Internal Factions Guide

Internal Factions represent powerful interest groups within your country. Each faction has an opinion score from 0 to 100, where 50 is neutral. Higher opinion unlocks stronger dynamic bonuses; low opinion reduces or reverses them. Factions cost 1500 Political Power to add (reducible by the “Reduce Internal Faction Costs” game rule).

You can only have one active faction at a time. Switching removes the old faction and replaces it with the new one.

Table of Contents

• How Opinion Works
• Economic Factions
  • Small & Medium Business Owners
  • International Bankers
  • Fossil Fuel Industry
  • Industrial Conglomerates
  • Oligarchs
• Militaristic Factions
  • Maritime Industry
  • Defense Industry (Military-Industrial Complex)
  • The Military
  • Intelligence Community
• Special Interest Factions
  • Labour Unions
  • Landowners
  • Farmers
  • Communist Cadres
• Religious Factions
  • The Priesthood
  • The Ulema
  • The Clergy
  • Wahabi Ulema
• Nation-Specific Factions
  • The Donju (North Korea)
  • Saudi Royal Family
  • Iranian Quds Force
  • Foreign Jihadis
  • Wall Street (USA)
  • Chaebols (South Korea)
• Strategic Tips
• Common Event Chains
• Quick Reference Table

How Opinion Works

Opinion represents how satisfied a faction is with the ruling government. It decays monthly toward its minimum threshold if not actively maintained.

• Starting Opinion: 50 when you first add a faction
• Minimum Threshold: 50 for most factions (the floor opinion decays toward)
• Opinion Ranges:
  • Hostile: 0–30
  • Negative: 31–49
  • Indifferent: 50–69
  • Positive: 70–89
  • Enthusiastic: 90–100

Autocrat Bonus: Autocratic governments (Western Autocrats, Emerging Autocrats, Neutral Autocrats, Fascists, Military Junta) receive double positive opinion changes from events and decisions. Negative opinion changes are not doubled.

Ideas that increase a faction’s minimum opinion also raise the floor that monthly decay targets, effectively sustaining higher opinion levels passively.

Economic Factions

Small & Medium Business Owners

Available for: Most nations (not available to WAG, KOR, NKO — those use unique variants)

Dynamic Bonuses (scale with opinion):

• Industrial complex construction speed (max +15%)
• Stability (max +10%)
• Consumer goods factor (max -10%)
• Civilian factory tax income (max +20%)
• Internet station construction speed (max +15%)
• Civilian factory productivity (max +15%)

Events:

• Tax cut demands (if opinion >60)
• Foreign company buyouts
• Bureaucracy complaints
• Startup funding requests
• Banking disputes
• Fossil fuel industry conflicts
• Harassment by large companies
• Labor union disputes
• Religious day business conflicts

Decisions:

• Raise Wages: +5 opinion (also affects Labour Unions, Communist Cadres)
• Subsidize Small Businesses: +5 opinion, -4% corporate tax income for 120 days

International Bankers

Available for: Most nations (not available to USA, which uses Wall Street instead)

Static Bonuses:

• Interest rate multiplier: -1
• Expected education modifier: +0.5

Dynamic Bonuses (scale with opinion):

• Office construction speed (max +15%)
• Local resources factor (max +10%)
• Trade opinion factor (max +20%)
• Democratic acceptance (max +25)
• Democratic drift (max +0.05)
• Investment duration (max -10%)
• Investment cost (max -10%)
• Office park tax income (max +15%)

Events:

• Refusing loans to small businesses
• Foreign company buyouts
• Grain silo purchases by bankers

Decisions:

• Cut Taxes on the Rich: +5 opinion (also affects Landowners, Oligarchs)

Fossil Fuel Industry

Dynamic Bonuses (scale with opinion):

• Local resources factor (max +20%)
• Fuel gain factor (max +25%)
• Justify war goal time (max -15%)
• Oil export multiplier (max +20%)
• Fuel silo construction speed (max +15%)

Events:

• Clean energy campaigns
• Biofuel investment conflicts with Farmers
• Fuel silo proposals

Decisions:

• Encourage Additional Resource Production: +5 opinion, +15% local resources, -5% corporate tax income for 90 days
• Cut Backs on Regulations: +5 opinion, +30% resource export multiplier, -0.001 stability/week for 180 days
• Cut Taxes on Industry: +5 opinion (also affects Defense Industry, Maritime Industry, Industrial Conglomerates)

Industrial Conglomerates

Available for: Most nations — not available to former Soviet/oligarch states (SOV, UKR, KAZ, BLR, ARM, GEO, UZB, TRK, KYR, MLV, PMR, NOV, SOO, ABK, SYR, EGY), which use Oligarchs instead

