HOW WOULD YOU RATE THE AI??

[Belisarius]

Sometimes it is difficult to find a human opponent to play a campaign game who will stick with it to the end.

I am considering playing a campaign game of one of the Pz. Campaign titles versus the AI.

Is it worth it or would it be a waste of my time?

I'd appreciate the input.

Thanks,

BELISARIUS

[Mike Abberton]

From what I have seen and heard from others, the AI can do a pretty good job with a shorter/smaller scenario.

However, without the ability to do real long-range planning based on the human player's movements, the AI really starts to break down in the long, huge campaign games. I played one of the long Smolensk '41 campaigns through to the end versus the AI, and once I broke through the initial combat lines, it was all downhill for the AI.

The AI did counterattack the German spearheads in several places, and a few German divisions got chewed up, particularly out near Vyazma where my lines got thin. But overall, the counterattacks were piecemeal and not well coordinated. It seemed the AI just moved them forward as fast as they entered the map towards objective hexes, and fought wherever they ran into opposition.

[Glenn Saunders]

Is it worth it or would it be a waste of my time?

I'd appreciate the input.

The AIs performance is as the other poster suggested, better on shorter scns - less time and units to make a mistake with. But it is also very much dependant upon how complex the sitution is. As well you own ability comes into play too.

In Minsk it should keep you interested - but eventually you will prevail. I think playing the Axis is Sicily might be fun for a while too because the Germans don't have many units and the Italains are not much good and disappear.

Glenn

[FLG]

I have played a few campaigns against the AI. Depending of course on what you are playing, generally in the longer campaigns if you play to win you can usually anihilate the AI in about 1/2 the length of the campaign.

I have developed a few house rules that, if used, should prolong your enjoyement, making the AI a tougher target for much longer in long campaigns. By this I mean typically longer than about 60-70 turns.

1. If the AI set's up a stack of troops in travel mode in your field of view you can not attack them. Normally players don't do this and the AI does it so often it means you can generally destroy large numbers of his troops far too easily. If you are breaking through his lines and find travel mode units on the move then they are fair game. Just ignore AI stupidity.

2. Unsupported armour, i.e. no infantry support, should not be surrounded The AI will quiet happily throw his armour into traps. Let his tanks go if they want to retreat. They probbaly wont though.

3. Don't use air power. This is really just a restraint on your attacking power. It may seem a bit harsh but you will find you don't really need it against the AI.

4. Give the AI at least a 70:30 advantage when setting up the scenario. This helps offset your ability to manage fatigue/disruption and the AI's inability to do so

5. All artillery missions from a unit to be fired at a single target. Some people argue this house rule should be used in PBEM, but in AI games it's a definite. This reduces the amount of disruption you can spread about the AI. As discussed above the AI can't manage fatigue/dsruption well so no point exasperating the situation byut disrupting all his units in an area immediately.

6. If you are going to employ gamey tactics you are only cheating yourself. No one else cares if you tricked the AI and beat him

Of course, you wouldn't dream of playing with the first three of these house rules against a human opponent. But if your playing the AI in a long campaign and want some sort of challenge past half way it's best to give the AI a good amount of leaway.

[Jazman]

[Liebchen]

Seeing as I don't play solo much, my biggest beef against the AI has to do with the movement orders.

Formation movement drives me nuts. I've completely discontinued its use. Sometimes it will form divisions up 20 km behind the lines instead of using the road to the waypoint. Other times (as suggested above) it will march a formation right up to the trenches in travel mode. On crowded roads it often makes bonehead moves that block the way so that many or all of the remaining units in the column can hardly use any of their movement.

Even the single-movement AI bugs me; you know: the drag-and-drop. I've watched units stumble right into known minefields when there was a clear path around them just one too many times. I've seen all sorts of other wacky movement chosen to get from point A to point B, when there were clear and simple ways to go.

At this point I rarely use formation movement, and I only drag-and-drop units when it is clear to me that precision won't matter.

[Glenn Saunders]

[Nicola�]

i remember playing some campaigns against IA. The most challenging was Anzio scenario against Axis. Other campaigns i tested were too easy against IA : France, Karkhov and Normandy... In Karkohv the North frontline is interresting as an Axis player versus russian IA. but in the others part of the map, you can lure easily the IA and it makes too many mistakes, like travel mode units in frontline. So i prefere to play against real players.. ;)

[Skrantsky]

I play against the AI alot and have developed a simple house rule that greatly balances play against the computer.....I keep a cup nearby with ten chits in it....seven green and three red. At the beginning of my turn I randomly draw a chit from the cup. If I draw a green chit I take my turn normally. But if I draw a red chit I must SKIP my turn (no fire, no move, no nothing). The AI, of course, always takes its turn. So, in other words, I always get a defensive fire phase but the probability that I will get to move, conduct offensive fire, and assault is 7 in 10. It can be quite brutal and forces me to play MUCH more conservatively. I find this to be a much better aid to the AI than the percentage slider.

[Baelfiin]

I play against the AI alot and have developed a simple house rule that greatly balances play against the computer.....I keep a cup nearby with ten chits in it....seven green and three red. At the beginning of my turn I randomly draw a chit from the cup. If I draw a green chit I take my turn normally. But if I draw a red chit I must SKIP my turn (no fire, no move, no nothing). The AI, of course, always takes its turn. So, in other words, I always get a defensive fire phase but the probability that I will get to move, conduct offensive fire, and assault is 7 in 10. It can be quite brutal and forces me to play MUCH more conservatively. I find this to be a much better aid to the AI than the percentage slider.

That sounds like a lot of fun, I may try that if I can ever get caught up on my 3 games 8)