AI Still leaving HQs/Planes close to front lines

[ThunderLizard11]

The AI still doesn't leave HQs/Planes far enough behind front lines. In one case, the US AI landed an undefended HQ in Calais. Can this behavior be tweaked?

[David Hansen]

After the fall of France in May 1940...the Brits landed a single HQ unit in Calais in August 1940.

[Hubert Cater]

Hi ThunderLizard2,

While the general behaviour is improved, there are a lot of different cases and without seeing it first hand it is difficult to say if this is unintended or not. For example, in what you've described this sounds like the D-Day landings. Typically the AI will attempt to land all other units prior to an HQ, and HQs (if I remember correctly) will try and land only if they are not adjacent to an enemy unit. However, this is also balanced against the idea that an available city is there for capture, or the HQ might be the last available unit to hold a city (same applies to air units) and in this case as a last resort an HQ might land or hold a city if it is the only unit available to do so.

It's one of those where yes, it might be better for an HQ to not be used this way, but on the flip side, some situations might arise where one will wonder why the AI didn't take that open city and so on. It's a bit of a damned if you do, damned if you don't. But of course, this is a bit of speculation on my part since as mentioned I haven't seen the sequence play out first hand, but generally that is the thinking behind likely this type of manoeuvre by the AI.

Hubert

[Hubert Cater]

Hi David,

I believe this is a UNIT event that has the BEF land in France, i.e. a game script that would be the same for a human player playing France, rather than the AI transporting and landing there. Is this not the case?

Hubert

[David Hansen]

Hubert-

The BEF event was triggered previously when I invaded the low countries before the fall of France. After France fell in May 1940 there were no allied units in France...except for the Vichy government in southern France. If I remember correctly, in August of 1940 while watching the Allied turn play out, I noticed the Brit HQ unit suddenly appearing. When it was the axis turn, there was a blue supply "circle" in the area. When I sent an axis unit to the area, it revealed the lone HQ unit. Is this another scripted Brit event in addition to the BEF landings that occurred previously?

[Hubert Cater]

Hi David,

There is no other event and no Amphibious scripts for the AI to send over a single HQ either at that time. Actually the AI can never send just an HQ either way as it is considered a support unit that is added after the fact, so other UK units would have landed as well if this were the case. The only thing I can think of is the BEF UK HQ was trapped behind the lines in France after France surrendered and possibly only noticed later on?

Hubert