Odd AI Behavior

[DRG]

As Andy noted, the AI will sometimes do a mini counter attack even before you have taken any objectives. That was the intent of the reaction units but something may have gone slightly astray over time as now in a typical assault / defend situation the AI is allowing roughly half of their formations to react on a wide variety of turns. The only way I can know if this has crept up a bit is to run some tests with an older version of the game which I may do this weekend.

However, under normal circumstances these counter attacks are not seen as odd. In the save game you offered the whole situation was radically different than most games with the way you attacked and the visibility in the game. Moderate pointed games on larger maps will have minefields more dispersed than they would be in high pointed games and if a player tends to play those on medium to small maps the incidences of AI tanks running into their own mines would rise so , like many things in this game, what players see and what strikes them as "odd" depends a great deal on their preferences, points and map size

Don

[RERomine]

Another aspect is, being a game, I don't have to stay "honest" so to speak. In reality, if an attack is launched, defensive lines by the assaulting side aren't abandoned as I did in my attack. Beyond the 100x100 battlefield I was on, there would be supply and ammo dumps, hospitals, communications, headquarters, etc. that would have to still be protected. If those things had been back there at in my game, the AI would have had a field day. In the game, I packed up all my "stuff" and took it with me. Also, a narrow front attack isn't typical. Most real assaults are broad based. In the Battle of the Bulge, the Germans didn't punch a hole one mile wide and send everyone through it. It was an assault on an 80 mile front.

Oh well, enough on this. I think it's been pretty much beat to death.

[RERomine]

5. AI clearing it's own obstacles.

Just started an assault and the AI must have a rifle section next to it, because after the pre-turn 1 artillery bombardment, a message popped up saying "rifle section CLEARS 1 STRAND OF WIRE" and showed me the wire at the bottom edge of the map.

This has actually been an issue since the first SP version came out back in the stone ages, but I don't know if anyone has tried to do anything with it.

As a follow-up thought, since the AI tends to target locations with artillery when an obstacle is cleared, will it nail its own troops as a result?

Neither one hurts the player so it doesn't need to be fixed, but I was curious if any attempt has been made to correct this. I have my turn 1 save file and attached a screen print of the message.

[Mobhack]

Originally Posted by RERomine

5. AI clearing it's own obstacles.

Just started an assault and the AI must have a rifle section next to it, because after the pre-turn 1 artillery bombardment, a message popped up saying "rifle section CLEARS 1 STRAND OF WIRE" and showed me the wire at the bottom edge of the map.

This has actually been an issue since the first SP version came out back in the stone ages, but I don't know if anyone has tried to do anything with it.

As a follow-up thought, since the AI tends to target locations with artillery when an obstacle is cleared, will it nail its own troops as a result?

Neither one hurts the player so it doesn't need to be fixed, but I was curious if any attempt has been made to correct this. I have my turn 1 save file and attached a screen print of the message.

Nope - that one has been there since SP 1 days.

SP 3(?) had a manual flag for engineers to not clear mines, but that is of little use for the AI.

In SP there are just mines or other field defences - there is no ownership marker. So the AI engineers/ordinary troops cannot be coded not to clear "own" mines, since all field engineering items belong to the same pool. Scenario designers can do tricks to give both sides field defences so a "defender does not clear mines" global is not a good idea either, since the defender sometimes does want to clear mines (e.g. to open a lane for a counter attack) or both sides to deal with scatter mines in MBT.

The deployment code is supposed to keep troops clear of engineer obstacles, but has never been able to fully keep it so.

So basically there is no real "sane" way to stop the AI troops clearing mines they are deployed on or in front of, but still clear any they should clear (such as when reacting to a V-hex flip by moving through own minefields).

As to targeting own side - the targeting is done for the opposite side (if AI controlled) to the troops during the clearance phase of the owning player. So that should not happen.

Cheers
Andy