Routing armies and friendly fire

[Graeme Dice]

Originally posted by onomastikon:
I mean, if you see they are routing, it is often not only better but perhaps ethically sensible to not slaughter them.

Ethics has little to do with medieval warfare.

- If squadrons are routing but the entire army isnt, it would make more sense to concentrate on the enemy that is still there.

As other have said, if given a choice between chasing a guy who's running away so you can kill him and loot his armour and weapons, or going after someone who is still trying to kill you, most people will go for the loot.