Matrix Games Forums

ORIGINAL: vonik

I notice that the AI is using very badly its Panzerkorps .
It is especially obvious on the Leningrad front where it has 3 armies AND 3 Panzerkorps AND 1 artillery .
Normally your defence line should have evaporated in 2 turns because you have nothing there to stop such a force .
An attack 1 Army + 1 Panzer corps (let alone 2) = death for the opposing Soviet unit . Then the Army advances, the Panzers retreat, reinforce . Rince, repeat .
Once the German either destroyed or forced all your units to retreat in a marsh, the battle South of
I think that it is because there is only one important rule for the use of Panzers - never ever put them in a marsh unless there is no ennemy unit nearer than 100 km .
Yet the AI found the brilliant idea to put every single Panzerkorps in a marsh
Also there doesn't seem to be an elite German HQ in Luga where it should be to allow full strength reinforcement and readiness for all attacking units .

Yes the AI has misused it's forces along the front line if it had concentrated it's panzers it would have easily broken through and caused many problems but it has attacked without real support letting me counter attack and seal the line I have destroyed 8 or 9 panzer groups in Russia alone and with out the 20% bonus it would be in great difficulty in early 42 but at least it has given me some sort of a game but the tide is turning now and I will be mostly on the offensive, Obviously against a human opponent I would have been seriously defeated in the east by now but I've had to give the AI a chance hence the plus 20% MMP and lots of Panzer groups and a lot more infantry

ORIGINAL: sapper32


letting me counter attack and seal the line I have destroyed 8 or 9 panzer groups in Russia alone and with out the 20% bonus it would be in great difficulty in early 42

Yes I noticed that and couldn't believe it .
In all games I did as Germany, I didn't loose a single Panzergroup on the Eastern front and upon reflection I probably couldn't loose one even if I tried to do so on purpose
The +20% actually don't help as much as you think . Indeed the AI can produce more units but they arrive on the front with experience 0 .
So the dynamics actually work in your favor - while the German front line units are less and less experienced, yours (especially the tanks) are more and more experienced .
The result is that the power balance leans more and more on your side .
In a game with a human adversary you would see the opposite - your front would be constituted by 0 experience units while all Panzer units would be elite experience with strength 11 or 12 by 1942 .
I agree with you - the war is won for you and has been so already in 41 when one saw how badly the Panzers were being used .

I don't think the AI will ever be able to give you a decent game and if you wanted too you could easily use some tactics too defeat the AI even earlier, having said that I've enjoyed the naval war so far I have made a few blunders and underestimated the AI it's a shame the AI can't put together a better organised attack that it can sustain over a number of turns, it seems that once I got a decent front put together with a few units dug in it ran out of idea's a bit and it became a tit for tat on the eastern front the AI needs to concentrate on one front when this happens and go on the defence on other fronts but all in all I've enjoyed the game so far and am looking forward to PBEM

Well I on my part think that the AI could be done much better and give you much more than a decent game - actually beat you
It does relatively well in defence, it is just bad in offense or in counter attacks when defending .

The idea is to have "typical" offensive behaviours so that the AI avoids at least total blunders .
For example :
- never put a panzer in a marsh unless it is to finish off an ennemy unit
- always follow railroads and don't bother about what is 2 or 3 hexes beside unless it is a city
- always keep an HQ on a place where a majority of your front units are at minimum supply 6
- always finish off a unit when you can do so
- never attack at worse than 0:0 unless it is part of a big Attack with several units which will kill
- never attack unless it is a town, a railroad hex or a hex with a potential supply value of more than 6
- always use bombers and artillery when you attack a town
- always reinforce to max strength (e.g 10) if you fall below 8
- always add the elite points when you can
etc

I am pretty sure that the whole offensive AI could be governed by a single parameter - the potential supply value of hexes .
For instance in the Center you want to reach a situation where the Moscow hex has a supply value of 6 + .
To get there you will naturally follow the railroad Minsk-Smolensk-Vjazma-Moscow and Kiev-Brjansk-Tula-Kaluga-Moscow .
So if at every turn the AI tries to maximise the supply value of the controlled hexes at the front, it will naturally attack on the right vectors and keep its Panzerkorps at the ball all the time .

Of course it will miss some bright moves that a human player would do even if it violates the rules above but that's what, 5 % of the moves ? Doing the 95 % correctly would be more than enough .

Leningrad Front September 1942

The German Army Group North continues its assault towards Leningrad spearheaded by 5th Panzer Korps,
The Red army units defending the line have taken heavy losses but continue to hold.

Moscow Front September 1942

The German Army Group Centre captures Rzhev after destroying an Infantry Corps and forcing the 4th Mech
to fall back in disarray, The Red Airforce is fighting hard to counter the Luftwaffe but is losing planes fast.

North Africa September 1942

The recently activated British 1st Army invade Tunisia and motor north towards Tunis supported by the Desert Air Force,
The British 8th Army land on Sicily supported by the Med Fleet they are tasked to capture the island then prepare to
sea assault the Italian mainland.