CMBO AI Aint that Bad

[Chad Harrison]

Recently it seems that there have been a lot of posts here about how bad CMBO AI is and how CMBB had better have better AI.

If you want good AI, play against a human being. CMBO/CMBB AI will never pull off amazing tactics, thats just the way it is. Even if you are the best of the best at CMBO, just let the computer assault you, and give it 150% troops, and then lets see how bad the AI is.

I had some free time, and thats what I did today. I did a QB with me as the British Airborne ONLY, and the computer as German SS only. I gave him +50% troops on a 3000 point battle. What that meant was that he showed up with a whole lot of armour and artillery and infantry.

I was defending a town and placed all my 6 and 17 pound guns all over the place. Most my infantry was in the town with most the flags covered. It ended up being a very interesting game. My troops dug in and beat off wave after wave of infantry. They would run out of ammo and then be slaughtered. It took some thinking and tactics to work my way out of that battle.

I have to say that I enjoyed the game, even though it was the computer. There were enough flags on the assault map that the computer had enough incentive to make a go for it. No, it wasnt nearly as fun as some PBEM's that I have had, but it was still fun to play.

So if you are new to CMBO and want more of a challenge from the computer, try this out:

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• give computer more points for buying troops. giving them +50% will challenge anybody
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• let the computer buy troops for you. you end up with crap (which was reality back then) a lot of times, and that always spices things up
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• computer is best at defending, but if you want it to attack, make it a assault battle, that way the puter has plenty of bait way back in the rear of the map
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• most of all, if you think that you are REALLY hot stuff, just play iron man CMBO! IIRC thats what they call it when you play from eye level1 the entire game, and cant scroll around the map. that will challenge anybody! </font>

What makes this game so great is not the AI, but the gameplay. The real fun of CMBO/CMBB will be found in PBEM/TCP games!

Chad

[ July 28, 2002, 03:15 AM: Message edited by: Chad Harrison ]

[Egan]

I agree. AI is not going to be as good as playing human right now but i've had some stonking games against the AI in CMBO. Sure, the AI does not always do things the way a guy with years of experience on the battle field might but who does.

[Andrew H.]

Here's another trick you can do to have a hard game against the AI:

(1) Choose combined arms attack, with you being the attacker.

(2) Computer picks forces.

(3) Computer gets +10% (or you get -10%) force balance.

(4) You play low quality troops.

(5) Computer gets regular quality troops.

(6) Computer gets +1 experience bonus.

(7) Reduce game time from 30 to 23 turns.

I've used similar setups to this on numerous occasions and the computer has often won; I think that the time limitation is the biggest advantage that the computer has.

My battles don't typically go larger than 1500 points, so I don't know if any further adjustments are necessary for larger battles, although I suspect that they might be.

[Bruce70]

I play all my games against the computer with the computer having +50% bonus or more if the computer is attacking. That way even if the computer attacks poorly its still fun nailing all those tanks and APCs. I don't often lose but get a few draws, I think I'll try a short time limit, that sounds like a good idea for attacking.

[BeauCoupDinkyDau]

Another thing I do is turn off the VFs before I see the battlefield. I just look down at my keyboard until the game loads, then turn flags off. Make sure you don't use unit bases either; it allows the AI to supprise you now and then (almost like an extreme fog of war). Also, depending on the mods you use, some of the AI's men and AFVs can be real difficult to see. I try to pick mods that allow the enemy units to camo-in without blending into the scenery completely (just like in real combat most of the time). This makes them hard to spot, so the AI gains yet another advantage over me.

I don't care what the whiners say. CM AI is very good and fun to play against given the right conditions.

[Panzer76]

AI is alright when defending.

I usually choose to attack, with a -50% handicap. That way the AI defender has approx the same force strenght as me. But still... oh well.

[Silvio Manuel]

Low visibility (dawn/dusk or night) and wet conditions make it harder, too.

Also you can have your forces auto-picked, but then buy some choice units for the AI, i.e. along the lines of playing US units in June 44 (only M10's for 76mm) but giving the AI some tough armor, 120mm mortars, AT pillbox, etc.

[Chad Harrison]

thats another one, if you want to get all worked up and frustrated, just make it a night battle with low quality troops!

seriously though, hats off the BTS for a great game that keeps getting better. the AI is all i am going to play when CMBB comes out, atleast for the first while so i can figure out all the tricks of CMBB.

chad

[Doug Beman]

Originally posted by Chad Harrison:

CMBO AI Aint that Bad

chad

Yes it is, it sucks. It's always making my troops miss or suddenly turn their vehicles ass-to so they die more easily, or else lets vehicles get jammed up on any stretch of road through woods.

None of these things could possibly be my fault.

So, therefor, they must be the fault of the AI.

:mad:

DjB

[ July 31, 2002, 09:01 AM: Message edited by: Doug Beman ]

[Chad Harrison]

Originally posted by Doug Beman:

</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by Chad Harrison:

CMBO AI Aint that Bad

chad

Yes it is, it sucks. It's always making my troops miss or suddenly turn their vehicles ass-to so they die more easily, or else lets vehicles get jammed up on any stretch of road through woods.

None of these things could possibly be my fault.

So, therefor, they must be the fault of the AI.

:mad:

DjB</font>

[Agua]

For scenario Vets, this is stating the obvious, but it does not require an exceptionally well-designed scenario for the a/i to give you a good fight (as compared to QB). I'm amazed at what a lot of scenario designers are able to accomplish with the a/i by setup zones and flag placement. It is very surprising to see the difference an apparently minor change in the placement of a flag can make in some instances.