume” any resources and does not harm the settlement. After disbanding the squad, the weapons and armor will not disappear but will remain in the warehouses of your settlement. However, if your unit is killed on the battlefield, all its equipment will be lost.

How to Increase Unit Survivability

By default, units in Manor Lords can fight with just weapons – for example, a sword and shield. However, such units are very weak and will quickly perish because they have almost no Armor.

If you hover over any squad and hold the Tab key, you will see the characteristics of that squad. For example, the archer squad in the screenshot below has only 1 unit of Armor and 0 units of Charge.

The archer squad in the next screenshot has 10 Armor and 2 Charge. This squad will take much less damage because all units have Helmet and Mail Armor.

To increase Armor stat, you need armor.

• Helmets – do not increase Armor but protect the heads of units in battles (there is no detailed information yet on how Helmets work). Can be used simultaneously with light, medium, or heavy armor.
• Gambesons – light armor, slightly increases Armor.
• Mail Armor – medium armor, significantly increases Armor.
• Plate Armor – heavy knightly armor for Retinue, maximum increase in Armor.

Here are a few things you should know about armor in Manor Lords.

• If armor (Helmets, Gambesons, Mail Armors, Plate Armors) is available in the warehouses, it will be automatically used when forming a squad.
• The more armor on the units, the faster they will tire and lose effectiveness after moving on the map. While the squad is standing still, it rests and regains strength.
• Plate Armor is only available for Retainers. All other units can use Mail Armor or Gambesons.

How to Create and Customize Retinue

Retainers are elite units that become available after building a Manor. Initially, you can have up to 12 Retainers. After building a Garrison Tower in your Manor, the Retinue Size will be increased by another 12 slots, but you can only have 1 Garrison Tower in each region. In addition, after the first Manor is built, the first 5 Retainers will join you completely free of charge.

Like Militia, Retinue units can be mobilized and demobilized, but the Retinue squad itself will always be present in the list in the Army section and cannot be removed.

Retainers differ from Militia in that they can wear Plate Armor. Roughly speaking, these are heavy infantry knights of your kingdom. In addition, retainers can be upgraded, and their appearance can be customized.

How to Recruit Retainers

In the Army (V) section, select the Retinue squad and click the Retinue Customization button. In this section, you can recruit, upgrade, and customize your retainers.

In the current version of the game, you can only purchase Retainers for 50 Silver from the Treasury (the Treasury will be filled by collecting taxes with the help of Manor). Click “Recruit Men-at-Arms,” and you will instantly receive 1 Retainer with basic military equipment.

Recruiting retainers in this way does not “consume” men from your settlement. However, in future versions of the game, citizens will be able to be converted into Retinue.

How to Improve Retinue Armor

Initially, all Retainers have Mail Armor, but you can replace it with Plate Armor at any time.

To do this, click “Upgrade Armor – Import” (purchase Plate Armor, 36 Silver) or “Upgrade Armor – Locally” (use Plate Armor from the settlement’s warehouse if available, 18 Silver).

Retainers equipped with Plate Armor have 82 Armor, which is a lot. For comparison, Militia Footmen equipped with Mail Armor have only 11 Armor, which is almost 8 times less.

Retinue Personalization

You can also personalize your Retainers by changing the appearance of their armor, helmets, shields, and weapons. Armor and shields can also be painted in the desired colors.

How to Hire Mercenaries

You can also hire mercenaries for Silver from the Treasury, but such squads will require monthly payments and will instantly disappear if not paid.

In the Army (V) tab, click Create New Unit and then press the Hire Mercenaries button.

Next, select the group of mercenaries you would like to hire. During the game, various groups of mercenaries become available to you periodically, each of which may contain several squads of units. By hovering over the squad, you can see their characteristics.

Also, note that each group of mercenaries arrives in a specific region after hiring, as clearly stated in the description (for example, “Arrive in Goldhof“). This is an important detail because if you hire mercenaries and they arrive in a region on the other side of the map, the units may simply not have time to reach your settlement in time while it is being attacked by bandits or enemy troops.

Pay attention to the hiring cost. This is the amount of silver from the Treasury that you will have to pay to the group of mercenaries for each in-game month of their service to you. To hire, click the “Hire this company” button and confirm the operation by selecting “Sign the contract.”

Mercenary squads will instantly appear in the list of available squads in the Army (V) tab and will arrive at your settlement from beyond the edge of the game map.

Information about mercenaries will appear in the right part of the main interface, indicating the monthly fee for their services and the number of in-game days until the next payment.

How to Increase Men Population

In the current version of the game, there is no way to specifically increase the number of men in your village. Instead, you can only increase the overall population. Remember that residents join your settlement in families, each consisting of several people.

Families will join only if there is free Living Space (slots in Burgage Plots) for them, and the Approval level is at 50% or higher. Read separate guides on how to increase population and how to increase living space to learn more about these mechanics.

How to Get Military

For the men of your settlement to be able to fight, they need at least weapons. Armor is not mandatory, but significantly increases the survivability of units if available. You can obtain weapons and armor in two ways.

Purchasing Through the Trading Post

For the most advantageous import of goods, including weapons, it is important to have the unlocked talent “Better Deals,” which reduces the cost of any import by 10 silver.

In the Trading Post, go to the Trade → Military and click “Establish A Trade Route” next to the item you need. This will require a certain amount of silver (always 25 silver with the “Trade Logistics” talent). In the selection field, indicate “Import,” which means procurement. Also, specify the quantity of items you want to have, and the trade will begin.

Note that items you already own are also counted. For example, if you have 46 spears and you specify a desired quantity of 100, traders will purchase an additional 54 spears.

Production in Burgage Plots

Burgage Plots level 2 and above can have production Extensions.

• Blacksmith’s Workshop – production of Spears, Sidearms, Polearms
• Joiner’s Workshop – production of Shields
• Fletcher’s Workshop – production of Warbows
• Armorer’s Workshop – production of Helmets, Mail Armor, Plate Armor (requires unlocking corresponding talents in the Development Tree)
• Tailor’s Workshop – production of Gambesons

Thus, to establish the production of weapons and armor, you need to construct the corresponding Extensions in your Burgage Plots.