[2 deja vu] Battles vs. AI

[Maltz]

After 3 successful short campaigns on very hard/very hard, I start to grow a little tired of doing the same thing over and over again.

Here are the list of my 2 deja vu:

(1) On the field, AI charges all cavalry towards your CENTER very early. Usually this includes their mounted general (and their death). Hey, didn't it already happen first in the tutorial?

(2) As we assault a castle, we put forward our archers and start shooting, while AI units march aimlessly on the streets, tiring themselves to exhaustion. Then, they send small waves of units and units to attack (which also happens on the strategy map anyways). One by one sandwiched. Then, they wait at the town center accepting the last shower of arrows and death.

I would love to start playing multi-player, but it is the strategy map that I enjoy the game from.

[Midnj]

Multiplayer would frustrate you even more. It's completely broken out of the box. Knowing CA, they will make you buy a crappy expansion pack to get functional multiplayer.

[Slyspy]

Thats about right. I am very disappointed by the AI for the following reasons:

1) Unlike STW and MTW it doesn't have the sense to mass its units to crush you on the strategic map. Instead it attacks with pitiful bands. The Roman factions seem less prone to this.

2) The enemy cavalry Generals are completely suicidal making a battle against a named character incredibly easy. No matter how many stars he had, once that man is dead the rest is just a mop up. Suicidal Generals happened in the other games as well but in RTW it seems worse. Besides which you'd have thought CA would have fixed this. They've had numerous chances throughout the series.

3) AI for sieges is useless. I've yet to see them assault a city. When defending the ybehave just as described above. They wander around the walls getting knackered and shot to ribbons. Once you are inside they retreat to the plaza. Once here they may send one unit out to confront you. Once they are dead the rest will sit there on the plaza in a shower of arrows doing nothing. I tried attacking a plaza held by heavy cavalry with just archers once and still they made no move to stop the arrows. They could have wiped out the archers easily but no they all died instead. Poor.

4) Their fleets, no matter how superior to mine, never blockade my ports and will never move to break a blockade (though they might break one by accident). In fact I hardly ever get attacked by an enemy fleet. I've attacked them and my allies have dragged me into a few fights but that is about it.

The AI just seems lazy to me.

[Mori Gabriel Syme]

3) AI for sieges is useless. I've yet to see them assault a city. When defending the ybehave just as described above. They wander around the walls getting knackered and shot to ribbons. Once you are inside they retreat to the plaza. Once here they may send one unit out to confront you. Once they are dead the rest will sit there on the plaza in a shower of arrows doing nothing. I tried attacking a plaza held by heavy cavalry with just archers once and still they made no move to stop the arrows. They could have wiped out the archers easily but no they all died instead. Poor.

Weird. I've had the AI assault my cities many times. & on my assaults of their cities, I've seen the AI place archers on side streets to attack my forces heading for the central plaza. If I don't send cavalry against those units, they will eventually show up around behind the plaza, where I have to kill every unit in the plaza to reach them, & shower my forces with arrows.