Quote Originally Posted by Razor1952
I disagree that the ai is useless, I've had some quite fearsome battles and the ai can be the master when things get very confused with units going in all directions.

Playing Brutii early on Vanilla 1.2 attacked Thermon with bog standard Hastati/velites and 5 star general versus mainly peltasts/cretan archers/militia hoplites and their 5 star general(about the same numbers of troops), I had to attack uphill but I got my ass whipped . The ai flanked and charged at the appropriate moment.

Of course I could have waited till I had overwhelming forces and crushed them but I prefer to play ultra-aggressively. This means I sometimes get whipped.

I suspect many people have upgraded armies versus non-upgraded ai armies and therefore think they are great hero's when they win. Hah... I suggest they try to play more aggressively.
I know what you mean, the comp forces can be tough when they are veterans and yours is not. But I would have to disagree with you in regards to their competence. There was one time a one full stack of my army went against three full stacks of comp forces; I ran initially thinking I was sure to lose this battle, but they caught up to me and I was forced to fight. I was the Greeks with their usual hoplite center and cavalry and light foot soldiers on the flanks; the comp was the Brutii and the fight was on a hilly plains. And what does the AI center do? To point one, it does the usual last minute flanking move running into my phalanx in an angle and not against their broad sides, so the initial stack was routed in a minute of engagement; the second charged in head long with its velites and making similar errors; the third doing its usual idiot moves. Am I a military genius? Hell no! It's just that the comp really really sux, and the AI needs a lot of help outside of its own intelligence to win anything on a battlefield. Let me note that both were of experienced veteran troops of equal quality.