Militaristic

Lahore

Suzerain and envoy bonuses summarised in our own words from the game data.

Suzerain bonus

Your cities can train Nihang, a faith-purchasable unit with its own promotion tree that grows stronger as you first build a Barracks, Armory and Military Academy.

Game data traceMINOR_CIV_LAHORE_UNIQUE_UNIT_UNLOCK

Strategy guide

Nihangs are faith-bought warrior-monks with their own promotion tree, growing stronger with each first Encampment building you complete. They spend no production and no strategic resources — a parallel army funded entirely by faith, available the moment a war starts.

Best civs & plans

Faith-rich warmongers get a second army for free; religious civs gain a military answer without derailing their faith economy.

Envoy plan

Lahore is a militaristic city-state, so a single envoy already speeds unit production in the capital and Barracks cities, and that tier is worth taking regardless of plans. The Nihang unlock behind suzerainty is worth three envoys only if your faith income is real; a civ without a religion or a pantheon-driven faith economy has nothing to buy them with. Time the third envoy for when you have an Encampment with a Barracks, since the unit's first strength step comes from that building. The AI seldom prioritizes Lahore, so three envoys usually hold through the medieval era and four is comfortable. A six-envoy investment makes sense for a faith-and-war empire, because the Armory and Military Academy production tiers feed the conventional half of the same army.

Value by era

Nihangs shine in the medieval and renaissance eras. By then a religious player has spare faith after the initial missionary wave, an Encampment with a Barracks and Armory has raised the unit's strength twice, and its promotion tree makes it a credible frontline piece against knights and pikemen. In the ancient and classical eras faith is too precious to spend on soldiers and the unit is still at its base strength, so early suzerainty is mostly insurance against a rush. Late in the game the Military Academy step keeps it relevant into the industrial era, but the Nihang does not upgrade into a modern unit, so by the time infantry and tanks appear the faith is better spent on Rock Bands or Naturalists. Think of it as a middle-game bonus with a hard expiry.

Pitfalls and how to protect it

The most common misuse is buying Nihangs as a core army instead of a supplement; they have no upgrade path, so every faith point spent on them is gone when the era moves on. Purchase them for a specific war and stop when it ends. The strength steps trigger on the first completion of each Encampment building anywhere in your empire, so do not build three Barracks expecting three boosts; one of each is enough. Because the unit is a faith purchase, the Theocracy government's faith-purchase discount makes it cheaper, and skipping it while relying on Nihangs wastes the bonus. Lahore is rarely conquered, but a rival suzerain gains the same unit; if it flips during a war, existing Nihangs stay yours, only new purchases stop.

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.

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Other Militaristic city-states

Related guides

Last reviewed: 2026-10-03