Does the CAI ever attack towns garrisoned with an army?

[The Dude]

So on my current WRE playthrough on Normal difficulty I have full stacks all along my Balkan/Alpine border. Augusta Vindelicorum all the way to Sirmium. There's ten stacks of Huns all trying to get into my territory, but none of them have the stomach to engage my towns, even though in some cases they outnumber me four to one. I get that a full stack in a town isn't exactly a walkover, but surely the Huns aren't so intimidated by opposition that they don't dare place their 80 units, ten of which being heavy onagers, against my measly 20 units behind dirt walls and barricades?

In fact, this has proven a vital strategy in securing my WRE in the first hundred turns. Don't want enemies crossing the Alps? Camp armies in Verona and Mediolanum and they'll turn right back around. Want to kill armies without wasting a soul? Easy, have the CAI dither around in snow attrition while you sit comfortably behind town walls.

I get that Normal difficulty isn't supposed to be like Legendary, but I consider it fairly normal for armies with numerical superiority and siege equipment to take the fight to small towns, or poorly developed cities. Because what this is doing is ensuring a stalemate that does nothing to the benefit of the player: the enemy camps outside your towns in large groups, and your one single defending army isn't enough to take them all on. If, through some miracle, I do manage to get enough armies together without exposing the rest of my border, the CAI calculates odds and as soon as they're in my favour they hightail it -through- my ZOC and right out of my range of pursuit.

The idea is that I -want- the CAI to attack me. I have my armies posted along the border as a strategy to slowly wear the enemy down through their failed sieges. That allows me the opportunity to retaliate. Instead, nothing happens. Turn after turn after turn.

[Lugotorix]

They'll besiege you sooner or later, not that I haven't noticed this as a useful deterrent, to put time on the clock. Also, there's always a chance they'll be drawn away for something if they do lay siege.

[PeonKing]

So on my current WRE playthrough on Normal difficulty I have full stacks all along my Balkan/Alpine border. Augusta Vindelicorum all the way to Sirmium. There's ten stacks of Huns all trying to get into my territory, but none of them have the stomach to engage my towns, even though in some cases they outnumber me four to one. I get that a full stack in a town isn't exactly a walkover, but surely the Huns aren't so intimidated by opposition that they don't dare place their 80 units, ten of which being heavy onagers, against my measly 20 units behind dirt walls and barricades?

In fact, this has proven a vital strategy in securing my WRE in the first hundred turns. Don't want enemies crossing the Alps? Camp armies in Verona and Mediolanum and they'll turn right back around. Want to kill armies without wasting a soul? Easy, have the CAI dither around in snow attrition while you sit comfortably behind town walls.

I get that Normal difficulty isn't supposed to be like Legendary, but I consider it fairly normal for armies with numerical superiority and siege equipment to take the fight to small towns, or poorly developed cities. Because what this is doing is ensuring a stalemate that does nothing to the benefit of the player: the enemy camps outside your towns in large groups, and your one single defending army isn't enough to take them all on. If, through some miracle, I do manage to get enough armies together without exposing the rest of my border, the CAI calculates odds and as soon as they're in my favour they hightail it -through- my ZOC and right out of my range of pursuit.

The idea is that I -want- the CAI to attack me. I have my armies posted along the border as a strategy to slowly wear the enemy down through their failed sieges. That allows me the opportunity to retaliate. Instead, nothing happens. Turn after turn after turn.

Yeah I noticed that too. I'm at around 422 AD in my Normal WRE campaign, and I have never even lost a single province using this strategy. I did get attacked by hordes early on using the starter legions you start with, but if you have an army over like 14 units, the AI won't attack. I basically just used an army of 11 units to secure Britannia by patrolling between settlements to scare of the Saxon and Viking raiders.

[Humble Warrior]

Well, to answer your title, yes, the AI will attack your towns if garrisoned by an army. Definitely if it has the local superiority. However, I have not had a town garrisoned by a super-huge army yet. When I get an army that big, I`m usually off on the attack!

[RedGuard]

never seen a single AI army attack a town garrisoned with an army yet(unless outnumbered two to one at least) Never had a true siege battle (the kind where they must use ladders or catapults) against this ai. Don't think I ever will.

[Aeratus]

Yes, while playing in my Sassanid campaign on Hard, the Maurians twice tried to siege a level 3 town west of Carthage with a 20-unit elite army garrisoned inside. Each time they came with 4 stacks and had about 5.5-6k men in total (on default unit size with 120 men per infantry unit).

[Spylobster, The Barber]

The Sassanids had no problem attacking on of my settlements while it was garrisoned by my army of 15 units

[xjlxking]

I have yet to witness a fortified town assault in the campaign. I have played ERE Saxons, Visigoths, Ostrogoths, and a bit WRE

[Cavalier]

The AI will attack if it has like an overwhelming advantage - like 3 stacks to 1. Which kinda makes sense since attacking a settlement with walls with even numbers is just stupid.

