vaalen
AGEod Guard of Honor
Posts: 1229
Joined: Thu Dec 20, 2007 8:48 pm

AI Britain builds Ironclads! Much better naval war.

Sat Jan 31, 2015 9:44 pm

As France, in 1868, I decided to use the casus belli I had because the perfidious English had taken possession of Lagos.

I expected that my large fleet of ironclad frigates and corvettes would feast on the wooden ships of the Royal Navy, as the AI in this game is famous for not building ships, especially more modern ships. I would land a large army at Southhampton, take it, march to London, take it, and offer the AI peace once I had made Nigeria a protectorate and taken the British installations at Lagos.

Not what happened. First, I declared war with my fleet and army in the English Channel, only to learn on the next turn that the English had a huge army waiting for me. No problem, I will use my massive armada to bombard it. Next turn, my transports and wooden battleships are badly damaged by the English shore batteries. Unbelievably I must retreat to port to repair my transports snd wooden ships. But I send my large force of largely undamaged ironclads to attack what looks like a smaller British fleet that is now guarding the channel.

The force is smaller, yet they resoundingly defeat my French navy, using....their own Ironclad frigates! My fleet flees to port, I have lost ten ironclads to their three, and six national morale points. Meantime their fleet sits in the channel, guarding them from invasion, perhaps while they prepare their own... Yes, the AI is building ships, and fighting a naval war well.

User avatar
Durk
Posts: 2921
Joined: Thu Apr 28, 2011 4:36 am
Location: Wyoming

Mon Feb 02, 2015 7:01 am

Fascinating discussion.

cwegsche
Lieutenant
Posts: 142
Joined: Mon Dec 28, 2009 11:54 am

Mon Feb 02, 2015 8:14 am

Hi vaalen!

Are you just using the latest available update (1.04 RC5) or any other scripts to change the AI building behaviour?

Greets Chris

User avatar
Egg Bub
Major
Posts: 243
Joined: Tue Aug 14, 2012 11:57 am
Location: Scotland

Mon Feb 02, 2015 11:20 am

Good to hear that even in the virtual RN every man shall do as England expects! :neener:

User avatar
Ebbingford
Posts: 6162
Joined: Sun Oct 14, 2007 5:22 pm
Location: England

Mon Feb 02, 2015 11:54 am

Egg Bub wrote:Good to hear that even in the virtual RN every man shall do as England expects! :neener:


Sail at the enemy :dada:
"Umbrellas will not be opened in the presence of the enemy." Duke of Wellington before the Battle of Waterloo, 1815.

"Top hats will not be worn in the Eighth Army" Field-Marshal Viscount Montgomery of Alamein K.G.


Image

vaalen
AGEod Guard of Honor
Posts: 1229
Joined: Thu Dec 20, 2007 8:48 pm

Mon Feb 02, 2015 3:59 pm

Cwegche, I am just using the latest available update, 1.04 RC 5. Nothing else.

The AI behavior in the rest of the war was also very interesting. After losing the first naval battle, I moved a large fleet from the Mediterranean to join my Atlantic fleet, and the combined fleets moved into the English Channel. The English had their own large armada with a huge army on it heading for France, but it retreated from my combined fleet.

After a few turns, there was no sign of English land forces on the Channel coasts, fleets would enter the channel a few times, but they always retreated before combat, sometimes taking hits, but never staying to fight. It looked like I could invade, and to my sorrow, I landed a full Army under McMahon in the English Southwest, which was defended only by garrisons. The very next turn, the English moved several large forces into the southwest by rail, attacking my greatly outnumbered army. I had fallen into a trap. I could only land one army at a time due to shipping limitations, and the English had huge land forces hidden deeper in England. I had also landed a smaller force, mainly of siege artillery protected by some infantry.The smaller force was almost wiped out, but my main army defeated the initial English attacks, while outnumbered. But both forces retreated to the province where Southhampton is.
I quickly ordered my full army to board the transports in the channel. But the English moved in even more troops, and attacked so frequently that my army could not board the transports. I won some of the battles, lost another, but there was nowhere to retreat. It looked like I would lose this army, which was twenty percent of my non colonial forces.

