Cake or death?

[Jampe]

You know the score...the battle is over, the enemy have fled from the field like the cowardly dogs they are and your light cavalry line up hundreds of captured soldiers for your perusal.
What do you do? Ransom them back? Butcher them all where they stand?

It's a problem I've been wrestling with for some time now and I haven't been able to come up with a definitive answer so I was wondering what you good people thought on the matter. Here are my thoughts so far...

Pro butchering:
1. Scant Mercy virtue (vice?) is worth getting if your general is a governor.
2. There have been times where I'm getting to know the enemy spearmen by name after ransoming them back for 5 seasons running and I'm just fed up with fighting every turn (with rapidly dwindling numbers of men) to hang on to some poxy province and a quick bloodletting eases the pressure a treat.
3. The noise that little red button makes as you butcher them is just so, well..you can practically hear the blade sliding across the breastbone, through the gristle... MUAHAHAHAA http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/mad.gif

Pro ransoming:
1. The ransom money often allows you to buy significantly more troops than you've ransomed back, especially if you captured any nobles. (well...duh http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/rolleyes.gif )
2. No mercy vice takes a tiny bite out of morale which I've seen said on many occasions to be bad like Eddie Murphy movies (yes, that bad).

Any more thoughts/ideas? Do you think there is a definitive answer, yes or no? I'm quite stumped on this one so any ideas are welcome

P.S. 10 Bonus Points ™ for anyone who can name the comedian I'm quoting in the topic title http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

[Knight_Yellow]

for me its sluaghter all the time i once killed over 2000 prisoners and got the ultimate virtue Genocide or watever they call it in the game lets just say that no army my elite gen fought against stood their ground.

and that sound is so cool and hearing realy gets the cousins running away crying lol.

but lets be serious for a mo wat if these ppl r real???
like in tron but on a massive genosidal scale???
were all war criminal's The horror http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/shock.gif

[Gregoshi]

Whether I ransom them or slaughter them depends upon the situation. If I'm badly outnumbered I kill the prisoners because I don't need them coming back to attack me again in another two years. Also the dread increase helps against larger numbers in the morale department. I will even go as far as killing the prisoners during the battle to try and swing the balance in my favour.

In all other situations, try to ransom and get the florin.

[Tartychops]

I'm generally a heartless beast and offer no mercy But, yep, depends on the situation and how angry I am at my homelands being invaded by factions I called my allies etc http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

Oh and the comedian? One of my faves, Mr Eddie Izzard, and that happens to be one of my favourite sketches too http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/cool.gif

[SuperTimo]

I agree with Gregoshi, it depends on the situation. If you know that enemy has much more troops than you, giving him back some of them isn`t worth those florins. And if you`re fighting someone you know you can beat pretty easily, then ransom them.

[Jampe]

Quote[/b] (Tartychops @ Dec. 28 2002,05:08)]Oh and the comedian? One of my faves, Mr Eddie Izzard, and that happens to be one of my favourite sketches too http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/cool.gif
Heheh...10 Bonus Points ™ to that man It's one of my fave bits of his too- you can't beat having a go at the church, they have to forgive you, it's in the rulebook http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/tongue.gif

[Cooperman]

It kinda depends on the quality of the troops, if they suck then I let them go they ran once, they'll run again but if it's been a tough fight and I dont want to let them reorganise especially if they'll have reinforcements coming from another province then I'll butcher them to make sure.