passive union ai

[JB Hood]

april 61 campaign with csa (level hard, high aggressission, extra ai time, etc)

leader mod installed

union is always passive in the east (played campaign 3 times till 1863)

as time goes by, i have a big army in the east, and a big army in tennessee

in the east the union army is very big with many leaders, but stays passive in maryland


in the west the union army isn´t that big it was (historical) and conquering west of kentucky isn´t really a competition
only in missouri they invade in strength

union naval invasions (north carolina, new orleans etc) never happen

[Jacek]

Try giving a small FOW bonus to the Union. It may help.

[richfed]

I have experienced this, too. After many restarts, mainly due to the new release of the various patches, I have finally completed 2 full campaigns with 1.06 - both as the CSA. They played out more or less as JB describes. I won one in Feb. '64; the other in July '63. Both from Union demoralization.

The AI really needs to recognize the Mississippi. No serious incursions toward New Orleans, Mobile, or Vicksburg. Fleets all over, but no massive build-ups of troops at the southern ports. In the second game, they did come after Richmond aggressively, but way too late - in summer '63 - By then, I had a strong defense there, and my AONV Corps swung around and took DC - end of game.

Seems more attention is given to defending St. Louis than for Washington.

All game settings are on default, with the addition of giving the AI more time.

[JB Hood]

in my last campaign (CSA):

april 1863

occopied nashville, louisville and layed siege to st. louis

in the east the union has big stacks, but they are waiting in baltimore

in my opinion the csa has too much money & the union builds big armys only in the east

the problem i have with leaders: no fighting, no promotions, no corps

[Drakken]

Have you tried playing without activation rules?

If you play with Hancock's Leader Mod, I've seen Union Army Commanders routinely fail their activation tests, which prevent them from moving and going on an offensive. Perhaps that's why the AoP is so inactive in your game.

[JB Hood]

Have you tried playing without activation rules?

If you play with Hancock's Leader Mod, I've seen Union Army Commanders routinely fail their activation tests, which prevent them from moving and going on an offensive. Perhaps that's why the AoP is so inactive in your game.

no activation rule is checked

[General Quarters]

I played two games as CSA, no mods, normal difficulty, normal aggressiveness, moderate FOW advantage.

In the July game, the Union did nothing for many months, and I finally got impatient, and started an 1862 game. I played that for a full year, and the Union still never did anything except nip at my heels. There was no activation problem, since every turn they were shifting troops back and forth within their own areas. Grant would sometimes advance one county, and then a couple of turns later go back, go to Ft Donelson, and then Nashville, and then back, and so forth. There was not a single big battle. At the end of the year, I still had Manassas, Lexington, Columbus, Fayetteville, N.O., etc. None has been seriously contested.

So I decided that the way to have an active Union was to play it myself. To my surprise, I find the CSA AI very aggressive. Now that we have reached winter, I have adopted the suggestion of some players to turn down CSA aggressiveness during the cold months so they don't attrit to badly.

[PBBoeye]

So what I'm hearing is that the Union AI, the attacker AI, is not too hot.

Just about par for every single computer wargame ever constructed. No slight at AGEod, but that is pretty much the most difficult task - creating a strong, attacking AI that is somewhat effective. I mean, I guess they could do a Malvern Hill kind of AI....

I really hope AGEod can do something with that Union AI....

[Jacek]

Demo 1.05b, normal settings

Played against Union AI many times... In the east, in 1861, the Union suffers from inactive generals, lack of two-star generals (no corps structure), some of their best brigades are locked for a few turns (July 1861 campaign). Given the above it is obvious that it is on the defensive. Trying sieging Washington - the vultures will come then.

Plus, in the West I lost half of Kentucky and now Missouri is inavaded in force (around 10 brigades roaming the plains).

I think if you like to turtle in the beginning then the Union AI is great.