The 'Suicidal Daimyos' problem?

[EatYerGreens]

Hi to all,

STW1.11

Actually, I think the whole honour-level business is the core of the problem. The AI will go on the attack within the first few years of the campaign (in very predictable ways*) but the regular troops are all H0, or a max of H2 with the Daimyo's bonus. Since the battle goal seems to be more to do with triggering a mass rout than inflicting casualties, it will tend to send it's highest honour unit into the attack at an early stage, even though the 11 heavy cav is such a small unit. It's as if a 'rule' has been programmed in to pick the most effective unit for a specific attack.

The behaviour does change, even if the rule does not, however. In the late phase of the game, the AI opponent will have plenty of improved honour, improved morale, improved weapons/armour unit types and it will attack, or counter, using those, with the Daimyo's unit hanging back, like it should.

I've read some threads about campaign completion (1.02? or WE or MI) in under ten years (starting 1550, instead of 1530) but, from the screenshots, I see the starting position is just one territory, surrounded by rebel zones and it's possible to make very rapid progress and crush the AI clans before they've made much of a start. In the Takeda example, the player has Heavy an Naginata Cavalry right from turn 1, so I gather that you are given a handful of teched-up or improved honour units as a starter. Assuming the AI gets a similar supply of good units I reckon that this would alter the behaviour and tend to make it more conservative about where and how it deploys the Daimyo unit.

I was going to make a point about the group formation buttons being a part of the problem, in that some of them place the general's unit in a frontal position but there's no way of knowing if the AI is programmed to employ those formations. I can't say I've seen it use them, other than that it does a better job of keeping all its units together than I generally do I've an awful habit of sending a unit off to do a task at the start of the battle and find they're still sat in that position, doing nothing, when it's all over, while the rest of my army is at the far end of the map, polishing off the rout - but only just - and those extra men might have made a difference.


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* Footnote
Predictable AI first moves..
Imagawa attacks Shinano within the first 3 seasons.
Mori attacks Inaba, even though it's farm output is a paltry 95 per year. Sometimes takes several turns to put down the consequent peasant revolts but never seems to get around to making use of the Shinobi bonus by building a Tea House there.
Mori then attacks Oda in Tamba, even though Kawachi would seem a better choice in terms of income. Seems to be purely to get an opportunity to attack Yamashiro (for Kyoto).
Hojo goes for Sagami, even if Kai is worth more with the gold mine, plus the chance of demolishing Takedas dojos.
Uesugi tries for Hitachi but, instead, will waste time trying to regain Shinano if Imagawa has won it.
Takeda will attack Musashi but, if well garrisoned, will go for Shinano instead.