Remove the "chat" dialogue before battles.

[Klokkwork]

Okay, I keep seeing people mentioning the fact that the enemy AI knows exactly where your troops are, and your troops know where you are. I finally figured out that this is because they all meet up and chat with each other before the battle. Hence the "I'll give you nothing but the tip of my blade in your gut!". So they need to not talk with one another pre-battle, and nobody will know where anybody else is. Eh? Okay, that might be a little simplistic, but for anyone needing a rationale about how everyone knows where everybody else is... there you go.

 

[Archonsod]

It was usual to parley before battle.

It depends to be honest. At the moment the conversation serves little purpose, unless its bandits or deserters and you choose to bribe them.

Perhaps adding a surrender option would make it worth while. If the player surrenders, then they should lose cash and equipment as they would if they were defeated, although they get to keep their men.
AI should surrender based on strengths, i.e. if they flee the player's party and are caught they should surrender. Surrendering AI partys remove the party, and yields half the loot it normally would. Probably an option to allow the player to take prisoners, just so it doesn't break the capture type quests.

 

[Roach]

I'd like to see more options for trash-talking before the battle. I want to tell the bandits to give me their gold for their lives. The conversations if you joined the bandit faction in Mag7 were hilarious:

-We're just simple farmers.
-Well, now's the time to pay for being poor and weak!

-Hello fellow traveller.
-Hello! Line up and put on these shackles, you are now my slaves!

The devil's in the details.

 

[Poil]

-The war has driven us from...
-Yeah yeah, whatever. Shut up, grab a sword and get in line.