AI Opponent - Geography

[Shannon V. OKeets]

Peter has been working on defining Theaters of Operation (TOs) for the AIO. Within each TO there are: (1) Sea Area Groups (SAGs) which are composed of Sea Areas, and (2) Areas of Operation (AOs) which are composed of Land Regions (LRs).

The idea is that each TO, SAG, Sea Area, AO, and LR will have its own personal Decision Maker for each major power that decides what to do with the units under his command in his geographic area of responsibility.

I'll let Peter discuss this in more detail. I am posting these screen shots since as Moderator I can post larger JPG files.

Here are 3 screenshots for the Western Europe TO. The first shows the SAGs, color coded to indicate the 2 Sea Areas in each of the 3 SAGs.
===

[Shannon V. OKeets]

2nd in a series of 3.

Here is the Iberian pennisula. Also in this AO (color coded in yellow) are the Azores.

[Shannon V. OKeets]

3rd and last in the series.

If you examine the last two screenshots in this series you can see the Land Region breakdowns within each AO.

[michaelbaldur]

so the Admiralty assign units to each Sea Area Group.

the Decision Maker then decides how to place those units in different sea areas. 

right ???

[paulderynck]

It seems to me the TOs are too small. In a game of WiF as say, the CW, the TOs actually divide quite well into the maps that come with the game; Europe including North Africa, Asia/Pacific, Africa, The Americas. That's 4 and that's more than enough to be thinking about in terms of dividing up what's available under typical Action Limits.

[Shannon V. OKeets]

ORIGINAL: michaelbaldur

so the Admiralty assign units to each Sea Area Group.

the Decision Maker then decides how to place those units in different sea areas. 

right ???

Mostly yes.

The Admiralty assign naval units to each TO. For each TO there is a Rear Admiral who assigns units to each SAG, and lastly there is a Sea Area Commander for each SAG who assigns units to each Sea Area.

Here is the breakdown of decision making responsibilities for the DMs that control naval units:
===
4.4.6 Admiralty
AD 1 DecNavalTOO: Assign naval units to TOs (Pr)
AD 2 DecConvoyPipelines: Define convoy pipeline capacities and entrance/exit points for each TO (3 In)

4.4.6.1 Rear Admiral (TO responsibility)
RA 1 DecPipelineRoute: Decide on pipeline route within TO (3 In)
RA 2 DecNavalMoveSupply: Position convoys & transports to provide supply to land units (In)
RA 3 DecNavalTransportation: Decide on naval units to transport land & air units (3 In)
RA 4 DecNavalReorg: Allocate TRS reorganization capability (2 St)
RA 5 DecNavalSurfacePresence: Naval movement to establish surface fleet presence (3 In)
RA 6 DecCarrierPresence: Naval movement to establish carrier air presence (3 In)

4.4.6.2 Sea Area Commander (SAG responsibility)
SAC 1 DecNavalMoveEscorts: Naval movement to form convoys, escort convoys, and escort transports (4 In)
SAC 2 DecNavalAttackUnits: Naval movement to attack enemy units (In)
SAC 3 DecNavalAttackSupply: Naval movement to attack enemy supply lines (4 In)
SAC 4 DecNavalReturnToBaseCombat: Naval return to base - combat aborts (3 Re)
SAC 5 DecNavalReturnToBaseEndOfTurn: Naval return to base - at end of turn (3 Re)
SAC 6 DecNavalStayAtSea: Naval units stay at sea (Re)
SAC 7 DecNavalMovePortAttack: Naval movement for planned port strikes (2 In)
SAC 8 DecNavalMoveShoreBombardment: Naval movement for planned shore bombardment (2 In)
SAC 9 DecNavalMoveInvasion: Naval support for invasion (4 In)

