AI and difficulty levels

[Valgua]

Hi!

I have yet to buy this monster game and I am curious about the AI. I have read that the German AI is more aggressive when difficulty level is on challenging. Is this the only difference compared to normal? How is the AI overall? Has it improved since release (I have read a few less than enthusiastic reviews). I know that many of you will tell me that PBEM is the way to go. The simple truth is that my work schedule does not allow me to play regularly enough.

Thanks!

[Jakerson]

I dont get chanllenge from AI at all on Normal difficulty when playing German I easily take Leningrad, Moscov, Kursk, Kharkov and even Stalingrad before first mud starts. I also desimate Soviet army so bad that they have less tanks, men and artillery than Germans before winter starts.

If I play Soviet side I easily save 95% of Soviet factories and stop AI German offensive a lot sooner than historically. My Winter offensive punished German very badly at this point I got tired and went to look human opponents.

Never tested other difficulties than Normal. Good game still I happy I bought this game.

[Scook_99]

Turning the AI difficulty up does make for a much tougher opponent. With that said, I usually play on normal, and adjust manually other things higher for the computer, because I want to test something out I will use on a human opponent. If you don't have a lot of time to play, just playing normal difficulty and learning how to play the game should keep you entertained for 3 months to a year. Then you can either change sides or turn up the difficulty level.

I have to highly recommend this game to anyone interested in this subject matter. It is simply the best game to cover this era, even with the few problems you may read about on this message board.

[Balou]

I must have missed something in the forums: taking Stalingrad before week 18 and, what's more, keep it in 41, is awsome IMO. Congratulations. The AI must be really poor on GC/normal.

[Wild]

playing the ai, the devs have recommed seting the difficulty level to challanging if your opponenent is Soviet, and to Hard if your opponent is the Germans.

Hope that helps.

[PyleDriver]

Stalingrad before the mud...Hum, that means you would be over 40+ hexs from a railhead, I find that hard to believe. Once mud hits you would be over 20 hexs out of supply...

[56ajax]

and to make it easier for the AI no FOW...

[Balou]

Doesn't the AI always see everything ?

[Wild]

Yes, i believe the Ai see's everything. As far as i know turning FOW on/off has no effect for the Ai.

However even if not playing with FOW i believe recon is still important as it increases detection levels on units and that has an effect on combat.

[BootyJoe]

Someone tried impossible, the highest difficulty level? I chose challenging for my first GC as Axis.

[Fänrik Stål]

I've tried playing as the Soviets with the settings at 125 across the board for axis and 100 across the board for me twice. The first time I did this (which was my first serious attempt at playing SU) my result was actually worse than historical. In a pocket just east of Kiev, the axis captured 6 entire armies, effectively destroying the SW Front and parts of Southern Front. This was the worst disaster, but there were more pockets where several entire armies disappeared. The Axis took Leningrad (the parts south of the river), Kalinin, and Tula, and were threatening Voronezh and Rostov before the onset of mud. The thing with the axis AI is that it is extremely capable of forming pockets IF it can break through your lines. Increasing the difficulty helps it do that, and also helps it move into enemy territory (IIRC increased morale decreases the movement cost for doing this). This was a very fun game, because it became a real challenge. By Jan. '43 I was beginning to push back seriously from fairly historical lines. There was no axis movement into the Caucasus though, and no Stalingrad style encirclement made by me. I did however knock out Finland during '42, relieving Leningrad through the back-door. I quit the game in early '43 due to patch upgrade.
Second try I changed strategy and did much better, wise to the risks of axis breakthrough. The game is still challenging and fun though.

If you're playing the Soviet side for the first time, I really urge you to up the difficulty, so that you may have a chance to experience the horrors I had.[:)]

In comparison with other recent games of similar scope I've played (for example Hearts of Iron II: Doomsday/Armageddon) this AI is a genius.

