Captives after battle. [Archive]

Barry Fitzgerald

12-22-2006, 14:34

I tend to ransom them to get cash..but if the AI has been niffing me off...I just kill them all...maybe it is in the hope that they will back off and stop attacking me...but they never seem to! Maybe I should release them! lol

zverzver

12-22-2006, 14:46

It all depends but in my current game I normaly kill them all. There are number of reasons for it mainly deriving from the fact that I play Russia.
I don't care about my standing with the Pope. And most of my catolic allies are excomunicated.
My best generals are my Czar and my Prince and I find it imposible to make them chivalrious as I use a lot of assasins and they pick up a lot of dread from it.
I use a cavalry heavy army so pick up a lot of prisoners, even knights are imprisond as light missile cavalry can outrun them. It is counterintuitive to defeate a full stack enemy army in the field but let 40% to 70% retreate to the fortress after the battle when I will have to assault it shortly.
I used to ransom prisoners before but AI dont have money for ransom, thay may have money to ransom after first defeat but afterwards they are broke anyway. So if they are going to die anyway why should bother and not pick up extra dread.
Currently my Czar who is 46 is 9 stars and 10 dread, and my Prince (23) is 7 stars and 8 dread (he started with 4 stars).

I think even Mongols are affraid of my generals. :skull:

pevergreen

12-22-2006, 14:48

Kill em if there are a decent amount. When its something like 4 town militia, 12 archers, ill ransom.. of if its the HRE i release! GO THE HRE YOU NEED ALL THE HELP YOU CAN GET!

Von Nanega

12-22-2006, 14:51

So maybe I should have added depends on the faction option.

John Johnston

12-22-2006, 14:57

It varies from campaign to campaign, but I played a full campaign in which I released nearly everyone, and it didn't make things noticeably harder than one in which I executed and/or ransomed 'em all.

"Very well, varlets, you are free to go. But bear ye in mind that should you turn up next year and attempt to have us in the face, verily we will pwn the hell out of thee again, and sew gold chevrons onto our sleeves."

Admittedly that was pre-patch, and in the colder, harsher world of enemy troops who don't simply line up and wait to be shot, things may be harder.

I like the idea of releasing HRE troops. :laugh4:

zverzver

12-22-2006, 15:08

P.S.
Thinking about it, as your general gets more dread your enemies run earlear so you take more prisoners to execute and get your dread even higher. Great circle.

Bongaroo

12-22-2006, 16:14

Early game I will ransom. Mid-game I'll look at a lot of factors, such as current funds, expected funds, what size is the nation attacking, do they have any money left anyways...etc.

$$$$

Sir_Hawkwood

12-22-2006, 16:38

I find that past 100 turns or so, the AI never has the cash to pay the ransom, so its a choice.

1, Ransom them and end up kiling them without penalty to your reputation
2, Kill them and take the uplift to your dread
3, Let them go...

When I had a few Generals engaged in an active war with the HRE, I chose to kill the prisoners... An HRE stack usually comprises of of low grade units and I found the moral penalty a high dread General gave to be usefull in causing chain routs.

If I capture low grade prisoners then I release them for the Chivalry and for the oppertunity to kill them later for chevrons.

When my army is in jepardy from a large enemy stack nearby, I'll ransom the prisoners because my oponents rarely have enough money to pay.

As discussed in other threads, its difficult enough to level up your units on what opposing factions and rebels throw at you alone, so unless I'm looking for dread to face low moral enemys or have found myself in a poor position, I'll let the poor sods go and hunt them later.

Well...It is Christmas, after all...

Many thanks
SJH

Bob the Insane

12-22-2006, 16:44

Money, cash, moolah, spondulicks...

Call it what you like, but I needs it, I wants it....

Darth Nihilus

12-22-2006, 16:48

Kill them everytime.

katank

12-22-2006, 16:57

The ph33r your superdread generals cause is just awesome. The AI almost never pays the ransom anyhow.

I personally like to use lots of spies/assassins so my king gets dread traits. Chilvarous generals tend to get rebellious when the king is high dread. So my entire general force is high dread.

madchoochter

12-22-2006, 16:58

Depends on the general, the cash value of the prisoners and the wealth of the nation of the prisoners. If the general is dread, I always execute. If he's chiv either ransom or release. Ransom if I think they can pay or I don't want them to live but general has good chiv.

