Does the AI ever exempt provinces from tax? (When it's low on food)

[Bramborough]

Fair point and well made, but again I respectfully disagree. etc...

Lol, ok, we can disagree on this rather tangential point. I sense the difference is that I'm considering the entire range of factions, most of which remain quite small (say, 3-4 regions or so), whereas you are thinking in terms of that subset of factions which attain sufficient size for a "tax-exempt" AI capability to matter. I am willing to concede that the proportion of these "medium"-and-larger groups may be higher than I've assessed. I'd have to go through a couple of campaigns bean-counting regions every few turns to come up with some data, but who feels like doing THAT...it's a game. In any case, I agree that ability to tax-exempt a province would indeed help sufficiently large AI factions...if the AI were capable of using this ability in a coherent manner. Currently, I don't see any evidence that the AI has such capacity.

Quibbling over secondary point aside, I believe we are in firm agreement about a much more central and fundamental problem: The AI doesn't build very smart and remains incapable of balancing food/squalor/income. This issue afflicts all AI factions, regardless of the size or configuration of their territory.

I do believe Patch 4 has made some progress, particularly in earlier build decisions. In early game, I've captured a few same-culture settlements to which I made very few changes...and even those only because I had specific ideas about that province's future role in my empire, not because the AI had built it economically unsound up through the Level II buildings it had available. It's when Level III/IV structures introduce squalor and food costs that the AI still goes awry. So my impression is that the AI, with Patch 4, is starting to make better decisions (at least sometimes) about what types of structures to build...but is still incapable of staging them up past Level II in a coordinated manner. The tech tree is the AI's worst enemy. More work to be done, CA!

[phred]

The AI doesn't build very smart and remains incapable of balancing food/squalor/income.

Don't forget the public order buildings like temples - food/squalor/income/order

I wonder if the AI would do better if it was limited to building Tier 2 upgrades. Or maybe a combination of Tier 2 upgrades and Tier 3 barracks.
A tier 3 barracks would give them good troops, and they could balance the food/squalor cost with tier 2 upgrades.
Then maybe the AI would have some serious empires.

[Bramborough]

I wonder if the AI would do better if it was limited to building Tier 2 upgrades. Or maybe a combination of Tier 2 upgrades and Tier 3 barracks.

I've often thought same thing exactly, may have even posted something like it (too lazy to go hunt). If restricted to Tier II, AI would do much better. Heck, I often hold my own provinces at Tier II until I've got everything unlocked that I need to balance; the right temples, etc. And then do the same at Tier III before proceeding to IV. I think the AI simply builds each individual slot to the highest tier possible for whatever building line occupies it, without regard for other slots/techs needed to compensate.

During first campaign, I did a lot of stupid stuff trying to get the hang of all this, and did a LOT of tearing down and starting over. I'm sure the AI doesn't learn from its own mistakes in such a way, ultimately just does what its programmed to do. However complex various if/then statements might be, it's bound to go off-track at some point and be unable to recover. A simple "don't build above Level II!" rule would leave it significantly underperforming a human player....but still far better than it manages now.

The more I think about this, the more I realize that "death-spiral" AI factions don't seem to appear until the campaign has been going for a while, and tech progress has had time to develop. I don't think I've seen very many starving-waif factions in, say, the first 50 turns or so.

As far as barracks, I've only played Rome and Pontus thus far, and am not sure what peculiarities other factions may have in their troop progression. For these two, however, Level II would be just fine for some pretty capable armies. Veteran legionaries, IMO, are the highest troop quality than Rome needs to complete a full campaign (it's certainly fun to field the higher ones though). Pontus gets a perfectly serviceable infantry core (hoplites) even lower, at Level I. I haven't upgraded to their Level IV Bronze Shields yet, but am pretty confident that the hoplites would get me all the way to the end if I so elected.

My point being, I'm pretty sure AI could build some robust opposition armies if held to Level II barracks alongside other Level II buildings. Certainly we would prefer that the AI could competently build to Level IV and not only recruit but maintain the highest troops in the game. Right now that doesn't seem possible. Better that they give us some healthy Level II opposition than some attrition-starved Level IV remnants.