Best AI Cheats Ever

Perhaps this has been discussed before, but there's always new situations that come up......

I'll start off with one that I saw in a recent Macedonian campaign.

I usually start with the short campaign and then continue into the 'real deal' if I'm still having fun with it. In this case, one has to eliminate the GC, as I'm sure you know. Well, I've taken every Greek city from Sparta to Rhodes and have my 15 provinces as well.

Still no victory parade:furious3: Where the hell can they be hiding out? I sent a fleet all around the Med looking for their last outpost. When the fleet finally got to Sicily, there stood Syracuse, in all its glory with a near full stack of armored hoplites (what a surprise:beam:). I thought, what the......? the Scipii didn't finish them off after all these years? (there was no alliance between the GC and any of the Roman houses so I still can't believe it happened:dizzy2:).

Anyway, I had an army ready to go, so I loaded them on a fleet and headed for Sicily. Just as I'm approaching, a Greek ship pops up in the harbor and 18 of the 20 units in the city board ship and head for Africa!?!

Now I almost always carry a spy aboard my fleets so I knew the exact composition of that army. I thought....better for me they're gone. My fleet will sink them if they try to return so this will be a cakewalk.

After off-loading my army to lay siege, I followed them to Africa just to make sure. Now comes the wild and crazy part........not only do the original 18 hoplites disembark, but another 3/4 stack complete with family member lands as well and they lay siege to Scipii-held Carthage. I watched it happen as it was one of those rare end-of-turns where the view didn't get distracted elsewhere and I had the map centered on the Greek fleet.

It was one of those rollonthefloorlaughing moments as the AI tried to pull a fast one to save the Greek Cities from extinction.

It didn't work, btw:laugh4:

Are they cheating though? I'm thinking it might have been a pathfinding problem-- the AI in RTW is maddeningly prone to incomprehensible decisions. Egypt, for example, always has some stacks wandering around in the middle of nowhere in Libya. Maybe that's the case with the Greek stack as well. :shrug:

Nah.....I actually watched them disembark:laugh4:

I wouldn't say Cheating ReluctantSamurai But I've had many campaigns were Rome just sits
on their %^$s all day!

Geez folks, I thought this topic would've generated a bit more discussion:dizzy2:

I'm not implying whether AI cheats are good or bad, just fishing for some good stories.........

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I've had many campaigns were Rome just sits
on their %^$s all day!

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Ahhh yes, the 'lazy faction' syndrome.........

One cheat of the AI's is the "run around till the battle timer runs out trick". Essentially the AI keeps its distance from all your troops until the battle timer expires or, if there is no battle timer, till you quit the game.

This is particularly bad if your force size is limited and/or lacks fast cavalry units - they can keep your force running after them for hours with very little chance of capturing them. You often can use a unit to chase them while letting another rest to gain strength, but, if their unit is fast, then your situation is rather dire if your alternative unit isn't equally fast (or slightly less fast considering that the foes are tired).

In the end, you often have to use an ambush to nab them, but, if you only have one unit, this is not possible.

~:)

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One cheat of the AI's is the "run around till the battle timer runs out trick

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One good reason why I don't play with the timer.:inquisitive:

Well, I'll add another...........

Playing as the Greek Cities, I was making an effort to send the Brutii back to their own side of the "pond." The Macedonians had been pacified already so it was time..............

I had Appolonia under siege with a small garrison contained inside. Next to my besieging army was a Brutii general (and a pretty good one too) and one infantry unit. To cut down on the chances of a successful sally, I had my assassin kill the general. I figured without a general, less chance of success.

Or so I thought:dizzy2: The next turn, there was another Brutii general to replace the one I had assassinated:no: This happened for three, count 'em, three successive turns......every time I killed one another took his place. And no they weren't being shipped in or walking in from any adjacent area. The AI had just decided that that small unit needed a commanding general:inquisitive:

I guess, in the end, it was good training for my assassin:laugh4:

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Originally Posted by ReluctantSamurai

One good reason why I don't play with the timer.:inquisitive:

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A fix isn't really that simple - I never play with the timer either, but in that case they just run around forever. I was once three hours trying to catch up with an enemy general - I never made it and just gave up by quitting.

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Originally Posted by ReluctantSamurai

Well, I'll add another...........

Playing as the Greek Cities, I was making an effort to send the Brutii back to their own side of the "pond." The Macedonians had been pacified already so it was time..............

I had Appolonia under siege with a small garrison contained inside. Next to my besieging army was a Brutii general (and a pretty good one too) and one infantry unit. To cut down on the chances of a successful sally, I had my assassin kill the general. I figured without a general, less chance of success.

Or so I thought:dizzy2: The next turn, there was another Brutii general to replace the one I had assassinated:no: This happened for three, count 'em, three successive turns......every time I killed one another took his place. And no they weren't being shipped in or walking in from any adjacent area. The AI had just decided that that small unit needed a commanding general:inquisitive:

I guess, in the end, it was good training for my assassin:laugh4:

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That's really odd - general's sons always appear in the city of the general or, if I remember rightly, in the capital if the general is away campaigning so that couldn't really explain it. It couldn't have been "Man of the Hour" either if no battles were fought (with the opposition gaining any form of victory).

