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A.I Plans limitation in reinforcements?


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Greetings All,

 

I have been fiddling around with the editor for some days trying to solve a problem that I now think is actually a limitation in the A.I plans.

 

In a nutshell I wanted to create a scenario with a good deal of replayability so I decided to put in a number of A.I plans with as much variation as possible. One of the things I wanted to do was to have reinforcments arriving at different location depending on which A.I plan was in use. This it seems is not possible; no matter how carefully planned and located, the reinforcing units *always* turn up at the place where they where first deployed when purchased. I find this mildly annoying (insert supressed oaths here) but there are of course a few work-arounds involving rapid movements after arriving depending on the A.I plan but before I start working on these I just wanted to check with you lot. Have I got this right, the reinforcements are constrained to one arrival location regardless of A.I plans? Or am I just being stupid? (personally I'd say it's a fifty - fifty chance either way)

 

I would appriciate any input on this.

 

Derfel

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Greetings All,

 

I have been fiddling around with the editor for some days trying to solve a problem that I now think is actually a limitation in the A.I plans.

 

In a nutshell I wanted to create a scenario with a good deal of replayability so I decided to put in a number of A.I plans with as much variation as possible. One of the things I wanted to do was to have reinforcments arriving at different location depending on which A.I plan was in use. This it seems is not possible; no matter how carefully planned and located, the reinforcing units *always* turn up at the place where they where first deployed when purchased. I find this mildly annoying (insert supressed oaths here) but there are of course a few work-arounds involving rapid movements after arriving depending on the A.I plan but before I start working on these I just wanted to check with you lot. Have I got this right, the reinforcements are constrained to one arrival location regardless of A.I plans? Or am I just being stupid? (personally I'd say it's a fifty - fifty chance either way)

 

I would appriciate any input on this.

 

Derfel

Reinforcements are placed on the map in the editor when you deploy the troops of each side.  Unlike forces that start on map, reinforcements do not vary their location based upon set up zones or the initial setup area for each AI group for each plan.  So the direct answer to your question is .... no, you cannot vary the location of reinforcements from the location that you set them when you are deploying each side in the editor.  When using reinforcements you don't even need to paint a 'set up' waypoint because even if you do the AI will not move the reinforcements to that location.  You simply begin an AI plan for reinforcements by painting the first order. 

 

One more thing to be aware of with reinforcements is that if you have a single AI group that consists of both reinforcements and troops that begin on map at the start of the scenario, the forces that start on map will not move to their first order until the reinforcements arrive, so it's best to have a separate AI group for each reinforcement group at a minimum.

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Gents,

 

Thanks for the replies, it seems I wasn't completely off target. Now that I know the limits it's just a matter of working around them, one thing that can be done is to introduce your "reinforcements" at the start in a hidden location (a big hole in the ground for example) and set an order not to move until late in the mission, or better yet by a trigger. Then you can vary the location depending on the A.I plan by having several hidden locations.

 

Regards,

 

Derfel

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Gents,

 

Thanks for the replies, it seems I wasn't completely off target. Now that I know the limits it's just a matter of working around them, one thing that can be done is to introduce your "reinforcements" at the start in a hidden location (a big hole in the ground for example) and set an order not to move until late in the mission, or better yet by a trigger. Then you can vary the location depending on the A.I plan by having several hidden locations.

 

Regards,

 

Derfel

If the scenario is to be vs. AI as a specific side only that would work.  However, that would eliminate the chance of that scenario being played head to head or played vs. the AI as the other side of course.

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ASL Vet; Yeah, that's true. In this particular case I just put the arrival location for the reinforcements a bit further back from the front and had them flanking left or right or moving straight forward depending on the A.I plan. Regarding mixing reinforcing units with starting units, been there, done that, annoying as hell before you realise what's wrong. (Move you b*strds, MOVE! Why don't you... oh...)

 

//Derfel

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  • 2 weeks later...

Gents,

 

Thanks for the replies, it seems I wasn't completely off target. Now that I know the limits it's just a matter of working around them, one thing that can be done is to introduce your "reinforcements" at the start in a hidden location (a big hole in the ground for example) and set an order not to move until late in the mission, or better yet by a trigger. Then you can vary the location depending on the A.I plan by having several hidden locations.

 

Regards,

 

Derfel

I really like this idea. Really really like this idea. +2 in your book.

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Player could play with the understanding that he is not to move the men until a certain time, or activate them at all if he wants (ala Sid Meier's Gettysburg & Antietam) which could give you a house advantage in points. Just different idea for fudging around for things. 

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