Strategic AI still suicidal in 1.5?

[GFX707]

I recently got back into playing this game after the latest patch. I would say most things are improved apart from seeing a couple of "alliance not honoured" relation hits after joining a war with my ally. However, what I want to talk about is the strategic AI's previous lack of self-preservation.

I have noticed that the random declarations of war seem to be less frequent in the latest version, however in my Russian campaign I have been watching Sweden. They are at war with 5 or 6 different nations at the moment, and they just declared war on me. In previous versions I'd have expected this (and the subsequent two-unit stacks running around my countryside) but I had hoped, against my better judgement, that maybe in the latest version the AI would take account of how many wars it's in. When I read the declaration of war I sighed, because this is the 3rd or fourth campaign I have played as Russia and I have been in so many wars, and never even declared one myself. As usual it seems that if you're bordering someone, and not allied (and even sometimes when you are), no matter how powerful you are and weak they are, no matter how many people they are fighting it's a matter of time before they declare war, put up little to no fight, and then force you to kill them when all you wanted to do was be friends. Obviously, Sweden and Russia are going to war sometime, but when they are in a large number of wars already?

I would love to hear that this is not the case any more. So, would the good people of this forum say that the AI is less or more suicidal in this latest version?

[Fisherking]

It just depends.

If you play the game on lower difficulty levels the AI will preserve its self just fine.

As the difficulty levels increase you wind up with the fight to the death mentality.

It is just a matter of what you are looking for.

[Khorak]

It's not quite so bad but it still has the utterly inimicable Creative Assembly AI™ twang to it. You can't really force an enemy into a reasonable capitulation; any real nation would happily accept 'white peace' terms after discovering everything in their capital province is on fire and the soldiers all dead as corduroy with nothing in reserve, but not a Creative Assembly AI™! You have to start taking chunks of their lands before they'll decide you're being extremely generous in giving back all their stuff you damn well never wanted in the first place.

Or they'll start a war because their enormous Sloop & Brig Navy™ has granted them a laughable 'Terrifying' military status that makes them think they can take you on, despite their land army consisting of Tim who opens and closes the palace gates, four chickens and a dog. A small dog. So you have to take all their stuff too in order to give it back for peace.

And Savoy are just braindead. The enormous British Empire has just taken France!? We want France, even though we didn't try to take it from the actual French who were far weaker than the guys holding it now! Chaaaaaaaaaaaaaarge! Seriously, I think they actually have a different AI behaviour called 'moron'. I haven't had any other one state minor nations be so massively belligerent as Savoy towards anyone holding France (except the French, unless you're playing as the French).

Still, it's way better. I've been playing a game in which Poland just sat out the usual Prussia/Austria slugfest minding its own business. Still are I think. A considerable improvement on the release AI, which tended to turn central and eastern Europe into THE GRIM DARKNESS OF WARHAMMER 40,000, WHERE THERE IS ONLY WAR.