POW's

**The_Emperor** · 06-03-2003, 14:44

So how many brutal tyrants do we have out there? How many merciful and popular ones? And who is just brutal so long as they are not fighting Rebels?

Vote now, and we shall see

EDIT: Whoops looks like I made a typo in the third option, But you all know what I meant really

**Balamir** · 06-03-2003, 15:18

I always kill prisoners of factions because i dont like facing enemies I fought before and Im not usually seeking funds. The rebels, I execute their leaders and leave the rest.

You cant call me a merciless bastid then can you, since if I released em for ransom, I would have to kill em again, so they'd die anyway hehehe

**Lancer6969** · 06-03-2003, 15:43

I always kill them, before I can see my battle stats, becuase I like more death Actually, the more people you kill the better chance one of you generals will gain valour ratings, and command ratings. I not sure, if its a good idea to hold on to them for ransom, unless you really need money, and its over 200 POWs. Yet, I still kill them, its not fun when you have over 200 POWs, and your faction starts routing, then all the sudden you have 0 POWs, and the enemy has 200 extra soldiers.

**Guthwyn** · 06-03-2003, 15:44

Unless I capture a king or a prince, and expect a hefty ransom, I like my generals to be brutal. I usually kill the prisoners more than once a battle, because I like the sound effect it makes.

The ONLY reason I let rebels live (and often the ringleaders) is because it grants the king the merciful list of virtues, and the resulting increase in happiness of the entire kingdom is worth it.
So, let the king be the nice guy, while his generals are out committing attrocities.

Guthwyn

**GDukeofKiev** · 06-03-2003, 15:44

Kill them all & let some God or another sort them out.....

Watch the cowards flee from my ************** Dread Generals

**The_Emperor** · 06-03-2003, 16:05

I really should have added in the Factor of Imprisoned Royalty into the poll... Would have made an interesting addition. (How about it Mods? Can you guys Edit the Poll and add in a line or two concerning Royal POWs)

**Shahed** · 06-03-2003, 16:19

Kill all prisoners when badly outnumbered and/or outclassed by overall military balance.

99.9% of the time I release all the rebels.

So I have a null vote as no options fit the above.

**Portuguese Rebel** · 06-03-2003, 16:24

Free some rebels to get the good vice for the king, beyhond that kill them all everytime. Gotta love those secret blood lovers... Sometimes enemys retreat just at the sight of them... hehehe

Does anyone actually know the effect of dread in battle? Is it myth or is there some hidden feature?

**Dîn-Heru** · 06-03-2003, 16:29

It depend on the situation. Somtimes they get to live other times they don't.

**Dogmeat** · 06-03-2003, 16:39

Hard to answer. If i'm an ecomical powerhouse and don't need any more cash, i tend to be quite ruthless.
That said, i do tend to be merciful to rebels now and again.

**The_Emperor** · 06-03-2003, 17:30

Personally I like to get ruthless with the enemy prisoners, but soemtimes it is worthwhile to ransom them back, especially if you have a King and an Heir or two prisoner (and the faction is on its last legs)

Rebels I tend to release a lot for the Kingdom-wide bonus for mercy.

But generally I kill much more than I save

Anyway looking at the poll so far, it sounds like we have a large bunch of Saddam's in the room, with only a handful of merciful guys.

**Popeye** · 06-03-2003, 17:34

Well, I voted (first, in fact) to release them, and it's clear to me that either I'm way off base or the majority is...so here's my line of thought on releasing prisoners.

First of all, the decision to ransom or not usually doesn't change the ultimate fate of the prisoners. More often than not, the ransom is refused, and they're dead anyway.

I see the advantage of executing prisoners so you are certain that you don't have to face them again. However... there are aspects to this that are not being considered, even beyond the potential negative V & V.

It isn't about raising money for ME. Prisoners cost more to ransom than they do to recruit. It's about keeping the enemy impoverished.

In addition to that, the troops ransomed seem to lose morale along the way. I have found that even good units that have been captured once will break much more easily next time. Of course, I lose track of them after a few years, so maybe the effects wear off.

If the ransomed troops are placed in a province you attack immediately, you can expect to face some partial and disorganized units. I don't know about you, but I like it when I see that my enemy's initial force has several units that are at half strength or less. That lone peasant just doesn't scare me much, and I'll leave him alone to block reinforcement by a full-strength unit.

What is also nice is when the ransomed units have no place to go but an isolated island. They can't get off because of lack of port or a blockade, and all they do is drain the enemy economy. He has less money, less net income, and no gain of any kind. Suits me just fine.

Bottom line is that I will NEVER execute prisoners unless I LOSE the battle. (Seems that if I lose, all the captives get liberated without ransom.) I also don't tend to PAY ransoms, for the reasons cited above.

**vortex** · 06-03-2003, 17:37

What I do depends completely on the situation. If they are rebels I usually let them go. If a capture an heir or king, and the faction has lots of heirs, I will ransom them. But if they don't have any/few heirs, I kill them so they will be eliminated. If I don't capture any royalty, just faction units, I kill them, cause I don't usually need the money and I don't want to have to fight them again.

