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Military doctrines are essential military mechanics that influence all features related to the military. Modifiers include changes to unit performance (attack, defense, and speed), unit costs (recruitment and upkeep), experience, operation costs, manpower growth, and more.
In total, there are 53 doctrines divided into three categories: 23 for the army, 13 for the navy, and 17 for the air. Within these categories, the doctrines are further split into nine branches: the army has four branches, the navy has three, and the air has two.
The initial doctrines available at the first levels of the spectrum cost no military power when you join the game as any country. For example, you can only select one doctrine each from the Aerial, Naval, and Land categories without spending military power, even if you choose doctrines from different categories. However, if you use the Reset mechanism, you must pay a fee of 500 military power to switch to another doctrine.
Doctrines that cost 500 military power include Static Lines, Grand Fleet, Mass Production, and others. Additionally, the final doctrines in the naval and air categories, specifically Service Streamlining, Inter-Service Coordination, and Thalassocracy, also require 500 military power. The remaining doctrines cost 250 military power each (e.g., Armored Fist, Floating Fortress, Close Air Support, etc.).
Each doctrine category can be restarted by pressing the 'Reset' button, which is located at the very top of the spectrum. However, resetting doctrines will not provide military power refunds or compensation.
All doctrine modifiers within the same branch can multiply/stack when acquiring each one, similar to technology.
"In order to fill the gaps in our army, we will be slightly less selective on who we press into it. All they need to know is how to aim and shoot in order to be a threat on the battlefield."
"Being in the army is more than just picking up a gun and learning how to shoot. Tactics, Coordination, Discipline are all core factors that must be instilled in every new recruit."
There are a total of 13 doctrines and three doctrine categories for the navy.
Submarine Warfare[]
Submarine Warfare Chart
(1) Submarine Warfare
Doctrine Description"Detecting objects underwater has always been very difficult. We will exploit this fact to strike at the enemy where they least expect it."
Doctrine Description"Other submarines and escort ships are an ever present threat. By sailing as deep to our crush depths as possible, we can better evade and survive attacks against our submarines."
Doctrine Description"Crews of frigates will be sent to make more daring and bold attacks, relying solely on their numbers to coordinate their attacks."
Doctrine Description"With just a little encouragement, destroyer crews learn to operate more independently of our fleets to take advantage of any opportunity."
Doctrine Description"Aircraft Carriers serve as both mobile airfields and launching points for invasions to far off lands. We shall control the seas from the skies."
Doctrine Description"Although many question the continued use of battleships in the modern era, we will prove them wrong by showing them the vast capabilities of good fashioned Iron, Steel and Guns."
There are a total of 17 doctrines and two doctrine categories for the air force.
Mass Production[]
Mass Production Chart
(1) Mass Production
Doctrine Description"In order to cover as much ground and sky as possible, we will need as much airframes as we can get. After all, 2 aircrafts can be in 2 different locations at once."
Doctrine Description"Much of the costs of running an airforce comes down to maintaining its combat capabilities. Let's try to ease this burden as much as possible."
Doctrine Description"An aircraft can only do so much so it is up to the pilot to get maximum use out of it possible. "It's not the plane, it's the pilot.""
Doctrine Description"With careful coordination, we will allow our fighters to engage the enemy before they contact our other aircraft, which should improve their survivability."
Before the 12/7/2023 Update (December 7, 2023), there were only 11 doctrines available. However, the menu was entirely revamped, introducing over 50 doctrines that now encompass every military branch. Previously, the army had only three options—Balanced, Specialization, and Massed Attack—naval had four—Balanced, Submarine Warfare, Escort Fleet, and Capital Fleet—and air also had four—Balanced, Air Supremacy, Ground Support, and Strategic Bombing.
All countries began with the Balanced doctrine (which provided no modifiers), and converting to another doctrine costed 500military power. Furthermore, the transport aircraft, tank, artillery, and anti aircraft were the only units that were never directly affected by the former doctrines due to unknown reasons.
Unlike the naval and aerial doctrines, the official rankings for the land doctrines are highly nuanced, subjective, and controversial. This complexity arises from the numerous modifiers included in the doctrines and the fact that the army is often considered the most utilized and important branch of the military. Consequently, there is no definitive "recommended doctrine path" or universally "best" and "worst" doctrines; actual performance classifications depend on individual gameplay preferences, strategies, and scenarios.
Gameplay is highly diverse among the player base, meaning that strategies can vary significantly from person to person. However, many players can share mutual interests and gameplay experiences, leading to scenarios that can help classify which doctrine best suits them and guide them through the doctrine trees. These straightforward scenarios include:
For versatile, proficient, and reliable defensive and offensive capabilities (mostly defensive), choose Static Lines.
For "quantity over quality," with high troop numbers and overwhelming forces but a trade-off of very low military experience, choose Massed Attack.
For combat modifiers geared toward special terrain and biomes, such as Mountainous, Severe Winter, Jungle, and more, while also yielding massive starting experience, choose Specialization.
For combat modifiers focused on offensive capabilities, tanks, bombardment, and rapid ground mobility, choose Manoeuvre Warfare.
While these scenarios are brief, they still remain contentious. For example, some may argue that Static Lines is better for tanks than Manoeuvre Warfare because it offers zero drawbacks and substantial defense bonuses. In contrast, Manoeuvre Warfare, while providing rapid mobility and attack capabilities for tanks, imposes reduced defense and tripled upkeep costs (tripled upon reaching the last doctrine under M.W.).
In conclusion, land doctrines are subject to intense debate within the community. Though some aspects may find general agreement (e.g., Static Lines is often regarded as the best doctrine for beginners due to its lack of downsides and significant defense boosts), the discussions remain heated. Despite the controversy, the strategy below provides a comprehensive overview of all land doctrines, including their characteristics, strengths, weaknesses, and more, to help players determine which doctrine truly fits them best.
The shield and the two-crossed swords resemble Static Lines, emphasizing powerful defensive and offensive capabilities, primarily defensive. The shield at the front symbolizes defense, while the two-crossed swords at the back represent offense.
General Overview of Static Lines[]
Static Lines is considered the "meta," "go-to," or "priority" doctrine for many beginner and professional players. It is one of the most versatile (if not the most versatile) doctrine paths for the army, encompassing not only military performance but also boosts to fortifications, manpower, stability, and advantages related to war exhaustion.
In addition to its versatility, Static Lines can be utilized in any year of the game and by any country, from a small island nation to a major superpower. Its flexibility is limitless.
Regarded as having a "low skill floor" compared to its counterparts, as its potential is relatively easy to manage and utilize, making it especially accessible for most countries and beginners.
Application and Effectiveness[]
While it is primarily suited for countries that rely heavily on infantry as their primary ground force, Static Lines can also be effectively applied to other land armies, such as tanks.
Although it excels in defensive capabilities by providing enormous defense buffs, Static Lines is also practical for offensive strategies, though it is debatable if it is more or less effective than Manoeuvre Warfare and Specialization in that regard.
Military Operations[]
Military Planning and Fortification Effort halve the military power cost for the Elastic Defense and Maginot Theory military operations, respectively.
Massed Attack Guide[]
The population growth resembles Massed Attack, focusing on quantity over quality and overwhelming forces, but at the cost of significantly reduced starting experience.
General Overview of Massed Attack[]
Massed Attack is primarily beneficial for countries with a well-prepared and trained army, offering numerous modifiers that can counterbalance or outweigh the significant reduction of 0.2625x (-73.75%) to infantrymilitary experience.
This doctrine aims to generate massive amounts of manpower while reducing upkeep costs, manpower expenses, and speeding up recruitment time, particularly for infantry.
Massed Attack decreases the manpower cost for infantry by 0.25x (-75%). For instance, 10,000 infantry (1 division) now costs only 2,500 manpower, instead of the standard 10,000. This effectively allows players to deploy four entire infantry divisions for every 10,000 manpower.
Strengths and Limitations[]
Although this strategy is debatable, in certain situations, Massed Attack can enable players to overwhelm their opponents with sheer numbers of troops, effectively crushing weak defenses if executed flawlessly. This doctrine focuses on "quantity over quality."
Massed Attack significantly reduces ground training speed, which can impede military preparation, logistics, and readiness for war. Therefore, it is crucial to have a well-prepared army if this doctrine is used in the long term.
Due to the significant reduction in training speed, avoid training troops under Massed Attack unless you switch to Static Lines or Specialization after deploying large numbers of troops. Training under Massed Attack will only harm your economy and yield military experience at an extremely slow rate, as this doctrine is designed for accumulating massive quantities rather than producing high-quality troops.
Massed Attack can be effective early in the game for small nations due to its high manpower generation, but it may prove ineffective against player-controlled nations.
Tactical Application and Strategy[]
While Massed Attack specifically reduces the strength of infantry and does not affect tanks, focusing on tanks is generally more viable with Manoeuvre Warfare (though one should be cautious of the 3x tank upkeep) and Static Lines. Stronger modifiers for tanks are crucial, as infantry is more easily replaceable and cheaper than tanks. Moreover, there are various methods to boost manpower yield, such as conscription laws, leaders, ideologies, recruitment centers, developed cities, and more.
Massed Attack is primarily suited for large-scale private events rather than public servers, as having vast numbers of units is essential for gaining an advantage in such events.
If you plan to use Massed Attack in the short term, consider employing a strategy known as "troop farming," where you spawn millions of troops (ideally over 5 to 10 million) before switching to Static Lines or Specialization.
Potential Consequences[]
This doctrine can potentially inflict stability damage on opponents by consistently overwhelming their forces, particularly against nations that lack strong war exhaustion reduction modifiers. Therefore, it is mostly aligned with Communism. Using Massed Attack to create overwhelming force could lead to exponential military losses on the ground if employed by non-Communist or Socialist countries. Troops may struggle to achieve sufficient combat performance, resulting in higher losses, increased war exhaustion, and reduced stability.
Massed Attack is characterized by a "high skill floor," meaning it requires considerable effort to reach its full potential. Exercise caution when using this doctrine, as the drastic reduction in military experience for infantry can significantly impair attack and defense performance during war.
Specialization Guide[]
The brain and the three pointed-up arrows resemble Specialization, focusing on quality over quantity. The brain resembles the massive increase to starting experience, while the pointed-up arrows represent the tripled recruitment time for such highly experienced troops.
General Overview of Specialization[]
Specialization primarily enhances both offensive and defensive capabilities, significantly boosting ground attack, defense, and military experience, while also accelerating training speed. Infantry benefits the most from Specialization compared to other ground units like tanks, artillery, and anti-aircraft.
Flexibility and Adaptability[]
This doctrine is renowned for its overall flexibility in upgrading all ground forces, enabling them to effectively operate in various terrain and biomes. This adaptability is particularly useful for countries with harsh landscapes, such as Peru, Iran, Colombia, Mexico, and many others.
Specialization should be avoided in the early or middle stages of the game unless you are a superpower or a powerful country at the start, particularly if your nation generates low or moderate amounts of manpower.
Recruitment and Reinforcement Challenges[]
Adaptability and Advanced Training collectively triple infantry recruitment time, extending it to around 14 seconds for Adaptability and 27 seconds when both Adaptability and Advanced Training are active. This significant increase in recruitment time can severely hinder logistics for countries relying on infantry as their primary ground force, especially during critical periods of war.
In addition to tripling recruitment duration, both Adaptability and Advanced Training also reduce infantry reinforcement speed by -70%.
Military leaders, especially ground leaders, will have limited training time before they reach the maximum training threshold. Specialization combined with Advanced Training can generate troops that approach or even exceed this threshold, particularly if you have external military experience boosts. This limitation forces you to rely primarily on combat or city capturing to gain experience for the leader or to utilize tanks for training, which can be more expensive to recruit and maintain compared to infantry. This situation represents a hidden drawback of Specialization.
Skill Requirement[]
Specialization is characterized by a "high skill floor," as it requires considerable effort to reach its full potential.
Manoeuvre Warfare Guide[]
The three lightning bolts resemble Manoeuvre Warfare, emphasizing superior firepower and rapid mobility. Tanks are the primary unit affected by this doctrine, proficient in both attack and movement speed. However, they face tripled upkeep costs and reduced defense.
