What do you do with your worst Generals

[a_ver_est]

In my current game I had a general with -6 of valor, I used an assassin to kill him, but is it a dangerous tactic ?

Other tactic that I used is a suicidal attack with one heir with bad skills to avoid be promoted to king

[frogbeastegg]

You missed out using a spy to fake a treason trial which results in a messy execution for the general and a small loyalty boost kingdom wide. http://216.40.249.192/s/contrib/anym/hanged.gif

In case you haven't guessed that’s my choice, at least for generals. Duff heirs get sent to the most unpleasant place currently hostile to my faction to fight one man battles.

Killing poor generals/heirs/governors doesn't seem to upset the apple cart so murder away

[The_Emperor]

You also forgot to include the Option of I Burn them with an Inquisitor.

Thats my fave way of getting rid of em, though the spy/assassin option is also good.

However most of the time I disband the unit after I have topped off diminished units with the men from the General's unit, that way he's all alone when I send him packing http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[A Nerd]

I like to use them for garrison duty. Even good runners can quell peasant armies

[FesterShinetop]

Quote[/b] (Running Backwards @ July 02 2003,21:07)]I like to use them for garrison duty. Even good runners can quell peasant armies
Me too. Just put them in a province to keep the masses happy http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[ShadesPanther]

If they are a good unit i find a better general and promote him above the crap general or just get a better general altogether

[bighairyman]

i let them follow my good generals to set a example.

if all else fail or he has low loyalty, i first send a assianss on them , then burn them on stake. then drop a spy on him for treason.

of all fails, then sent him alone to my enemies.

if THAT fails, then i disband him

[khurjan]

lol i just hack their heads off :P or try to send them into desperate battles hoping they pickup good stuff http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif as its rare to get good generals in expert level

[a_ver_est]

is there a way to edit the poll and add more choises ? http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/confused.gif

[JohnCee]

If they have decent acumen but bad battle vices (good runner, poor defender/attacker) I send bad generals to run a nice safe province, anywhere that isn't in danger of revolt or invasion.

Otherwise bad heirs get sent on suicide missions and anyone else gets assassinated/fake treason/immolated depending on what mood I'm in.

[hrvojej]

Well, depends of the definition of a bad general. I had a 9 star who was a glutton and a severe alcoholic. His unit had negative morale, and other stats were at 0. He would lose 15 men just from chasing 50 peasants, but he did wonders for the rest of the army. I just didn't commit him to do any fighting, and won some very tough battles with his army. Morale penalty can be offset by high amount of stars and using high morale units. -3 morale on 6 star general pretty much brings the morale to the starting value of a unit, but their attack and defense are still +3, so it's better to have that guy command them then a 0 star. I only very occasionally suicide a very bad heir, and a general with -6 or worse morale just gets to be commanded by somebody else, such as the king. Especially if his acumen is good, I don't want to get rid of him, and he then gets a garrison duty.

[Maelstrom]

I use the unit to replenish other depleted units, and then once he is left on his own I either disband him, of if he happens to have high acument but bad combat V&Vs I retire him to a province as a govenor.

[Laelius]

I had a pretty bad heir just last night...one Prince Alfred. A number of poor V&V, probably because I just let him sit in Wales as I attempted to expand English power on the continent. His younger brother, Prince William, was a poster boy for heriditary monarchy, so I decided Alfred had to go.

I launched a three prong attack on the French, breaking out of Normandy. A massive army went to Flanders to gain the port, while another went into Brittany. As a spoiler, I sent Prince Alfred and his force of twenty knights to the province immediately south of Normandy (can't remember the name, and am at work right now...). The plan was to tie them down and prevent reinforcements from being shuttled to Brittany.

The French armies in Brittany and Flanders were commanded by princes. Both were defeated (though Brittany was an extremely close contest), the princes captured or killed.