Static Bonuses:

• Investment duration: -25%
• Expected administration modifier: +0.5

Dynamic Bonuses (scale with opinion):

• Infrastructure construction speed (max +15%)
• Local resources factor (max +10%)
• Communist acceptance (max +25)
• Communist drift (max +0.05)
• Civilian factory tax income (max +20%)

Events:

• Foreign company buyouts
• Harassment of small businesses
• Labor union disputes
• Agrarian change resistance
• Agricultural complex conversions

Decisions:

• Raise Wages: +5 opinion (shared with SMBO)
• Subsidize Small Businesses: +5 opinion (shared with SMBO)
• Cut Taxes on Industry: +5 opinion

Oligarchs

Available for: Former Soviet states and specific oligarch nations (SOV, UKR, KAZ, BLR, ARM, GEO, UZB, TRK, KYR, MLV, PMR, NOV, SOO, ABK, SYR, EGY, VEN, NIG, BUL, and others with autocracy in power)

Static Bonuses:

• Corruption cost factor: +25%
• Expected education modifier: -0.5

Dynamic Bonuses (scale with opinion):

• Industrial complex construction speed (max +15%)
• Local resources factor (max +20%)
• Communist acceptance (max +25)
• Communist drift (max +0.05)

Events:

• Foreign company buyouts
• Harassment of small businesses
• Intelligence service investigations
• Tax cut demands
• Migrant labor abuse

Decisions:

• Cut Taxes on the Rich: +5 opinion
• Encourage Additional Resource Production: +5 opinion
• Sell Political Positions: +5 opinion, gain treasury income, risk increasing corruption

Militaristic Factions

Maritime Industry

Available for: Nations with at least one coastal state

Static Bonus:

• Expected military budget modifier: +0.5

Dynamic Bonuses (scale with opinion):

• Dockyard construction speed (max +20%)
• Naval base construction speed (max +20%)
• Dockyard industrial capacity (max +20%)
• Navy max range factor (max +20%)
• Dockyard productivity (max +20%)
• Dockyard tax income (max +20%)

Events:

• Subsidy requests
• Convoy production subsidies
• Warehouse purchases in coastal areas

Decisions:

• Cut Taxes on Industry: +5 opinion

Defense Industry (Military-Industrial Complex)

Static Bonus:

• Expected military budget modifier: +0.5

Dynamic Bonuses (scale with opinion):

• Military factory construction speed (max +10%)
• Factory efficiency gain (max +15%)
• Factory base efficiency (max +15%)
• Military factory productivity (max +15%)
• Military factory tax income (max +20%)

Events:

• SAM site demands after border incursions
• Military industry thriving (if opinion >80)
• Labor union disputes

Decisions:

• Cut Taxes on Industry: +5 opinion

The Military

Available for: Nations without the “No Military” idea

Static Bonuses:

• Nationalist drift: +0.02
• Expected military budget modifier: +0.5

Dynamic Bonuses (scale with opinion):

• Army organization (max +5%)
• Army morale (max +10%)
• Training time (max -20%)
• Air base construction speed (max +25%)
• Generate wargoal tension (reduced at high opinion)
• Personnel cost multiplier (max -25%)

Minimum Opinion Bonuses:

• Defense spending level increases minimum opinion (+5% per tier from “Reasonable Defense” to “Total War Economy”)

Events:

• SAM site demands
• Government opposition (if liberal/progressive ruling)
• Ideological conflicts with Communist Cadres
• Foreign nationals in military

Decisions:

• Allow Foreign Nationals: -5 opinion, +5% conscription factor, +15% migration rate
• Repeal Foreign Nationals: +5 opinion

Intelligence Community

Available for: Most nations (not available to Pakistan, which has its own unique ISI faction)

Static Bonus:

• Expected police budget modifier: +0.5

Dynamic Bonuses (scale with opinion):

• Civilian, army, navy, and airforce intel factors (max +15% each)
• Decryption factor (max +20%)
• Encryption factor (max +20%)
• Radar station construction speed (max +25%)
• Foreign subversive activities cost (max -20%)
• Foreign influence effectiveness (max +15%)

Events:

• Citizen surveillance scandals
• Oligarch investigations
• Religious institution surveillance

Special Interest Factions

Labour Unions

Available for: Nations not running a Nationalist or Fascist government

Static Bonuses:

• Expected military budget modifier: -0.5
• Expected healthcare modifier: +0.5

Dynamic Bonuses (scale with opinion):

