I hate the AI

**soibean** · 06-11-2005, 19:33

Im doing a custom battle siege map. Im the seleucids defending against 3 roman factions on very hard, thought that would be fun. I want them to attack my walls with the siege towers and rams, not the... cant think of the name so I'll say catapults, so I give each roman faction 33k to spend on units 2 siege towers each, and a ram. I use about 50k on my guys so they have a chance.
I load the game and position my men and wait for the siege to begin. The Julii family moves into range and tries to siege... good good. I check on the other sides of my city. The other two havent moved their siege engines. Instead they are having half of their army running alongside my wall, running to the Julii family Im assuming? Strange tactics... So I wipe out half of the Brutii and other family and push the Julii away from my walls.
At this point the Julii decide their siege towers are useless and also run up and down my walls while their men are massacred. Then the Brutii and other family move their siege towers into range of my archers and towers, but then stop and wait for them to be destroyed.
It just pisses me off when the AI does stupid newb tactics like that.

Just incase you lost me in my explanation:
Julii sent two forces of hastati to storm my walls, they died and then the rest of that army ran along my walls until the towers killed them. Two other roman families moved siege engines into range and let them burn, then ran up and down my walls and died.

**professorspatula** · 06-11-2005, 19:58

Sieges and attacking AI = Worst AI in gaming history.

I find 95% of all sieges involving stone walls end in disaster for the AI. The last siege I set up had 2 AI armies attacking a stone wall city with my faction inside along with a few Senate units. The AI had 2-3 ladders each and a siege tower. None of the ladders were used - in fact half the ladders went in one direction, the others in the opposite direction, looking like something out of a Laurel & Hardy comic sketch. With one siege tower burnt, one tower is all they had to take on my city and were promptly killed. There seems to be some kind of basic error that makes the AI not use its siege equipment until a certain situation arises, as later on, perhaps when a section of wall has been stripped of its defenders , the attackers spring into action and try and use ladders and towers, but usually their army is all but dead by that stage. For whatever reason, they get stuck in a mode of being unable to do anything - except die, thus making you cringe painfully at their ineptitude.

Worst ever siege I had involved 3 AI reinforcement armies helping me assault a stone wall settlement. 11,000 men, around 8 sets of ladders, 3-4 siege towers, 3 rams, and only one of the siege towers was used and one ladder. At least 5,000 of the 7,000 men I lost were due to the AI controlled ones standing in front of towers and dying.

There is the occasional good siege battle, although most of them involve wooden pallisades, or better still, an unprotected Roman village. I recommend trying village battles, especially with 2-3 enemies - you'll be swamped from all sides.

**Mikeus Caesar** · 06-11-2005, 20:04

Please do not talk about the seige AI....i find that if you have stone walls and archers, you can beat an entire stack without suffering any losses. And that is just sad. after all, all the AI does is just come up to your wall, and stand there, while they get killed.