Meanwhile, Alfred and his twenty faced a force consisting of the French king, two hundred UM, and a regiment of a hundred spearmen. He actually managed to take out the French king before being pulled from his horse by the spearmen.

At the end of the turn, imagine my surprise to see that the French had no more male heirs, and that they were wiped out as a faction.

Definitely the best suicide attack I have ever undertaken http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[A.Saturnus]

There are no bad generals. The generals of my armies are always the best I can find. Those who are worse are unit leaders but not generals. The only problem can be when a high command general has valour or morale vices. Valour vices aren`t too serious, I just do not commit them to battle or only when it`s save. Lesser morale vices are ok as long as you don`t fight riscy battle (what I rarely do). With the valour bonus due to command these generals are still worth it. Those with high morale vices get garrison duty.

[Louis de la Ferte Ste Colombe]

I am my worst bad general http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/frown.gif

Louis the Simurgh,

[o_loompah_the_delayer]

Quote[/b] (a_ver_est @ July 02 2003,11:20)]In my current game I had a general with -6 of valor, I used an assassin to kill him, but is it a dangerous tactic ?

Other tactic that I used is a suicidal attack with one heir with bad skills to avoid be promoted to king
How did you achieve a -6 general?

Regarding a suicide mission chances are he would run so I doubt that would work. I usually dump them in a crusade, or use it to top up other units.

[lancer63]

Quote[/b] (o_loompah @ Aug. 01 2003,17:09)]How did you achieve a -6 general?
The 'Doubtful courage' v&v gives you -6 valor. It comes from running in the face of the enemy once too often and don'remember what the 'coward' v&v gives you. It's worse than good runner which only gives you -3 valor.

[TheSilverKnight]

I like to try them for heresy, even if they're not heretics, and they get burned away. Quite good fun. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[Prince Lom]

I usually use them as garrison troops. I'm too much of a Scrooge to go disbanding them after I paid all those florins for a unit I insist on getting something out of them http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

Sometimes I will send a Spy or Assassin to get rid of them. This is usually just for fun though, usually I don't bother (partly because I often have more immediate concerns such as fending of the whopping 5 stacks of troops that my rival has just moved near to my border...)

All in all, things like Inquisitors, Assassins, Spys et al are diversionary amusements. Unlike the old Legendary Geisha, they play a minor role - they are their for fun really.

Sending bad Generals into battle under the command of a better General is always and option. Use the bad General as bait for enemy Gothic Knights, etc, so in his final moments he can actually serve his Monarch usefully. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/cool.gif


I have a Byzantine 9 star general in one of my campaigns. He has acquired a lot of vices, and has -4 Valour. If it were not for the 9 Stars, I'd never use him - but with all those stars he's too good to not use. I just make sure he stays right at the back of the army, well away from any enemies. He occasionally gets to charge some Peasants, that's about all he is capable of dealing with The mental image of that General makes me laugh - I see this immensely fat and inbred old guy trying to struggle up onto his poor horse that is already weighed down by so much Kataphraktoi armour, hehehe.

[Shadow_Wolf33]

my bad generals are usually relegated to the rather awful task of chasing down archers. Curse those lucky arrows that hit the general on the first volley, curse them I say http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/rolleyes.gif

then once general magoo has been removed, I retreat the unit back to my lines, and polish off the archer unit with my longbows. Dang now why didn't I think of that in the first place http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

and when the general is REALLY bad, I send the longbows in when the general's unit is ingaged in combat with the archers. Oopsies I didn't mean to shoot that poor guy Then back to the retraining centre for that unit in hopes that they get a commander with more brains than a bag of hammers this time. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[the Black Prince]

i can see you have long mastered the strategys of the batlefield i see you have secret rough justice obviously + 1 dread to shadow_wolf33 btw nice sig - terry pratchet?

i get rid of them by assasinating them or relegating them to garrison duty. in the case of seriously poor heirs though i once sent the entire pantheon into hopeless 1 man battles, to get a civil war to get a decent king the things you do for your country

[Shadow_Wolf33]

he he he. Its no secret, my generals KNOW not to get on my bad side...and I believe thats where the quote is from, I heard it quite a while ago and the phrase came to me a little while ago while watching wind talkers.