I once made the mistake of releasing a bunch Scots instead of ransoming them from an army lead by King Rufus the Chivalrous. I was trying to bump up his chiv even more. Turns out I only killed 1/8th the full stack army and routed the rest, but I suffered enough casualties to leave approx 2/3rds a stack (was not a full stack to begin with tho').

The stack came flying out of Dublin next turn and obliterated the entire army. If I'd executed them, Scotland would be finished. Dublin would have fell easily as the garrison was puny. Moral? Kindness doesn't pay! Everyone gets burned/executed now. None of this be nice to your enemies. Attack me, you die! Defend yourselves, you die!

Well not really, I'm just very bitter about that. A very costly mistake to make.

Ektelion

12-22-2006, 17:11

I tend to try and ransom denying the amounts of money the other faction got.

When I have a general with already high dread that I want to buff a bit more, I do the execution.

That and when the anemy just lost a huge stack I dont want to face again for sure.

Sir_Hawkwood

12-22-2006, 17:28

Mmm... Madchooters situation only happens to you once...
I know that I'd permanently change my stance if the above happened to me...

katank

12-22-2006, 17:44

Note that if the number of captives is less than 80 men, it will not influence your traits. Thus, releasing them does you absolutely no good.

If the number is over 300 or so, it's likely not a good idea to release either as that is actually a hefty number that you'd not want to fight esp. if they retreat to a city that you want to siege.

Thus, there is a very small numerical window for release but executing is always awesome:egypt:

madchoochter

12-22-2006, 18:17

Mmm... Madchooters situation only happens to you once...
I know that I'd permanently change my stance if the above happened to me...

Yup. I play with minimal battle ui which does not have the prisoner counter in battle and didn't realise there were so many. I should have paid more attention to the release/ransom/execute window tho'.

Sir_Hawkwood

12-22-2006, 18:18

Less than 80 men?... I had no idea...
Thanks for the advice...

I'll still release them if I think I'll easily defeat them next time, though.

Cheers
SJH

Halaster

12-22-2006, 21:00

It depends on the situation. I fought a Heroic Battle with my king against two army stacks and when the battle was done I ransomed the prisoners back to the English for 10,000 florins. The bad part was they attacked me with that ransomed stack and another army right away and we barely won. Now I look at what force I have in the area and what force the enemy has. If the stack can turn the tide against me, I execute.

IPoseTheQuestionYouReturnTheAnswer

12-22-2006, 21:46

All my prisoners go off to the Janissary Firing Squad without fail. Usually I'll hang my mouse button over the 'Execute' button for a minute or so before pressing it, just to hear them beg for mercy. It's all so medieval.

Rhinehard von Dill

12-22-2006, 22:14

I usually give them no quarter. The last thing I want is to see them in battle again. I've only played as the HRE so my standing with the Pope means little to me.

Musashi

12-22-2006, 23:31

I basically release them all. Occasionally I'll ransom them if there's a huge ransom, but typically I release them. I like making my enemies pay upkeep on crippled units, and how the AI sends them back at me without retraining them.

Wizzie

12-22-2006, 23:34

Wow, what a bunch of cold-hearted despots you all are!
I usually do whatever the General in command would do.
i.e. Chivalric: Release, Dreadful: Execute. If I can't remember which the General is (can be annoying trying to decide and not knowing what your general's stats are) I ransom. I use the same system in capturing cities. Endlessly sacking cities makes the game far too easy anyway :P

BigTex

12-23-2006, 00:40

I release them, almost 100% of the time. Only have executed them twice. Though in some cases when you capture over 2000 I ransom them, give em a fair shot at life or death. Mainly becuase I don't want to have to fight them again, because it could be horendous. About 99% of the time the AI will reject the near 10,000 ransom so they get the sword. The only problem is they on occasions have accepted the ransom, you get the money but they have a full army again :help: .

Zenicetus

12-23-2006, 00:49

If I'm understrength on that part of the map, I might execute to avoid killing them all over again. If I haven't had a good battle in a while, and the AI is struggling, I'll release or ransom depending on my estimation of the enemy's finances.