General Overview of Manoeuvre Warfare[]
Manoeuvre Warfare, also known as Maneuver Warfare, is highly effective for offensive operations, particularly with tank-only armies. The Armored Fist and Steel Division doctrines provide substantial attack and speed boosts for tanks, enabling lightning-fast offensives into enemy territory. This can potentially allow for deep penetration if the defending side lacks adequate defenses.
Speed and Mobility Advantages[]
In addition to its offensive speed, tanks can be among the fastest units, possibly even outpacing some aircraft under normal conditions. This speed is further enhanced when Manoeuvre Warfare and the Armored Fist doctrines are combined with other mobility buffs, such as:
The value of this doctrine peaks during the early and middle years of the game, enhancing tank effectiveness and making it a feasible choice for a country in regions like Western Europe . However, as the late stages of the game approach, if you plan to transition to infantry, Manoeuvre Warfare should eventually be phased out in favor of a more suitable doctrine, such as Static Lines. Moreover, infantry equipped with Anti-Tank technology is likely to become common in the late game, overshadowing the role of tanks.
Financial Consequences of Steel Division[]
While offering numerous attack advantages for tanks, choosing Steel Division can be risky. The combination of Steel Division with Armored Fist results in a tripling of tank upkeep (a staggering 3x or +200%), which can create a significant financial burden. For example, a single tank division (comprising 200 tanks) incurs an upkeep of $160,000 every 5 days/seconds (1 tick). If both Armored Fist and Steel Division are unlocked, this upkeep would increase to $480,000 per division. Consequently, Manoeuvre Warfare with Steel Division is primarily suited for countries with a strong Democracy or Fascism and those that have secured substantial Consumer Goodstrades.
War Exhaustion Effects[]
The Armored Fist doctrine also passively increases war exhaustion gain by +0.004. This gradual increase in war exhaustion may compel you to raise Security Spending, adding to the financial strain, especially when combined with the tripled tank upkeep from Steel Division.
Military Operations Costs[]
The military power cost for the Lightning Offensivemilitary operation is halved at Combined Bombardment, while Mass Paradrop reduces the cost of Mass Air Mobility by -25%.
Alternative Strategies[]
Although not a commonly chosen path, Mass Paradrop can be selected as an alternative to the costly Steel Division. From there, you can aim for Airfield Expansion in the Mass Production aerial doctrine, allowing you to spam large quantities of transport aircraft to exploit aviation strategies.
Naval Doctrines Guide[]
Recommended Doctrine Path (From most essential to least; formatted in left-to-right order): Grand Fleet > Light Flotilla > Submarine Warfare. This is basically the same meta as the previous doctrines, just different names and modifiers.
Grand Fleet[]
Generally the best doctrine to use in the navy, as it significantly influences various aspects of battleships and aircraft carriers, such as increased attack, defense, speed, and military experience, along with reduction of costs, upkeep, and shipyard.
Additional bonuses on battleships and carriers are extremely vital as capital ships are known to be the most powerful and important units in a naval fleet.
Aside from its battleship and aircraft carrier upgrades, Grand Fleet also introduces economic benefits. Force Concentration reduces the construction cost for shipyards, which facilitates the construction of shipyards. With this financial modifier, more shipyards can be built, resulting in a higher tax income as shipyards can boost tax collection for the city they are built in.
Light Flotilla[]
Practical for navies composed of mainly destroyers and frigates, with little-to-no capital ships, as Light Flotilla provides additional attack, defense, speed, and military experience for destroyers and frigates, as well as reducing upkeep and production costs.
Although frigate-spamming can be obsolete in many cases, Light Flotilla can provide additional bonuses for users that will constructing overwhelming amounts of frigates to overpower their enemy.
Submarine Warfare[]
While Submarine Warfare is not as useful as the other two doctrines, it is viable for fleets that are comprised of mostly submarines.
This path can be extremely plausible for targeting capital ships, as capital ships are highly vulnerable to submarines.
