In Crusader Kings 3, levies represent the conscripted peasants that medieval kings and emperors forced to fight their many wars. Men-at-arms regiments represent the professional soldiers that many rulers trained or hired to be the backbone or spear-tip of their forces.
Because of the way Crusader Kings 3 calculates combat values, men-at-arms regiments can contribute far more to a battle than their numbers would suggest. So, while it costs a lot of Gold to create, maintain, and raise men-at-arms regiments, especially compared to levies, these regiments are worth every last penny players spend on them.
How to Create and Use Men-at-Arms Regiments
The first step to creating a new men-at-arms regiment is to select the Military menu. This button is on the right of the screen, and its icon is a red shield and a pair of crossed swords. Right below the icons for realm levies and knights is the list of men-at-arms regiments that the player ruler controls.
The number of regiments a ruler can create at any one time depends on a few factors:
- A Count can have 2, a Duke gets 3, a King gets 4, and an Emperor gets 5.
- Each Era has an Innovation that increases both the number of regiments and the size of each regiment. In order, these Innovations are Mustering Grounds, Household Soldiers, Men-at-Arms, and Standing Armies.
- The Private Army Dynasty Legacy increases the men-at-arms limit by 1.
- There are no Traits, skills, or perks that can increase the number of regiments a ruler can maintain.
- Players with the "Tours and Tournaments" expansion can get Acclaimed Knights who can increase the size of certain regiment types.
Just below the list of men-at-arms regiments is a button labeled "Create Men-at-Arms Regiment." Click this to bring up a new menu that shows every kind of regiment the player ruler can create. Each one costs Gold to create and expand, or Prestige if the ruler is tribal. These regiments also cost Gold or Prestige to maintain, even when they aren't raised.
Players can also increase the size of each regiment by clicking on their picture. On their info menu, players will see two buttons that say "Increase Size" and "Decrease Size." Increasing the size of a regiment comes with an up-front cost each time players press the button, and it increases the maintenance cost. Decreasing the size doesn't give a refund, but it does decrease the maintenance cost. Players can also destroy the regiment by pressing the big X button on this menu.
Every Culture in every Era has access to a basic list of men-at-arms regiments, but several more are locked behind Cultural Traditions, Innovations, and regional access. Many of these are improvements on the basic regiment types, but a few are in their own unique categories.
Regiment Type | Counters | Favorable Terrain | Unfavorable Terrain |
|---|---|---|---|
Archers | Skirmishers | Hills, Forests, Taiga | |
Archer Cavalry | Skirmishers, Heavy Infantry | Steppe, Plains, Drylands | Jungle, Wetlands, Mountains, Desert Mountains |
Camel Cavalry | Light Cavalry | Desert, Drylands, Floodplains, Plains | Hills, Mountains, Desert Mountains, Normal and Harsh Winter |
Elephant Cavalry | Skirmishers, Heavy Infantry | Jungle | Wetlands, Mountains, Desert Mountains, Normal and Harsh Winter |
Heavy Cavalry | Archers | Drylands, Plains | Wetlands, Mountains, Desert Mountains, Normal and Harsh Winter |
Heavy Infantry | Spearmen | ||
Light Cavalry | Archers | Drylands, Plains | Wetlands, Mountains, Desert Mountains, Harsh Winter |
Skirmishers | Heavy Infantry | Jungle, Forest, Taiga | |
Spearmen | Cavalry (all except Archer Cavalry) | Hills, Mountains, Desert Mountains | |
Siege Engines | None, contributes to Siege Progress instead |
Note that these values only apply to the basic version of each regiment type. Special regiment types often get different terrain bonuses along with better basic stat values. Terrain bonuses and penalties apply a flat modifier to the regiment's stats while they're in a holding with a valid terrain type.
A well-rounded army that can face anything in any terrain should include regiments of every basic type the ruler has access to, but players fighting defensively or against enemies with a known set of regiments can build their army around the counters to those regiments and make the most of their limited funds.
Other Ways to Get Men-at-Arms Regiments
There are other ways to get access to men-at-arms regiments besides the ones rulers must create and maintain themselves. In the Military menu, players can select the "Mercenaries" tab to see a list of mercenary bands they can hire. Even the small bands are expensive, but they provide instant access to several hundred to several thousand soldiers for 3 years at a time. This access includes up to three men-at-arms regiments, a few knights, and a special Captain commander with a reasonably good Marital stat.
The last tab is for Holy Orders. Holy Orders can be even bigger than mercenary bands based on the size of the Faith that created them, and they cost Piety instead of Gold to hire. If the player ruler allows the Holy Order to create a headquarters in their personal domain they can hire them for free (though this costs the ruler any revenue they would have taken in from the rented holding). However, the Holy Order will only join a war against a ruler of a Hostile or Evil Faith.
Holy Orders can have many more regiments than any mercenary band, assuming they and their Faith are big enough. They tend to focus heavily on one type of regiment, which is either good or bad depending on the enemy culture and the expected terrain.
Still, any type of regiment tends to be better than basic levies, especially when players Station them in a holding and get extra buffs from its buildings. Once players can afford enough men-at-arms to create a small army, they can crush much larger armies no matter what terrain type or enemy regiments are present.
Crusader Kings 3 is available now on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.