What do you do with 'mad' Generals?

**Marto** · August 21, 2007, 04:53 AM

They're of no use and potentially damaging in towns.

They're of no use on the battlefield as the troops lose moral.

So, what do you use them for - or do you get rid of them?

I recently resorted to sending two 'mad' generals up against 1200 Milanese soldiers (with a fair troop backing I should add) and it resulted in most of the troops routing and the two generals being killed. It solved my problem of having mad generals but it seemed pointless and a time-waste as I had to play the battle myself to ensure that they met their untimely deaths...

**LeonidasOfSparta** · August 21, 2007, 05:08 AM

hmmmm to be honest I NEVER HAD mad general

Btw : my 900th POST!!!!

**Emperor Raven** · August 21, 2007, 05:18 AM

I usually put them in a backwater province and pray to God their insanity doesn't carry over to their children, place them on a ship and let them get sunk or send them near an inquisitor and hope they put them on a heresy trial and are found guilty.

**Samir** · August 21, 2007, 05:30 AM

whats bad about mad generals?!

I tend to seek some dread for them and insanity too! In my expierience they tend to win the weirdest battles then...

**Dogman** · August 21, 2007, 05:32 AM

Send them alone against the largest enemy stack you can find. No unneeded losses on your side, and hopefully you managed to take out at least a few of them before your generals bit it.

**Captain Blackadder** · August 21, 2007, 05:51 AM

I put them at the head oif my armies i love seeing an insane general give a speech to the troops

ohh 600 posts

**Don in the North** · August 21, 2007, 05:54 AM

i try and give them more wacky traits so the pre-battle speach is hilarious.
mad or not, if they have enough ability (troop morale, total HPs, medium or high chiv/dread) then they continue to lead troops.

for the great generals 10star etc who are also crazy get the honor of going on a rampage.

i give them 5000-10000 troops (2-4 stacks) and they go on a rampage faraway just killing everyone sacking the towns untill every last troop is dead.
i dont keep any of the towns its just to wear down my rivals armies and force them to waste more cash on troops they arent gonna need for several decades

sort of a kamikaze blitz where the general is expected to perform unrealistic victorys or perish.
they go forth with two options.
glorius death worthy of memorance or early horrendous failure.

this is just what i do cuz most campaigns bore me to death after a while

**Scorch** · August 21, 2007, 05:57 AM

If nothing else they give hilarious pre-battle speeches.

I usually send them on a 'tour' of my grand empire.

That is, building watchtowers all over the place.

**Tiwaz** · August 21, 2007, 06:04 AM

Hmm. Haven't had that many but I guess I would do same as I did in BI with disloyal generals.

Congratulations! You and your, equally unreliable, cousin form first, and hopefully last, of our latest military inventions. Rebel slayer army!

This ingenious army is formed of you, your cousin and all your bodyguards. It is a GREAT opportunity to prove your mettle by being right there in the tight spot putting fear into hearts of those rebels!

In short, they form army of generals who go kill small rebel groups where they pop up. My real armies have better things to do and after few betrayals and being forced to destroy one of my good armies and/or take over again my own city I found disloyal generals to be worthless.

**delra** · August 21, 2007, 06:22 AM

I use them to listen their crazy speeches before battles.

**sapi** · August 21, 2007, 06:40 AM

Originally Posted by Marto

They're of no use and potentially damaging in towns.

They're of no use on the battlefield as the troops lose moral.

So, what do you use them for - or do you get rid of them?

I recently resorted to sending two 'mad' generals up against 1200 Milanese soldiers (with a fair troop backing I should add) and it resulted in most of the troops routing and the two generals being killed. It solved my problem of having mad generals but it seemed pointless and a time-waste as I had to play the battle myself to ensure that they met their untimely deaths...

Just send them to the capital, and wait until you have nineteen of 'em.

Stick in a decent general to lead, and viola, a regenerating stack of 2hp elite cavalry

**Tiwaz** · August 21, 2007, 07:02 AM

You know, if I ever had 19 crazy generals I would not be concerning myself on how to deal with them but rather looking for new breeding stock for my royalty. Potentially next king to be adopted guy with foreign princess.

Original family tree clearly has some issues.

**sapi** · August 21, 2007, 07:27 AM

Originally Posted by Tiwaz

You know, if I ever had 19 crazy generals I would not be concerning myself on how to deal with them but rather looking for new breeding stock for my royalty. Potentially next king to be adopted guy with foreign princess.

Original family tree clearly has some issues.

Had that in RTW, where you could bypass all those for the single good one; I'd hate to have it in M2TW

**Scythian Nick** · August 21, 2007, 07:12 AM

If I've got several mad generals, group them all together and do something. You know, build watchtowers or attack rebels or build a few peasants and create the world's worst crusade army.

Alternatively. 1 Cog. 1 Mad General. Several Pirates. No General. Easy.

**Kizzang** · August 21, 2007, 07:58 AM

heres what the scots did with theirs in my game...
or maybe he just wandered over there by himself.

**SteelKnight** · August 21, 2007, 09:00 AM

Best way is to put them on a ship and look for an enemy or a pirate and Bon Voyage!

**Cybugger** · August 21, 2007, 10:02 AM

I give the maddest, craziest most blood thirsty generals a huge stack, and then send him into an enemy's territory. The resulting carnage buys me time and money, and keeps my general happy.

**Monsieur Alphonse** · August 21, 2007, 10:17 AM

In my current Turkish campaign my best general is mad (utterly insane). He has enough other traits to compensate his madness and is winning battle after battle. As long as the mad general has enough command stars, chivalry or dread, loyalty and piety I don't care about his madness. Otherwise you can always use him a heavy cavalry.

**Marto** · August 21, 2007, 10:43 AM

Originally Posted by Monsieur Alphonse

In my current Turkish campaign my best general is mad (utterly insane). He has enough other traits to compensate his madness and is winning battle after battle. As long as the mad general has enough command stars, chivalry or dread, loyalty and piety I don't care about his madness. Otherwise you can always use him a heavy cavalry.

Unfortunately these two guys were just insane, one utterly. This meant they were just causing unrest in their towns. They had countless other negligible traits too (as is the way with M2TW) but nothing that helped with command or moral, so as I said, I marched them up to the nearest Milanese stack and after an opening speech about the 'Moon-People' they were promptly butchered by the Milanese as their own men fled.

Cheers for the replies everyone. It sounds like the most hassle free way of dealing with them is to send them out to sea - alone...