How old are your family members

[R'as al Ghul]

"Ardumanish the Attacker", my Parthian family leader and main general died at 70. It's was a very sad year when the Parthians lost their ueber-leader.
He practically invented Horse-Archer-Warfare and became an expert in the last 25 years. When he finally died a natural death, he had just liberated Hatra again and gained the Perfect Attacker virtue. He was also Genius Cavalry Commander, excellent when outnumbered, Perfect defender etc. etc. I think he gained every possible battle virtue. Most of them add +4 or even +5 command under certain conditions.
I'd really liked him to fight another 25 years. It's not that there aren't substitutes but I really liked the old character. Is there any way to predict deaths of family members and can you prevent them? I know that he was supposed to die earlier since I reloaded a quicksave and decided to sally forth with Ardumanish and his small force of HA (6 units which always encompanied him in all battles) and this postponed his death one season.

R'as

[Lord Ovaat]

Oldest character I've seen so far is a Senate diplomat who is currently sitting by one of my cities. He's 84 and seems maxed out on influence. Haven't even been able to bribe him. He's been sitting here for quite some time. I want him to go away. Wonder just how old he can get?

[noramis]

Sadly, nobody has discovered how to reverse the effects of age ... neither in our lifetime or the previous

[Medieval Assassin]

Sadly, nobody has discovered how to reverse the effects of age ... neither in our lifetime or the previous

However using ROMESHELL you can make a character immoratal, I do believe.

[Siris]

Really? I'd like that. I to have lost, three prime family members, two were faction leaders, the other was an heir, and man were they good. Fought and won many battles, built the empire, defended it well.

So how do you make say, your favorite faction leader (if hes still alive) immortal? I'd love to do that! But is this, immortal as never dies in game? Or immortal, as cant be killed in battle? For I've sceen one for no death in battle, but not for actual live years.

[KyodaiSteeleye]

ack, i can't believe that you guys want immortal characters! - I thought immortal generals in MTW was plainly silly - you just ended up with a load of 9 star generals roaming around with all opposition running away just-look-at-you. Much better to have to build up new characters - its more interesting and it gives the AI at least a fighting chance in your battles!

[R'as al Ghul]

I second that.
I don't understand why some would prefer that.
My question was simply "How old was/is your oldest general?" out of curiosity. Building up generals is great fun. Especially when you fight every battle personally, you get really accustomed to the guys.
Second part of the question is if somebody has found a way to "prolong" their lives by in-game mechanics. Do cities with health-buildings or the like help?

R'as

[Ldvs]

My oldest general ever was 94 when he died (Germanic campaign). I was starting to believe that he would outlast his grand son . Note that I didn't use any trick to make him stay alive longer (no save-and-reload). But generally they die around 70. It was at the very beginning of the campaign (the first faction leader in fact) and if I remember well I didn't build anything that could enable him to live longer, so I guess it was lucky.

[Medieval Assassin]

My oldest was about 70ish.

[Zatoichi]

I had one of my daughters bring back a 73 year old suitor, and I was so desperate for heirs, that I accepted - he lived to be 87 and fathered 3 children, pretty much saving the Carthaginian royal line single handedly - not bad for an old codger! Mostly though my family members are lucky to get past 70 - must be all those awesome temples of Baal giving them high blood pressure or something...

[Somebody Else]

One of my family members - playing as the Scipii. Can't remember his name though. Made faction leader at around 30-40 years old. Had the title "Killer" at some point. Presided over a large scale expansion of my empire, being outlawed by the Senate and the subsequent sack of Rome by his blue-clad forces (suitably deputised of course - he rather liked the air around Carthage). Eventually died in his 90s, having garnered the title "Augustus"

*edit*

I think he was a Caius Kaeso or something.

[Naughtious Maximus]

most of my good generals are over 35, most of them die between 45-60.

[Mikeus Caesar]

The oldest family memeber i ever had....hmm....it was probably some person who conquered luvavum when he was 25. He ruled it for the rest of his life, and died naturally at the grand age of 84. I mourned his passing in real life, cos he was so damn good. He had a veeery high popularity with the people.

[Kaiser of Arabia]

most of my good generals die before they get old, only the crappy ones survive.

Battles can really hurt your leadership

[HopAlongBunny]

I don't know if he was my oldest.

I had a Scipii general get the plague in Syracuse; moved him out of the city when the plague subsided (he was still infected); 30 years later at the age of 72 he finally expired...they just don't build'em like that anymore...

[BDC]

One of my daughters tried marrying an 84 year old...

And then one of my heirs managed to die charging down a hill into the rear of an archer unit... Must have slipped on a stone or something...