Air Force Doctrines Guide[]
Mass Production vs. Special Training[]
Recommended Doctrine Path (From most essential to least; formatted in left-to-right order): Mass Production > Special Training.
Mass Production[]
Mass Production is widely known as the "best" or "meta" doctrine to go for as Mass Production is extremely famous for halving the minimum population requirement of airports to 250,000 (instead of 500,000), facilitating the construction of airports.
With mass construction of airports, aircraft-spamming, such as bombers, can easily be executed if enough money is available in the treasury, which will help overwhelm enemy ground forces via the use of airpower.
Additionally, airports also slightly boost tax collection on the city it is built in, so Mass Production also has an economic upside.
Mass Production can also be crucial for players that render additional air buffs redundant, as they already unlocked powerful air force leaders, marshal leaders, readiness, training, and more, and are looking forward to obtain higher efficiency for air production, manufacture costs, airport costs, etc., especially when maintaining a large aerial fleet.
Should ideally be switched to Special Training once the mass construction of airports is completed. Stop at Airfield Expansion and avoid Service Streamlining to conserve military power for Special Training.
Special Training[]
Prime doctrine to acquire for players who are concentrating on boosting combat performances, recruitment time, and starting experience for all aerial units, besides the transport aircraft.
Special Training Paths[]
There is no 'officially best air doctrine' within Special Training because all paths deliver powerful boosts to its respective unit.
Aerial Supremacy[]
Heavily vital for air forces that will mostly rely on fighters, as fighters are the most efficient unit for maintaining air superiority by destroying enemy aircraft with ease, so it is necessary to have this doctrine enabled for further attack, defense, speed, and military experience buffs.
Vertical Formations provide a 2x defense multiplier to attackers and bombers, despite being categorized under the Fighter branch.
Crucial for strengthening the airspace defense, as bomber-spam could be rendered useless if enough fighters can prevent enemy bomber forces from committing substantial destruction.
Strategic Bombing[]
Tremendously important for air forces that will be mass bombing on enemy territory, as the upgrade to speed, attack, and defense to bombers can cause chronic damage to cities.
Mass bombing is only viable for countries that will not economically suffer upon spawning massive amounts of bomber units, especially combined with Mass Production airports.
Close Air Support[]
Useful for countries that will mass employ attackers during aerial warfare, as attackers are one of the best units for assaulting all ground units from the skies. This ability can hamper any form of enemy offense or defense if the attackers are strong enough to fight against such units.
Since large amounts of attackers can harm and sink any type of ship, mostly capital ships (battleships and aircraft carriers), this branch can help support this tactic as it provides additional attack, defense, experience buffs.
Trivia[]
Military doctrines were initially released in the Military Update on July 5th, 2019. However, four years later in December 7, 2023, the concept of doctrines would eventually receive a significant rework.
Massed Attack, Strategic Bombing, Aerial Supremacy, Specialization, and Submarine Warfare are the only doctrines that existed before the doctrine revamp update and continue to be available today. However, their capabilities and modifiers have been changed.
The Nuke is the only unit that remains unmodified by any of current or old doctrines.
The term "Manoeuvre" in Manoeuvre Warfare is the preferred spelling in British English, while "Maneuver" is the preferred spelling in American English. Essentially, "Manoeuvre" Warfare and "Maneuver" Warfare are interchangeably correct as they both share mutual meanings but with different spellings.
There are three quotes in three different doctrines' descriptions that are direct allusions. These quotes include:
"It's not the plane, it's the pilot." within Special Training's description is a direct allusion to the film Top Gun: Maverick. This quote is attributed to Bradley Bradshaw, known by his callsign 'Rooster,' made moments before an intense dogfight against two Sukhoi Su-57fifth-generation fighter jets while Maverick (the pilot) and Rooster (the wingman) were controlling an F-14 Tomcatfourth-generation fighter jet.
"The bomber will always get through." within Strategic Bombing's description was said by Stanley Baldwin, a British Prime Minister, during the 1930s. The phrase in his speech feared that as aircraft performance and technology continued to rapidly grow, bomber aircraft had capabilities to conduct a strategic bombing campaign that would destroy a country's cities and there was little that could be done in response.
