My AI Wishlist

[Edwin P.]

For the Allies.

1. Improved D-Day Invasion

2. Varied Naval Strategies for the Opening Game

----- Option 1: Preserve the Navy, Especially Carriers to support D-Day.

----- Option 2: Sink German Navy - Send Fleets to the Baltic Straits to Sink Germany Navy

----- Option 3: Sink Italian Navy - Send Fleets to Med to Sink Italian Navy when they enter the war.

----- Option 4: Support the Defense of France

3. Better Research

4. Nordic Liberation Option

----- What better way to reduce Axis production before D-Day, especially if norway is lightly defended.

5. Iraq Conquest Option

6. Italy Invasion Option

7. Variable French Defenses

---- Option 1: Standard

---- Option 2: Disband French Navy (Decreases chance for Sink Italian Navy and Sink German Navy Options)

---- Option 3: Free French - to UK (increases chance for Nordic Liberation)

---- Option 4: Free French - to Egypt (increases chance for execution of Iraq Conquest Option)

8. Variable Russian Defense Strategy

---- Option 1: Standard

---- Option 2: River Line

For the Axis

1. Conquest of Norway and Sweden

2. Bigger Buildup and More Focused Attack on Russia

3. Concentration of AirFleets for Battle

4. Sea Lion Option

5. Middle East Conquest Option

6. Italian Naval Strategy

---- No more will the Italian Navy lie idle in port.

7. Conquer the World Strategy - where the AI attempts to conquer every nation except for Turkey, a standard human strategy.

8. Rambo's RACK Strategy - Always interesting (Rambo's Axis Carrier Kracker)

[ June 27, 2004, 11:01 AM: Message edited by: Edwin P. ]

[Edwin P.]

Opening Allied Strategy Decision Tree Proposal

French Strategy

50% Option 1: Standard

25% Option 2: Disband French Navy

If the AI selects this option it gains MPPs with which to increase the size of the French Army.

With this option selected the AI will be least likely to select the Sink the Italian Navy Option or the Sink the German Navy Option as the French naval units will not be available to absorb the initial loses.

10% Option 3: Free French - to UK

If the AI selects this strategy it attempts to send a few French units to the UK. After Paris surrenders it will hold these in reserve to either liberate Norway after Germany declares war on Russia or support a D-Day Invasion.

10% Option 4: Free French - to Egypt

If the AI selects this strategy it attempts to send 3 French Corps to Egypt before France Surrenders to the Axis, sends the French Corps in Beruit to Egypt after after Italy enters the war, sends the UK corps in Gibraltar to Egypt after Italy enters the war replacing it with the French Corps from Algiers. It also sends a HQ and Army from the UK to Egypt via the Cape. These units can be used to support a future conquest of Iraq or to defend Egypt.

If the AI selects this option it will be much more likely to deploy allied naval forces to sink the Italian Navy when Italy enters the war.

5% Option 5: Full French Defense

If the AI selects this strategy it expends every effort to defend France with the strongest possible army. It disbands the French navy, sends reinforcements from Canada and the UK to France and may disband the UK Bomber Fleet for more MPPs.

THUS

50% Standard Defense of France Strategy leads to:

--------20% Sink Italian Navy Strategy

--------20% Preserve UK Naval Forces Strategy

--------20% Sink German Navy in Baltic Strategy

--------40% Naval Support Defense of France

25% Disband French Navy leads to:

-------- 0% Sink Italian Navy Strategy

--------50% Preserve UK Naval Forces Strategy

-------- 0% Sink German Navy in Baltic Strategy

--------50% Naval Support Defense of France Strategy

10% Free French to Egypt leads to:

--------70% Sink Italian Navy

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx If successful then Allies adopt Conquer Iraq Strategy

--------20% Preserve UK Naval Forces

--------5% Sink German Navy in Baltic

--------5% Naval Support Defense of France

10% Free French to UK leads to:

------- 5% Sink Italian Navy

--------20% Preserve UK Naval Forces

--------50% Sink German Navay in Baltic

--------25% Naval Support Defense of France

5% Full French Defense

-------- 0 % Sink Italian Navy

--------20% Preserve UK Naval Forces

--------10% Sink German Navy in Baltic

--------70% Naval Supports Defense of France

In summary, this decision tree presents the Axis Human player with a variety of Allied opening game strategies to contend with. In one game the Axis play might find his Italian fleet decimated by the Allied Navies, in another he might find the French army reinforced by corps dragooned from scuttled French naval fleets.

[ June 24, 2004, 11:23 PM: Message edited by: Edwin P. ]

[Retributar]

I will start my own AI wish list...and add as i can...and in addition to those already mentioned. These could be checked off in the set-up folder as possible game events or however it is done!.

