Playing as the Soviets.

[stormbringer3]

I've been playing the Case Blue Full Campaign as the Axis since the game was released using normal difficulty. I want to now play as the Soviets in this Campaign. What settings are recommended for the AI? It is the rule of thumb that the AI is always better on the defense than offense so I was thinking of moving up to hard AI, but going from 25% to 50% combat bonus seems like a lot. I'd appreciate any opinions and recommendations.
Thanks.

[Bonners]

Much as I love this game I have to say that in my opinion the AI really struggled trying to replicate the Axis offensive. If you see some of my AARs I really struggle playing human opponents so am a distinctly below average player, yet as the Soviets I've been playing a Case Blue campaign against the AI with the settings on hard. I have reached mid September and have already gone over to the offensive, already taking Kharkov and Kursk in the North of the map. It is just a case of protecting your forces in the early part of the campaign as the Axis offensive soon runs out of steam as forces seem to get horribly mingled up. Yes the losses are worse on hard, but you dont get that relentless pushing that a human opponent gives you and I've always found plenty of time to reorganise forces and build up reserve lines.

I think the AI works far better when it is trying to replicate the Soviet defence. So as Soviets I reckon it is worth a go on the hard settings.

[stonestriker]

I´m in the same boat as Bonners. Finishing up a Trappenjagd campaign and is a bit disappointed with the German AI: The date is September 1st, Kiev is taken, and Odessa cut off, so the game is essentially over.

In Case Yellow, I had a blast playing as the Allies, trying to retreat in the face of and overwhelming force. I had expected the same from Trappenjagd: A frantic retreat, trying to conserve my units, and build my strength, until I could turn the tide. Unfortunately the force disparity in Trappenjagd does not afford the AI the ability to do this.

I would like to see a variant for these scenarios where the Soviets start with lower supply income, that gradually rises as the scenario progresses. This would hinder the Soviet player in going on the offensive, other than local counter-attacks, before the Germans have a chance of penetrating their lines.

[wallas]

Playing another player is MUCH better idea I think. Just my opinion but I never play AI's there not a challenge.

[stonestriker]

Well, you might be right.

However, I (and anyone else) would be hard pressed to find an opponent able to complete a turn in 5 minutes... [:)]

[James Ward]

It's very unrealistic to expect the AI to be able to pull off encirclements and attack like a human would. I played the Soviets against the AI and it wasn't much of a challenge. It is just to easy to stump it.