"Strike First, Strike Fast, Strike Hard." within Manoeuvre Warfare's description is a quote partially attributed to the television series Cobra Kai. The mantra was used by the character Johnny Lawrence, recognizing the importance of attacking with great power and force to swiftly seize the advantage over opponents.
There have been two major doctrine rebalancing updates, the first one occurring in the 06/10/2024 Minor Update (June 10, 2024), and the second one occurring in the 02/10/2025 Minor Update (February 10, 2025). There was also a patch released on February 10, 2025 aimed at addressing the issues the second doctrine rebalancing brought forth. There's also been some tweaks and minor changes to doctrines.
The first update on July 10, 2024 brought the following changes:
Stalwart Defense's war exhaustion reduction was reduced from -0.010 to -0.005;
Adaptability's ground starting experience was increased from to 1.1x to 1.2x;
Specialization's biome and terrain benefits was increased increased from to 1.35x to 2x;
Advanced Training's infantry starting experience was increased from to 1.3x to 1.5x, while ground starting experience was increased from 1.1x to 1.15x;
Armored Fist's tank attack against infantry was increased from to 1.25x to 1.5x;
Steel Division's tank attack was increased from to 1.2x to 1.35x;
Downfall Initiative gains a further 0.7x reduction to infantry manpower cost.
The second update on February 10, 2024 brought the following changes:
Static Lines, Greater Support, Fortifications Effort and Stalwart Defense all gave a debuff to Military Attack against Entrenched Units, with Static lines giving 0.4x and the rest giving 0.75x respectively.
Advanced Training got a buff to Ground Attack against Entrenched and Fortified Units, being 1.5x against Entrenched Units and 1.35x against Fortified Units.
Manoeuvre Warfare, Armored Fist and Steel Division received a buff to either Military Attack against Entrenched Units or Military Attack against Fortified Units.
Manoeuvre Warfare gave a 1.25x buff to both Military Attack against Entrenched Units and Ground Attack against Entrenched Units.
Armored Fist gave a buff of 2x to Ground Attack against Fortified Units.
Steel Division gave a 1.5x increase to Ground Attack against Fortified Units.
Combined Bombardment gave a 2x buff to Air Attack against Fortified Units and a 0.5x cheaper military power cost for the Deep Battle Theory military operation.
On February 10, 2025, a patch was released which aimed to address the issues the previous update the same day brought forth.
The Military Attack against Entrenched Units on Static Lines, Greater Support, Fortifications Effort and Stalwart Defense was removed and replaced with debuffs to Infantry Attack against Entrenched Units and Tank Attack against Entrenched Units instead.
Static Lines used to give a debuff of 0.75x to Infantry Attack against Entrenched Units and debuff of 0.6x to Tank Attack against Entrenched Units. This was tweaked a day later on February 11, 2025.
Greater Support, Fortifications Effort and Stalwart Defense all give a debuff of 0.75x to both Infantry Attack against Entrenched Units and Tank Attack against Entrenched Units respectively.
As of February 11, 2025, Static Lines was buffed to give an increase to Infantry and Tank Attack against Entrenched Units from 0.75x and 0.6x respectively to the current value of 0.9x for both stats. Static Lines, Greater Support, Fortifications Effort and Stalwart Defense thus give a debuff of 0.9x each to Infantry and Tank Attack against Entrenched Units now.
Advanced Training used to give a 1.2x buff to Ground Attack against Entrenched Units instead of the previous 1.5x buff. It also gave a 1.18x buff to Ground Attack against Fortified Units instead of the previous 1.35x as well.
Manoeuvre Warfare now gives a 1.15x buff to Ground Attack against Entrenched Units instead of the previous 1.25x. Manoeuvre Warfare's Military Attack against Entrenched Units buff also got decreased from 1.25x to 1.1x.
Armored Fist now gives a 1.15x buff to Ground Attack against Fortified Units instead of the previous 2x buff.
Steel Division now gives a 1.2x buff to Ground Attack against Fortified Units instead of the previous 1.5x buff.
Mass Paradrop received a 1.5x faster Aerial Embarkment Speed buff.
Peru, 