4.4.6.3 Fleet Admiral (Sea Area responsibility)
FA 1 EstNavalCombat: Estimate naval combat odds and losses (4 Ca)
FA 2 DecNavalSearch: Naval search activation; s. 11.4 (4 Re)
FA 3 DecNavalIntercept: Naval interception; s. 11.4.6 (3 Re)
FA 4 DecAirSupport: Air support for a sea area; s. 11.4 (3 Re)
FA 5 DecPortAttack: Initiate port attacks; s. 11.2 (2 In)
FA 6 DecNavalCombat: Decide on naval combat type (air, sub, surface); s. 11.5 (3 In)
FA 7 DecNavalTargets: Pick naval targets (2 Re)
FA 8 DecSubsIncluded: Decide whether to include subs in combat (3 Re)
FA 9 DecSeaBoxes: Choose sea boxes for naval combat (2 Re)
FA 10 DecNavalCombatType: Choose type of naval combat (2 Re)
FA 11 DecSurprisePoints: Spend surprise points (2 Re)
FA 12 DecSearchAnSeizure: Execute search and seizure (1 Re)
FA 13 DecNavalAbort: Chose to abort or stay after a round of naval combat (3 Re)
===
As should be clear from the above, an individual decision may be suboptimal when viewed from a global perspective. But trying to measure optimal for each decision point would be extremely difficult if the entire world map had to be examined every time. Instead, by limiting a decision maker's focus to his units, his geographic area of responsibility, and his 'orders' from decision makers above him in the chain of command, the analysis of what to do is much easier to make.

The 'value' of individual units is made on a global basis. So the pain of losing a convoy takes into consideration the glut (or scarcity) of usable convoys worldwide. That can be calculated quickly.

[Shannon V. OKeets]

ORIGINAL: paulderynck

It seems to me the TOs are too small. In a game of WiF as say, the CW, the TOs actually divide quite well into the maps that come with the game; Europe including North Africa, Asia/Pacific, Africa, The Americas. That's 4 and that's more than enough to be thinking about in terms of dividing up what's available under typical Action Limits.

That's too restrictive to my eye.

Each branch of service has different geographic concerns. Obviously the navy is at sea and the army is on land, with the air force everywhere. The naval tasks concen sea routes (for supply and transport) and invading coastal areas. The army is concerned with taking and holding land hexes. So while the navy looks only 1 hex deep into a coastal region, the army looks several hexes deep.

As for the size of the TO, making all of Europe a single TO would require breaking that TO down into the Atlantic, Mediterranean, and 'inland' pieces. In effect, you would adding another level to the command structure (at the top).

Here are the TOs we have currently chosen. Peter is working on refining them down to the Sea Area and Land Region level.
===
3.1 Theaters of Operations
There are 16 Theaters of Operation but only some major powers are present in each:
• Atlantic North America (ANA) - US, CW, Germany, and Italy
• Atlantic South America (ASA) - US, CW, Germany, and Italy
• Western Europe (WE) - US, CW, France, Germany, and Italy
• Eastern Europe (EE) - USSR, CW, Germany, and Italy
• Mediterranean (Med) - US, CW, France, Germany, and Italy
• Western Africa (WAfr) - US, CW, France, Germany, and Italy
• Eastern Africa (EAfr) - US, CW, France, Italy, and Japan
• Middle East (ME) - All major powers except China
• Northern Asia (NAsia) - US, USSR, Germany, and Japan
• Eastern Asia (EAsia) - US, CW, China , USSR, and Japan
• Southern Asia (SAsia) - US, CW, Italy, and Japan
• Southeastern Asia (SEAsia) - US, CW, France, and Japan
• Oceania (Oc) - US, CW, France, and Japan
• Pacific North America (PNA) - US, CW, Japan
• Pacific Central (PC) - US, CW, France, and Japan
• Pacific South America (PSA) - US, CW, and Japan

Notice that China only has a presence in Eastern Asia. For major powers that have a presence in a TO, they each have a Rear Admiral, an Air Marshal, and a Field Marshal. Acting in a quasi-independent role within each TO is Special Operations, which is tasked with performing paradrops and sea invasions. All of these decision makers have just a few important decisions to make in their TO. Each TO is broken into several Area of Operations (AOs) and Sea Area Groups (SAGs) as described below.

3.2 Areas of Operations
Within each AO there are several Land Regions. For example, TO Western Europe has 6 AOs: Greater Germany, France Lowlands, Iberia, British Isles, Denmark Norway, and Switzerland. Most AOs contain numerous Land Regions, although some Land Regions remain neutral throughout the war and are never a serious part of the AIO decision making.

For each major power that has a presence in an AO, there is an Air Fleet Commander and an Army Group Commander. The Air Fleet Commander is only involved in strategic bombing decisions. Other air operations are directly under the control of the Army Group Commanders, for air units flying missions to land hexes.

3.3 Sea Area Groups (SAGs)
SAGs can be thought of as falling into 3 categories: convoy pipelines, invasions, and useless. It could perhaps be argued that some of those generally placed in the useless category might find utility as alternative convoy routes. But in general, the far northern and far southern sea areas are unimportant to game play, and therefore of no interest to the AIO either. Each SAG is under the control of a Sea Area Commander.

3.4 Land Regions
Lands regions dominate game play decisions and are important for most tactical decision making. Each Land Region is under the control of a General.

3.5 Sea Areas
Sea Areas are defined by the WIF FE rules and those that are not useless have a Fleet Admiral.

[Shannon V. OKeets]

Here is an earlier graphic that Peter made. It is lovely to look at but I wanted the sea areas to dictate the TOs. So I asked that the Americas be split in half to look more like Africa.

[Extraneous]

Since TO’s and AO’s (AIO is a spelling error?) are not in the RAW has this something to do with the AI, forum discussion aid, or is this a player aid?

Forum discussion aid: Just a geographical visual aid to be used to define areas that are discussed in the MWiF forums.

Player aid: A game function for players to ease play of the game.

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: Extraneous

Since TO’s and AO’s (AIO is a spelling error?) are not in the RAW has this something to do with the AI, forum discussion aid, or is this a player aid?

Forum discussion aid: Just a geographical visual aid to be used to define areas that are discussed in the MWiF forums.

Player aid: A game function for players to ease play of the game.

Warspite1

AIO = Artificial Intelligence Opponent I believe

These posts are to do with the AI scripts.

[peskpesk]

After looking at Steve’s initial design and neatly theoretical breakdown of the world, from Theaters of Operation down to the small Land Regions, I had the task of putting it to the test in Europe and the Mediterranean.

I want the AIO to be as good opponent as it can be and I also want it to have a historical feel to it.

During World War II, the Army divided its operations around the world into four geographical theaters. Forces from many different nations fought in these theaters. But all countries hade different conceptions of the theaters and/or different names for them. Also some countries fought battles in parts of the world that was not part of a named theater.

Here is an example United States theaters of operations in World War II
1 European Theater of Operations
2 Mediterranean Theater of Operations
3 Pacific Theater of Operations
4 China Burma India Theater

But in some ways is WIF more complex than the actual historical World War II events. I have seen many What If things happen in a WIF game:
Japan invading South Africa from Madagascar
Italian Marines taking steps into India
German invasion of US controlled Brazil
etc.

Even if these events happen seldom the AIO must be ready to handle them to be a real challenging opponent. This is one reason why Theaters of Operation (TOs) are in more places than historical theaters.

Also the theater is a help to mimic the historical and WIF spheres of influence, that is an area or region over which a country has significant economic, military or political influence over.

Here is an example of the USSR spheres of influence in World War II
In the North,
Finland,
Estonia
Latvia
Eastern Poland

The borders of the theaters of Operation are close match the interest spheres. If you have the USSR AIO pondering of the Strength of the German is it really a good idea for it to include the German SS unit in Paris or just concentrating its estimate on the German forces in Eastern Europe?

Within each theaters of Operation we have among other things Areas of Operation. The Areas of Operation are close match to the typical places where WIF campaigns and the historical campaigns take place. Looking at Germany versus France in 1940, Italy vs. Commonwealth in Egypt 1940, the Germans versus the USSR 1941 etc. The areas can span over several countries and the same areas are used by both the Allied and Axis AIO so the need to match both sides equally well.

Well this was some of my basic thoughts with the design. You already have Steve post on the AIO responsibility for each level of Geography and I hope this makes it possible to imagine the of chain of command using the Geographical break down the help the Decision Makers.

[Shannon V. OKeets]

ORIGINAL: peskpesk

After looking at Steve’s initial design and neatly theoretical breakdown of the world, from Theaters of Operation down to the small Land Regions, I had the task of putting it to the test in Europe and the Mediterranean.

I want the AIO to be as good opponent as it can be and I also want it to have a historical feel to it.

During World War II, the Army divided its operations around the world into four geographical theaters. Forces from many different nations fought in these theaters. But all countries hade different conceptions of the theaters and/or different names for them. Also some countries fought battles in parts of the world that was not part of a named theater.

Here is an example United States theaters of operations in World War II
1 European Theater of Operations
2 Mediterranean Theater of Operations
3 Pacific Theater of Operations
4 China Burma India Theater

But in some ways is WIF more complex than the actual historical World War II events. I have seen many What If things happen in a WIF game:
Japan invading South Africa from Madagascar
Italian Marines taking steps into India
German invasion of US controlled Brazil
etc.

Even if these events happen seldom the AIO must be ready to handle them to be a real challenging opponent. This is one reason why Theaters of Operation (TOs) are in more places than historical theaters.

Also the theater is a help to mimic the historical and WIF spheres of influence, that is an area or region over which a country has significant economic, military or political influence over.

Here is an example of the USSR spheres of influence in World War II
In the North,
Finland,
Estonia
Latvia
Eastern Poland

The borders of the theaters of Operation are close match the interest spheres. If you have the USSR AIO pondering of the Strength of the German is it really a good idea for it to include the German SS unit in Paris or just concentrating its estimate on the German forces in Eastern Europe?

Within each theaters of Operation we have among other things Areas of Operation. The Areas of Operation are close match to the typical places where WIF campaigns and the historical campaigns take place. Looking at Germany versus France in 1940, Italy vs. Commonwealth in Egypt 1940, the Germans versus the USSR 1941 etc. The areas can span over several countries and the same areas are used by both the Allied and Axis AIO so the need to match both sides equally well.

Well this was some of my basic thoughts with the design. You already have Steve post on the AIO responsibility for each level of Geography and I hope this makes it possible to imagine the of chain of command using the Geographical break down the help the Decision Makers.

If any one else is interested in helping out with this, there is a lot of the world left to do.[;)]

[peskpesk]

Here is a rough 1942 map of United States theaters of operations in World War II,
compare it to the our more detailed theater map in post 7 or 8.

[Extraneous]

ORIGINAL: warspite1

ORIGINAL: Extraneous

Since TO’s and AO’s (AIO is a spelling error?) are not in the RAW has this something to do with the AI, forum discussion aid, or is this a player aid?

Forum discussion aid: Just a geographical visual aid to be used to define areas that are discussed in the MWiF forums.

Player aid: A game function for players to ease play of the game.

Warspite1

AIO = Artificial Intelligence Opponent I believe

These posts are to do with the AI scripts.

The reason I questioned AIO is in the military TO and AO have the following definitions.

TO = Theater of Operations - A subarea within a theater of war defined by the geographic combatant commander required to conduct or support specific combat operations. Different theaters of operations within the same theater of war will normally be geographically separate and focused on different enemy forces. Theaters of operations are usually of significant size, allowing for operations over extended periods of time. Also called TO. See also theater of war.

AO = Area of Operations - An operational area defined by the joint force commander for land and naval forces. Areas of operation do not typically encompass the entire operational area of the joint force commander, but should be large enough for component commanders to accomplish their missions and protect their forces. Also called AO. See also area of responsibility; joint operations area; joint special operations area.


By the way did you notice that the maps in post #7 and 8 don't match?

Spain is in which theater?

[Shannon V. OKeets]

ORIGINAL: Extraneous

ORIGINAL: warspite1

ORIGINAL: Extraneous

Since TO’s and AO’s (AIO is a spelling error?) are not in the RAW has this something to do with the AI, forum discussion aid, or is this a player aid?

Forum discussion aid: Just a geographical visual aid to be used to define areas that are discussed in the MWiF forums.

Player aid: A game function for players to ease play of the game.

Warspite1

AIO = Artificial Intelligence Opponent I believe

These posts are to do with the AI scripts.

The reason I questioned AIO is in the military TO and AO have the following definitions.

TO = Theater of Operations - A subarea within a theater of war defined by the geographic combatant commander required to conduct or support specific combat operations. Different theaters of operations within the same theater of war will normally be geographically separate and focused on different enemy forces. Theaters of operations are usually of significant size, allowing for operations over extended periods of time. Also called TO. See also theater of war.

AO = Area of Operations - An operational area defined by the joint force commander for land and naval forces. Areas of operation do not typically encompass the entire operational area of the joint force commander, but should be large enough for component commanders to accomplish their missions and protect their forces. Also called AO. See also area of responsibility; joint operations area; joint special operations area.


By the way did you notice that the maps in post #7 and 8 don't match?

Spain is in which theater?

Post 8 was an earlier version. Post 7 is current (at least for now).

I am not adhering rigidly to the 'official' definitions of TO, AO, et al; I am just using those labels for working on the AIO scripts. However, the general purpose of my use macthes fairly closely with what you posted. If there are differences now or in the future as I make changes, that won't bother me.

[brian brian]

As long as the top level bits of this are ruthless in allocating resources a geographic system would be fine, in that many areas get no units at all. Giving each area some resources might work out OK in some bloated corporate business structure. But in war you can't just share things out just so Colonel Klink gets to command something too.

So I guess what I am curious about is how the AI picks tasks to accomplish, and what resources it allocates to a task....this seems more important than parceling out slices of land and sea. In the Pacific for example, before the USN has numerical superiority over the IJN, it might shift from base to base to contain any further advances/raids by the Combined Fleet. This is a task performed independently of a given base. If Pearl has this many units and Samoa has this many and Brisbane has this many, the IJN might be able to exploit that quite nimbly if an USN AI can't keep an eye on the big picture.

[Shannon V. OKeets]

ORIGINAL: brian brian

As long as the top level bits of this are ruthless in allocating resources a geographic system would be fine, in that many areas get no units at all. Giving each area some resources might work out OK in some bloated corporate business structure. But in war you can't just share things out just so Colonel Klink gets to command something too.

So I guess what I am curious about is how the AI picks tasks to accomplish, and what resources it allocates to a task....this seems more important than parceling out slices of land and sea. In the Pacific for example, before the USN has numerical superiority over the IJN, it might shift from base to base to contain any further advances/raids by the Combined Fleet. This is a task performed independently of a given base. If Pearl has this many units and Samoa has this many and Brisbane has this many, the IJN might be able to exploit that quite nimbly if an USN AI can't keep an eye on the big picture.

The navy will be similar to the army. Since I have thought about the latter in more detail, I'll describe that.
===
A Commanding General in a Land Region may have one of several stati:
1 - inactive: no troops from either side present (e.g., Canada).
2 - staging: friendly units present but expected to move to another friendly LR (e.g., the US).
3 - defensive: there are no enemy troops present in the LR, but there are threats (USSR before Barbarossa).
4 - defending: enemy units in the area and/or attacks being made from outside the LR (Poland after 1st impulse - from the Commonwealth persepctive).
5 - attacking: enemy holds the LR and we want to take it (Poland before the 1st impulse - from the German persepctive).
6 - consolidating: possibility of enemy partisans appearing (e.g., occupied France).

In the process of controlling his LR a Commanding General may have troops in an adjacent LR. For example, the German CG responsible for Poland starts with all his units outside of Poland; and some of them may remain outside for some time. Another case concerns Gibraltar, where the CG responsible for eastern Spain needs to move into western Spain to attack Gibraltar.

Staging may occur within an AO, where troops are transferred from one LR to another. This also can happen within a TO. Lastly, troops may be transferred from one TO to another. There are different Decision Makers responsible for each of these decisions. Every DM is going want more units and one of the keys to playing well will be deciding who gets what when.
===

To address your concern, if the LR/AO/Sea Area/SAG/TO is inactive, then there is no need for units whatsoever, and any therein should be reassigned by a superior Decision Maker.

[HansHafen]

How will the AI decide what is more important? One sea invasion area versus another? Will we see a ton of AI Germans defending the Cotentin and very few in the Pas-de-Calais? How will the AI notice that the disposition of Allied forces might affect the probable invasion area?

[Shannon V. OKeets]

ORIGINAL: HansHafen

How will the AI decide what is more important? One sea invasion area versus another? Will we see a ton of AI Germans defending the Cotentin and very few in the Pas-de-Calais? How will the AI notice that the disposition of Allied forces might affect the probable invasion area?

How do you do it?

The AIO will follow pretty much the same logic.

[Shannon V. OKeets]

Here are the Land Regions for the Med. Each of the 3 sea areas is its own SAG.

Post 1 of 2.