A captured high-star general always goes to the chopping block. I think generals are overpowered in this game. They can act like solo Supermen with a high enough rank, and if I've taken the time (and lost the men) to capture one of these dangerous critters, then I'm not going to give it another chance to deplete my units.

FrauGloer

12-23-2006, 01:13

For me, it depends on who the aggressor is. If I attack on enemy soil, I try to get as much money out of the enemy as I can --> Ransom.
The sole exception to this: I always kill all french and all danish prisoners. No offense intended, but those two factions always backstab me regardless of which faction I play, so they deserve what they get! :furious3:

If, however, an opponent (usually the French, lol) is foolish enough to invade my lands and lay siege to my towns, every single one dies. No mercy is given whatsoever, regardless of general chivalry, as that's an executive order right from the King's "office"! :whip:

There are sometimes countries who attack me even though I really don't want war with them (for instance, being german, I always want to be allied with the HRE :sweatdrop: ) - too bad that the AI always declares war sooner or later if you share a border. :no: In this case, I release all prisoners taken. That's the rare exception to the rule, though.

Ergo: Live and let live, attack me and die! :skull:

Halaster

12-23-2006, 20:45

I hear you on the French. In my game as the English they laid siege to three towns in one turn. No Quarter was given to the captives, since the combined captives from the three battles was almost 2,000 troops and I couldn't have them coming back soon. Also I have a mission to take Paris and need them as weak as possible. :)

Snoil The Mighty

12-24-2006, 03:13

For me it depends on my pre-game "rules". For instance, started Spain on VH/VH last night. All muslim prisoners are to be executed, all game-Reconquista RunAmok game. (Gave myself other conditions such as letting my popescale drop below 5 after diplomatic contact equals a loss, must conquer New World, etc). Will have this rule in a Hungarian campaign I plan to start too where instead of chivalry I will emphasize dread (Hi Valddie ol pal! My o my, what pointy teeth you have....). Haven't decided if the Hungarians will extend such harshness to the ERE, though, as of yet. I am planning a Merchants of Venice Campaign in which summary executions will not be allowed (bad for Bizniss m"lord!), though executions will probably happen frequently as every time regardless of situation they will be offered ransom. That regime will be Mercantilist to the core. Too bad they nerfed bribery to the point of uselessness...

So to answer original post, depends on my personal rules for that campaign.

Von Nanega

12-27-2006, 14:29

Seema like so far ransom the loser for profit is getting the most votes.
I will be starting one of the Muslim factions soon. When I do that, any captured Muslim prisoners are released. Catholics will be ransomed only if a faction family member is in the prisoners. All others will be killed. Might be some interesting house rules to follow for Islamic faction.
Thanks for the reply to the poll.

baron_Leo

12-28-2006, 03:03

As I never start a war, probably (actually not probably, but pretty sure...actually you can scratch pretty) the other nation declared war. I am a peace loving man I really get pi**ed when someone is declaring war on me, and when I pi**ed, then everyone must die. I do not even think about a ransom...releasing them...bahhh, have you seen Saving Private Ryan? Then you know what happens...

Czar Alexsandr

12-28-2006, 03:08

sapi

12-28-2006, 04:16

If i kill them, they don't get another chance to kill me :P

Considering i have few friends (in my current hre game i'm at war with everyone but the papacy, and i'm only allied to them because once you win a hre pope is elected) :P

Lord_Tamerial

12-28-2006, 04:25

If the adversary is a hugh threat then i will massacre everyone of their cities and execute every prisoner. If they just take one province than it is not much to worry, so I ransom them off. If I want them to be an ally, I release them. So I do it all.

Lord_Tamerial

12-28-2006, 04:27

baron_Leo

12-28-2006, 05:21

I almost always let my enemies go. My armies are the sporting types that permit there foes the chance to re-group. Oddly.. this always makes my standing with my enemy worse. Perhaps cause I'm nicer than them and my standing with the Popes so good. Heh.. they just hate being the bad guy I guess.

I don't understand how you can release the guys after the fight? Damn, no one has seen Saving Private Ryan? You didn't learn the lesson about releasing prisoners? You don't want that to happen, what happened in the film. If you release them they will shoot Tom Hanks. And I like Tom Hanks and don't want him dead again:-))) So releasing prisoners=prisoners come back to fight you with reinforcements=Tom Hanks gets shot...So think twice about that "release" button:-))))

Musashi

12-28-2006, 05:32

Better the weak, malnourished prisoners come back than a full army of sparkly new units.

