Prisioners in defeat

[Britannia's Finest]

Now, after many years of playing this game have come to the conclusion that all the prisioners you obtain during a battle are lost and , presumably, go back to the opponent's army after the battle. My theory was given further credit when I captured the HRE general but lost the battle. He survived and I had to kill him ''again'' to get rid of him.

But when my General was capured in battle with Denmark and I won he had died. I never got him back. I was puzzled to say the least. Is it random if your general survives being taken prisioner or does the game favor the AI?

Tl;Dr: Why do my generals die after being captured when I win, but the AI's don't?

NB: Both of the generals were definitly captured too, no doubt about that. So it isn't down to human error.

[Diamond]

I don't really know what you mean; I've used the tactic of massing jav cav to attack opponent armies (specifically, generals) until they run out of ammo, and ordering a full scale tactical retreat. It works for me and kills enemy generals.

[Sursion]

I don't really know what you mean; I've used the tactic of massing jav cav to attack opponent armies (specifically, generals) until they run out of ammo, and ordering a full scale tactical retreat. It works for me and kills enemy generals.

He's talking about taking prisoners. Impaling people with javelins is not taking prisoners.

I'm wondering the same thing. I captured Denmark's king, but my army routed and I lost. But Denmark's king still died. Weird.

[Silverheart]

I have honestly never encountered this problem - every time that I can remember (and it seems I would remember something like this) a captured general has always been alive after the battle.

Wether a general survives the capture might have to do with traits or retinue - for example, if he has a poor armour (an ancillary FMs sometimes get, which give them less hitpoints) that may also bring a risk of them actually dying with that last blow. Or maybe such traits as "hypocondriac" and/or other traits and retinue that bring less hitpoints and poorer health could create a small risk of this.
Maybe the general was old, or a carrier of plague?
How were the generals in question caught - were they routing and hit with missiles, were they broken but in "fighting to the death"-mode, or were they actually hunted down and captured "by hand"? Such things could potentially be a factor here...

[tudor93]

hmmm interesting, I've never thought about it .... maybe this is another AI advantage we didn't know about until now ?
he really is dumb and needs all this help

[Totalwarplayer96]

this event is mentioned in the manual on the Prisoners section. It says that prisoners you take from a lost battle are taken back by the opposing faction. Or something like that IDK

[complete noob:(]

Recently I had to face a zombie general

I captured him in a battle, won the battle, then executed him. 2 turns later I face a general with the same name, command stars, and a full bodyguard

What the

[Aymer de Valence]

Recently I had to face a zombie general

I captured him in a battle, won the battle, then executed him. 2 turns later I face a general with the same name, command stars, and a full bodyguard

What the

Haha, it's like the story of El Cid having his dead body tied to a horse and then routing the terrified Moors!

[Avatar]

Strange things often happen with prisoners. It appears that if you have a drawn battle from a siege sally, prisoners you have captured simply vanish. I managed to capture an enemy general that way once before retreating back inside the walls to avoid the reinforcing army, and he was not available for ransom afterwards. He also was no longer on the map near the settlement. Bearing in mind that the settlement in question was Cagliari, I am fairly confident in saying that he hadn't simply retreated.

[Aeratus]

The reason why some generals seemingly fail to survive capture (even though his army eventually wins the battle or he is released) is because he died of old age (or plague) during the turn progression following the battle.

If the general does not die "naturally" due to the turn progression, he will always survive capture if released.

[Jacobim Mugatu]

I'm pretty sure this has happened to me before. I thought it was due to missile units and routing enemies, I'd have my archers shoot a routing enemy king and then be utterly disappointed when he wasn't my captive after the battle...
Does shooting routing enemies count as capturing them? Always puzzled me but I always thought no because of this.

[Silverheart]

I'm pretty sure this has happened to me before. I thought it was due to missile units and routing enemies, I'd have my archers shoot a routing enemy king and then be utterly disappointed when he wasn't my captive after the battle...
Does shooting routing enemies count as capturing them? Always puzzled me but I always thought no because of this.

No, if you shoot the enemies with missiles, they die.
This goes regardless of wether they are routing or not.

[Macunaíma]

I guess the troops that you imprison are the ones that healed during the battle (the first ones to die). If you kill the enemy general early in the battle, he heals and becomes a prisoner. If that happens to your general, it's the same. The only way for them to not return is by executing the prisoners or declining ransom.

Well, I guess .

[Ferdiad]

Could just be coding or a mistake. It might not be intentional or have a logical decent explanation.

[Britannia's Finest]

Hmmm.... all good points. Just wanted to throw out that he was only 25, he definitly didn't have the plauge and there was no natural disaster. :/

[Maklodes]

When you capture the enemy general, a message comes up that's something like "Our men have captured the enemy general! Guard him well, give the dog some wine and be sure he can see us defeat the rest of his army!" Imagine if you're the Byzantines, and you capture a French general. The Frenchman is used to drinking nice Burgundian Pinot Noirs, and the Byzantines serve him Retsina or something. At this point, the French general despairs, grabs a dagger from one of the soldiers guarding him, and slits his own wrists.

[Blood Raven]

I don't take prisoners

[Willowran]

Prisoners are enemy soldiers killed while routing. If you lose the battle, any prisoners you captured (any enemies you killed while routing) will simply be returned to the enemy who won the battle. If you win, then you can decide on the kill, ransom, release thing.

In most of the cases posted here (i could be wrong), but it sounds like the enemy general died before routing, or died simultaneously with the route, in which case it may still count as a death.

Also (and here i only speculate) i think there is an ancillary or something that can "heal casaulties" or something like that... or reduce the number of casaulties. With that in mind, I think that, when you capture an enemy in battle, there is only a chance they are captured, and a chance they die in the battle. Ever noticed how, on the battlemap it will say you captured 90 some soldiers, but once you won the battle and returned to the campaign map, it says you only captured 50? Some probably "die of their wounds" or some such.

[complete noob:(]

Prisoners are enemy soldiers killed while routing. If you lose the battle, any prisoners you captured (any enemies you killed while routing) will simply be returned to the enemy who won the battle. If you win, then you can decide on the kill, ransom, release thing.

In most of the cases posted here (i could be wrong), but it sounds like the enemy general died before routing, or died simultaneously with the route, in which case it may still count as a death.

Also (and here i only speculate) i think there is an ancillary or something that can "heal casaulties" or something like that... or reduce the number of casaulties. With that in mind, I think that, when you capture an enemy in battle, there is only a chance they are captured, and a chance they die in the battle. Ever noticed how, on the battlemap it will say you captured 90 some soldiers, but once you won the battle and returned to the campaign map, it says you only captured 50? Some probably "die of their wounds" or some such.

I know that I captured and executed the general because after the battle I could've ransomed him back, released him, or executed him

[Willowran]

was that the general himself you captured, or a member of his bodygard? I'm just speculating...trying to think of a non-glitch/bug error...

Maybe he had a twin!