Problems With the AI

Lord_Valentai

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I acknowledge that this might be flogging a dead horse, but I've been having issues with the AI for a long time and thought I'd mention them.

After reading 'To the Gates of Richmond' I decided to play Campaign Peninsula again. One scenario that impressed me was the 'Confederate Offensive Begins' where the Rebel army masses south of the river and Jackson comes through Richmond. Regardless, it's a 117 turn scenario with a lot of potential.

But I ended up giving up within 8 turns. Why? On the first turn the entire northern army formed column and charged. They ploughed into abatis, into swamps, into forests with cavalry. The V Corps charged south (where there were no bridges or fords) and disrupted itself in the swamps. Meanwhile the Union artillery, still limbered, rushed me. Five batteries in 3 turns moved to the crest of Garnett's Hill, in contact with my ready troops, and got massacred. Next General Richardson's cavalry escort with the general charged through a forest against an entire brigade supported by artillery and was wiped out.

The thing is that within 8 turns I'd caused 1400 casualties for the loss of 50, destroyed or uncrewed 30 cannon and captured 5 suicidal generals. So I gave up, since it'd be an endless massacre.

I once ran the 407 turn Peninsula campaign AI vs AI and it ended with both of them sitting in a swamp 5 miles from each other and causing 800 casualties total (of which McClellan was one when he charged the entire Rebel army with his escort).

This is not a new problem in these games. I buy them because they're great, historically accurate and tactically interesting. But I don't have the time or inclination to play against a human, and every time the AI just cuts out the fun.
In Chickamauga the AI marches into the woods and gets lost there for the entire game.
In Antietam the entire Union army decides to move to Middle Bridge and cross there in a big mess.
In Vicksburg the AI decides that charging into a Bayou is a great move and becomes 90% disrupted.

My point is that the AI works only in battles less then 10 turns on a tiny battlefield. The rest of the time it just turns the game into an uneven slaughter.

What's the point of this message? I don't know...just frustration really that these games are pretty useless for single-player unless you like slaughtering a dimwitted AI opponent.
 

Hannibal

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Have you tried the scenarios on the HPS Antietam disk that are designed specifically for AI play? They are the scenarios from 143 - 181. I haven't played them either so I can't provide comment on how much better they are, but they should be worth an effort to see what the designer accomplished with them.
 

Lord_Valentai

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I did, but the problem is that the way they make it designed for AI play is to have small scenarios where the human is greatly outnumbered. It makes it challenging, but it doesn't really make it fun.
 

Hannibal

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I just opened up the Historical Antietam AI version (scenario 154) and let it proceed through part of the first turn. It had the same numbers of troops as the non-AI version and 6 more turns in the game (46 vs 40). I don't know how challenging it would be as it might move everybody to Middle Bridge in order to cross. Of course, every disk doesn't have these predesigned AI scenarios so your choices would be limited even if you liked them. Thought that I would bring it up anyway just in case it might help. The AI in Gary Grigsby's War Between The States will beat you to a pulp.
 

Lord_Valentai

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Here is a picture example:



The only Union units (under AI control) which have moved are the ones with leaders in them. In 3 turns Thomas with that one unit charged an entire division of my troops and was massacred. Meanwhile the rest of the Union army just piled up and sat in that corner and DID NOTHING!

I give up.

EDIT: Thanks for the suggestion, Hannibal, and I followed your suggestion. However, the AI Challenge Scenarios in Antietam follow the same pattern - the AI moves in as reinforcements the first turn, and then after it's only the units with leaders in them that move.

EDIT2: Even with command control the AI will ONLY move units with leaders directly in them. The rest just sit there!

Look, I understand that the AI is not the biggest priority, but they should do something! This morning I have tried every game in the Civil War series I possess, and the AI either does nothing or charges off wildly towards you. There's no planning here. Nothing.

EDIT3: Now this is interesting! If I play with manual defensive fire OFF, then things start to happen! (IE turn mode rather then phases). Is this meant to be like this?

EDIT4: However the AI is still obsessed with objectives, and in the 1st Bull Run scenario has their entire army cluster around Centerville as that's the only objective on the board.
 
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wlh

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It is not only the Civil War series, but, the Napoleonic series. Just play Wagram. You can watch Davout's III corps march off to the northeast because it is unable to cross the Danube (even though the bridges are intact). The only way to do it is to play the campaign game as email. Move one side, pretend to email it, and the move the other side. Set objectives for each side and do deviate from that course until the movements of the opposing force cause you to do so.
 
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