It seems to me that my wish list...would need localized Combat/Unit-Bonuses instead of actual Tech-Upgrades.

---------

For The Allies:

1. Option for French to Attack Germany when Germany attacks Poland.

2A. Option for French to Re-Organize armed forces under the advice of De'Gaulle (De'Gaulle Directive)...to Organize Armoured forces (Making them more effective)...instead of parceling out tanks into small packets.

2B. With the De'Gaulle Directive...now, an attack through the Ardenne's would not be as effective (Hence a localized Combat/Unit Bonus for The French in France)...since Armored-Rapid-Deployment Forces could now react to the Panzers coming out of the forest...with qualitatively-superior forces...as the French tanks at that period were better...than what the Germans had. I believe that De'Gaulle wanted at least two Armored Groups.

3. FULL-POLISH-MOBILIZATION: Britain & France forced POLAND to not mobilize...in order not to show an aggressive behavior which could induce the Germans to attack Poland.

So when the Germans finally attacked...only 1/3rd of the Polish armed forces were mobilized. Under this EVENT... the Polish are fully mobilized (Combat/Unit-Bonus's) and will now offer stiffer resistance to the German/Russian attacks...as well as possibly inducing the Russians or Germans to alter their carefully laden plans. See topic below (LATER-POSTING)... FULL-POLISH-MOBILIZATION---'THE HISTORY OF POLAND: THE SECOND WORLD WAR'.---

4. Patton Option...instead of Montgomery's Operation Market Garden plan being implemented...Patton's plan to attack Germany is implemented instead. This would mean a bonus (perhaps increased attack factor?) to Allied forces in the European Theatre...which would put more pressure on the German Army.

For The Axis:

1. Option to select Option/Directive to press attacks against British Airfields in order to break RAF instead of Bombing Cities. This way...'Operation Sealion' could then take place. British Fleet would now be at mercy of German Air Superiority!. Im not really sure...but, i think another 2 - 3 weeks of pressure on British Airfields would have rendered the RAF impotent!.

2. Option for Hitler to order attack on Spain without need for diplomacy if necessary so that a government sympathetic to the Nazis could be set up and that the Gibralter option could be more easily excercised...thereby denying Allied fleet access into the Mediterranian.

3. When bombing starts to become effective (USAAF-The mighty 8th Bomber-Group)...to have the option to relocate more factories into underground installations (paying a set-up expense of say 6 months...before that factory or % of production comes online again) at increased cost...but also at increased production (say 50%more).

4. Rommel Option for D-Day...Here...Rommel gets his way...he has convinced the High-Command to heed his advise!. Panzer Divisions will now be located close to coastal areas and under Rommels direct command. This Option will give the German defenders a Bonus against the Allied Invasion Forcres!.

[ June 26, 2004, 10:58 PM: Message edited by: Retributar ]

[Edwin P.]

Allied Opening Game Sink Italian Navy Strategy Explained

Executed % of the Time

Summary: Most Allied UK and French Naval Forces move to Med in order to sink the Italian Navy when Italy enters the war. The aim is to engage the Italian fleet with a 2:1 advantage in naval forces. Following this engagement most of the Allied fleet will withdraw to the Atlantic while a small fleet will be sent to the Eastern Med to prevent any Axis invasion in that Theater of Operations.

Details

Turn 1: UK AI directs 70% of the UK Atlantic Fleet and 100% of the French Fleet to the Med south of Sicily.

Italy Enters War Turn X: UK AI Attacks Italian Naval Units, first with the French fleet units, then with the UK Naval Units.

Italy Enters War Turn X+1: UK Completes Attack on Italian Naval Units. French Naval Units Attack first, followed by UK Naval Units. UK Naval Units with Strength <=3 recalled to England and Units exceeding 3x the number of Italian ships recalled to defend the Brish Islands.

For Example: If in Turn 1 10 Allied Ships engage 5 Italian Ships and sink 3 Ships the AI will keep only 6 ships in the Med to engage the remaining 2 Italian ships.

Italy Enters War Turn X+2: Most of UK Navy returns to Atlantic, 3 or 4 Fleets sent to Eastern Med to Defend Egypt. This is done to evade any Axis Air units that may be sent down to Italy to engage the Allied Naval Forces.

Note: Once Paris falls the Allied AI will be inclined to break off the attack and return to the Altantic and Eastern Med rather than risk being destroyed by German Air units operated to Sicily.

Simple and elegant, this strategy has the potential to destroy a human's players ability to conquer the middle east and provides an aegis to support an AI conquest of North Africa.

Example:

IF Allied AI destroys 80% of Italian Fleet

THEN Allied Navy Blockades Eastern Med SO

THEN Allies Invade and Conquer Iraq IF NO SEALION AND AXIS UNITS in North Africa < X

THEN Allied forces return to Egypt and launch campaign to liberate North Africa while Allied Naval Units limit Axis Reinforcements to North Africa.

