VH should be harder, or "For gods sake give the AI a full stack"

[dismal]

The entire campaign game is easy busy work until the Mongols or Timurids show up with stacks capable of giving a real challenge on the battle map in single player. The AI needs work here more than any where else.

I am waiting for the patch to start any new campaigns but I thought i would ask for a general opinion on the subject.

Should there be an almost unbeatable VVH setting for campaigns?

I agree. VH/VH is not VH enough. I don't know that they need to make a level that is as insane as Civ4 on its highest levels, but more challenge would be nice.

At a minimum, I'd like to see a harder level where the AI focuses much more on building full stacks of top of the line units before attacking. And gets enough resource bonuses to pull it off.

I'm not sure if the problem can be attributed to the battle or the campaign AI. If the battle AI was better, much of what the campaign AI does might make mnore sense.

I doubt the campaign AI anticipates how badly it will get thumped in battle. It probably calculates it has a superior force when it sends it's stack of milanese militia out to get a 10-to-1 loss. It's impossible for the AI to make good tactical decision when it's off by several orders of magnitude on what's likely to happen when the battle is fought.

[chickenhawk]

Some further thoughts....

Maybe they should seed each campaign so one particular AI faction is guaranteed to get big fast and present a real challenge. It could be as simple as giving one AI faction a LOT of starting money. So when the player ran into that faction it would be much stronger and holding a fair piece of the map.

Some basic coding to keep it troops together also seems in order. Rule one minimum garrisons, rule two no second stack until the first one is maxed, rule three keep best general with the best stack, and so on. That way you would at least get one real battle per AI faction.

And yes I know it is easy say and hard to program.

Or they could work on the multiplayer campaign some more...