Just been reviewing a game where I played Argentina (only Brazil left in South America now 
) to keep myself amused while I kept an eye on what the AI does as Germany.
It's 1947 and USSR and NatChi are defeated and the axis controls the Eurasian land mass and Africa--in fact anything you can get to overland. Great you might think, WAD.
However the AI is building a crazy mix of units including penny packets of navy (e.g. precisely one carrier, a few screen), loads of MOT and INF with no real purpose any more. USA is starting to sprinkle atomic bombs on Germany and GER manpower is down to 40. My conclusion is that AI might win on points from this position, but perhaps not. Nothing there is a real answer to allied air and atomic power, and as long as the GER AI keeps running itself out of manpower, the whole thing is liable to shatter due to lack of reinforcements.
What I would have expected to find is priority for nuke and rocketry research, because this is the only way Germany can knock the US out of the war. It also requires a switch to strong naval and naval doctrine research. With Japan in the axis, the large deficit of this research can be made up relatively quickly (if you abandon the useless commerce raider doctrines), and at least enough, and good enough, naval units can be built to invade England--which prevents more a-bombs turning up. Once your IC cracks 600, with USSR gone there's not much you can't do.
On the other hand, the US AI never builds or uses rockets and without England, this would still be a viable option to strike Germany.
I once tried to modify the switch events for research and build schemes which would bring some of these things about. However I don't understand the mechanisms well enough and either broke things, or nothing happened.
So, if anyone is interested, and if there is anyone still working on the game, here are some suggestions.
1. Triggered by Bitter Peace, switch German research and build priority to target reactor size 10 and ICBM as quickly as possible.
1a. STOP the german AI wasting manpower and oil on scores of MOT and MECH. Switch priority to upgrades, not new units, to make sure what is in the field is as effective as possible.
2. If Japan is in the Axis, also abandon commerce raider and u-boats and aim to build the best possible carriers and screens. (If not, make it a diplomatic priority to get them into the axis, then do this.) As far as I can tell, other surface forces are basically useless against an opponent who has even one CV.
3. Also triggered by Bitter Peace, modify US and German AI to build and use rockets with nukes.
4. Modify any AI which might come up with an atomic bomb to use them to assist invasions--at which they are very good if you haven't tried it--rather than just reducing industry to rubble. Not sure if this is possible for the AI, but I have found playing GER that three nukes in the SW corner of England makes a pretty much unstoppable invasion, assuming the RN is out of the way. I do not know, for instance, if the AI is capable of stockpiling nukes instead of firing them as soon as built. They are much, much more effective in bunches...particularly at causing crippling levels of dissent.
I also have some general observations from this and other games:
1. The naval system is still very broken--not sure anything can be done about it. But I've tried dealing with the USN a few times and hardly ever beaten a carrier TF. I found by inspecting a save file that the AI often makes carrier forces with 8-9 carriers and not much else, totally unrealistic but very effective in the game. There needs to be an overstacking penalty for CVs of 3 or 4 in a single fleet, for everyone, regardless of doctrine. Alternatively, can they be given a value of perhaps 6 or 7 instead of 1 for computing fleet size? I think 7 is the better value here.
2. All the AIs will happily sit by while their allies and puppets are overwhelmed, without sending any forces to assist. For instance, I have yet to come across any US ground unit in England if I invade. Germany does nothing if the US invades Italy, until their forces hit the german border. Italy and Germany do nothing to assist Iraq and Syria if they join the Axis. And so on.
Again, not sure anything can be done about this, but it sure is annoying.
3. AIs do not seem to test available manpower and set production accordingly.
4. Particularly with Operation Torch, the AI seems to be content most of the time to send a handful of units racing around grabbing territory without any provision for holding it. These probes are easily routed and driven into the sea most of the time, nuisance value only. Invasions should be more serious!
5. UK manpower seems ridiculously high even without India. They were flat out putting and maintaining 40 divisions in the field along with the needs of the RAF and RN, never mind the 90 or so the game comes up with most of the time.
