AI Blunders

[Wilhelm The Mediocre]

Yes.

[Rilder]

yea that happened a couple times in a pbem campaign i had started with me friends ^^ first by Carthage, then by the Scipii in syracruse spys had opened the gates for them and they came charging in, wasting elephants on me it was sweet

[Melmoth the Wanderer]

Yes, I've had elephants wander up to my gates only to get toasted - a Baba Q

[RemusAvenged]

My favorite typical AI blunder is when the enemy general rushes well ahead of the army straight into a spear unit and routes long before any one else comes.

I once had elephants that charged at my pigs. What a flamming mistake.

[The Darkhorn]

I'm not sure that this really counts as a blunder, but I routinely turn the Khan into a porcupine on the bridge when they attack Kiev in 1232 or 1233. He has no heirs and suddenly they are rebels!! This happens every game I play when I am in the east.

Xp

[Microwavegerbil]

Also in MTW: often times an opposing faction will decide it can't win the battle and retreat when there's either no way for them to retreat or it's their last province. This either makes me rich off the ransom, or in the second scenario makes a faction die without a final battle.

Another goofy occurance was today when the Almohads reappeared in Tunisia with 3 stacks of fuedal sarges, which was already weird. Then, in the battle they all retreated after a small skirmish with my swordsmen, and wave after wave of sarge would run across the map to me, almost make contact, then run away. At least my archers were able to get some kills.

Of course most people aren't without their fair share of blunders too. Like today I accidently clicked for my spears to move right before they received a heavy cavalry charge. The move broke their formation enough for them to take HEAVY casualties, although luckily I was able to recover with some flanking and win.

[Melmoth the Wanderer]

And then there's the blunder when you let the AI control your reinforcements onlt yo watch them charge helter skelter at the enemy, losing your general and half your army in the process.

Note to self: "Never again"

[Guns N Roses]

My favorite typical AI blunder is when the enemy general rushes well ahead of the army straight into a spear unit and routes long before any one else comes. .

Yes, that is my favorite blunder as well

The general unit charges at me first all of the time

[lordrune]

Dunno if this counts as an AI blunder or not, but when I'm fighting a siege it often ends up in a big melee in the city square as the defenders make their last stand, surrounded by a mass of my roman legions. Sometimes some enemy troops arrive behind my legions... if they get routed (as usually happens) they run *through* my legions to try to get to the centre. Obviously, they drop faster than stones

[Seasoned Alcoholic]

What battlefield difficulty settings are you using? I've found that Medium (M) is more challenging than Very Hard (VH), as the AI / human player won't receive morale and / or combat bonuses. Typically, a battle in VH lasts for a few minutes - almost soon as you make contact with the AI (or very rarely, your own) their units will rout one-by-one. This of course depends whether you (or the AI) has a general on the field, what his command ability is, and whether he has any retinue members that encourage / discourage battlefield morale.

However, a battle in M tends to be more prolonged IMO, at least the various melee units will fight for longer before (and if) they decide to leg it. Test it for yourselves in custom battles using both similar and different units against each other.

In terms of battlefield deployment and movement, the AI prefers to march (or stand still) in an over-extended single line with hardly any reserves. If you manage to kill their commander near the start of a battle (this is usually too easy IMO), then the AI has few hopes of putting up a serious challenge. The AI in RTW needs to make you work harder and think for longer before you choose to engage / skirmish, or prepare to defend your position.