CA developers please add this feature in the game.

[AnthoniusII]

Can you script anything related to war captives?
Option 1:
Captives excange. This was a common practice in that timeframe.
When in peace with a faction (Romans vs Sassanids) after a conflict. A tiny number of units will apear as returned war captives.
Same ammount of units will added to AI faction.
Option 2: Ransom
Espesialy in the west where the barbarians mostly cared about looting and gold, when player's faction comes to peace treaty after a conflict, the other (AI) faction will sell (ransom) back some captives to player.
Option 3: War captives in service of Rome.
That was very common between Sassanids and Rome.
Belisarius had such units under his command!
Those units must have low morrale though (atleast at first use) and must no be able to automaticaly replenish.
Real history offers the best scenarios.

War captives were an essential key to foreign policies in that era.. can you do this?

[RGA]

Option 2 and 3 are already in game.

[Prof]

Well...right now there are three options.

1. You can set prisoners of war free for a ransom. This will make the army integrity suffer.
2. You can recruit the prisoners into your own ranks to replenish units. This will reduce the unit experience of the replenished units.
3. You can kill them. This will give you diplomatic penalties with the faction, they were from.

Just letting them go would be a good option, too and I think, this feature was best implemented in Medieval 2, where it actually influenced your general's reputation and capturing an enemy general had a meaning.

[Butan]

Well...right now there are three options.

1. You can set prisoners of war free for a ransom. This will make the army integrity suffer.
2. You can recruit the prisoners into your own ranks to replenish units. This will reduce the unit experience of the replenished units.
3. You can kill them. This will give you diplomatic penalties with the faction, they were from.

Just letting them go would be a good option, too and I think, this feature was best implemented in Medieval 2, where it actually influenced your general's reputation and capturing an enemy general had a meaning.

A simple release bonus +rep would be a good option 4 indeed.


Option 2/3 of Anthonius are kinda in the game, but not as you would want it to be. Option 1 seem very hard to code (sync captives between empires?).



I would add that vanilla ransom amount are too low, and the integrity malus should be applied to the vanilla recruit prisoners (to me it looks like someone at CA made a mistake and applied it to the wrong case).

[AnthoniusII]

So..let me understand.
You capture Sassanid cataphracts and with them you can replenish your troops (roman cataphracts)?
Can you have that unit as part of your army?
That is what i am talking about!

[Prof]

So..let me understand.
You capture Sassanid cataphracts and with them you can replenish your troops (roman cataphracts)?
Can you have that unit as part of your army?
That is what i am talking about!

You just capture enemy men...it does not depend on the unit type. After the battle, the game asks you what to do with the prisoners and depending on the amount of prisoners you have taken, you can replenish a certain percentage of your losses. It just boosts unit replenishment.

[Humble Warrior]

Capturing some sassanids cataphracts won`t give you some cataphracts to use later in your army. I suppose the enemy are simply hard drafted as foot soldiers, or whatever is available, ie "Sorry, cataphracts, we know you are elite horsemen, but you now join the spear levy to bolster their numbers. Don`t like it? Well there`s always the `knife to the throat option` for you!

[Butan]

Capturing some sassanids cataphracts won`t give you some cataphracts to use later in your army. I suppose the enemy are simply hard drafted as foot soldiers, or whatever is available, ie "Sorry, cataphracts, we know you are elite horsemen, but you now join the spear levy to bolster their numbers. Don`t like it? Well there`s always the `knife to the throat option` for you!

You made me remember how well it is made in Mount & Blade: Warband (especially using mods, yes mods everywhere!). High value soldiers you manage to knock out (and not kill, even if they rout or not) are very interesting to try to recruit, or to sell. Even low-average value prisoners, can make good fodder when you convince them to join you. Capturing lords make them unable to command armies (obviously) and they can be ransomed for a lot of money!

[Påsan]

The feature that is most needed is exchange regions. The inability to help my allies is crippling diplomacy IMO.

[Ataegina]

The feature that is most needed is exchange regions. The inability to help my allies is crippling diplomacy IMO.

Indeed !!!

[stevehoos]

Indeed !!!

Medieval 3.

[RGA]

The feature that is most needed is exchange regions. The inability to help my allies is crippling diplomacy IMO.

You could give them money but because AI already benefits from a hefty income bonus, it is unlikely to help much.

You can march your army against your allies' enemy. That's, IMHO, the surest way to ensure their survival.

You can also point out an enemy settlement as war target, going there first, sack it, and afterwards leave this undefended settlement to your allies, hoping that they will occupy instead of raze it to ground

[AnthoniusII]

You just capture enemy men...it does not depend on the unit type. After the battle, the game asks you what to do with the prisoners and depending on the amount of prisoners you have taken, you can replenish a certain percentage of your losses. It just boosts unit replenishment.

Capturing some sassanids cataphracts won`t give you some cataphracts to use later in your army. I suppose the enemy are simply hard drafted as foot soldiers, or whatever is available, ie "Sorry, cataphracts, we know you are elite horsemen, but you now join the spear levy to bolster their numbers. Don`t like it? Well there`s always the `knife to the throat option` for you!

But that is the point...Belisarius had Sassanid troops under his command as war captives and faught as separate units ( sassanid units).
The common thing was to use captive troops away from their homeland inorder to be imposible to escape or dificult to revolt in a hostile enviroment.
Those troops actually payed their captivity in service and released after years of war service or exchanged under war captive exchange treaties.
Such a "captive" was Asdruvas that builded the Theodossian Walls of Thessalonike and recieved many gifts by the Emperor and internal recognision for his accomplicement!
So..a scenario could be.
A battle ends and the player has 12 sassanid cataphracts as captives. Those men can not be replenish.
If an other similar number of captives are available then the two units can be merged.
That is what i ask from CA.

[veverčák]

The problem with your idea is 20 units per army limitations. As the captured unit would need place within the victorious army so you would need to lose a unit in battle. Next qustion is from gameplay perspective: "Why do I need an unit which is not replenishable, is undermanned and can be in most cases hired as mercenary unit without such limitations?". IMHO this is right now kind of impossible feature to implement.

[Karnil Vark Khaitan]

The problem with your idea is 20 units per army limitations. As the captured unit would need place within the victorious army so you would need to lose a unit in battle. Next qustion is from gameplay perspective: "Why do I need an unit which is not replenishable, is undermanned and can be in most cases hired as mercenary unit without such limitations?". IMHO this is right now kind of impossible feature to implement.

Hmm all this could be solved with roleplay and renaming units.