Passive Mongol AI

[Rhyfelwyr]

Just a note, this post isn't referring to the campaign map AI when the Horde arrives BTW.

But when Mongol armies attack me (Venice), they often just sit on the top of a hill and do nothing. A lot of times they will deploy, move back a little and sit for a minute, then move back and repeat again. I have had to put the battle timer on when they attack and put it to full speed. I've noticed the armies doing this all contained siege weapons.

I'm playing on Patch 1.2, and I thought the passive AI had been fixed...

[Patricius]

They can be passive for a while. After a time they will work their way towards Antioch sacking as they go.

[Slug For A Butt]

Patricius, he wasn't talking about the campaign map.
I have seen this too, they seem to sit at distance and reposition every so often. They only seem to attack when the battle timer is almost run out sometimes.

[Empirate]

I think this may actually be the result of the passive battle AI being fixed. I've noticed this behaviour, too, mostly with the Mongols or Timurids. I believe the tactical AI surveys the battlefield and puts its army into a position as advantageous as possible. If your army contains a lot of missile troops, or if theirs does, it is advisable to stick to elevated ground. So the AI does exactly this, and is very loth to give up the good hill position it starts out in. Only once other variables kick in in a major way (timer running out, or you maneuvering to get up the hill behind them) does the AI rethink its approach. It is passive because now it seeks to maximize its terrain advantages more than pre-patch(es). The AI simply is too conservative/uncreative/aggressive and rates the elevated ground higher than its overall objective of attacking. For the same reason you'll sometimes get attacked by AI defending armies when you start out on the high ground - the AI can't bear to be attacked from above, it seeks the high ground no matter what, even by attacking the fortified position of the supposed attacker.

[Ramses II CP]

From my own experience, if you have a larger number of missiles troops than the enemy, they will attack you. If you have fewer, they might not. I've only experienced the passive AI bug with reinforcements.

[Philbert]

I have noticed it too, and I figured that if you occupy a good defensive position, like on a hill, they are fearful to attack it even if they have a numerical advantage.
Instead they will form up, then act as if they are retreating to lure you away from your position. If that fails they will come forward and try again. On high speed it looks like a waltz.

This actually has historical basis as the Mongols became known for their tactics of feigning a rout/flight, which prompted proud European knights to enter into pursuit which led them to be utterly slaughtered.

It just didn't work on me so I used that to survive battles which I would surely have lost and lived to fight another day.

[_Sibben_]

Just having destroyed the Mongols as the Turks, I saw exactly this behaviour on several occasions. And as mentioned it was often when they had siege equipment. I noticed they kept moving their trebuchets back and forth like thet didn't know what to do with them.

It was really annoying at times having to sit out the battle timer.