[Humble Warrior]

Yes. I can`t blame the AI as sieges should not really be undertaken unless you have a 3:1 advantage at the least. can`t really fault Ca here. Perhaps they could put in an `impatient` or `mistake` algorythm so it sometimes attacks unintelligently, but I reckon that`s already in.

[The Dude]

Well, to answer your title, yes, the AI will attack your towns if garrisoned by an army. Definitely if it has the local superiority. However, I have not had a town garrisoned by a super-huge army yet. When I get an army that big, I`m usually off on the attack!

That's the thing, in my current scenario I can't move. If I move an army out of even a single town, it faces a 4 stack assault and imminent razing. All my towns are at least level 3 at this point, all fully expanded. I can't start sacrificing towns like this. Secondly, due to this super realistic climate change, there are effectively only two seasons during which I can move my armies out, yet it usually also takes two seasons for the armies that I need to all assemble in a single place and attack. You can do the math here

[xjlxking]

That's the thing, in my current scenario I can't move. If I move an army out of even a single town, it faces a 4 stack assault and imminent razing. All my towns are at least level 3 at this point, all fully expanded. I can't start sacrificing towns like this. Secondly, due to this super realistic climate change, there are effectively only two seasons during which I can move my armies out, yet it usually also takes two seasons for the armies that I need to all assemble in a single place and attack. You can do the math here

I was in a position like that ones. Sucked I lost 1/3 of my empire.

[PointOfViewGun]

So on my current WRE playthrough on Normal difficulty I have full stacks all along my Balkan/Alpine border. Augusta Vindelicorum all the way to Sirmium. There's ten stacks of Huns all trying to get into my territory, but none of them have the stomach to engage my towns, even though in some cases they outnumber me four to one. I get that a full stack in a town isn't exactly a walkover, but surely the Huns aren't so intimidated by opposition that they don't dare place their 80 units, ten of which being heavy onagers, against my measly 20 units behind dirt walls and barricades?

In fact, this has proven a vital strategy in securing my WRE in the first hundred turns. Don't want enemies crossing the Alps? Camp armies in Verona and Mediolanum and they'll turn right back around. Want to kill armies without wasting a soul? Easy, have the CAI dither around in snow attrition while you sit comfortably behind town walls.

I get that Normal difficulty isn't supposed to be like Legendary, but I consider it fairly normal for armies with numerical superiority and siege equipment to take the fight to small towns, or poorly developed cities. Because what this is doing is ensuring a stalemate that does nothing to the benefit of the player: the enemy camps outside your towns in large groups, and your one single defending army isn't enough to take them all on. If, through some miracle, I do manage to get enough armies together without exposing the rest of my border, the CAI calculates odds and as soon as they're in my favour they hightail it -through- my ZOC and right out of my range of pursuit.

The idea is that I -want- the CAI to attack me. I have my armies posted along the border as a strategy to slowly wear the enemy down through their failed sieges. That allows me the opportunity to retaliate. Instead, nothing happens. Turn after turn after turn.

I just got a coastal town with a Visigothic army get sieged by a Roman legion. The power balance was quite similar.

[Bramborough]

Some of it might be influenced by faction or army composition. I've noticed the Huns act as OP describes; I don't recall them ever attacking a settlement defended by a full (or mostly full) stack, even when they could've done so with 5-6 armies of their own. The Sassanids and their puppets, however, or the various offshoot Roman factions, seem more willing to do so.

Edit: I just realized that the difference in behavior might be related not to faction, but whether the potential aggressors are in horde mode or not.

[Lionheart11]

Its rare.

[GrimmCro]

I've only seen it happen on Legendary. On lower difficulties they avoid towns defended by half stacks or higher like a plague. Shame, really, since everything can sail in Attila the sense of a front line that was present in Shogun 2 is lost. I find it uneasy to leave territory defenseless after I've spent time and money turning it into something useful.

[Humble Warrior]

I've only seen it happen on Legendary. On lower difficulties they avoid towns defended by half stacks or higher like a plague. Shame, really, since everything can sail in Attila the sense of a front line that was present in Shogun 2 is lost. I find it uneasy to leave territory defenseless after I've spent time and money turning it into something useful.

This. It comes off the point slightly, but not having armies leave from ports and ships has killed that feeling of a `front line` as you so well put it. One of the stupid errors still left in since Rome 2.

[Cavalier]

If anyone likes to fight sieges, simply place half a stack or so in a city and the AI will likely attack it.

[GrimmCro]

This. It comes off the point slightly, but not having armies leave from ports and ships has killed that feeling of a `front line` as you so well put it. One of the stupid errors still left in since Rome 2.

That's my biggest gripe with Attila, problems from one area of the game spill over to another area making the whole thing go from feeling amazing to undeniably broken.

[z3n]

I don't think you can call if broken. Broken means unplayable in my definition when applying broken to games. Attila definitely is not broken. Then and again I spice it up with a few mods.