I wonder if there's any way to mod your archers so they don't hit your own troops that are in meelee with the enemy troops?

[Sjakihata]

just let them fire at will and dont order them to shoot, then they only shoot if the chances of friendly fire casualties are as low as possible or none.

[Shadow_Wolf33]

usually thats what I do...for that reason and also because I don't like my archers moving out of formation on me...when that happens the groups tend to overlap and I get the crap I shot my buddy in the back of the head effect...I mean come on is it so hard to aim UP so you don't shoot the guy standing in front of you in the back of the head? common sense sheesh. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/rolleyes.gif

[Nigel]

hmmm, how did this poll about bad generals turn into a discussion about archers and friendly fire http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/confused.gif

Well, never mind, I do what many here seem to do, too.
Use the bad genral's troops as reserves to fill up the ranks of a good genearl's troops after a battle, then fire them.

[Shadow_Wolf33]

I'm a master at the change of topic mid thread...you should see the other forums I inhabit...some threads change topic 5 or 6 times http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[Hamburglar]

The only generals that you TRULY need to get rid of are ones that are powerful AND have very low Loyalty.
If a guy has decent command stars and some negative vices, he stays in command. He's still better than a 0 command recruit.

At the very least just put him in some rear area. Disbanding units is utterly pointless. I've never done it. Send them on a suicide attack if you really want to get rid of them and they'll take some of the enemy down with them.



As for a bad prince who's first in line for the throne, I usually try to assassinate him or have him tried for treason. I don't like to waste a unit of 40 Royal Bodyguards just because the guy in command of it is a moron.

Powerful generals that are disloyal are either
A) Placed WITH the King's stack until their loyalty goes up.
B) Killed by spies. Spies have an EASY time killing generals if the general has really low loyalty.

[Varyar]

I usually disband units led by a disloyal/poor general. Heirs, on the other hand, is an entirely different business. If there is ever a prince born who is more skilled than his older brothers, then those brothers go kamikaze... http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[jadast]

Why waste the unit? My thoughts run this way: 1) Does the general make a good governor? 2) Do I need a garrison force somewhere? 3) Can I put this unit with a higher ranking unit?

I never kill my own units.

[Adam the Great]

If the my next heir isn't looking to good I send him on a suicide mission. Sometimes it takes two or three tries to get the enemy to kill him, and I kill a bunch of their guys off.

[HawaiianHobbit]

I disband the unit, unless it's a good unit, then I assassinate him.

[Quokka]

Quote[/b] (lancer63 @ Aug. 02 2003,06:54)]
Quote[/b] (o_loompah @ Aug. 01 2003,17:09)]How did you achieve a -6 general?
The 'Doubtful courage' v&v gives you -6 valor. It comes from running in the face of the enemy once too often and don'remember what the 'coward' v&v gives you. It's worse than good runner which only gives you -3 valor.
The Good Runner->Coward chain of vices is negative Morale not Valour. Good Runner is -3 and I think Coward is -9.
The Sybarite->Glutton chain of vices gives negative Valour. Sybarite is -1 and I think Glutton is -4 Valour and -40% Happiness.

[Theredlemming]

A good tactic is to put the general with a better one this boosts his valour. Then charge with a cavillary force into one of those giant peasent armys that form. ;)After lots of this he becomes an alright genearl though the easyist tactic by far is just to use a spy like other people have suggested. I personally never do the because i feel that it may trigger a civil war. jadast's suggest is one i often use to +6 in Geshafftsinn (sorry i am not sure of it in english (i live in germany and have the german version))is far better then +3 if you want him to be governer of Flandern or Sweden. Though to each his own http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

the red lemming http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif