Provincial armies are groups of troop units which, once assigned to a province, will patrol that province. Provincial armies are the first line of defense against enemy raids and invasions. They are the only troops which are able to respond to enemy raids on their province. They may not respond to any attacks on provinces other than their own, nor may they move into other provinces as imperial armies may.

Raids: Provincial armies may be used to raid neighboring provinces and are better suited to do so than imperial armies. In peace years turns, a provincial army may raid with all its troops. During war season turns, however, no more than eight troops may raid. If an army with more than eight troop units is assigned to raid, only the first eight will be detached for the raid while the others remain to defend the province--the computer will do this for you automatically. Seazone navies may raid either other seazones or adjacent coastal provinces.

Invasions: Provincial armies may not invade another province unless an imperial army is leading the invasion. An imperial army may pick up those provincial armies that are BOTH adjacent to the province being invaded and adjacent to or belonging to the province the imperial army invades from. Seazone navies may participate in an invasion of a coastal province, but not in an invasion of another seazone.