How could AI be better?

[jKMkIII]

Hi,

I believe many of you have noticed that in some cases CM AI is good, but sometimes it does some very stupid things that make it look very stupid.

In some other thread it was mentioned that AI was harder when squads were split and force morale was lower (but was this because AI acted smarter or because players troops were easier to break too?)

I have to admit that I haven't played that much against AI, I prefer PBEM games. But in those games I have played I have noticed that AI has couple bad habits

1) leading with tanks

Propably worst case was in one operation (it was original one, FJ troops in Normandy) where computer advanced at night with two shermans right into my ambush. Didn't see any infantry even close.. and this certainly wasn't because I had advanced quickly to somewhere where I shouldn't have been.. if those tanks would have gotten even 10m closer my gun could have fired them from its setup position.

2) massing troops together

Sure it is good to concentrate your troops and overwhelm enemy defences, but when you get whole battalion into very small forest area you can blame yourself when enemy fires every artillery it got on you. In same operation killed propably 90% of US infantry battalion with 3 81mm spotters, 3 HMGs and 1 pioneer platoon. And only thing that saved those 10% was that time ended and my second platoon didn't get into firing positions quickly enough.

Anyone else have points that AI does wrong, at least in some situations... or some new rules AI should check when thinking what to do?

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jK.MkIII

[Jochen Schmidt]

Yeah, massing up troops is on the one side the right thing to do, on the other side, especially if the terrain isn´t good enough deadly. At the moment i play a DYO-Operation, and the AI is still famous!!!!!

I think, the AI in CM is the best i have ever seen in a wargame - sure, it could be sometimes better, and i believe that BTS will work on this.

Hope this helps.

Bye, bye

Jochen

[phil stanbridge]

I have to say that I find the AI very challenging. Yes, sometimes it leads with tanks and sometimes it masses it troops but this isn't altogether a bad AI. It can be quite effective.

Negative points, telling the scenario/op to place its own units. You find that the AI likes to stick fortifications in the strangest of places! Especially pillboxes!

[Pak40]

Here are a couple of things that the defensive AI should use:

1) Don't fire AT guns at anything that moves. Too many times AT guns give away their position when firing at infantry several hundred meters away.

2) Infantry tend to open up too early. They also fire at enemy infantry far away, giving away their position. Ambushes should be set or infantry should actually use the "hide" command.

3) Somehow program the AI to setup his troops better.