) to keep myself amused while I kept an eye on what the AI does as Germany.It's 1947 and USSR and NatChi are defeated and the axis controls the Eurasian land mass and Africa--in fact anything you can get to overland. Great you might think, WAD.
However the AI is building a crazy mix of units including penny packets of navy (e.g. precisely one carrier, a few screen), loads of MOT and INF with no real purpose any more. USA is starting to sprinkle atomic bombs on Germany and GER manpower is down to 40. My conclusion is that AI might win on points from this position, but perhaps not. Nothing there is a real answer to allied air and atomic power, and as long as the GER AI keeps running itself out of manpower, the whole thing is liable to shatter due to lack of reinforcements.
What I would have expected to find is priority for nuke and rocketry research, because this is the only way Germany can knock the US out of the war. It also requires a switch to strong naval and naval doctrine research. With Japan in the axis, the large deficit of this research can be made up relatively quickly (if you abandon the useless commerce raider doctrines), and at least enough, and good enough, naval units can be built to invade England--which prevents more a-bombs turning up. Once your IC cracks 600, with USSR gone there's not much you can't do.
On the other hand, the US AI never builds or uses rockets and without England, this would still be a viable option to strike Germany.
I once tried to modify the switch events for research and build schemes which would bring some of these things about. However I don't understand the mechanisms well enough and either broke things, or nothing happened.
So, if anyone is interested, and if there is anyone still working on the game, here are some suggestions.
1. Triggered by Bitter Peace, switch German research and build priority to target reactor size 10 and ICBM as quickly as possible.
1a. STOP the german AI wasting manpower and oil on scores of MOT and MECH. Switch priority to upgrades, not new units, to make sure what is in the field is as effective as possible.
2. If Japan is in the Axis, also abandon commerce raider and u-boats and aim to build the best possible carriers and screens. (If not, make it a diplomatic priority to get them into the axis, then do this.) As far as I can tell, other surface forces are basically useless against an opponent who has even one CV.
3. Also triggered by Bitter Peace, modify US and German AI to build and use rockets with nukes.
4. Modify any AI which might come up with an atomic bomb to use them to assist invasions--at which they are very good if you haven't tried it--rather than just reducing industry to rubble. Not sure if this is possible for the AI, but I have found playing GER that three nukes in the SW corner of England makes a pretty much unstoppable invasion, assuming the RN is out of the way. I do not know, for instance, if the AI is capable of stockpiling nukes instead of firing them as soon as built. They are much, much more effective in bunches...particularly at causing crippling levels of dissent.
I also have some general observations from this and other games:
1. The naval system is still very broken--not sure anything can be done about it. But I've tried dealing with the USN a few times and hardly ever beaten a carrier TF. I found by inspecting a save file that the AI often makes carrier forces with 8-9 carriers and not much else, totally unrealistic but very effective in the game. There needs to be an overstacking penalty for CVs of 3 or 4 in a single fleet, for everyone, regardless of doctrine. Alternatively, can they be given a value of perhaps 6 or 7 instead of 1 for computing fleet size? I think 7 is the better value here.
2. All the AIs will happily sit by while their allies and puppets are overwhelmed, without sending any forces to assist. For instance, I have yet to come across any US ground unit in England if I invade. Germany does nothing if the US invades Italy, until their forces hit the german border. Italy and Germany do nothing to assist Iraq and Syria if they join the Axis. And so on.
Again, not sure anything can be done about this, but it sure is annoying.
3. AIs do not seem to test available manpower and set production accordingly.
4. Particularly with Operation Torch, the AI seems to be content most of the time to send a handful of units racing around grabbing territory without any provision for holding it. These probes are easily routed and driven into the sea most of the time, nuisance value only. Invasions should be more serious!
5. UK manpower seems ridiculously high even without India. They were flat out putting and maintaining 40 divisions in the field along with the needs of the RAF and RN, never mind the 90 or so the game comes up with most of the time.
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