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Thread: 'Un Official' Single Post AAR Thread

  1. #41
    NorseThing's Avatar Primicerius
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    Default Re: 'Un Official' Single Post AAR Thread

    We often have a single battle worth posting as a single AAR. Perhaps it is a lost bit of a game worth a tale. I would encourage any member of TWC to post in the Creative writing anything that is desired to be shared with the membership. So as another example of what can be a single post AAR, I offer this:

    I was playing around during the cold snowy spell here in Colorado with Medieval II. Yes, the basic out of the box game. I decided to play as England on the hard settings and to play at peace. I played up to turn 35 and saw enough to know what would happen. The game makes it very difficult to even improve a castle to a fortress without going to war or at least taking over some rebellious provinces. The money available by developing the settlements is not sufficient even if no faction declares war on your faction. Expansion seems a must with this game.

    So I did a retart to the beginning and was still focused on peace and even allied with Scotland and France in addition to the Papal States. I took out Rennes and Bordeaux of the many available provinces in rebellion. About turn 7 or maybe a bit later England offered to buy Angers from France for 300 florins a turn for about 20 turns tribute. Maybe that was too generous. This is an experiment rather than recommended tactics and strategy.

    With the second play, I decided to place a stack in attack distance from both adjacent allied capitals with some ballista units to make a clean attack if needed. Both Scotland and France did the same with Caen and York. I also placed a diplomat close to both factions to notify the respective factions if the alliance and trade treaties were to be terminated. Now what would the computer do? If either faction would declare war, they would be quickly dealt with. Scotland made the first move by vacating the capital (which was their only settlement). I think they were heading towards the Irish with the garrison. At that point I lost patience with Scotland. Notified them of treaty cancellations and then walked into their capital. This ended the Scottish faction. A quick clean up of the rebel forces that were Scotland's armies. Scotland had even more problems upgrading their capital to stone walls since they also did not expand. So even with Scotland out, money was tight. I simply upped the taxes and upgraded London first and then Scotland's lone city to stone walls. Something that the computer cannot do. I then had the resources to upgrade Nottingham to a fortress.

    Then I turned to Paris. I thought that a repeat of Scotland was unlikely even for the computer so I persuaded the Pope to call a Crusade on Antioch. It was a rebel settlement and not a faction owned settlement so all factions were already at war with the rebels. Poland was the first to accept the request for the Crusade. France followed after a few more turns and took their big stack from Paris. They did not completely vacate Paris, but just a couple of militia units were as good as vacating. Before England could do the deed, Milan attack Paris from Dijon. So that is as far as I got with this experiment. The second play through did have Portugal blockade Bordeaux to create a state of war. Other than some minor naval battles, nothing came of that. So after about 35 turns and about a half a dozen rebel land based combats and another 8 or 9 naval engagements with the rebels and Portugal to keep the seas free, nothing much to really report.

    Now I admit this was ultimate boredom on a snowy day. It was interesting in some aspects though it simply confirmed the stupidity of the computer. Leaving Scotland's capital without even a minimal garrison was I guess the computer's calculation on what was best given the bad choices available. We were not at war and even without any garrisoning units, the town's population was happy to be Scotland and not to riot and rebel. So I do wonder if this is the case with all the computer controlled factions when at peace, allied with the neighbors, and having a human player not being aggressive with expansion.

  2. #42
    Turkafinwë's Avatar The Sick Baby Jester
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    Default Re: 'Un Official' Single Post AAR Thread

    This is a very interesting case study really. From what I've seen the AI's first priority is to take out rebel settlements before starting a war with another faction. In this they seem to also prioritize going to war with the human player over going to war with other AI factions. My personal experience is that it takes a long time before the AI go to war with each other. The games were I have just sat and did almost nothing it took at least 60 turns before the AI started attacking each other. (I have done a couple of let's call it 'spectator' runs, where I just observed the world) Indeed the AI in Medieval II (and other TW titles) is quite retarded and sometimes makes the most idiotic of moves. The AI will also only declare war on another faction if they deem themselves stronger than the other which in the late game leads to a couple of superpowers that never go to war with each other, unless they get a push from the player. In the end it is the player that makes the game and his choices that influence the future of the world. The day a TW game has an AI of human intelligence we are really screwed.

  3. #43
    Alwyn's Avatar Frothy Goodness
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    Default Re: 'Un Official' Single Post AAR Thread

    It's interesting to see the effects of your experimental style of play on the behaviour of computer-controlled factions. I wonder what motivated you to try a campaign where you don't expand (or only expand by taking rebel provinces). Maybe you wanted to focus on managing resources instead of warfare, or perhaps you preferred to play defensively instead of expanding, or possibly you simply wanted to see the effects of this style of play on the behaviour of the other nations.

  4. #44
    NorseThing's Avatar Primicerius
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    Default Re: 'Un Official' Single Post AAR Thread

    All of the above, plus it was a cold and snowy time here in Colorado. Cabin fever sets in.

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