Observation

[Princess Arriane Nymeria Martell]

Yesterday, I was playing with the English and I allied with the HRE against the French. So then Aragon attacks Toulouse and the HRE says we can't be allies anymore. The next thing I know, they've taken Flanders from me. That makes me think that the AI is a bit smarter than we give it credit for sometimes.

[katank]

not really, dropping an alliance in this case is stupid for the HRE as it's a short term gain and if you just blitz the border with them, you can make a nice border of Friesland, Lorraine, Burgundy, and Provence.

3 or 4 defeats in quick succession and the HRE will crumble into a pile of dust as civil war ravages them.

they are essentially commiting suicide when they attack the player IMHO due to retaliations and the unique HRE tendency for civil war

[Kommodus]

Yes, but perhaps the AI is programmed to understand that remaining allied with the player is suicide in the long term, too. Most players would like to pick off one AI-controlled nation at a time. Surely they know that even if they try to make nice with you, it'll only be a matter of time before you come for them, and by then their potential allies will have been destroyed. By ganging up on you when the opportunity presents itself, they give themselves their best chance of victory, albeit a small chance. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

[Drake]

Works both ways. Plenty of times I've seen superpowers develop and go to war with four or five factions, so I myself jump in and start carving them up to as when they finish with other AIs I know I'm next. It's just common sense really.