Military Strength Calculation

Author: SpringPizazz

Date: 2026-02-11

Game version: 4.19.12

1. Base combat strength of each unit

Every unit has a base combat strength, determined mainly by:

1.1 Base attack

• Melee units: strength ^ 1.5
• Ranged units: ranged strength ^ 1.45

Examples

Unit	Strength	Base combat strength
Warrior	6
Archer	7 (ranged)
Catapult	12 (ranged)

1.2 Movement bonus

Strength is also multiplied by:

Examples

• Warrior (movement 2):
• Archer (movement 2):
• Horseman (strength 10, movement 4):

1.3 Bonuses and modifiers

Factor	Effect
Ranged naval units	strength × 0.5
Self-destructing units (e.g. missiles)	strength × 0.5
City attack bonus (e.g. +50%)	half counts → +25%
Bonus vs specific units	only a quarter counts
"When attacking"/"when defending" bonus	only half counts
Terrain bonus	only half counts
Paradrop ability	+25%
Needs setup to attack	-20%
Extra attacks	+20% per extra attack
Nukes	+4000

Concrete example: Catapult

• Ranged attack 12, movement 2
• Has "needs setup" and "city attack +50%"

Calculation:

1. Base:
2. Setup modifier:
3. City attack:

2. Actual unit strength (promotions & HP)

Final strength is also affected by:

• Promotions: each promotion multiplies strength by
• Current HP: applied proportionally (e.g. 50HP = ×0.5)

Examples

• Full-HP Archer (no promotions):
• Half-HP Archer (2 promotions):

3. Total civilization military strength

Summing all unit strengths gives your civilization military strength!

Formula

Important details

1. Base value is 1: even with no units you have 1 military strength
2. Naval units × 0.5: water units count for half strength
3. Gold modifier: more gold = higher military strength

Gold modifier table

Gold	Modifier
0	0% (×1.0)
100	10% (×1.1)
1,000	31.6% (×1.316)
2,500	50% (×1.5)
6,400	80% (×1.8)
10,000	100% (×2.0)
20,000	141% (but capped at ×2.0)

💡 The gold modifier caps at 2x (reached at 10,000 gold)

4. Full calculation example

Suppose your civilization has these units (all full-HP, no promotions):

Unit	Count	Unit strength	Subtotal
Warrior	3	18	54
Archer	2	18	36
Catapult	1	48	48
Trireme	1	50 (naval ×0.5)	25
Horseman	1	44	44

• Unit total:

• With 2,500 gold:

  • Gold modifier = (×1.5)
  • Final military strength =

5. Practical tips

1. Ranged units: despite high attack, the 1.45 exponent (not 1.5) makes their actual strength slightly lower than equal-attack melee units
2. Naval units: automatically halved — you need more ships at sea to deter
3. HP matters: damaged units lose lots of strength; heal promptly
4. Gold is invisible strength: 2,500 gold gives +50% military strength!
5. Promotions accumulate: veteran units beat fresh ones

6. Code references

Feature	Code location
Base unit strength	core/src/com/unciv/models/ruleset/unit/BaseUnit.kt:509
Unit strength	core/src/com/unciv/logic/map/mapunit/MapUnit.kt:685
Civ military strength	core/src/com/unciv/logic/civilization/Civilization.kt:800
Detailed docs	docs/Other/Force-rating-calculation.md

✦ Summary: stronger units, more units, more gold → higher military strength!