Please Reduce Raiding To 1 Raid Per Turn...

[miniwally]

Geez, next you'll be hoping the AI sends units out of the monitor to burn down the guy's house! Luckily, the AI would probably send just one guy with one match at a time. He would stand there, light it, hold it until it burned out, then go back into the monitor to get another one and come back the next turn to do the same thing.

LOL that made me laugh maybe +rep i'm still deciding ah what the hell i need to give +rep to someone else and i can't cause i need to spread it out so here's your +rep

[Brusilov]

While it is a pain that the AI does raid and quite often more than one town at a time you just have to deal with it. I only garrison the region capitals and put a single cheap unit in each port (to stop them being attacked by fleets). For my front line settlements I will usually have a roaming army in the area to take out raids - this can be a smallish army with Light Dragoons and Horse Artillery to give me mobility (you can auto resolve against single units if you want).

In my current Swedish campaign I'm fighting GB for New Mexico (with some armies used in the subduing of India) and they are doing naval invasions and splitting single units of native cavalry off to go raiding.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

[pppbigppp]

One long term solution is do not garrison your town, but build a wall.

With fortification, 4 units of angry citizens can easily take care of 4~5 units of infantry (VH). The AI greatly underestimates the strength of a properly manned siege defense, so it tends to forgo raiding party in favor of half-ass takeover attempts. It usually only sends over less than a quarter stack full of useless artillery and cavalry. The AI sometimes breaks up a full stack just so it can send its units to die piecemeal 3 times in one turn.

[Brusilov]

One long term solution is do not garrison your town, but build a wall.

With fortification, 4 units of angry citizens can easily take care of 4~5 units of infantry (VH). The AI greatly underestimates the strength of a properly manned siege defense, so it tends to forgo raiding party in favor of half-ass takeover attempts. It usually only sends over less than a quarter stack full of useless artillery and cavalry. The AI sometimes breaks up a full stack just so it can send its units to die piecemeal 3 times in one turn.

Yes, I've successfully defended fortified settlements against invading numerically superior armies. Just make sure that you don't lose control of one of the gates or get a wall breached by artillery as the cavalry will flood in (if they do just put your units in buildings or leave them on the walls).

[Zaphod]

Whelp, here's the real issue:

1) Instead of actually attacking cities, the AI wastes troops on raidgasms across your countryside.

2) Raiding does not impact your economy at all. No trade disruption, no loss of goods, etc. You only need to repair it if you want to upgrade the building.

Therefore, raiding is pointless in one way and detrimental to the AI in another. I.E. Illogical for those with a brain.

1) There is no economic value in raiding as mentioned earlier.

2) The AI will go out of its way to raid with troops, which often leaves its actual territories under-manned.


So, if the AI is doing something incredibly stupid and inept by raiding, why is it smart to protect against it? And more to the point, why is it even in the game?

[parts]

Whelp, here's the real issue:

1) Instead of actually attacking cities, the AI wastes troops on raidgasms across your countryside.

2) Raiding does not impact your economy at all. No trade disruption, no loss of goods, etc. You only need to repair it if you want to upgrade the building.

Therefore, raiding is pointless in one way and detrimental to the AI in another. I.E. Illogical for those with a brain.

1) There is no economic value in raiding as mentioned earlier.

2) The AI will go out of its way to raid with troops, which often leaves its actual territories under-manned.


So, if the AI is doing something incredibly stupid and inept by raiding, why is it smart to protect against it? And more to the point, why is it even in the game?

Definitely. I read through page 1 and was just about to post almost exactly the same thing. I usually repair damaged buildings, except when I urgently need the money for something else. I don't like not having to pay off the opportunity cost by retraining instead of repairing, although someone would probably jump on that and say it's my fault, not CA's, for not being sufficiently committed to RP.

It would add a whole new level to MP campaign, too, remove the blitzkrieg 'go for the capital' element to the game, and introduce some real economic strategy to the game. I don't think GC CAI would ever be able to deal with it, though, so I think MP campaign is as good as we can hope for.

An alternative that would require a fundamental rewrite of the game code, but would improve gameplay immensely, would be the ability to capture towns. Permanently. Wismar, for instance, was only Prussian after the Seven Years War.

