Strategic AI

[Bob the Insane]

How well do the State Gifts work on the AI factions?

What is the best way to decrease the hate factor?

I find the State gifts to be very effective...

In my first (almost complete) campaign as the British I ended up with most everyone Hostile to me. Made trading impossible, but with liberal use of The 5000 level of the State Gift to could go from Hostile straight to Indifferent (and then a trade agreement with a large cash payment)...

It does not work on everyone, for example after fight with the French and Spainish for a while it has not real impact on relations with them once a peace is reached.

Once you can get trading with a faction I think the relationship naturally trends toward Friendly...

Then you get Austria, my ally and Friendly who steadfastly refuses to trade?

[peacemaker]

Have you ever seen the AI doing a strategic retreat against impossible odds in battle (or even on the campaign map)?

On M/M, they do this sometimes rather often. I am about 50% of the time wondering how I'm going to survive, and 50% of the time at peace, ready to declare war and building up my armies. The strategic AI does a better job than me, in a way. They blockade ports, have better ships, hog trade routes, etc. while I'm still trying to piece together my initial army. I am disappointed that almost nobody ever feels like trading tech, even if you're trading several high-end things in return for just one plain, bottom thing. It's kind of stupid actually. The AI is most definetely flawed in some ways, but keep in mind this is much better than moving one siege to the next in M2. I have a challenge, and it satisfies me and my strategies