Quote Originally Posted by Old Celt
The AI is by no means great. But as much as the AI isn't great, it usually handles basic tasks reasonably. I think what happened in your battle was a case of unexpected circumstances yielding unexpected results. Most of us would not send 2 valuable generals to fight a full army without support. That particular circumstance was probably not playtested, and so, appropriate tactics although available, were not incorporated into the AI behavior. The AI probably looks at leadership units during assessment, but fails to combine that information with the number of units and troop strength.

I wish I could agree on this, but I've done so much 1v1 testing that the AI just makes me numb with its inability to reach even mildly logical conclusions. In vanilla 1v1 on the grassy flatland map, I can use the long range archers to cut down units like medium cav (Roman Cav.) Why? Because the AI saunters up slowly...by the time the remaining half reach my troops I charge into melee and kill them all. No fancy footwork, no attempt to deceive or exploit the AI.

So what does the AI do with roles reversed? It never fires a shot. It tries to charge up to my approaching horsemen, then at about mid range, it halts and starts to perform a firing sequence. Of course, my cavalry are in mid charge at that point, and the long range archers are now too close. As I begin to charge the archers have a change of plan and attempt to run away. Of course it is too late for that and they are cut down without inflicting any casualties

And with cav vs. the phalanx? Well..the AI tries to disengage its cav and charge again...when it is winning in melee and has gotten past the pikes. This leads to rapid routing of the cav who are getting poked in the rear haunches.