Alexander the Pretty Good

12-28-2006, 06:07

I've made good money off of prisoners.

As the Turks, my HA armies don't leave many to begin with, and then if you capture their general...

Ransoming <100 men for >$1000 - priceless. :yes:

Yun Dog

12-28-2006, 06:10

when I was playing the french - I was hard up for a dollar having to defend several borders - those italian states will often pay a pretty florin to see their sons home again to momma. Ransoming has helped me out of a rut more than once.

Playing as the egyptians I always released other muslim prisoners - I started to see myself as this saint type leader - but then the crusaders took Antioch and butchered every man woman and child in the city - In the battles that followed to retake the city - NOT ONE LIVED!!!

tenkesh

12-28-2006, 09:36

I used to send a letter to my enemies:

Dearest enemy,

You loose, we wins. Great success for glorious nation of Kazahstan! We got some prisoners. Send us some moneys or they will be execute.

shinqui

General Borat

Now I never let them go, I used to demand for some ransom in the beginning, but since I have piles and piles of cash by now, I hardly need any extra, so I just let my troops get some target practice. :evilgrin:

I mean why should I let go a unit that will cause me casualties in the next turn.

Grimmy

12-28-2006, 10:49

For me it depends on who I'm playing as and what the enemy is.

If it is an army of the same faction, I'll offer ransom. If it is an army of a differing faction, I kill them all.

If it is an army of any faction that I am currently set upon fully destroying, and that faction is still strong enough to motivate me toward caution, I'll kill them so I dont simply reinforce them with the ransomed soldiers.

If it is a faction I am set upon destroying and it is weak enough that I am not motivated to caution, I'll offer them for ransom if money is short, or simply release them if they are of the same general faction alignment, or kill them if they are heathen or maybe just flip a coin to decide, depending on mood.

Life is in a hostile world is about managing options :)

Sometimes though, I always kill all prisoners all the time, regardless from the first to the last battle of the campaign. Consistancy is its own reward :)

baron_Leo

12-28-2006, 15:26

Aedile Rich

12-28-2006, 20:09

I've made good money off of prisoners.

As the Turks, my HA armies don't leave many to begin with, and then if you capture their general...

Ransoming <100 men for >$1000 - priceless. :yes:I managed to capture a bunch of HRE troops including a family member... He was worth 5000 alone! ~:pimp:

baron_Leo

12-29-2006, 03:49

With Hungary I often manage, to capture the king of my enemy, he is worth 10000 bucks if I am right. But I always execute him (okay this is really not nice, I know...actually it is against some unwritten rules...but I am SOOOO evil...an evil genius bent on world domination (sinister laughter))

Czar Alexsandr

12-29-2006, 04:42

Well if you go around lobbing everyones heads off what's gonna stop them from going allies vs. axis on you? I mean... right now.. thosse Americans could show up with thosse Brits and.. lol. By american I mean... Aztec.. Now that would be fascinating...

I like role-playing chivalry. It's also fun when you're chivalrous generals a religious fanatic or an lunatic. It does explain how they can let the enemy go so easily.

And lastly.. I love having good relations with people. Doing the "nice" thing really builds up peoples opinion of you. I'm up to reliable now. -_-

glasket

12-29-2006, 05:21

I always execute the prisoners.
There are a number of reasons for this.
I am at war with the Poles and Danes and they are militarily strong but economically weak so often they do not have enough money to ransom the prisoners.
My Faction leader is very high on dread so there is no point on working on his chivalry.
The most important point is that I do not want the Poles and Danes that I have released or ransomed to regroup and enagge me again.

Thus I take a very strict policy. if you are taken prisoner you will be executed.

sapi

12-29-2006, 05:35

I tried being chivalrous in my french campaign, but was backstabbed by the milanese, the hre, the danes, the moors and the english when i was on campaign in the holy lands.

Now i'm in debt thanks to having such huge armies fighting abroad and the only way i can stay even is by sacking and on occasion ransoming, but the trouble is that i can't train any new forces, so i'm stuck with what i've got :(

Thus, for the first time i'm actually half chivalrous, half dreadful, as i can't afford to kill the prisoners (loss of money) but i can't afford to ransom large armies (have to fight them again) :(

Derfasciti

12-29-2006, 06:26

While I can't say I do this all the time, but I do try to ransom usually. I think I've only released without ransom a small handful of times if at all.