• Factory start efficiency (max +10%)
• Factory efficiency gain (max +10%)
• Political power factor (max +25%)
• Healthcare cost multiplier (max -15%)
• Social spending cost multiplier (max -15%)

Events:

• Work contract disputes
• Pay increase demands from businesses
• Healthcare spending requests
• Social spending demands
• Migration protests

Decisions:

• Tax Labour Unions: -10 opinion, -10% consumer goods, +5% population tax income for 90 days
• Raise Wages: +10 opinion (also affects SMBO and Industrial Conglomerates)

Landowners

Static Bonuses:

• Corruption cost factor: +15%
• Expected welfare modifier: -0.5

Dynamic Bonuses (scale with opinion):

• Local resources factor (max +15%)
• Conscription factor (max +15%)
• Industrial complex construction speed (max +15%)
• Office park tax income (max +15%)
• Political power factor (max +15%)

Events:

• Tax cut demands
• Agrarian change resistance
• Religious institution funding
• Migrant labor abuse

Decisions:

• Cut Taxes on the Rich: +5 opinion
• Encourage Additional Resource Production: +5 opinion
• Sell Political Positions: +5 opinion

Farmers

Static Bonuses:

• Agriculture workers modifier: +5%
• Agriculture district worker requirement: +5%

Dynamic Bonuses (scale with opinion):

• Conscription factor (max +10%)
• Consumer goods factor (max -10%)
• Monthly population growth (max +20%)
• Agriculture productivity modifier (scales with opinion)
• Agricultural district construction speed (max +15%)

Special: Opinion changes are doubled if agricultural subsidies are increased (Syria-specific)

Events:

• Agrarian change resistance
• Losing ground / subsidy requests
• Biofuel investment proposals
• Renewable energy investments
• Tax cut demands
• Agricultural complex conversions

Decisions:

• Agricultural District Tax Credits: +5 opinion, -10% agriculture district tax income for 120 days

Communist Cadres

Available for: Nations with Neutral Communist or Emerging Communist State in power

Static Bonus:

• Expected administration modifier: +0.5

Dynamic Bonuses (scale with opinion):

• Army organization regain (max +20%)
• Consumer goods factor (max -5%)
• Army core defense factor (max +10%)
• Mobilization speed (max +25%)
• Bureaucracy cost multiplier (max -15%)

Events:

• Ideological conflicts with Military
• Governmental concession requests
• Taxing religious institutions (positive reaction)

Decisions:

• Encourage Party Propaganda: +5 opinion (doubled if no elections), costs 0.2% of GDP
• Sell Political Positions: +5 opinion
• Raise Wages: +5 opinion (shared with Labour Unions)

Religious Factions

The Priesthood

Available for: Nations with Buddhism, Hinduism, Shinto, or Cheondoism as their state religion

Static Bonus:

• Expected military budget modifier: -0.5

Dynamic Bonuses (scale with opinion):

• Stability factor (max +15%)
• Monthly population growth (max +25%)
• Political power factor (max +30%)
• Education cost multiplier (max -10%)

Events:

• Business on religious days
• Representation requests
• Education board input requests

Decisions:

• Encourage Religion in Government: +5 opinion, +5% ruling outlook popularity
• Impose Taxes on Religious Institutions: -15 opinion, +10 opinion for Communist Cadres
• Repeal Religious Taxes: +5 opinion

The Ulema

Available for: Nations with Sunni, Ibadi, Sufi, or Shia Islam as their state religion

Dynamic Bonuses (scale with opinion):

• Stability factor (max +15%)
• Monthly population growth (max +25%)
• Political power factor (max +30%)
• Education cost multiplier (max -10%)

Events:

• Friday sermon political debates
• Education system disputes
• Mosque funding requests
• Religious collaboration with neighbors
• Political edicts

Decisions: Same as The Priesthood

The Clergy

Available for: Nations with Orthodox Christian, Christian, or Eastern Church variants as their state religion

Static Bonus:

• Expected military budget modifier: -0.5

Dynamic Bonuses (scale with opinion):

• Stability factor (max +15%)
• Monthly population growth (max +25%)
• Political power factor (max +30%)
• Education cost multiplier (max -10%)

Events: Same as The Priesthood

Decisions: Same as The Priesthood

Wahabi Ulema

Available for: Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE, Al-Qaeda, ISIS, and affiliated extremist nations

Static Bonus:

• Expected military budget modifier: +0.5 (opposite of other religious factions)

Dynamic Bonuses (scale with opinion):

• Stability factor (max +15%)
• Monthly population growth (max +25%)
• Political power factor (max +30%)
• Fascism drift (max +0.25%)
• Education cost multiplier (max -10%)

Events:

• Shia/Sufi crackdown demands
• Anti-women work policies
• Morality patrol requests

Decisions: Same as other religious factions

Nation-Specific Factions

The Donju (North Korea)

Available for: North Korea only

Static Bonuses:

• Corruption cost factor: +30%
• Interest rate multiplier: -1

Dynamic Bonuses (scale with opinion):

• Industrial complex construction speed (max +15%)
• Stability (max +15%)
• Consumer goods factor (max -5%)
• Infrastructure construction speed (max +15%)

Events: Similar to Small & Medium Business Owners

Saudi Royal Family

Available for: Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait

Dynamic Bonuses (scale with opinion):

• Political power factor (max +20%)
• Ideology drift defense (max +25%)
• Stability factor (scales with opinion)

Events:

• Extended family jet airliner requests
• Prince arguments
• Prince defections

Iranian Quds Force

Available for: Iranian proxies — Iraq, Hamas, Hezbollah, Syria, Houthis, Yemen, Kurdistan, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Taliban, Tajikistan, and Gulf states

Availability: Requires Communism, Neutrality, or Nationalist government

Static Bonuses:

• Send volunteer size: +2
• Expected military budget modifier: +0.5

Dynamic Bonuses (scale with opinion):

• Communist drift (max +0.10%)

Foreign Jihadis

Availability: Requires Fascist government

Static Bonuses:

• Send volunteer size: +1
• Surrender limit: +0.2
• Expected military budget modifier: +0.5
• Weekly manpower: +100
• Adds 7,500 manpower on activation

Dynamic Bonuses (scale with opinion):

• Fascism drift (max +0.10%)
• Non-core manpower (max +10%)
• Special forces cap (max +20%)

Wall Street (USA)

Available for: USA only (replaces International Bankers)

Static Bonuses:

• Economic cycle cost factor: -25%
• Democratic drift: +0.02
• Interest rate multiplier: -1
• Expected welfare modifier: -0.25
• Expected healthcare modifier: -0.25

Dynamic Bonuses (scale with opinion):

• Local resources factor (max +5%)
• Trade opinion factor (max +20%)
• Industrial complex construction speed (max +10%)
• Office park tax income (max +15%)
• Investment cost (max -10%)
• Investment duration (max -10%)

Events: Similar to International Bankers

Chaebols (South Korea)

Available for: South Korea only (replaces Small & Medium Business Owners)

Note: Minimum opinion is 60 (higher floor than most factions)

Static Bonuses:

• Corruption cost factor: +25%
• Receiving investment duration: -25%
• Interest rate multiplier: -1

Dynamic Bonuses (scale with opinion):

• Industrial complex construction speed (max +15%)
• Infrastructure construction speed (max +15%)
• Local resources factor (max +15%)

Events: Similar to Industrial Conglomerates

Strategic Tips

1. Prioritize factions that match your playstyle: Economic factions accelerate building; military factions improve combat readiness.

2. Autocratic governments get double positive opinion gains: This makes maintaining high opinion significantly easier, though negative changes still hit at normal rate.

3. Opinion decays monthly: Neglecting a faction will see it drift back toward its minimum threshold. Use decisions and events to maintain it.

4. Stack related decisions: Many decisions boost multiple factions at once (e.g., “Raise Wages” affects SMBO, Labour Unions, and Communist Cadres).

5. Keep 75–150 PP available: Faction-related decisions are time-sensitive and appear as events you need to act on.

6. Conflicting factions: Labour Unions and business owner factions (SMBO, Industrial Conglomerates) often have opposing interests — choose based on your economic strategy.

7. Religious factions are strong for stability: The political power and population growth bonuses are among the best in the game for civilian buildup.

8. Military and Defense Industry stack differently: The Military improves existing troops; Defense Industry improves factory output. They’re complementary goals.

Common Event Chains

Business vs. Labor: Events force choices between business interests (SMBO, Industrial Conglomerates) and worker interests (Labour Unions). Siding with one reduces the other’s opinion.

Religious vs. Secular: Religious factions push for government influence, education control, and funding. Taxing religious institutions is a major opinion hit but benefits Communist Cadres.

Resource Extraction: Fossil Fuel Industry, Oligarchs, and Landowners push for deregulation and tax cuts at the cost of stability or productivity.

Military Spending: The Military pushes for increased budgets and will react to personnel decisions like foreign nationals recruitment.

Corruption Opportunities: Oligarchs, Landowners, and Communist Cadres offer treasury income via “Sell Political Positions” in exchange for increased corruption.

Quick Reference Table