AI doesn't sortie

[Viperswhip]

None in this era anyway. The HOMM AI was reasonably good at what it did, enough that rookie-to-some-time-invested players would struggle, while experienced players could trash it. That's pretty similar to EU IV.

If you count RTS as competitors, the AI has a distinctive advantage there as you've no diplomacy (an AI weakness when there is diplomacy) and lots of micro pressure (theoretically an insurmountable AI advantage in terms of potential raw #inputs/time, though it does have to choose good actions). Top notch pros in Sc2 can get a few hundred actions/minute, though how many are useful vs not is debatable. An AI could do many more than that though.

In Total War 2, if you take a nation's last city, despite having a 20 man army capable of capturing a new place to reside they will sit in the open or even on the sea in raiding stance getting attrition until they have few men left, then attack their old city no matter how many men are guarding it...

Steller AI. I want to like that game, but every time I see something like that I quit.

 

[ChildeR]

It is not a joke, the last time I checked having 3 rivals gave you 30 PP over time (that means keeping your rivals alive and kicking is a must have ); declaring war gives +10; taking provinces gives you +5 each; insult gives you something small and embargo is supposed to give you something over time in 1.8 but I did not care enough to check it because with the privateer nerf of 1.8 PP is now useless to me because I simply conquer too fast. I suggest you do the math.

If you are going by 1.7 I can see why you'd think that. As others explained, long term rivals is now down to 5 per. Equally importantly, you get an "eclipsed rival" bonus that offsets the loss of a long term rival, so dealing with your rivals no longer sets you back in PP.

I'm not sure if or how conquering provinces changed in 1.8, but you can easily keep ahead of the decay if you go against a large rival like Russia. I had a +50 modifier from conquering provinces in one game, which takes half a century to come down while giving you time to pile more on it. The decay is always -1/year, which you can easily outpace.

After you've "won the game" and there are no rivals, your PP will of course tank. But the whole games becomes pointless at that point, so I don't really care.

 

[Tacticus101]

In Total War 2, if you take a nation's last city, despite having a 20 man army capable of capturing a new place to reside they will sit in the open or even on the sea in raiding stance getting attrition until they have few men left, then attack their old city no matter how many men are guarding it...

Steller AI. I want to like that game, but every time I see something like that I quit.

Eu4 has equally bad AI issues for things like that. Ai armies freezing and doing nothing, huge stacks seiging a provinces whilst their other army dies right next door, the AI cramming its entire army into one high attrition province.



As for PP, I find that humiliating your rivals is the best way. Just rotate wars through rivals, humiliating each one in turn to keep your MP up without taking territory that would remove them as a rival. As long as you keep them rivalling you (ie, don't be tooo much stronger than them), you can rival them in return, even if normally they would be too weak.

It does help encourage tall empires though, just conquering means you end up with no rivals whilst building small but powerful empires leaves you with plenty of options to Humiliate, take trade power, privateer and generally maintain power without territory.


Sorties are a bit too complicated for the AI atm. They can work very well, but messing them up (as the AI is bound to do a lot) insta-loses the siege. Maybe if they made it so a garrison army retreats before it completely dies it might work, otherwise the risk-reward ratio is too high to risk the AI doing it.

 

[StatikShocker]

I'd abuse the pfgklhgfhdas out of this. send in one regiment less than garrison, drawing them out, and then force march in an army to wipe em. insta siege. say good bye to your country, loser.

yeah the A.I. ain't ready for it.

 

[Viperswhip]

Eu4 has equally bad AI issues for things like that. Ai armies freezing and doing nothing, huge stacks seiging a provinces whilst their other army dies right next door, the AI cramming its entire army into one high attrition province.



As for PP, I find that humiliating your rivals is the best way. Just rotate wars through rivals, humiliating each one in turn to keep your MP up without taking territory that would remove them as a rival. As long as you keep them rivalling you (ie, don't be tooo much stronger than them), you can rival them in return, even if normally they would be too weak.

The AI is much better about supporting now though, like just last night, my 35 stack attacked a 12 stack in Trier, it snowballed until I had 115 men there against a better generaled but outteched AI 95.

I don't want to play a tall Empire game, I never have, not in Civ 1, not now.

 

[FloatingOrb]

I have had the AI sortie against me a few times. Not often, but I remember the rage that came with losing a 4 stack with 3 cannons to a sortie that totally ruined my blanket siege.

 

[Tacticus101]

I don't want to play a tall Empire game, I never have, not in Civ 1, not now.

Yeah, but the option needs to be there, it should be a viable tactic, a choice.

 

[Steelers1990]

Maybe change the whole system.

You sortie....depending on you military tech, fort level etc you have the following outcomes:

1. you slow down the siege amount. ex Province sieged to +14% for the siegers - successful sortie - goes back to -15% (gives you a change to bring in another army to fight)
2. you accomplish nothing
3. you get caught and lose garrison troops (shortening siege)
4. you sortie the wrong side of the fort and the sieging status actually progresses for the enemy so +15% jumps to +30% or wall breached, etc

What do you think of that?

 

[IIWW]

4. you sortie the wrong side of the fort and the sieging status actually progresses for the enemy so +15% jumps to +30% or wall breached, etc

Love this one

Spoiler

nevertheless i don't think it's a good idea. I saw sorties as a counter to "place 1 unit everywhere to prevent them from rectuiting" strategy, or to kill looters. Thats why AI should use it.

 

[Pilot00]

The AI is much better about supporting now though, like just last night, my 35 stack attacked a 12 stack in Trier, it snowballed until I had 115 men there against a better generaled but outteched AI 95.

I don't want to play a tall Empire game, I never have, not in Civ 1, not now.

Debatable, on numerous accounts all that is needed is to reinforce you with a couple stacks. Instead it will move its entire doomstack out of the siege it was performing for the last two years and required just a tick to occupy the province. And this can be done with multiple stacks and sieges.
Plus it cannot support you properly because it doesnt know how to board your transports even if you dock them to the province the are stationed.

For me the big problem currently is that it freezes and it has no sense of a battle plan, no tactics. Case in point: I am playing right now and I have Aragon as allies. Castille Dows them (allied Naples) for some province of theirs in Iberia and they call me. I ship my men to Aragon and I find my self facing the Castillan doom stacks alone. Meanwhile the Ai is duking out in Naples...Which has no army to speak about and nothing to do with the objective....