Being puzzled by this trait again (got it in a very, very simple battle : my general alone vs a pair of catapults. Couldn't have been friendly fire.) I checked the files... Here's what I found, and what I understand from them, please correct me if I got things wrong (BTW Winning First is the first of the BattleDread line of traits) :

Trigger battle3Dread_PickingOnWeak
WhenToTest PostBattle

Condition WasAttacker
and WonBattle
and BattleOdds > 2
and PercentageEnemyKilled > 75
and not Trait BattleChivalry > 0

Affects BattleDread 1 Chance 100

This one is fairly straightforward : if you greatly outnumber your enemy and still you win by killing people instead of routing them (ie through cav charges and archers), you get "Winning First". Interestingly enough, if you're already chivalrous, you can do dreadful stuff without penalty .

Trigger battle3Dread_TotalAnnihilation
WhenToTest PostBattle

Condition WonBattle
and BattleSuccess >= crushing
and PercentageEnemyKilled > 90
and not GeneralFoughtInCombat
and IsGeneral
and BattleOdds < 0.95
and not Trait BattleChivalry > 0

Affects BattleDread 2 Chance 100

Somewhat weird... Your general need to have not fought and killed the entire enemy army. I get the annihilation part making you dreadful, but why would a passive general be more scary ?


Trigger battle3Dread
WhenToTest PostBattle

Condition GeneralNumKillsInBattle > 8
and not Trait BattleChivalry >= 1

Affects BattleDread 1 Chance 50
Affects Bloodthirsty 1 Chance 10
Affects Brave 1 Chance 20

Trigger battle3Chivalry
WhenToTest PostBattle

Condition GeneralNumKillsInBattle > 8
and not Trait BattleDread >= 1

Affects BattleChivalry 1 Chance 50
Affects Brave 1 Chance 20

These two are interesting in that there is the exact same trigger for opposite traits. So essentially, sending a newb general to fight will either make him knightly of roguish, 50/50. After that, every battle he's in and fights will have a chance to increase either Chivalry or Dread, whichever he's got. I like how a chivalrous knight cannot become bloodthirsty

And...that's it. That's all the triggers for BattleDread, save for adoption/coming of age. So it's not friendly fire, nor sacrificing your men, it's plain ol' killing people.

This raises a couple questions though :
- Does taking prisonners count towards PercentageEnemyKilled and GeneralNumKills ?
- What are BattleOdds ? Pure number of men, or is it an army florin-worth total ratio ?