You'll need to make a Manor Lords militia if you're playing this a city-builder-meets-battle tactics game to fend off attacks from rival lords and bandits. If you're playing the combat-free Rise to Prosperity Manor Lords scenario however, this won't be an issue.
This militia in Manor Lords is an army of local townspeople with weapons and armour to fight incoming foes, or help stake claims to a rival's territory. You're given a starter set of weapons and shields when you first start, but knowing what to do with them or grow your forces isn't clear. Let me explain how to set up a militia in Manor Lords so you'll always be prepared for battle and you can also check out our Manor Lords tips for general helpful advice on starting out.
How to set up a Manor Lords militia
- Build your village until you have at least 36 male settlers
- Click "create new units" using the Army button on your toolbar
- Assess your weapons and shields, then form the most relevant militia
- Rally your troops when needed for battle
The basic of setting up a militia in manor Lords more or less involves having enough people and telling them to be an army. You'll get a certain amount of weapons just from your town existing but you'll want to expand and level up aspects of your burgage plots to get more and mount a real fighting force.
Manor Lords militia types
There are four militia types in Manor Lords, each requiring specific weapons or defense tools:
- Militia Footmen (sidearms, small shields)
- Spear Militia (spears, large shields)
- Polearm Militia (polearms)
- Archer Militia (warbows)
In order to reach a minimum headcount for your militia you will need high enough Manor Lords approval to get enough people living in your settlement. Then, you can rally recruits for battle when you are under attack or wish to challenge rival lords for more territory.
How to get weapons in Manor Lords
If you see "equipment missing" when you hover over the militia panel in Manor Lords then you need weapons. Every default run of Manor Lords gives you some starter weapons, but to get more or access different types and shields, you can construct a backyard extension on a Level 2 Burgage plot and turn the residents into artisans to make them. You'll first need to know how to build regional wealth in Manor Lords, as some backyard extensions do cost money to begin with. Luckily, most combat-relevant backyard extensions require resources instead of money.
These backyard extensions give you more weapons in Manor Lords:
- Armorer's Workshop (produces helmets for any militia type)
- Blacksmith's Workshop (produces smithing tools, spears, and sidearms)
- Bowyer's Workshop (produces warbows)
- Joiner's Workshop (produces wooden parts and all shield types)
Note that blacksmiths will need raw materials like Iron Ore, as well as another villager assigned to a nearby Bloomery to refine it into Iron Slabs to make weapons. If you're not seeing weapon production once you have things set up, work your way through the production line to make sure that you have built the required industry structures your artisans might need resources from, and that everything has a worker assigned.
You can also get weapons in Manor Lords by establishing the relevant trade route via the Trading Post, constructed for 2 timber through the Trading submenu on the Construction toolbar. Here is where you can purchase polearms, warbows, and other weapons if you'd rather not restrict a family to being an artisan-only household, since you cannot reassign families once you turn their Burgage plot into one of the workshops listed above.
It is rather expensive to establish a trade route for weaponry and armor, costing roughly 48 regional wealth to establish the route and a further 16-18 regional wealth per imported item. That hardly seems fair when you only get 5-8 regional wealth for exporting your own artisanal weapons, but it'll do in a pinch should you find yourself with more money than spears.
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