Part 14

Learn army composition, naval strategy, and unit retraining in Total War: Three Kingdoms. Understand artillery, mercenaries, and treasury management.

Army Composition Considerations:

• Different factions have unique cavalry units: Byzantines use Phractoi, Turks use Sipahi Lancers, Egyptians use Mamluks/Royal Mamluks, Moors use Christian Guard, Granadine Lancers, or Tuareg Camel Spearmen. Mongols and Timurids have Heavy Lancers. Aztecs have no indigenous horses.
• Consider including spies for espionage and priests/imams when entering lands of different religions.
• Artillery (catapults, ballistas, trebuchets) can be useful for assaulting settlements before reinforcements arrive. However, artillery slows army movement.
• To avoid bloody battles with garrisons, you can besiege settlements and let troops starve, or use a large cavalry force against spearmen to win by default or draw them out.

Naval Strategy:

• Naval battles are not directly controllable in Total War: Three Kingdoms.
• Superior naval forces generally win, but the simulation option can lead to excessive unit losses, requiring frequent retraining.
• Naval dominance is less critical than in some other games; focus on defending ports and transporting soldiers.
• Navies cannot be intercepted due to the turn-based campaign structure.

Unit Retraining:

• Units can be upgraded anywhere with appropriate facilities (e.g., a high-level smith, Swordsmiths' guild), but this only increases attributes, not replenishes lost men.
• Full retraining (replenishing lost men and restoring experience/bonuses) is only possible in settlements that can recruit that specific unit and have enough available. For example, a Templar Knights Minor Chapter House allows a maximum of 4 units of Templar Knights.
• Retraining is often worth the steep requirements as it restores individual soldiers and maintains/upgrades experience, weapon, and armor bonuses.
• Navies can be retrained to gain/maintain experience but do not receive armor or weapon upgrades.

Mercenaries:

• Mercenaries are soldiers for hire, available almost anywhere but dependent on location. The FAUST (likely a game mechanic or interface element) contains statistics for all mercenaries.
• Mercenaries generally cost more to recruit and maintain than regular units and are often not worth the expense, except for quick manpower replenishment or filling army gaps.
• Mercenary crossbowmen and later mercenary arquebusiers, Monster Bombards, and elephant units are exceptions to the rule that own units are better, as these are unique.
• Exceptions to the general rule of mercenaries being less valuable include:
• Jihad and Crusade armies get access to cheap, high-quality