User Guide

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sponding leader. Recruiting a general or an ad-
miral will cost a certain number of ducats from
your treasury and requires the use of one of
your diplomats. If you do not have a diplomat
in your pool or sufficient gold in your treasury,
the button will be greyed out. There is a simi-
lar cost to recruit a conquistador or explorer,
except that a colonist is consumed instead of
a dimplomat. The “recruit conquistador” and
“recruit explorer” buttons will be greyed out if
your country has not yet adopted the “Quest
for the New World” national idea since this is a
prerequisite for their use.
When you recruit a leader, your military
tradition in the corresponding area will be
reduced by 20% or its current value to reflect
the fact that one of your most promising can-
didates has been removed from the “pool” of
junior officers. The primary attributes of the
newly recruited leader are determined random-
ly, but are heavily influenced by the country’s
current military tradition. Having a high land
tradition does not guarantee that a general will
have extraordinary attributes but it does great-
ly increases the likelihood that he will have at
least one or two fairly high values. If you are
very fortunate, you might receive a leader who
is truly gifted. Similarly, it is still possible for a
respectable admiral to be recruited even if your
current naval tradition level is low, although it
is quite unlikely.
Once recruited, the new leader will be
added to your country’s leader pool and will
be included in the list of commanders at the
bottom of the page. Later, we will show you
how to assign a leader to command one of your
armies or fleets and how he will influence that
force’s combats.
A leader will continue to be available for use
by your country for a number of years, but he
will eventually reach a point when he decides
to retire. The normal length of service for most
leaders will range between 15 and 20 years,
although some leaders may retire sooner and
others may continue to serve your country for
considerably longer periods. There is also the
risk that a leader may die gloriously in battle,
sacrificing his life to the service of the realm.
Converting a Ruler to a Leader
There will be times when you are in urgent
need of a new general but don’t have an avail-
able diplomat, or have too little money in your
treasury. You may also be reluctant to recruit a
new general when you have an extremely low
land tradition, particularly if you expect to
send him out immediately to face a dangerous
enemy force. You may, if you dare, decide to
send your country’s ruler out to lead an army
personally.
To convert your ruler into a leader, click the
“convert ruler to general” button. He will then
be available for immediate assignment as a gen-
eral from your country’s leader pool. There is
no cost to do this, nor will it reduce your land
tradition. The button will only be greyed out
if you have already converted your ruler into
a general, if your realm is ruled by a regency
council, if you are the junior member of a per-
sonal union, or if your ruler is female (Europa
Universalis III does not allow female rulers to
lead armies directly, just as no queen was ever
permitted to lead her forces into battle in per-
son).
When a ruler is converted into a general, his
combat attributes are determined randomly but
are heavily influenced by his military attribute
(the third of the three ruler attributes) instead
of by his country’s land tradition value. A high
military attribute won’t necessarily guarantee
that the ruler will be an excellent field com-
mander, but the chances are quite a bit greater.
There is considerable risk associated with
converting your ruler into a leader. Your coun-
try will experience an immediate loss of stabil-
ity if your ruler dies in battle. It is also fairly
likely that some form of succession turmoil
could occur if the realm is a monarchy. It is
entirely possible that your realm could be ruled
by a regency council for a while, or that it could
become the junior partner of a personal union.
There is also the possibility that his death could