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Question about campaign game AI equipment selections...

When playing non-user designed campaign games, the AI always seems to select the most advanced equipment available in unrealistic numbers (disproportionately). For example, starting a campaign game beginning May 1942 in North Africa, my Commonwealth AI opponent selected a high proportion of Grants compared to other tanks. This seemed to be true of every equipment category. What makes it worse is as you progress through the campaign you continue to face the most advanced enemy equipment battle after battle.

While the Grants did make their debut in North Africa in May 1942 and dealt the Germans a nasty surprise, their numbers were not so overwhelming that they dominated every battle. I'm my campaign game I have had to go head-to-head with high numbers of Grants in every battle. The only way the Germans historically dealt with the Grants was to retreat behind their PAK front or manuaver a flank shot.

As I selected a historical mix for a Medium Panzer Company for this time period (i.e., a few Pz-IVf2(s) and Pz-IIIj(s) - a majority of Pz-IIIj), I am constantly outgunned. Facing 6lb ATGs (which were available but in very small numbers) and Grants in every battle has attrited my forces beyond full-repair (forget trying to upgarde). Can some algorythim be devised to ensure an historical equipment mix for the time period and locale of a campaign game - something that will limit both sides to a more realistic equipment mix based on historical availability?

Mark

Mark, that's the exact reason I started editing my campaigns!! Takes some of the element of surprise out of it, but I really enjoy my campaigns much better now that I buy the AI force, plus you get to use ALL equipment, not just hordes of select stuff constantly!! Go to either Rick cloutiers Page,(Tankhead), or Fabio's page, or the Journal in the matrix page, theres a document I did to outline the procedure. Have fun.

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Mike Amos
Meine Ehre Heisst Treue

Originally posted by Warhorse:
Mark, that's the exact reason I started editing my campaigns!! Takes some of the element of surprise out of it, but I really enjoy my campaigns much better now that I buy the AI force, plus you get to use ALL equipment, not just hordes of select stuff constantly!! Go to either Rick cloutiers Page,(Tankhead), or Fabio's page, or the Journal in the matrix page, theres a document I did to outline the procedure. Have fun.

Thanks for the info but do I understand you correctly? Is your solution to edit (as you go) every single generated campaign battle in sequence by this method? Where was the "fun" part again

A historical requisition process will probably not be in this game, ever. Its far too much work, and its probably easier to build a new game to make this a totally built in feature.
I think that for you to have been wiped out beyond repair, you probably need some work on your tactics. Use your infantry to screen approaching tanks and infantry from your forces. Use 88s on hills to knock out tanks from long range, or use a reverse slope ambush. Hide your armor behind hills, popping them out to take shots. If terrain allows, flank the enemy and engage their weaker armor. The AI always goes straight for the victory hexes, so predicting its path is not too difficult. And scouts are the most important units you have.
Remember, if it worked for Rommel, it will work for you.

Originally posted by Desert Fox:
A historical requisition process will probably not be in this game, ever. Its far too much work, and its probably easier to build a new game to make this a totally built in feature.
I think that for you to have been wiped out beyond repair, you probably need some work on your tactics.

Interesting assumption.

Use your infantry to screen approaching tanks and infantry from your forces. Use 88s on hills to knock out tanks from long range, or use a reverse slope ambush. Hide your armor behind hills, popping them out to take shots. If terrain allows, flank the enemy and engage their weaker armor.

Unfortunately the German tanks (5/42) can not go toe-to-toe againt Grants or even the 2lb tank guns at the short range presented by reverse slope tactics. Lower visibility scenarios (the majority of the scenaios I have been presented with) also negate the range of the 88 making it just as vulnerable and useless after one or two turns. I don't know what has happened to the SPWAW hit probability tables but the SPWAW upgrades seems to have made German weapons less effective with fewer kill shots despite higher experience levels.

As far as flank shots go, it's a nice tactic when your given the luxury of a large map with covering terrain, but generated campaigns rarely give you a map-versus-unit density ratio that's will allow this manuever repeatedly with any large measure of success. Of course you also have to be lucky enough to get flanking desert terrain.

The AI always goes straight for the victory hexes, so predicting its path is not too difficult. And scouts are the most important units you have.
Remember, if it worked for Rommel, it will work for you.

My expereince is that the AI will go straight for any commanding terrain just as you would. In any case, my opinion is this desparity results in scenarios of higher attrition and less of manuever.

Thanks for your input.

Mark