[uanime5]

It's a pity that raiding does not affect your economy, otherwise raiding would be a very good tactic (gurrellia warfare). Hopefully in a patch CA can make it so that a broken building does not provide you with any benefits.

[Didz]

One thing I've noticed form time to time, and I beleive its a bug to be honest, is that enemy commerce raiders seem able to ignore the interdiction zone around my units. I've watch them walk right past one of my border guards and not even be challenged.

That never used to be the case, in the early patch versions you got the option to interdict as soon as anything breached the interdiction zone, which meant you could post pickets along your borders to intercept incoming raiders. But they just seem to walk right through them now.

[jackwei]

It does get annoying indeed, however during military operations historically it use to happen alot, especially in the French and Indian Wars for an Example:- Some Native American tribes use to raid British Settlements/Towns in America during British military operations like 1755-56 when farmers in West Virginia got the worst of it and even so Fort Garrison could do nothing to protect to them.

In America i use Virginia as my Military hub as the British and spread units the colony and send some to Carolina and Georgia to b ready for the Cherokee attacks, also build roads so your units can move around fast and forts too. I've noticed too it is best spilt to your army in different columns so the AI can sometimes guess who to attack first, which spoils their raids tactics. I always keep units in my ports so they don't get captured by the enemy ships and when the time is right counter attack with my navy or drive them out with reinforcements.

Most of all the most annoying raids the AI does is when they blockade your trade from India to Europe, especially if you have provinces there if your GB for an example since it damages trade with your partners., plus it does affects your economic income. Nonetheless when you achieve later economic technology you'll be ok and make sure your naval technology is always ahead, because one time i made a mistake that led France to go ahead of me and i couldn't stop their blockade of my trade for years.

[Didz]

Then perhaps it should be limited to the America's, or perhaps only possible with irregular troops, becuase it was not common in Europe.

[miniwally]

Just because it didn't happen here (which i think it did) doesn't mean it was impossible to go to a town and set a town on fire.

[UlteriorModem]

It's a pity that raiding does not affect your economy, otherwise raiding would be a very good tactic (gurrellia warfare). Hopefully in a patch CA can make it so that a broken building does not provide you with any benefits.

I think the original intent was to 'stress' you financially having to pump money into 'repairing' the towns / farms. Frankly I havent found it to be that stressfull. In fact I let the one stack unit have their fun burning and raiding. On my turn i just repair all the ones burning and destroy the raiders.

I learn their raiding routes and post small armies along them to intercept them. Its easier to deal with them that way and I dont have to post garrison in every po dunk little farm.

[Anbar]

Oh you're one of 'those' people who think the AI cheats

"Those" people being the ones who actual know how the game works i take it?

[klesh]

2) Raiding does not impact your economy at all. No trade disruption, no loss of goods, etc. You only need to repair it if you want to upgrade the building.

I'm rather taken aback by this revelation. Your're saying that if the AI raids my Weaver's Cottage or somesuch, sets it alight and leaves, there will be no loss of that Weaver's Cottage income?

What about if they occupy the town, surely that prevents the income from being collected?

[Didz]

Just because it didn't happen here (which i think it did) doesn't mean it was impossible to go to a town and set a town on fire.

Well, once again it comes down to whether this game is set in the our 18th Century, or some fictitious time period in another universe.

2) Raiding does not impact your economy at all. No trade disruption, no loss of goods, etc. You only need to repair it if you want to upgrade the building.

Therefore, raiding is pointless in one way and detrimental to the AI in another. I.E. Illogical for those with a brain.

@Klesh, so am I in fact I'm going to test this next time I'm online and see if its true. I should be relatively easy to determine if one income is affected by the burning of a mine or mill. If it is it will save me a fortune in repairs, especially where rebellions have damamged buildings as they seem to cost more to repair than raid damage.

Schools definitely stop working when raided as do ports (at least for trade purposes).

[miniwally]

"Those" people being the ones who actual know how the game works i take it?

