Do you cheat AI?

[Head of the Heavy Chargers]

So question is do u cheat AI? I was just thinking and came to realize that I've always cheated and it has become like the standard tactic for me and so degrading my game experience .

The cheats I use in battlemap:
- Archer spam... AI is just so stupid and gets exhausted by constant running and my archers cause 200-400 kills per unit.
- Horse Archer spamm... same as archer spamm, but worse.
- Shooting over walls.
- Bridge battles.
- Luring enemy into traps with archers and then running over with cavalry.
- Spamming elite units making army invincible.
- Exhausting all missiles, before engaging thus killing 30-50% of enemy army.

Cheating Campaign map:
- Attacking city in the first turn.
- Camp on a bridge.
- Attacking undefended settlements from sea.

Who admits they cheat? Any cheats of ur own?

[Ferdiad]

I think you mean exploiting the system, thats not cheating.

[chris10]

I think you mean exploiting the system, thats not cheating.

...splitting hairs...exploit and cheat are only different words for the same behaviour: creating a dishonest advantage for the player...

People who really want an honest and challenging campaign to get the maximum experience and feeling out of RTW should have a look here:
LT' s SPQR: TW House Rules

[the.phoenix]

well except for spamming archers/HA ..... rest is not cheating ...... its ideally what a good general might do in real time too .......

since we are talking abt cheating : force diplomacy counts as one ....... that is if not used rightly ...........

[Jaytee]

well except for spamming archers/HA ..... rest is not cheating ...... its ideally what a good general might do in real time too .......

since we are talking abt cheating : force diplomacy counts as one ....... that is if not used rightly ...........

I have heard this point of view before that having an army of horse archers is considered cheating but I have to disagree. There were empires that relied on horse archer armies to win their conquests. The game presents us with the chance to make an alternate history and if I am the ruler of my nation and I like horse archers to form the basic makeup of an army then there is nothing wrong with it. If the enemy can't handle it then there is nothing unrealistic about this.

Most of the stuff mentioned in the OP aren't cheets or exploits, they are just tactics.

[johnnieangel]

I agree- exploiting opportunities within the confines of the game sounds more pallatable.

[RedGuard]

Archer spam... AI is just so stupid and gets exhausted by constant running and my archers cause 200-400 kills per unit.

I geuss the english were guilty of cheating at agincourt

[Ferdiad]

Well ya, who would use 10 1st cohorts, or an all Triarii army.I always follow those rules since I'm an avid SPQR player.I usually try not to go completely unhistorical in my expansion.

[Chris Death]

Well in terms of the OP i would consider playing versus ai is cheating and then after starting
to play online you do realise that the ai is no challenge at all. Don't want to sound like a
smartass here especially due to the fact that i was looking at it for a very long time from
the single player perspective but whenever you do anything tactical versus the ai you can
see it as cheating.

Playing a phalanx faction is the real cheating as the ai is just way to dumb not to sacrify
their cavalry into your pikes and from then one it's simply an interactive battle video.

~S~ CD

[Silius Saurus]

I used to camp out on bridges, but not anymore. I now plop my armies down right up against the bridge so the bad guys can only send one stack over at a time.
Arrows over walls? It was done back in the day. Read the histories.
My army compositions are 10 cohorts per legion, with one being prima cohort. Legions can and were re-raised in some cases, IIRC.
Targeting the general? That's what Alexander did at Gaughamela, IIRC. It was the core of his strategy, I believe; and if an enemy general is attacking my line or flank, he's fair game. I may not target him specifically, but I won't tell my archers to aim away from him I let my archers fire at will, usually. Most of my enemy general kills these days are killed attacking my line or in a hail of arrows.

I'm not really down with telling people how they should or should not play. It's a given that AI will never be a match for human creativity/ingenuity. If you want a challenge, try playing as one of the marginal factions.

Or find another game that challenges you. I swing from one game to another, no big deal. It's just a hobby, at the end of the day.

[NerZhulen]

So question is do u cheat AI? I was just thinking and came to realize that I've always cheated and it has become like the standard tactic for me and so degrading my game experience .

The cheats I use in battlemap:
- Archer spam... AI is just so stupid and gets exhausted by constant running and my archers cause 200-400 kills per unit.
- Horse Archer spamm... same as archer spamm, but worse.
- Shooting over walls.
- Bridge battles.
- Luring enemy into traps with archers and then running over with cavalry.
- Spamming elite units making army invincible.
- Exhausting all missiles, before engaging thus killing 30-50% of enemy army.

Cheating Campaign map:
- Attacking city in the first turn.
- Camp on a bridge.
- Attacking undefended settlements from sea.

Who admits they cheat? Any cheats of ur own?

I agree it ruins the game, and im using all of these but only in lategame, when you have each turn 6-8 battles you want to have them quickly done so you dont spend ages playing it...

[rummtata]

Here is another exploit for you: Whenever the AI army starts on the higher ground and you think , do not despair: It may take some time, but in most cases you can turn the tide with a simple maneuver: Start moving your troops up the same hill, just keeping out of missile range. Make it so your line faces the enemy but not parallel; the end that is uphill has to be closer so that the AI, when trying to maintain a parallel line at a safe distance, actually moves it's troops downhill.

Don't let your units run so they won't get exhausted, just hit time factor three. At some point you'll have reversed positions and the fun may begin XD

[Ferdiad]

I do that alot, I always work my way up so that I'll be at their start position.

[Perdiccas_Nile]

The only thing I used is add_money 40000, toggle_fow and force diplomacy - "this is Total Cheating"

[Ferdiad]

That's total Lame.

[Apio Claudio]

That's total Lame.

LOL

[Silius Saurus]

I have seen the AI maneuver it's way out of a good defensive position. I'm not going to start attacking up steep slopes because of this, it goes against my grain.

I have, however started using my archery units differently; I only attack units with them when they have a clear LOS. Realistically, if you can't see it, you shouldn't be able to hit it.

[En_tu_Brute]

I only do the bridge battles and exhaust missiles, of course the only difference is that I use bridge/river battles sparingly as I love open field battles more. Plus with exhausting missiles before charging is a standard Roman tactic no ?

[Grimlin]

I only do the bridge battles and exhaust missiles, of course the only difference is that I use bridge/river battles sparingly as I love open field battles more. Plus with exhausting missiles before charging is a standard Roman tactic no ?

When looking at the attack values of roman units than this is the only viable option to actually kill something in a reasonable time.

[Head of the Heavy Chargers]

Recruiting a legion is exception in my mind, because of historic reasons. Even huge HA armies were commonly used by eastern factions, but far too overpowered.
Making enemy come down from a good hill position is easy too and I fall for that exploit every time.
I think I should let my archers just target on their own or shoot at the main line infantry. I so often decimate enemy heavy cavalry with focused archer fire and targeting general is also so easy so I rarely fight enemy cav at all.
In siege maps my archers kill most of enemy forces before even penetrating wooden walls.

Enemy would do the most damage to me if it just attacked me head on with a wide formation, but this AI is very passive in the field if attacked by human player. I am usually the attacker too, since I don't want enemy wandering in and around my empire.
I wonder if there is a more aggressive battleAI around? Or can I change something in some file so AI will always attack me on the battlefield even though AI is on the defending side?