In the meantime, the English had sent a number of multiship task forces into a many of the Commercial trade boxes at sea. Soon I was being attacked in eight to ten of these boxes every turn. Though I had wooden frigates and scouting ships in each box, it was clear that the British were using ironclads, as they inflicted many more hits on my ships, both frigates and trade fleets, than they suffered, every time. I suffered so much damage that my supply lines to my entire overseas empire were in danger. I sent two frigates and a scouting squadron into one of these boxes,all ironclads, and they got the worst of a battle against the English forces, though they suffered far less than the wooden frigates. As my merchant ships started to incur heavy damage, i could see disaster coming, though I provided plenty of replacements

I tried to evacuate my army from England for two more turns, and failed due to the constant English attacks. Though my army was still fighting, it was taking heavy losses, and would be destroyed in a couple more turns of combat.

I had an advantage in warscore, having taken several undefended English colonies in West Africa, and had taken Lagos and made Nigeria into a protectorate. I offered peace to England, desperately hoping they would accept. I did not want to lose my veteran army, or see most of my large colonial forces run out of supply once the Merchant ships were taken out.
Fortunately, the British accepted my offer.

The AI was not perfect. Once it sent an unescorted force of transports carrying troops into straits of Dover, from where they could invade my northeast coast. I wiped them out with a force of ironclad frigates. They also landed a large number of troops in Burma, which was separated from my Indochina by Thailand, for no reason I could understand. But they did lure one of my armies into a trap that would destroy it, and were destroying the merchant shipping that was supplying my far flung empire. In other words, they were winning the war, and i saw no solution to what they were doing in the time I had left.

User avatar
Egg Bub
Major
Posts: 243
Joined: Tue Aug 14, 2012 11:57 am
Location: Scotland

Tue Feb 03, 2015 3:30 pm

Hmm. This does not sound like the AI which I am used to fighting in this game.

vaalen
AGEod Guard of Honor
Posts: 1229
Joined: Thu Dec 20, 2007 8:48 pm

Tue Feb 03, 2015 3:49 pm

Egg Bub wrote:Hmm. This does not sound like the AI which I am used to fighting in this game.


It was quite a surprise to me as well. In the same game, I had an easy time conquering Sardinia Piedmont, and the AI did nothing remarkable, sending its pathetic navy of river gunboats into the blasts of my ships of the line, launching weak, ineffective attacks on my shipping, I won every battle, and took every province, and ended up taking the two provinces I could get that I had claims on.

Yet what I described above actually happened, in the same game.

I wonder, have you ever tried to invade England in the 1860s?

User avatar
Egg Bub
Major
Posts: 243
Joined: Tue Aug 14, 2012 11:57 am
Location: Scotland

Wed Feb 04, 2015 5:42 pm

vaalen wrote:It was quite a surprise to me as well. In the same game, I had an easy time conquering Sardinia Piedmont, and the AI did nothing remarkable, sending its pathetic navy of river gunboats into the blasts of my ships of the line, launching weak, ineffective attacks on my shipping, I won every battle, and took every province, and ended up taking the two provinces I could get that I had claims on.

Yet what I described above actually happened, in the same game.

I wonder, have you ever tried to invade England in the 1860s?


I'm afraid I have not. The toughest thing I remember was invading Ethiopia and meeting a doomstack of around 150k men. Not nice...

vaalen
AGEod Guard of Honor
Posts: 1229
Joined: Thu Dec 20, 2007 8:48 pm

Fri Feb 06, 2015 10:14 pm

Egg Bob, it must have been a very unpleasant surprise. A Doomstack like that is a huge problem, especially in the colonies. Not nice at all.

Return to “Pride of Nations”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 15 guests