Defensive Siege AI not Offensive enough

[SinerAthin]

Hey guys.

First of all, I'd like to applause the devs for the improvements on the siege AI. The AI is doing a really good job in sieges and will properly man the gates while placing forces both in reserve and on other parts of the wall in case I should try to suddenly flank them or am attacking from multiple directions.

But the problem that I will talk about in this thread will be about the unwalled settlements.

The AI will play very carefully and defensive in these battles. Perhaps too defensively.
When I attack the AI who is holding up in an unwalled settlement, it will often cover in the alleyways & town centers. A smart move if your enemy plans to rush the place, but poor when faced with an organized ranged and melee attack.

When I attack, I have an easy time exploiting this if I have a range superiority, as I can severely deplete the AI's defending forces by using ranged units, especially ballistics and slingers. The AI, even if they have a bigger force/melee oriented army, will still stubbornly just sit in the middle of the town and take the punishment, leaving me to take an easy victory as I simply wade in afterwards and mop up the remaining few survivors.

One good thing the AI does is that it sometimes try to send a cavalry unit after my ranged units, but that's not enough if they are being supported by spear or cavalry themselves.

What I would like to see is the AI making decisions when defending an unwalled settlement.

1. Does it have a power superiority over the attacker? If yes, rush the attacker & overwhelm him. Keep 1 or 2 spear units in the center to avoid ninjacaps.

2. Does the enemy have a range superiority? Utilize your melee superiority to rush him. Keep 1 or 2 spear units in the center to avoid ninjacaps.

I know I have won too many easy victories with minimal casualties because the AI was too passive and expected me to come at them.
What I'd love to see is the AI to go " it, let's kick their asses!" and move out of their safety to challenge me on the field.

[Slaists]

Hey guys.

First of all, I'd like to applause the devs for the improvements on the siege AI. The AI is doing a really good job in sieges and will properly man the gates while placing forces both in reserve and on other parts of the wall in case I should try to suddenly flank them or am attacking from multiple directions.

But the problem that I will talk about in this thread will be about the unwalled settlements.

The AI will play very carefully and defensive in these battles. Perhaps too defensively.
When I attack the AI who is holding up in an unwalled settlement, it will often cover in the alleyways & town centers. A smart move if your enemy plans to rush the place, but poor when faced with an organized ranged and melee attack.

When I attack, I have an easy time exploiting this if I have a range superiority, as I can severely deplete the AI's defending forces by using ranged units, especially ballistics and slingers. The AI, even if they have a bigger force/melee oriented army, will still stubbornly just sit in the middle of the town and take the punishment, leaving me to take an easy victory as I simply wade in afterwards and mop up the remaining few survivors.

One good thing the AI does is that it sometimes try to send a cavalry unit after my ranged units, but that's not enough if they are being supported by spear or cavalry themselves.

What I would like to see is the AI making decisions when defending an unwalled settlement.

1. Does it have a power superiority over the attacker? If yes, rush the attacker & overwhelm him. Keep 1 or 2 spear units in the center to avoid ninjacaps.

2. Does the enemy have a range superiority? Utilize your melee superiority to rush him. Keep 1 or 2 spear units in the center to avoid ninjacaps.

I know I have won too many easy victories with minimal casualties because the AI was too passive and expected me to come at them.
What I'd love to see is the AI to go " it, let's kick their asses!" and move out of their safety to challenge me on the field.

I just had a few battles against the AI when it was defending unwalled settlements. I must say, the AI post patch 2 is a big improvement. It seemed, the AI was trying to carry out an organized attempt at defending the flag (whereas before it would arrange its army somewhere in the outskirts and leave the center undefended).

But yes, I see what you're getting at. In the last battle I fought, the AI's forces were a close match to mine (according to the odds calculator), but it did focus on holding the town center while sending its weaker and missile troops out to meet my army (and get slaughtered in the process). From that point on, the AI would send a unit or two of its melee contingent to meet my army advancing through the streets, in effect gradually depleting its center.

Nonetheless, it seems like a very difficult programming challenge to improve the AI in this scenario. The player can come up with 101 different scenarios for tackling the situation...

[RGA]

How's about some self-imposed rules for players, like don't abuse slingers, or attack head-on though even knowing that losses would be high on both sides?