No i know that if you higher the difficulty the AI gets bonus : money, better units, less revolting but

1. That's your fault for putting dificulty up if you can't handle it turn it down and stop complaining cause it's your own fault
2. The AI needs help, yes it shouldn't need to have help but it seems CA can't create any good so they have to give it 'help'.

Well, once again it comes down to whether this game is set in the our 18th Century, or some fictitious time period in another universe.

I guess so

[Zaphod]

Schools definitely stop working when raided as do ports (at least for trade purposes).

Unfortunately, this is not entirely true either. Ports only stop working for trade purposes if they are being blockaded or if the enemy fleet/army is actually inside the port. If the port is simply damaged because of a raid, trade through the port makes as much money as it always does.

I think schools may only lose their special ability, which is to facilitate research. Much like ports, which cannot produce ships when damaged.

In either case, the port will always contribute its income to the "region wealth" regardless of whether anyone is occupying it or not. This also applies to all of the other buildings which produce region wealth.

It is important to note, however, that region wealth is not a source of income directly. Taxes are the only source of income which come from your regions. So when a building says (say for a craft workshop) +800 to region wealth it is only contributing to that region.

I can only assume that region wealth somehow increases the percentage of income generated through taxation. Otherwise buildings which generate wealth would be completely useless.

Edit: As to your question about occupation... no. The income created by the building, to the region wealth, is not disrupted by damage, occupation, or otherwise. This is easy to test. Simply take a landlocked country and declare war on everyone around you. Garrison all your cities heavily so they do not attack them directly. Observe whether buildings are contributing to region wealth (in the city screen) when damaged, repaired, or otherwise. You will notice they always do, and that your income stays the same, given you do not lose trade agreements or otherwise minimize it.

[NZSkep]

One thing that bugs me that is related to this.

If I have a large region in America, and my army is not stationed at the region capital, a relatively small native American army can sneak past my army, through my intercept zone without me seeing them, and take the capital from my armed citizenry. When I move back next to turn and retake it all the buildings are destroyed. I’m fine with that. I stupidly left my capital unguarded, and they came in and burned it to the ground. Fair enough.

The thing that does annoy me is that every building in the region outside of the capital is also now destroyed. Even ones where my army was right next to. How were the small army of natives supposed to destroy an entire region in one turn, particularly when my full stack was stationed right next to a mine?

[Steeltrap]

Zaphod's summary of raiding is pretty spot on IMO.

I've made the point elsewhere that the fact the AI doesn't concentrate forces and spends its time raiding is another illustration of CA's Total FAIL AI.

Once you understand what DOES have an effect (damaged schools don't provide research; an OCCUPIED port doesn't provide trade etc. etc.) then countering it is simple.

As an example, I place a single, cheapest unit from my roster in the ports of Greece, Rumelia and the western port of Anatolia as Ottoman to prevent anyone stopping my trade by sailing a single ship into any of them.

Otherwise, I ignore it completely. It is an opportunity to get cheap experience for new units and your generals.

With auto-resolve being so screwy, the down side is you get forced into a bunch of pointless, tedious battles. I suspect the auto-resolve has been nerfed as CA has realised that, were a-r to reflect TRUE force balances + generals' influences, the player simply wouldn't fight most battles and the AI would get flogged all the more quickly.

Trouble for me is it means the game swiftly becomes something of a yawn; I fight lots of stupid battles because the a-r produces such stupid results vs. fighting manually, and the AI never does anything OTHER than spam clay pigeon raiding parties. Once I can afford it, I put together my troops - all experienced thanks to the AI's stupidity - then go capture their nearest region, typically undefended as the AI has sent all their troops to be exterminated in raiding parties. The AI retailiates by....raiding in the new territory. Rinse and repeat. Yawn. Strategy? Best game ever? I'm happy some people find this challenging or fun or whatever, but......

Oh, and it highlights the issue of the shoddy documentation available. Mind you, if the documentation revealed how ineffectual raiding is, it would serve to highlight the AI's inadequacy and CA's knowledge of it. Can't very well do that, so they simply don't explain it.

[Yojimbo]

The player gets money handed to him too. 3000 flat for every faction, per turn (unless the new patch changed that, in which case I could be wrong).

All factions get money? way to totally remove the point of destroying eco ca!