How much does the AI Change between Easy and Legendary?

[NightwindKing]

So, been playing through a Date campaign on normal/medium/whatever the default difficulty is. And maybe it's just me, maybe it's just because I'm used to playing MTW on legendary, but...holy crap my enemies suck!

I even handed the reigns of one battle to my little brother at one point. And he crushed them, despite a poor strategy.

I know the AI is nerfed at Easy and buffed at Legendary. But what are the actual differences? Are there stats anywhere? Because I just had an enemy force sally out of a castle that I was loathe to assault (due to their large numbers). Sure I would lose, since my men had been un-supplied for some time and their force had a much larger percentage of samurai units than mine, I set-up defensively and decided to try and just kill as many in a bottleneck as I could.

I set-up in a hydra formation with a pair of companies of Bow Ashigaru on each of two opposing hills. Behind them in the woods atop the hill were two pairs of Yari Ashigaru. In the center, in the valley between the hills, I set up a thin line of three Yari Ashigaru companies, and behind that I had two companies of no-dachi samurai and one of Yari samurai. My general's unit took the right corner between the valley line and the hill Ashigaru (since they had been slightly below strength for a while).

Basically, the AI outnumbered me by about 400. He advanced four companies of Bow Samurai to attack the western hill and was quickly punishing my poor peasant archers. Luckily, despite the enemy being in a good defensibly position at the bottom of the hill, he idiotically decided to advance his archers. At which point I had my hillside Yari Ashigaru sweep around the flanks and pin them in the middle.

Thinking things were going well, I advanced my battle line to meet the enemy samurai advancing down the valley. Then things went bad. Likely due to the earlier massed arrow fire, my entire left flank snowball-routed (it collapsed). I was sitting there thinking I was screwed, pulling-back my center and trying to decide how to salvage the situation, when he brought ANOTHER three companies of bow samurai up the eastern flank. Impatient, I charged down the hill with my Yari, bowmen providing support, and was able to pin their archers in the woods.

With nothing left to hold my left/western flank, I charged my general's unit into their mass of archers.

And they broke and ran. Their entire army routed and I slaughtered them to the last man.

What the hell? They were crushing me!! Is something wonky or did I do something right? I'm so confused...

[econ21]

I don't think we have hard information on this. I asked for it in a Q&A we sent to CA, but their answers seem to have got lost on someone's desk over there.

What I can say is impressionistic. I haven't tried Easy, but the jump from Normal to Very Difficult/Legendary seems pretty steep. Normal seems to allow you to pull off great victories in adverse circumstances. I am not sure if it gives bonuses to you or is really a level playing field. Higher difficulties probably give subtle bonuses to the AI on the battlefield, but my limited experience is that the AI becomes much nastier on the campaign map - it recruits more troops and is more aggressive/unfriendly to you.

What you described sounds quite reasonable - CA are rather keen on "rock paper scissors" gameplay (cav>archers/swords>spears>cav), so charging a nasty heavy cavalry unit into a mass of archers is not going to end well for the archers. In my abortive attempts at a VH Takeda campaign, I lost count of how many times my general's unit was the last man standing, routing army after army. I gave up because at the strategic level, I was being endlessly worn down - not because I lost any battles.

[RedKnight]

My impression in moving from Normal to Hard is that the AI is more aggressive with its stacks, as you say, Econ21. Also it may be using its agents more intelligently.

[NightwindKing]

Well I started a hard campaign the other day.

So far the AI's battle strategies seem about the same, although I've been more cautious because of a need for troop conservation.

As you've said though the AI seems much more agressive and unfriendly on the campaign map. And holy crap these stupid peasants won't stay down! Four successive rebellions in the same province, and all because the province was 75% Christian! Jeez! Why isn't there a "cull unruly peasants" option for the Metsuke?

That said I've also found that I see the Wokou pirates a lot more in Hard than normal. Although I captured every one of the five ships they sent against me.

[RedKnight]

holy crap these stupid peasants won't stay down!

If you study the changing icons for happiness in each provice, you should never be surprised. A couple of tips:
1) It doesn't matter how happiness is at the end of your turn, only what it will be at the beginning of the next turn. So if a Sake Den is almost done (+2 smiles) and repression is going from -4 to -3, well then you have 3 happiness you don't need to worry about. You can move out or kill 3 police, if you were at -2 or whatever.
1b) Corollarry: Any new garrison force made will be there at the beginning of next turn.
2) Be careful of generals and agents who may add happiness or suppression (same thing) until they move out.
3) Resistance To Invaders increases, as you take more provinces. Your first few provinces have none, but by the time you have 12 or so (all depending on difficulty etc.), it will never go below 4.
4) Look for red provinces on the Finance screen (key N) before ending each turn, if ever unsure. After a while you will call this screen your friend. Red provinces are ok if you understand everything involved.

The pirates are a harrassment. You have to make a fleet that can deal with many contingencies. Before that, you have to make an economy that can support the contingencies.

RK

[I_damian]

Well, on easy and normal, if at the start of the game you move your whole army in to an enemy province, leaving your capital defended only by a single general, even if you're at war with a neighbour and even if they march in to your land, they will purposely make tactical blunders, such as not attacking your capital even though they could overpower the lone general and his 30 Samurai retainers with ease. They'll just mill around eating your fruit and, if they're feeling particularly warlike that day, destroy one of your buildings.

On hard, they'll just go straight in for the city and wipe you out on turn 2, like what happened in my Takeda campaign this morning. First time I've ever lost a campaign since Medieval: Total War. (the first one from like a decade ago).

[NightwindKing]

If you study the changing icons for happiness in each provice, you should never be surprised. A couple of tips:
1) It doesn't matter how happiness is at the end of your turn, only what it will be at the beginning of the next turn. So if a Sake Den is almost done (+2 smiles) and repression is going from -4 to -3, well then you have 3 happiness you don't need to worry about. You can move out or kill 3 police, if you were at -2 or whatever.
1b) Corollarry: Any new garrison force made will be there at the beginning of next turn.
2) Be careful of generals and agents who may add happiness or suppression (same thing) until they move out.
3) Resistance To Invaders increases, as you take more provinces. Your first few provinces have none, but by the time you have 12 or so (all depending on difficulty etc.), it will never go below 4.
4) Look for red provinces on the Finance screen (key N) before ending each turn, if ever unsure. After a while you will call this screen your friend. Red provinces are ok if you understand everything involved.

The pirates are a harrassment. You have to make a fleet that can deal with many contingencies. Before that, you have to make an economy that can support the contingencies.

RK

1. My problem is that I end my turn building, say, a sake den, two units of yari ashigaru, and a Metsuke going-in to oversee the town, and in-between the end of my one turn and the start of my next, a rebellion appears, even though it was only at -2 or -1 when I ended the turn (I never let it get below that...and that only because Im forced to move my army away from the city).

3. Ah! I didnt know that. Good to know! Thank you!

4. I usually do, but I can never tell what black provinces are...they never seem too much different in output/happiness from green ones???

@ Damian
Good to know. Yeah I re-started my Date campaign last night and on turn 2 I saw that both the Tokugawa and the Shimazu had been destroyed. yikes!