Kabul

Strategy guide

Double XP from battles you initiate turns every war into a promotion farm. Attack first with each unit — even skirmishes you could skip — and your army hits elite promotions a full era before anyone else's. Ranged units farming XP behind walls benefit most of all.

Best civs & plans

Domination civs that fight continuously — Gran Colombia, the Zulu, Alexander's Macedon — convert the XP into an unstoppable veteran core.

Envoy plan

Kabul only rewards players who intend to fight, so the envoy plan follows the war plan. Peaceful builders should send exactly one envoy for the militaristic production bonus in the capital and Barracks cities and leave it there. A domination player should reach three envoys before the first serious war, typically in the classical era, because promotions earned in that war compound through every later one. The AI rarely commits more than three envoys to Kabul unless it is a warmonger, so a four-envoy lead is enough. Going to six is defensible for a militaristic empire, since the Armory and Military Academy production tiers feed the same army that is banking the doubled experience.

Value by era

The classical and medieval eras are Kabul's prime, when unit counts are low and a single promotion decides skirmishes. Doubling experience in that window produces units with two or three promotions while opponents still field raw recruits, and those veterans upgrade into knights and musketmen that carry their promotions forward. The renaissance keeps the value high because siege units and ranged lines that attack every turn generate the most experience of any troops. By the modern era the effect thins: promotions still matter, but combat is decided by tech gaps, bombers and corps formations, and a fresh army built late will not have time to farm many battles. A late suzerainty is worth it only for a final domination push already underway.

Pitfalls and how to protect it

The doubling applies to combat your unit initiates, so defending inside a city or absorbing an enemy charge gains nothing extra. Players who sit behind walls waste the bonus; the correct habit is to open every exchange with your own attack, especially with ranged units that can strike without retaliation. Do not let the promotion farm tempt you into pointless wars that wreck your grievances and trade partnerships. Levying Kabul's units before a war gives you extra bodies that also earn doubled experience while under your control. If an AI captures Kabul, the bonus matters little to a peaceful player, but a warmonger should liberate it as part of the campaign.

Envoy bonuses

• 1 envoy+1 Production toward units in your capital and in each city with a Barracks or Stable.
• 3 envoys+2 Production toward units in each city with an Armory or a Consulate (+4 if the city has both).
• 6 envoys+3 Production toward units in each city with a Military Academy or a Chancery (+6 if the city has both).

Envoy bonuses are shared by every city-state of the same type.

Other Militaristic city-states

• Akkad
• Granada
• Lahore
• Ngazargamu
• Preslav
• Valletta
• Wolin

Related guides

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• Diplomatic Victory: Earning and Spending FavorA working plan for the Gathering Storm diplomatic victory: where Diplomatic Favor actually comes from, how World Congress sessions and votes turn into victory points, which emergencies, competitions and wonders matter, how to keep alliances alive, and when to spend favor versus hold it against a rival's lead.Last reviewed: 2026-10-03
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