Executions now...hehe. :rifle:

If I was betrayed, or my attempts to conquer the enemy are constantly being going awry (friggin' stupid Scots...:wall:) I have a tendency to get really angry and kill them all.

IrishArmenian

12-29-2006, 07:06

It really depends on how the battle went. If I just lost my king, Miroslav the Killer to a bunch of Catholic savages, (cough, Polish, cough) I will execute them. If not, I will ransom, which they rarely comply with unless I've got Councillor Bartolomeo from Venice or something. I need to keep my economy up and running!

Von Nanega

12-29-2006, 10:50

Locked in a brutal war against HRE, Milan (hatred runs deep for the Milanese), and England. Only ransom the English because I have a Man of the Hour general named Harold Stubbes. I figure he was from England and found his fortune with the Danish. (Me! in this game.) So he has a soft heart for his former countrymen. :horn:

xemitg

12-30-2006, 18:46

Why fight troops more then once? Kill ‘em all.

Andy

12-30-2006, 21:21

I just kill them all. The AI nearly always can't afford the ransom price.

PureFodder

12-31-2006, 02:56

I usually figure it's best to ransom.

Generally the computer won't pay anyway and if they do pay they'll loose money and be stuffed with the upkeep costs of a whole bunch of troops that have a history of running away. This means the computer won't have enough cash to train some better troops to replace them.

Discoman

12-31-2006, 04:54

I usally execute or ransom off enemy armies. Ofcourse I'm annoyed I can't have prison camps to hold prisoners and spend money per turn to keep them alive instead of killing them all and having everyone pissed at me.
In my first campaign as England I got really pised off when Scotland, then France, and then Denmark declared war on me. Every battle I won, no matter how insignificant, I executed every man and even executed the people in every city I conquered. Then Milan attacked me and I spared no one. Honestly when my enemies try to gang up on me I get really pissed off. As Spain I'm giving no mercy to the moors and the papacy seems to love it.

sapi

12-31-2006, 05:28

That is an interesting point - the papacy hates you if you kill catholic prisoners or exterminate catholic cities

katank

12-31-2006, 15:12

I don't think the Papacy cares about prisoners. My relations never dropped even when I execute some 2000 prisoners the previous turn.

Discoman

01-01-2007, 00:24

I don't think the Papacy cares about prisoners. My relations never dropped even when I execute some 2000 prisoners the previous turn.

Mine did once, not only for the papacy but for my enemies and allies. I also think it changes what other factions think of you. Other factions despise me even though I never started any wars and only defend myself.

katank

01-01-2007, 16:44

Executing prisoners does lower your global faction standings. That, combined with normalization to abysmal for H and VH campaign difficulty may account for all the tension between you and the other factions.

avatar

01-01-2007, 17:44

I normally ransom.

The_Emperor

01-01-2007, 17:51

Ransom them for profit.

If theres too many captives I will kill them rather than fight a re-invigorated force.

Rpkmann

01-02-2007, 00:37

I always release...I like the morale bonus it gives to your troops, and also I feel good inside lol.

Elmo

01-02-2007, 01:00

I have seen battle reports indicating that prisoners were taken but I've never been asked to decide their fate. Is there a game setting I've missed?

Rpkmann

01-02-2007, 04:31

Have you been fighting rebels? Rebels prisoners aren't given any chances...STRAIGHT TO THE GALLOWS FOR REBELS MUAHAHAHAHAHA!

Czar Alexsandr

01-02-2007, 06:33

RPKman! It's great to see I'm not the only fool that lets people go. Lol. The good feeling after it is worth it. Besides you get cool titles like the Chivalrous or the Champion.

Well we are here but it seems were a very small group lol.

Von Nanega

01-02-2007, 13:15

Well, seems lots of reasons why folks do what they do to captives. Thanks everybody!

gardibolt

01-03-2007, 01:24

If they're mostly peasants or other ineffectual units, I just let them go. Otherwise, I go for the big payday. 90% of the time, the other side can't afford the ransom and I get to kill them anyway. Heh.:skull: