AI unbeatable

[sth1119]

I have bought the gold verson recently and have been trying to learn the game. Many of the threads describe how difficult the AI is. Has the latest version(2.05 or was it 2.04?) evened the playing field?

[Tac2i]

Once you understand the game better you should have little difficulty defeating the standard AI. Read Vic's ATG College articles if you haven't already.

[Iron Knight]

Keep in mind there are some unwinnable situation in the random games. Against the AI Rifle, MG, ATG/Bazooka and Fighter upgrades have proved very important in my games.

[springer]

sth0009-

with the latest updates of ATG, you can set the AI to AI-, this will make for a kinder, gentler AI as you go about mastering the game.  Good luck!

[sth1119]

thanks for the feedback.

I have found Vic's ATG college information and will study it. I have been through the pdf manual a couple times. I have started several random games using small maps in an effort to get more familiar. I think what is baffling me the most is how best to manage resources. I am having difficulty understanding what is draining my ORE reserves and ow to increase supplies.

I appreciate the tolerant responses after posting a subject which has likely seen much banter. I was a little frustrated.

[Josh]

No worries, even for seasoned AT players the AI can be a bit ... overwhelming sometimes. Like when you see the AI has dozens of Inf units each with 100 Inf, some Mg's and Inf guns in them... (now where the heck did *that* come from [:@] ) There you are with 30 cavalry and some armour... LOL. You can beat AI+, only because it does stupid things. I'm using the last patch now (2.05) and the AI- (yes AI minus) still can outnumber me easily.
 
Anyways, concerning your ore drain, you do realize that building roads/railroads you're using up ore as well? Especially early in the game that can cost you dearly. Note the ore number at the top of your screen, when it's in red (=bad) you're producing things that won't get produced, if you know what I mean. You may have just enough ore to build four ships, anything more you build that needs ore won't get build. Yes it may be in the production screen, but if you look closely you'll see that no things are produced at all (except maybe those four ships). Like I said, this is especially so in the early stages of the game.
 
Supplies; here's what I do. I set my Capital to producing supplies and PP's (and some Inf/ staff/ etc.), the rest of the towns I conquer are set to producing things. That way it's easy to control supply production. Sometimes I set cities I take to producing supplies as well.

[sth1119]

Thanks for the description on the numbers at the top of the screen. I was unclear what the center number was really telling me.

Vic's documents (ATG College) are very insightful. Things are making more sense and i believe i am beginning to understand why i can't win a battle. I am over estimating the offensive power of infantry formations with mortor,etc. This is a cool game.

[Jeffrey H.]

The AI hordes are pretty annoying when you struggle trying to supply and maintain your own army.

[Veni]

sth009,
I'm not much further along the curve than you: a veteran AT player, I purchased ATG about 3 weeks ago, and am only now beginning to feel comfortable via the AI.
A few points which have been important to me:
1. I've had a much better go playing against multiple AIs, as they tend to duke it out between themselves. Playing one-on-one against the AI has tended to be a stompfest (against me). With multiple opponents, the AI balances its focus between several players, allowing me a bit of breathing room;
2. I tend to send my production directly to my front hq(s), with the exception of the Capitol (as with Josh above) which produces supply/pp/ore as needed directly to 'Supreme HQ'. Previously, I had sent all production to 'Supreme HQ' and divided out as strategic capacity/rail access allowed, but this left my units weak and vulnerable. Also, if you have a few trucks in your front hq, inf can be shipped to its units (w/o trucks they could also 'walk' if within range);
3. I've found that producing Flak right away helps via AI air strikes. My initial production is to dump 40 staff and 4 Flak into an empty hq. While I don't know the mechanics of AI air strike determination/combat, I've had the distinct impression that units within range of the Flak sustain far less damage, and the Flak seems to deter attacks altogether sometimes. On a related note, keeping units in rough terrain (e.g. forests), especially if they can entrench, goes a long way against the AI air strikes;
4. Noticing MGs defend far better than attacking (and I always seem to lose a lot of them when attacking), I've gotten in the habit of putting all of a group's MGs in one 'strong point' defensive unit (currently 40 Rifle, 10 MG), which I don't attack with but use to defend key terrain or use as cover while a weak unit reconstitutes. This has been working well for me.
5. Regarding ore consumption, as a matter of preference I sequence my production prior to using my engineers for anything, and be sure not to use more ore than I need for production. I like to go on an ore binge with my city production if I know I'm going to need a lot of ore the next turn. Also, are you using your engineers to upgrade your 'raw' sites to level 2 production? This makes a big difference.

So none of the above I'd claim as a hard-n-fast rule, but they are some things which have helped me as my play has evolved. I hope this helps. Cheers!

[sth1119]

thanks for the feedback veni.

I had not trying to go against multiple AIs as of yet. Your logic makes sense though.

I have started to have some successes by being mindful of the type of units i attack with. My engineers have been converting the raw areas to level2. I have been a little thick in managing my resources though.

Your advise is great and i can't want to try it out this weekend.

regards.

[Whydmer]

Coming a little late to the party but one thing I noticed was that playing one AI on a small map is actually a very hard way to  learn the game.  The AI's production advantage really are noticable then.  Playing 2 AI on a medium map where you are not the monkey in the middle works much better.