In my continuing & stubborn attempts to push my faction to actually accomplish some war objectives, I have accumulated well over 500 captives penned up in my castles. These are nearly all regular troops, as opposed to bandits. I have refused to ransom them so as not to release them back to the other side's manpower pool. But am I right about that? Maybe they evaporate from the game?
And when I'm on a deep run inside enemy territory, I frequently fill my available captive capacity and have to make decisions about who to keep in detention and who to release, after a battle. These excess captives, released locally and not ransomed - are THEY released to the enemy's manpower pool?
BTW - I often keep 1-2 of each captured troop type I find useful along with my party. Accepting prisoners into my band who want to fight, not be dragged around, gives me a big quality boost after battle depletion versus AI lords who go and clean out all habitations they can reach of available recruits. If I keep them long enough, even Levels 21 and 26 prisoners occasionally join me.
And when I'm on a deep run inside enemy territory, I frequently fill my available captive capacity and have to make decisions about who to keep in detention and who to release, after a battle. These excess captives, released locally and not ransomed - are THEY released to the enemy's manpower pool?
BTW - I often keep 1-2 of each captured troop type I find useful along with my party. Accepting prisoners into my band who want to fight, not be dragged around, gives me a big quality boost after battle depletion versus AI lords who go and clean out all habitations they can reach of available recruits. If I keep them long enough, even Levels 21 and 26 prisoners occasionally join me.