Why does the AI teleport units?

[nate25]

I've played "Pieper Crosses the Meuse" from both sides now. In my last game as the Allies, it seems that:

1. German units from KG Knittel were appearing west of Huy, north of the Meuse, as early as 1200 of the first day. Keep in mind both the rail and road bridges were blown.

2. 82 AB Div. took the other road bridge east of Huy several hours after entry. Yet over 24 hrs. later, Wehrmacht units north of the Meuse were fighting as if they had uninterupted LOCs.

As the German player you could never move Knittel that fast. Or fight indefinitely without supply. What gives? If the AI can teleport units around the AO at will, or fight with no supply, what's the point?

Very frustrating. And please don't tell me, "AI cheats. Get used to it." If that's the case, I'm wasting a lot of money.

[Lieste]

Both the Road and Rail Bridges at Huy?

There is another crossing point about 1 1/2 hours travel to the West at Andenne - if you failed to secure this then the AI will cross here.
I question the identification of the unit - or at least whether you are using favour axis, as I see the entry time for Knittel as 17:30 D1. Some of KG Peiper (or other first tranche reinforcements) might be able to reach, cross and move from Andenne if they went directly there, as they enter at 07:00-07:30 D1.

A division carries supply sufficient to last for ~3 days of light combat within the units, with up to week held within the Division columns themselves. So without supply a formed unit should expect to survive for a day without any real inconvenience - still being cut off after several days, especially if the Regimental supply column is not present in the pocket, or is destroyed/depleted will cause a dramatic loss in effectiveness as food, fuel and ammunition run out. This is quite a long time in the context of a ~6 day scenario, so it is unlikely to be decisive - never hurts to kill supply whenever you see it, but unless you can do it early, and keep the chain from being re-established, then you may not see short-term benefits (unless a unit has already missed a daily supply run or is low on ammunition when the interruption occurs). Expect to notice less HE artillery from the affected units as a first sign, but that can take a day to manifest if usage hasn't been profligate - and you may never see much difference if there is a sizeable quantity of artillery outside the isolated group.

[tukker]

Hi Nate,

1. German units from KG Knittel were appearing west of Huy, north of the Meuse, as early as 1200 of the first day. Keep in mind both the rail and road bridges were blown.

KG Knittel arrives on the south side of the map at D1 1730. The only units arriving before D1 1200 are KG Von der Heydte and KG Peiper (plus the HQs of 1 SS Pz Div + I SS Pz Korps). What probably happened, is that some unit of KG Peiper crossed at Andenne, and was mididentified as a KG Knittel unit. Even with 'Excellent' relialibity intel of enemy units is not 100% accurate.

2. 82 AB Div. took the other road bridge east of Huy several hours after entry. Yet over 24 hrs. later, Wehrmacht units north of the Meuse were fighting as if they had uninterupted LOCs.

Units that are out of supply keep on fighting, using the resources at hand. However, they become less and less effective, because they run out of ammo, fuel and food. Usually they have enough small arms ammo on hand to last up to 48 hrs (depending on the intensity of the fighting, of course) but they will run out of ammo for mortars and rpg's sooner.


In short: the AI does not cheat, nor does it enjoy any other advantages over the human player.

Pieter

[nate25]

Thanks, Lieste and Tukker. I'll have to plan differently from here on out. I was not aware div./regt. trains toted so many days worth of supply with them.

[Lieste]

If anything, units have too little basics supply - each soldier should maintain at 2-3 days food, while in BfTB this is only 1 day - they would also supplement their carried food by purchasing from civilians in the AO. There was some looting, but it was discouraged.

It does really hurt a formation being excessively committed or cut-off from supply - with unlimited ammunition availability it will still take several days to replenish stocks of ammunition (including the reserves) - assuming that the unit is out of the line - with low level fighting in progress this could be the best part of a week. With restrictions on ammunition supply it might be that any degree of fighting prevents the build-up of supply levels once they are depleted.

[simovitch]

The AI uses 'avoidance' routes alot. The trade off is while they don't take the most direct route to victory they become very slippery indeed -showing up behind your lines and where you least expect it. I tried to lobby to get that changed, citing that the AI wasn't following historical routes and taking too long to get to the objectives at historical rates of travel. I was promptly dismissed.

Now, more and more I'm starting to see the benefits of using the 'avoidance' route.

[Lieste]

In the case it would also have been 'shortest' motorised, as both the Huy bridges were down.