[MaxWilson]

I've been playing SP for a couple of months, and while the AI isn't as good as I am it's plenty good enough to be fun. (Especially since, given that I usually play vs. 7-10 other nations, I'd like to win more than 10-15% of the time.) The main use for the AI is to give me a competent and unpredictable opponent (vs. playing against myself, where the problem is that I always know what "my" strategy is) while I'm trying out new nations/new opponents. The AI does have its weaknesses--it doesn't know how to Blitzkrieg over a Maginot Line and it doesn't always optimize spending perfectly--but I've found that the AI is close enough to good that by turning up the difficulty level, which gives the AI production bonuses, it can still compete well enough that if I fall behind in the early game I bog down and would presumably get crushed if I didn't go for a super-strategy that the AI can't handle (like supercombatants with unique items). I admit that I rarely finish a game, though, just play until I appear to be winning or losing, if that long--there are so many nations to try that I usually have 4-5 games running concurrently and once a game is "over" it loses priority and eventually gets replaced.

(If you play with a no-independent map or mod the AI is a lot stronger, too.)

-Max