Suggestion for gameplay enhancement - taking control of AI allies

[Vidkjaer]

From the 4th WWW video we can see, that when Italy and Japan joins the Axis faction, the italian navy takes a small stroll to the Baltic Sea, challenges the British in the Mediterranian and get their ass kicked, leaves Africa undefended and a japanese Zero fighter appearing over Wilhelmshaven. I am all in favor that your AI allies helps out in the war, but this is to much.
Johan didnt answer the Twitch chat question about wheter or not a player was able to set the level of agression for you navy. Meaning that if you ships found a much larger force thay would retreat if the agression level was set to low. It is therefore pointless to call in Italy as you ally, if she just send out her navy to be sunked, as the game then just is about who can produce the most. It is also frustrating and may leave some customers behind wanting more.
We havent seen any button or mechanic in the gameplay videoes that a player is able to set objectives for his AI allies, land, air og sea. This makes you ally a somewhat untrustworthy and irritating ally.

So here is my suggestion:

As a faction leader you should have the option to take control of your AI allies. By control i mean as a minimum the army, airforce and navy. Secondly other things could be nice to control. Here is my list in priotized order:

1. Army, airforce and navy
2. Military production
3. Province buildings (factories, AA, infrastructure etc)

I dont think the control of Division templates, research, trade, national focuses and diplomatic relations should be in the players control for an ally. I also dont think playing as Italy the player should have control over Germany. Only when you are the faction leader or have puppets.

This would greatly enhance the gameplay experience and outrule the "stupid" decisions the AI makes. It would also ensure that navies arent completely destroyed on stupid mistakes, areas are undefended and so on. Playing as Germany and having control over Italy, Hungary, Nat. Spain, Slovakia, Romania, Japan would seriously makes this game more enjoyable and further lift it up on a strategic level. Of course sending german troops to Japan should come with a malus or some other thing making it unattractive since it is unrealistic.

Would it be that difficult, programmingwise, to include your ally's divisions when selecting a group of divisions and include them in your Battleplan? Maybe not under same General but only under a Italian general for Italien forces and so on.
I know it is not "realistic" that Germany fx have total control over Italien forces, but the gameplay experience would be much greater.
Whether or not the British should have total control over USA when they enter the war can be debated, but if the AI is not capble of making correct decisions then i think she should have.

One could argue that taking control of your AI allies forces would make the game to easy. Perhaps, but then it is just a matter of adjusting difficulty settings accordingly.

I for one hated the the "stupid mistakes" the AI made for your allies when playing HOI3 and it seems this is also the case for HOI4.

What do you guys think?

 

[Blackwolfpt]

Sorry, but I think that's a terrible idea. I would rather have the AI greatly enhanced and not take control of their forces outright. This seems like a crutch to the AI and just going the lazy route.

It would also be too open for exploits. A German player struggling against France and the UK would just take all the Japanese forces, while neglecting Japan's war against China. Is China occupying all Manchukuo and starting their invasion of mainland Japan? No worries, their entire army and navy will just stay in France, to defend it against the US/UK, because I say so.

By watching the WWW, wars are quite chaotic. You have many systems to manage at the same time and even while trying to micro manage everything, it's easy to miss a detail that is being neglected and putting you behind. Now imagine this, but x2 or x4.

On a final note, it's completely unrealistic. I know this argument, alone, is not meaningful, but it's coupled with all the reasons I gave behind.

 

[fabius]

As a minimum the player, especially if faction Leader, should be able to give plans to allies.

UK and USA could be both.

 

[Vidkjaer]

Sorry, but I think that's a terrible idea. I would rather have the AI greatly enhanced and not take control of their forces outright. This seems like a crutch to the AI and just going the lazy route.

It would also be too open for exploits. A German player struggling against France and the UK would just take all the Japanese forces, while neglecting Japan's war against China. Is China occupying all Manchukuo and starting their invasion of mainland Japan? No worries, their entire army and navy will just stay in France, to defend it against the US/UK, because I say so.

By watching the WWW, wars are quite chaotic. You have many systems to manage at the same time and even while trying to micro manage everything, it's easy to miss a detail that is being neglected and putting you behind. Now imagine this, but x2 or x4.

On a final note, it's completely unrealistic. I know this argument, alone, is not meaningful, but it's coupled with all the reasons I gave behind.

Well, that is why i propost that taking units far across the globe to fight on foreign ally soil shold come with a penalty. And if the japanese nation was conquored then all it units would disintegrate. Therefore it wouldnt be wise to just take all japanese units and make them fight in europe.

 

[Blackwolfpt]

Well, that is why i propost that taking units far across the globe to fight on foreign ally soil shold come with a penalty. And if the japanese nation was conquored then all it units would disintegrate. Therefore it wouldnt be wise to just take all japanese units and make them fight in europe.

It would still be a way to avoid Pearl Harbour and having to fight the USA. Also, Italy wouldn't have the penalty as they aren't across the globe. You would be able to take all their forces and not protect Lybia or southern Italy as it wouldn't be your main priority. This was just an example anyway, but I'm sure multiple exploits would be found with this.

Your solution is more of a cop out for terrible AI. It would solve nothing in the end, as the enemy AI would still make bad decisions and make the game easier than it would already be. I would much rather have Paradox work more on the AI and make it capable and able to stand out on its own, while protecting its own interests.