Assassinated General = morale penalty?

[CountMRVHS]

Hi all,

I've been wondering about this for years on and off, but never thought to ask. When you go to assassinate an enemy general, the text indicates that his army will suffer something like a "devastating" morale penalty for one year.

Is this true? Any way to test it?

CountMRVHS

[MJF]

good question. plus, does the morale penalty affect the army the same year he is assassinated or the next?

e.g. if i knock him off in 1200, do i have to invade in 1200 and hope he is killed to earn the penalty, or do i kill him in 1200 and if successful, invade in 1201.

[caravel]

You have to assassinate the general and then invade the same year. The next year (after you hit end turn) the morale penalty is in effect for that battle. I've never actually tested this scientifically so I can't say if it actually does work or not.

[CountMRVHS]

How would you test that? Save, invade, use F1 to determine morale; reload, assassinate & invade, use F1?

[caravel]

Yes.

[Agent Miles]

CountMRVHS do you have a page reference for this text? I’ve been through the manual again and I can’t find this. It mentions that assassination of the general will ‘paralyze’ his army, but it doesn’t mention morale effects. Are you perhaps confusing assassination with killing a general in battle? This will lower the morale of the AI army.

[CountMRVHS]

Well, I tried it but of course F1 only shows your *own* troops' morale, not the enemy's. So no way to test it that I can think of, unless there is a way to determine morale of enemy units.

The reference wasn't in the manual, Agent Miles - it's the window that appears in-game when you order an assassination on an enemy general. I can't remember the exact wording, but it tells you that, although a new general will be appointed, the assassination will have a "devastating" effect on the (enemy) army's morale for one year.

The more I think about it, I can't imagine how the mechanism for that would work in the game. Perhaps this is just one of those things they wanted to do but ultimately couldn't.

[Agent Miles]

If you save the battle, you can replay it. In the replay, just cursor over the enemy units. You get a pop-up that tells you their morale.

[caravel]

This kind of message has been in since STW, so one would assume that it has some relevance.

"Killing an enemy general removes any bonuses the army gets from the general's rank, and although a new general will be appointed, it has a devastating effect on the morale of the army in battle for one year."

"Killing an enemy general removes any bonuses the army gets from the general's rank, and although a new general will be appointed, it has a devastating effect on the morale of the army in battle for 1 season."

[Heidrek]

Morale penalty the same as if the general is killed mid battle?