[JCrowe]

A weird aspect of the AI that I noticed - the presence of neutral nations seems to SPUR military advancement in the AI.

I've played with & without neutrals, and expected a more vigorous game from the 'empty planet'. However, in the absence of a strong "neutral" presence, the AI seemed to limit itself to ground forces - to the near exclusion of all else. Empire after falling empire it was the same - I was the only dude in town with air power.

Results were predictable.

Oddly, add a few neutrals to the mix, and then "Poof!" - out came the bombers and fighter groups. (Navies still a rare sight.)

Another AI oddity - cash hoarding. Using the Statistics screen to view national development, I noticed - again & again - that a number of the computer player seemed to be hoarding cash like it was going out of style. To the tune of $200-$400M. It's POSSIBLE that they could have been banking up for research, but the endless roll of undeveloped turns later argued against that possibility. So instead of building tech or air squadrons, they were just ... sitting on it. Often while I was killing them, which should have been incentive to pry open the national coffers, or so you'd think.

Another fav - building fabrication facilities on the edge of a war zone. True, I do this as well, as I'm sure most human players do. However, what made the computer's AI "unique" was the habit of building them within a territory or two of a front line ... that's completely undefended. Yes - zero defenses. They know I've got 15 tanks and a passel of air support to go with ... and they spend $30M to drop a facility right in front of my path, where I am clearly heading with all alacrity. You'd think the AI would at least try to push her back three or four territories, just to give itself time to build the factory and run out some units before all hell breaks loose.