EB RTW.exe Naval Invasions-Oh yes they do

[/Bean\]

Yep, it doesn't happen often, or indeed particulary cleverly(?), but here is the thread that yes it does happen. Post screenies of your EB games, using the Vanilla RTW.exe, that show the AI conducting naval operations and landings. I have a few from my Romani campaign, showing the Carthies:

The Carthaginians, in their wisdom, decide to invade Cyrenica, not only with the single land army they have on the border, but also with a nice stack from Mauritania, who, even with few ships, managed to pass the Roman patrols and blockades between Africa and Sicilia simply due to the Roman commander's astonishment. It was with almost disapointment that they watched them sail past the undefended Sicilian island, and onwards to Egypt.







And here comes the second wave:



These are the screenies I could be bothered to take, but the Carthies also move troops between Mauritania and Iberia sometimes as long as they own both and are fighting the Luso's. The Greeks, when they have ships, move between Rhodes and Greece itself. The Ptolies (used to ) move beween Asia Minor, Cypres and Egypt.


Anybody else got some to post, or some accounts of naval invasions using the RTW.exe?

[Iskander 3.1]

Oh noezz! Somebody set you up The Bomb!

EDIT: Sorry, I guess that doesn't add anything to the thread...that was just my reaction when I saw those screenshots.

[Zett]

I thought it's pretty well known that the AI makes navel Ivasions with rtw.exe? I (defending Kyrene) often fight against Carthaginians that have Balearic singlers, Sardinian Infantery, Akontistai and many Iberian units (for example the Cataphrakt Cavalery). So yes, the AI does navel Invasions, why shoudn't it?

The problem is, that there are some requirements.

1. The AI does not need the troops that should take part on the naval invasion (Troops on an island or in a region where the AI has no enemies, like Carthage in Iberia if the are allied with the Lusotanna).

2. The AI needs ships! Here is the mainproblem.

a) the AI normally only builds ships to block enemy harbours or fight against other ships (normally not for navalinvasions). So if the AI is not at war with a faction that have ports, it will build no ships. Even if it had troops on islands that could take part on a naval invasion it will build no ships, cause it will recruit landtroops in these cities to fight the enemy (In the eyes of the AI this is the "shorter way" to fight against the enemy).

b) Also ships are more expensive then normal troops. So the AI will think "Why should I build expensive but (In the eyes of the AI) useless (see a) why the AI think they are useless) ships, if I'm at war with a enemy that use landtroops and my landtroops can reach/fight them?"

So if the AI has ships (like Carthage, frequently at war with a faction that has ports) it will use them for naval invasions too. AI: "Oh I have ships, they are useless but now where I have them I can use them".

3. (partly mentioned in 2.) The AI must be at war with a faction that should be the traget of the naval invasion or it must have the ambition to expand, but the "shortest way" to the enemy (means, the AI can not reach the potential new enemy on the landway) is via ship.
But for 3. point 2. is required. In the case of Casse, the AI has no ambition to build ships, even if it has an ambition to expand (if it had taken the British Isles).

I'm not sure if this is completly correct, but with my 1 year experience playing EB as different faction, my observations of the AI led my to that assumption.

If we would make ships cheaper, or at least the transport ships, we could investigate how the AI would react on that change. Problem: AI would spam only transport ships and no battleships. And if we would gave the transport ships lower stats, the AI would not build them (my assumtion, cause it builds ships not for naval invasions, but for "fighting" other ships or block harbours).

Ceterum censeo Romam esse delendam

[miotas]

I've never seen a true naval invasion, sure they will ship troops to lands that they already control, like from africa to iberia for the carthies but I've never seen them ship troops to say, retake sicily from the romans after they've been pushed out, they simply have no ambition to attack cities they don't share a land border with.

[Zett]

I've never seen a true naval invasion, sure they will ship troops to lands that they already control, like from africa to iberia for the carthies but I've never seen them ship troops to say, retake sicily from the romans after they've been pushed out, they simply have no ambition to attack cities they don't share a land border with.

As long, as the landway is "shorter" they will not attack islands, but sometimes they do. I had Carthagians that tried to retake Corsica or Sicily. But yes, mostly they only ship their troops to their own regions and merge them their with their other armies.

Ceterum censeo Romam esse delendam

[seienchin]

Wow I am impressed. Im playing with alex.exe and never had proper naval invasions..., only sometimes AS Armies skipping the long way throug minor Asia via ship. Anyway, has anybody ever saw the AI atack the small one city only Islands??? I never saw that and Im playing nothing except for EB and sometimes Rome Vanilla since 2 years.
But anyway the high price of ships in EB wrecks the whole navy experience. In my Romani capmain I played until 130 bc and only had one single fight against other nation, that was serious. I encountered a lot of pirates and sometimes single ships of the smallest size of enemy countries, but only the ptollies built one of the katamaran fighting ships. (The biggest and best ones in EB)

[/Bean\]

Once you defeat the starting ships, the AI don't often build anymore. The Ptolies do, but usually only if they don't control Antiocheia and of course do control Alexandreia.

I sometimes roleplay Eleutheroi fleets as fleets of Carthage or whatever.

Still, I think the mass spamming of ships in RTW Vanilla by every nation with a port was a bit too much. However, I do wish there were more ships. Still, this will all be sorted by EB III, when we can fight on water properly .