~:)

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Originally Posted by ReluctantSamurai

Or so I thought The next turn, there was another Brutii general to replace the one I had assassinated This happened for three, count 'em, three successive turns......every time I killed one another took his place. And no they weren't being shipped in or walking in from any adjacent area. The AI had just decided that that small unit needed a commanding general

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I saw the same thing happen in the Gorgon campaign I am currently playing. I reduced the Romans to a single General. I ignored the Roman cities that still remained, and went after him to wipe the Romans out. He ran to the furthest city he could to hide, and the game spawned another general whom I assassinated. I killed the original, but found the game had spawned another one elsewhere. I went after him, and when I attacked him in the field he was reinforced by yet another new Roman general. Killing both in that battle did wipe the Roman faction out however.

Basically the game will not let you destroy a faction through assassination. It will always spawn those extra generals in order to keep the faction alive. However, what you can do is assassinate all but one family member and then kill that one in combat. Just try to do it in the same turn so it cannot create more generals in the meantime.

I've seen generals randomly spawn in an army without a general....
sometimes its not man of honor because no battles were fought when he spawned

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Originally Posted by ReluctantSamurai

Perhaps this has been discussed before, but there's always new situations that come up......

I'll start off with one that I saw in a recent Macedonian campaign.

I usually start with the short campaign and then continue into the 'real deal' if I'm still having fun with it. In this case, one has to eliminate the GC, as I'm sure you know. Well, I've taken every Greek city from Sparta to Rhodes and have my 15 provinces as well.

Still no victory parade:furious3: Where the hell can they be hiding out? I sent a fleet all around the Med looking for their last outpost. When the fleet finally got to Sicily, there stood Syracuse, in all its glory with a near full stack of armored hoplites (what a surprise:beam:). I thought, what the......? the Scipii didn't finish them off after all these years? (there was no alliance between the GC and any of the Roman houses so I still can't believe it happened:dizzy2:).

Anyway, I had an army ready to go, so I loaded them on a fleet and headed for Sicily. Just as I'm approaching, a Greek ship pops up in the harbor and 18 of the 20 units in the city board ship and head for Africa!?!

Now I almost always carry a spy aboard my fleets so I knew the exact composition of that army. I thought....better for me they're gone. My fleet will sink them if they try to return so this will be a cakewalk.

After off-loading my army to lay siege, I followed them to Africa just to make sure. Now comes the wild and crazy part........not only do the original 18 hoplites disembark, but another 3/4 stack complete with family member lands as well and they lay siege to Scipii-held Carthage. I watched it happen as it was one of those rare end-of-turns where the view didn't get distracted elsewhere and I had the map centered on the Greek fleet.

It was one of those rollonthefloorlaughing moments as the AI tried to pull a fast one to save the Greek Cities from extinction.

It didn't work, btw:laugh4:

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All i can say is: MAP INFO DUDE:yes:

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Originally Posted by Omanes Alexandrapolites

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Originally Posted by ReluctantSamurai

Well, I'll add another...........

Playing as the Greek Cities, I was making an effort to send the Brutii back to their own side of the "pond." The Macedonians had been pacified already so it was time..............

I had Appolonia under siege with a small garrison contained inside. Next to my besieging army was a Brutii general (and a pretty good one too) and one infantry unit. To cut down on the chances of a successful sally, I had my assassin kill the general. I figured without a general, less chance of success.

Or so I thought:dizzy2: The next turn, there was another Brutii general to replace the one I had assassinated:no: This happened for three, count 'em, three successive turns......every time I killed one another took his place. And no they weren't being shipped in or walking in from any adjacent area. The AI had just decided that that small unit needed a commanding general:inquisitive:

I guess, in the end, it was good training for my assassin:laugh4:

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That's really odd - general's sons always appear in the city of the general or, if I remember rightly, in the capital if the general is away campaigning so that couldn't really explain it. It couldn't have been "Man of the Hour" either if no battles were fought (with the opposition gaining any form of victory).

~:)

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One reason I am no longer so hot on assassins. Picking off generals inevitably causes some new generals to get adopted in their place, and talented ones at that. So what happens is that the faction actually grows stronger from being rid of its mediocre/awful family members and acquiring some talented ones. :wall:

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One reason I am no longer so hot on assassins. Picking off generals inevitably causes some new generals to get adopted in their place, and talented ones at that. So what happens is that the faction actually grows stronger from being rid of its mediocre/awful family members and acquiring some talented ones.

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Yes, that does happen on occasion. Sometimes it goes the other way if you have a talented enough assassin. Get rid of that 4 or 5 Star to see him replaced by a bureaucratic type with no battle skills:yes:

I've got another one....the "double the garrison in one turn because it's the next city on the to-conquer list" trick. I've seen this one on more than one occasion so I won't give any campaign specifics. They didn't come from outside the city because I had all roads under observation by spies or blocked by converging armies, and they weren't brought in by fleet either because the city was landlocked, or if coastal, the port was blockaded.

I guess the city guard must have recalled their ranks from the local pubs and brothels:laugh4: