Amnisty, ring leaders fondieu or slaughterfest?

[elbasto]

A small question about game mechanics...

After conquering a province from rebels, do you:
a) Execute them all.
b) Execute the ring leaders.
c) Release them all.
???

Usually I make this choice to simply generate more ambient, for instance if they revolted against my excomunicated enemy and then I conquer them I release them all; if they raised against an ally or in a province I'm just starting to convert I kill the ringleaders but if they revolt against myself I give them the teat that punny human cattle like them deserve... *ahem*



But I'm still really ignorant about how do this choices affect the game mechanics.
Do they influence the chances of a revolt in that and/or other provinces, the income from confiscated lands and/or the influence of the king? Are there any other parameters affected by this?

Thanks in advaced for the feedback.

[ichi]

I, too, follow a similar recipe. If I take a rebel province from outside I release them all, except any who hole up in the castle get executed/enslaved.

If one of my own provinces rebels I execute/enslave the ringleaders. Christians execute, Muslims enslave.

The King gets vices if you execute/enslave, the first time its Scant Mercy with +1 dread.

The execute ringleaders option is neutral, no change to anything.

If you release all the King gets Mercy with +10 Happiness

If you keep executing or releasing repeatedly then the V&Vs start to add up.

Kraxis posted this a long time ago

Ok, from executing prisners you get these V&Vs:

Scant Mercy: +1 Dread
No Mercy: +2 Dread, -1 Morale
Merciless: +2 Dread, -2 Morale
Secret Bloodlover: +3 Dread
Bloodlover: +3 Dread, -3 Morale, -2 Peity

Dependant on number of prisoners execute in one battle.
Butcher: +2 Dread

Vices or Virtues from rebellions:

Occational Mercy: +10 happiness
Frequent Mercy: +20 happiness, -1 Dread (this one is worth it from the loyalty point of view)
Merciful: +20 happiness, -2 Dread
Most Merciful: +20 happiness, -3 Dread

Swift Justice: +1 Dread
Secret Rough Justice: +1 Dread
Rough Justice: +2 Dread, -10 happiness
Tough Justice: +3 Dread, -10 happiness
Secret Random Justice: +3 Dread, -20 happiness
Random Justice: +3 Dread, -50 happiness (ouch&#33

ichi

[Knight Templar]

If rebels revolted against someone else, I release them (of course, except high-command ringleaders). But if they revolted against me, I usually exexute them just after the battle or on the camp map.

[miho]

I execute if I'm angry for some reason (doesn't have to be because of the game could be real life).They're good for releasing the pressure. Saves you the trouble of beating someone up (real life) or attacking someone else and massacring them.

[elbasto]

Thanks for the heads up Ichi.

And to everyone else for their comments.

[Procrustes]

One trick I've learned is to use the swift/rough/tough/random justice vice to make money and keep myself occupied while not expanding. The thing to remember is that your govenor will get the vice if he is in the province (i.e. particpated in the put-down of the rebellion) and you execute all the rebels afterwards. I don't mean have your general kill them on the field, but wait until you get the screening telling you how much land you confiscated and giving you a choice. (If you kill all the rebels the turn you take the province - before you've assigned a governor - then your king is likely to get the swift justice vice even if he is in a different province.)

So... take a rebel province, preferably one that is prone to rebellion (like Portugal, Livonia or Latvia - to a lesser extent Scotland, Pomerania, Switzerland and a few others.) Kill all the rebel prisoners after the first battle to see if you can give your king a dread point, then assign the govenorship to someone who is in the province you just took. Take someone with at least four feathers, very little or no dread, and - bonus - any happiness-reducing vices that you may find (chinless wonder or whatever). Stack a general that you are hoping to hone with him - you don't want him leading your troops. Reduce the garrison as much as you can - less than 100 troops helps - and never build any happiness buildings like watchtowers, town watches, churches, etc. Keep your assassins, spies and religious agents away. And wait for rebellions.

The rebellions get bigger and bigger, with better and better troops. You should keep some troops in adjacent provinces for back-up. Fight outnumbered when you can - it will help your general earn good vices (skilled defender, etc.) You'll start raking in decent bucks after a while, and your generals and troops will gain experience and valor. Execute the rebels after each battle, and your gov will first gain some dread but that will be quickly offset by the happiness penalties he earns. Keep teching up the province if you want the rebels to get better and better - just don't build any happiness buildings you don't need. When you finally get sick of it, replace your gov with a better one and lower taxes for a while. Check the province loyalty after each turn - make sure to keep it really low. (Again, this is easiest with those rebellion-prone provinces.)

One caution - since your govenor is participating in each battle you may want to keep an eye on him during the fight - if he gets killed, you have to start over. Best if you gov is a tough unit - not a peasant.

Hope someone else enjoys this method, too. I like it - gives me a chance to keep fighting during games where I'm not expanding a lot. I can still make some money that I can put towards tech.

P.

[miho]

It's a good idea. You get money, combat experience, dread and valour.

An another idea: If the rebels are teched and in big numbers you could bribe them.

[Ciaran]

If they´re rebels from other factions/the game beginning I tend to be fairly merciful - only the ringleaders loose their heads. Rebellions against my god-given and sword-enforced rule... well, it´s better not give any other would-be revolutionarists ideas. Harsh lessons make for remarkably long memories.

[Ironside]

Killl them, killl them all!!

Did I mention that I got a habit of breeding my royal line?

[Mr White]

I tend to release them all. A bit of role-playing is fun but the virtue occasional mercy for a king is great to keep the happiness up.

Of course to much mercy isn't good either. After I get the virtue I kill the ringleaders.

[Weebeast]

Well, I never really care about the vice and virtues as I'm not familiar with them; what, how, when. I just do what seems right. I mostly release them all but sometimes it depends...

I don't execute my own rebels caused by some tax issue.
- Sure, I want to show them who rules around here but I also want to show them that I am a good leader that means no harm. It's like marriage; the people and the king are like husband and wife. We just gotta work it out for a while.

I execute rebels caused by excommunication.
- Every single one of them dies. I hate stupid zealots. There's a difference between people who are religious and those who are religious and stupid at the same time. Pope is not always right.

I often release rebels of another kingdom (civil war).
- These rebels are aware of the incompetency of their former leader therefore they should live for being smart.

Did I mention that I got a habit of breeding my royal line?

You mean you got a habit of inbreeding? Well, what is done is done. No one will speak of that matter. :P

By the way, thanks for the info posted in this thread. It's very informative. I'm just wondering, do the released-rebels become mercenaries... the leaders with stars maybe?

[Ironside]

You mean you got a habit of inbreeding? Well, what is done is done. No one will speak of that matter. :P

Nope, it doesn't give any stat bonus.
Only inbreeds with the Sicilians, those girls is usually so easy going.

And to be honest, if I didn't breed I would usually release them all. It used to (in a earlier version) mess up my dread quite badly.

[HighLord z0b]

The swift justice and secret rough justice vices come from killing prisoners during battle. Which I will often do if I want to deprive the enemy of any chance of ransoming back soldiers, just have to be careful not to do it too much per king.