[BootyJoe]

ORIGINAL: Fänrik Stål

I've tried playing as the Soviets with the settings at 125 across the board for axis and 100 across the board for me twice. The first time I did this (which was my first serious attempt at playing SU) my result was actually worse than historical. In a pocket just east of Kiev, the axis captured 6 entire armies, effectively destroying the SW Front and parts of Southern Front. This was the worst disaster, but there were more pockets where several entire armies disappeared. The Axis took Leningrad (the parts south of the river), Kalinin, and Tula, and were threatening Voronezh and Rostov before the onset of mud. The thing with the axis AI is that it is extremely capable of forming pockets IF it can break through your lines. Increasing the difficulty helps it do that, and also helps it move into enemy territory (IIRC increased morale decreases the movement cost for doing this). This was a very fun game, because it became a real challenge. By Jan. '43 I was beginning to push back seriously from fairly historical lines. There was no axis movement into the Caucasus though, and no Stalingrad style encirclement made by me. I did however knock out Finland during '42, relieving Leningrad through the back-door. I quit the game in early '43 due to patch upgrade.
Second try I changed strategy and did much better, wise to the risks of axis breakthrough. The game is still challenging and fun though.

If you're playing the Soviet side for the first time, I really urge you to up the difficulty, so that you may have a chance to experience the horrors I had.[:)]

In comparison with other recent games of similar scope I've played (for example Hearts of Iron II: Doomsday/Armageddon) this AI is a genius.

That is good news! It is nice to know that the ai can provide a challenge given you set the game settings correctly. My plan is to, if I ever complete the GC as Axis, to play the GC as the soviets and then bump difficulty to Hard. Playing the scenarios and following advice here on the boards indicate that you should play the Soviets on harder diff than axis. Often in the shorter scenarios it was easy on normal to achieve a decisive as SU but much harder to do the same as Axis. Vart är Fänrik stål när man behöver honom på slagfältet?

[Fänrik Stål]

ORIGINAL: BootyJoe

Vart är Fänrik stål när man behöver honom på slagfältet?

Han sitter hemma och spelar WitE förstås.[:D]

[Der Lwe]

Svenskar för bövelen! Sorry guys just exalted to find serious Swedish players.

[76mm]

I'm playing a game now on challenging as Sovs; during 1941 the German AI did a very good job, reaching the outskirts of Lgrad and Moscow (and creating some largish pockets along the way), although it did poorly in the south. Now, in mid-1942, the German AI seems to have no idea how to defend, and it is getting pounded, I am advancing across most of the front.

I would avoid the Normal AI setting, it is just too easy.

[Valgua]

I am glad to see a few countrymen as well! [;)]

[JocMeister]

In my AI games the Axis AI usually does reasonably well during 41 but after that weird things start to happen. ATM I´m playing a AI game vs. soviet AI but after 41 it just gets silly with the AI putting up a carpet 5-6 deep and teleporting 2 fronts in a single week. And since the AI doesn´t abide by FOW rules achieving any kind of suprise is impossible. It also does some strange withdrawals from time to time. That being said I think this is the best AI I have seen in any game! [:)]

But I´m thinking about trying a PBEM after the vacation!

Btw, Trevligt med lite svenskar på forumet!

[Valgua]

Thank you for all your inputs! Just one more question: what does the difficulty level influence? Unit strength? Aggressiveness? As I understand, turning up the difficulty level makes for a more aggressive opponent (not just an opponent with better units). Is there a way to increase AI aggressiveness without giving it uber-units?

Thanks again!

[Pawlock]

I played as the Soviets on hard and it offers quite a good game in certain areas. I have just about now on turn 100 broken the back of the German resistance and its just a race to Berlin now. The one niggle I do have about the AI is it is suicidal in the extreme sometimes. It lost the game in mid 42 by doing too many suicidal attacks which led them to wearing themselves out, which in turn led tio them being picked off easily. Same with its airpower, it keeps sending bombers mainly unescorted to bomb my airfileds resulting in horrible losses to itself.
I still play the game when Im not doing my pbem as it gives me an insight into what does and does not work ion the latter war.

[BootyJoe]

ORIGINAL: Pawlock

I played as the Soviets on hard and it offers quite a good game in certain areas. I have just about now on turn 100 broken the back of the German resistance and its just a race to Berlin now. The one niggle I do have about the AI is it is suicidal in the extreme sometimes. It lost the game in mid 42 by doing too many suicidal attacks which led them to wearing themselves out, which in turn led tio them being picked off easily. Same with its airpower, it keeps sending bombers mainly unescorted to bomb my airfileds resulting in horrible losses to itself.
I still play the game when Im not doing my pbem as it gives me an insight into what does and does not work ion the latter war.

Would you recommend impossible difficulty level then when playing the Soviets? Considering the HUGE time investment it is to play a GC it is sad to fire one up expecting a challenge only to find you have won after 100 turns.