**Monk** · 06-03-2003, 17:40

It really depends. If a rebellion breaks out in my own land i execute the leader and let the rest go, if i conquer a Rebel provence i let them all go (they were leading their own independant country...i can hardly execute them for that ). if i capture faction's soldiers i kill them. unless i have capture their king, then i ransom him back, a few thousand florins will help bankrupt them before i whipe them out.

**Wilbo** · 06-03-2003, 17:40

I also often kill just for the great noise

If I am outnumbered, or wish to scare the enemy (though I do not know if it actually makes a difference) then I kill the prisoners. Similarily, I also kill them if I really dont want to have to fight them again, as what often happens is that you get a huge wedge of troops stuck in a single final province. A real problem if you like to simply 'sweep' through

I normally kill the ringleaders, as I always just presumed this meant they could not cause future rebellions.

**Talbot** · 06-03-2003, 17:57

I tend to let 'em go for the ransom. Nice to have a bit more cash coming in, especially if it is my enemies cash.

**Longasc** · 06-03-2003, 18:01

Usually I kill them all.

Sometimes I release rebels for positive happiness traits, but otherwise I do not give my faction enemies back their soldiers alive. Sacking and pillaging provinces is more rewarding either. But do not think I am a merciless Butcher, I rarely sack really well developed provinces, I just could not stand destroying Constantinople e.g.

Lately I killed over 1000+ Naptha-Throwers and Handgunners, the responsible General now has the Reputation Butcher and a full DREAD bar...^^

**Ryttare** · 06-03-2003, 18:14

Slay them all

**Longasc** · 06-03-2003, 18:16

Boah, we are all bitches here... most are merciless or calculating slaughterers...

**jadast** · 06-03-2003, 21:25

I release all rebels. Faction troops are spared for a time. Once a ransom is refused than I kill all of that factions prisoners. I like the quick boost in income. Besides I do not mind taking these troops captive again and again.

**Doug-Thompson** · 06-03-2003, 21:44

When I started playing this game, I never killed/enslaved prisoners.

Then I got tired of having whole armies tied up for several turns to pacify a province.

I still don't have a general rule, though. I still tend to do the rough stuff to ringleaders and avoid killing or enslavement of other prisoners.

One of the things I like about the Vikings is that spies seem to be very effective in helping to pacify a province. This reduces the need to take drastic action.

I kill prisoners only if the number of prisoners is small -- 150 or less -- or if the province is famously feisty, like Portugal.

**The_Emperor** · 06-03-2003, 21:48

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] (jadast @ June 03 2003,15:25)]I release all rebels. Faction troops are spared for a time. Once a ransom is refused than I kill all of that factions prisoners. I like the quick boost in income. Besides I do not mind taking these troops captive again and again.

Hang on I thought prisoners were automatically killed when a ransom fails, so its not like you have much of a choice whether to keep them alive or not

Taking a king or heir captive a couple of times often gets him the Tortured vice, his army is hard to break with a slight Morale bonus, but he loses command and Health as a result... its great to do to an already weak enemy Monarch (and to bleed your enemy of their Florins before you truly finish them off)

So I can understand both situations.

**BryanBoru** · 06-03-2003, 21:50

Always kill all during battle against other factions.....

When battling rebels I always choose the execute ringleaders option and let the people know I am a merciful lord and as long as you know your place you will keep your head

**RisingSun** · 06-03-2003, 22:44

It really depends on the situation. If its a pivotal battle with large amounts of troops involved on both sides, and i break the first wave with the best troops, i will take a many prisoner as possible, and then execut them It worked prfectly for me as the English against the HRE in Toulouse. Ended up killing 1400, and he HRE was easy to plow through after that.

As for rebels, if it is a rebellion within own lands, suc a when my OWN TWO SONS REBEL AGAINST ME IN CIVIL WAR, they all must die. However, if its because i invaded them, then they live.

**Rob The Bastard** · 06-03-2003, 22:57

I am Rob The Bastard... not only do I kill them all, but I invent new and interesting ways to do it

You have heard of Tamerlane?, Attilla The Hun, Vlad The Impaler... morons

I tend to butcher a few during the battles to get my dread up... but if the general is captured I keep him for the ransom.

**HopAlongBunny** · 06-04-2003, 05:15

The first couple battles against any faction I usually execute them all. Normally, those battles are the ones where the A team shows up; I just don't like having to face stacks of high valour units over and over

After that...its better for the AI to get negative morale mod's for running, than get negative ones myself for a lack of mercy

**Hoplite** · 06-04-2003, 10:45

Depends on the situation, really. I generally leave prisoners alive, because the AI doesn't ransom them back very often. If the AI does ransom them back, money is always nice. If, on the other hand, I've just spent half the battle chasing the enemy general with high command or other attributes, and he just barely manages to escape the battlefield, then its the red button for everyone else.

**Portuguese Rebel** · 06-04-2003, 13:13

There are vices related to killing prisioneers in battles. The first two vices harm your troop morale, the third vice is secret blood lover, +3dread, a real must for my generals.

**The_Emperor** · 06-04-2003, 13:23

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] (Portuguese Rebel @ June 04 2003,07:13)]There are vices related to killing prisioneers in battles. The first two vices harm your troop morale, the third vice is secret blood lover, +3dread, a real must for my generals.

I thought that effects Morale as well... doesn't it?

Anyway what about Kingly vices for mass-killings of Rebels, any good ones out there?