Perhaps, this is the Allied AI rountine that could make the Mediterrean a contested theater of operations.

[ June 25, 2004, 12:09 PM: Message edited by: Edwin P. ]

[Edwin P.]

Free French to Egypt UK Strategy Explained

Summary:

The goal is to build up a force of seven units in Egypt that can be used to 1. Defend the Middle east or 2. Conquer Iraq and liberate North Africa from the Axis.

Details

Turn 1: France Disbands two ships in the Atlantic to build a corps in southern France. UK Sends Corps in Canada to Egypt via the Horn of Africa.

Turn 2: France transports corps in southern France to Egypt.

After Italy Enters the War

Action 1. French Unit in Beruit moves to Egyptian Controlled Egypt to Become Free French when Paris surrenders

Action 2. UK Corps in Gibraltar moves to Egypt via the Horn of Africa and the French Corps in Algiers moves to Gibraltar to become Free French when Paris surrenders.

Objective: 3 or 4 Free French Corps, 1 Canadian Corps, 1 Canadian Army and 1 UK Corps in Egypt. Possiblity of UK HQs.

If the Allied Navys destroy the Italian Fleet then the Allied AI will use this force to take Iraq and then liberate North Africa from the Axis powers. If the Allied Navys do not destroy the Italian Fleet then this force will be used to defend Egypt until Axis forces are diverted to the war against Russia, then this force will attack Iraq and then turn to liberate Africa from the Italians or used to reinforce Russian lines.

Note: In my proposal, as outlined in the posts above, the AI will decide on one of three strategies for waging war in Europe with the Western Allies 1) Strong D-Day, 2)Liberate Middle East & Africa coupled with a weaker D-Day, or 3) Liberate Nordic Countries Coupled with a Weaker D-Day.

Troops sent to Egypt will not be available to directly reinforce a D-Day invasion, although they may draw off Axis units from France to defend Italy from an Allied threat. Simarly, units occupying a liberated Norway and Sweden will not be able to directly support a D-Day invasion, although they will reduce the Axis production capacity.

Any thoughts as to whether the AI can be programmed to expertly select from and implement these strategies? And are these good ideas?

[ June 25, 2004, 04:30 PM: Message edited by: Edwin P. ]

[SeaMonkey]

Soooo....Edwin, I hope you've got a collection of all these scripted files for distribution later.

[Edwin P.]

Don't know if the new engine will allow for scipted AI files or what commands will be available if it does. We just have to wait and see.

IN my view their are 5 Areas suitable for scripting:

1. Research - Priorities

2. Production - Priorities and Goals

3. General Strategy - where you as the script writer select from predefined strategies and strategic stances.

4. New Strategy

5. Movement Priority

Of course any strategy scripts will require commands for quantifying the strength of enemy units in a zone/city.

[ June 26, 2004, 12:21 PM: Message edited by: Edwin P. ]

[Edwin P.]

AI Nordic Liberation Strategy Explained (Operation Cold Feet)

Goal: % of the Time after Axis DOW Russia Allied AI will launch a campaign to liberate Norway and Sweden while waiting for US buildup to allow for a successful D-Day. At the least it will draw Axis forces away from the Russian and French fronts. At the best it will deprive the Axis of MPP production. The AI will be programmed to withdraw its forces if the Axis response is overwhelming.

The AI will only consider executing this strategy if Norway and Sweden are weakly defended.

Phase 1: Ground Pounding - ie Building Experience

IF 1 or fewer Axis Air Units in Norway Allied Airfleets, Battleships, and Carriers will Bombard Bergan to Gain Experience. The UK Based Airfleets will strike first to draw off any Interceptors and clear the way for carrier strikes.

Phase 2: Norwegian Invasion - Operation Cold Feet

When: After Axis DOW Russia

Condition: 7 Land Units and HQ unit in UK, 2 Carriers, 2 Air fleets and 4 Navy Ships in UK

The chart below determines whether the AI will even consider liberating the Nordic Countries based on the strength of the Axis forces in the region. It assumes that the Allied AI knows how many units are in Norway and Sweden.

-------- 90% One or Two Axis unit in Norway and Sweden

-------- 80% Three Axis Units in Norway and Sweden

-------- 60% Four Axis Units in Norway and Sweden

-------- 30% Five Axis Units in Norway and Sweden

-------- 10% Six Axis Units in Norway and Sweden

-------- 0% Seven or more Axis Units in Norway and Sweden

Objective 1: Bergan - Taking Bergan First allows the AI to operate or fly in Air Support

Objective 2: Oslo

Objective 3: Stockholm - The AI will only move on Stockholm after liberating Bergan and Oslo and only if there are 3 or fewer Axis units in Sweden.

After achieving its objectives and depriving the Axis of 100+ MPP per turn the AI will leave 4 land units in the Nordic Countries and withdraw excess forces to the UK to prepare for D-Day.

[ June 26, 2004, 11:43 AM: Message edited by: Edwin P. ]

[Retributar]

FULL-POLISH-MOBILIZATION--- 'THE HISTORY OF POLAND: THE SECOND WORLD WAR'.---

'Edwin P'... could you please take a look at these web-pages...

http://darbysrangers.tripod.com/id65.htm

http://www.wwiivehicles.com/html/poland/7tp.html

I myself am short on knowledge about the Polish-Effort...but, according to these readings...the Polish did a lot of damage to the Wehrmacht...and could have done much more if...read...

"Poland had been forced (by Britain and France) to delay mobilisation (which they claimed might be interpreted as aggressive behaviour) so that, at the time of invasion, only about one-third of her total potential manpower was mobilised!."

"After fighting on two fronts against both German and Soviet forces, surrendered on October 5th. The Poles had held on for twice as long as had been expected and had done more damage to the Germans than the combined British and French forces were to do in 1940. The Germans lost 50,000 men, 697 planes and 993 tanks and armoured cars."

Polish Tanks were superb for the time period...read on...

"The recently-designed 7TP "czolg lekki", or light tank, the first in the world to be designed with a diesel engine , proved to be superior to German tanks of the same class (the PzKpfw I and II) inflicting serious damage to the German forces, limited only by the fact that they were not used in concentrated groups. They were absorbed by the Germans into their own Panzer divisions at the end of the campaign.

7TP light tank

Only 132 were produced. 7TP tanks were used in the 1st and the 2nd Light Tank Battalions; and also in two improvised Warsaw Defence HQ Light Tank Compannies (the 2nd - 11 twin-turret tanks, and the 5th - 11 single-turret tanks of the newest production.

The Wehrmacht had so under-rated Polish anti-tank capabilities (the Polish-designed anti-tank gun was one of the best in the world at that time) that they had gone into action with white "balkankreuz", or crosses, prominently displayed in eight locations; these crosses made excellent aiming points for Polish gun-sights and forced the Germans to radically rethink their national insignia!."

This to me needs the same attention as the other postings for AI and Events in the game... . If the Polish were able to fully-mobilize...who knows what the outcome could have been. At any rate...such an event such as 'Full-Polish-Mobilization'...would or could have had many ramifications to it!.

[ June 26, 2004, 11:00 PM: Message edited by: Retributar ]

[Edwin P.]

Retributer, many thanks for the new idea. I have just started a word document to compile all of these ideas so that I will be prepared to write some interesting and balanced scripts when SC2 ships.

Off hand, building on your idea here are a few concepts;

For Random Events regarding Poland:

1. Poland Mobilizes Early - Poland Gains 3 Corps but US Readiness Reduced by 15% as American press believes German propaganda portraying Poland as mobilizing a 1.3 Million man army for war against Germany.

2. Polish Concentrates Armored Units - Poland Gains Armor Unit and 1 Corps, Loses 2 Armies.

3. Polish Command Distributes AntiTank Weapons, Polish Units Gain Level 1 AntiTank.

Anyway, I will have to research this issue more and many thanks for your links.

Note: Ideally you could have a pregame phase where each side can select an option -see next post.

----------------------------------

[ June 27, 2004, 10:44 AM: Message edited by: Edwin P. ]

[Roosevelt45(the 2nd)]

1. Option for French to Attack Germany when Germany attacks Poland.

Why wouldn't you be able to attack Germany with the French(and British) in SC1? :confused:

I've done it and the war was over in 1941.

[Exel]

He is talking about the AI...

[Roosevelt45(the 2nd)]

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah

[Edwin P.]

Retributar's idea for the French AI attacking into Germany is a good one. I have seen many player use it at one time or another and it makes for a most interesting game.

Personally, I would have the AI do this about 3% of the time - 1 in 33 games and only if most Axis units are spotted as being in Poland. If the Axis units have been transferred West on turn 1 this strategy is not a winning one and the AI should not select it.

Revised France Defenses Options

---- Option 1: Standard

---- Option 2: Disband French Navy

---- Option 3: Free French - to UK

---- Option 4: Free French - to Egypt

---- Option 5: Invade Germany (if most German units are in Poland)

---- Option 6: Full Defense

---- Option 7: Corps Wall

Naturally the chance of selecting each of these options/strategies should change according to AI Level (Beginner/Intermediate/Expert) with only Option 1 being selected at Novice level and the other strategies added at higher levels of play.

[ June 28, 2004, 11:18 AM: Message edited by: Edwin P. ]