Keeping units out of AI´s sight

[Jorunkun]

Does anyone have an idea about how the AI keeps track of your military might? I am asking because I wonder wether you gain any advantage from keeping your army out of the AI´s sight, i.e. staging an invasion in a concealed area or making bordertowns look weak to invite an attack, with defenders waiting in the hinterland.

My hunch is that the AI will beef up its defenses if it sees troops massing on its borders but I am not sure whether this is in response to units seen or to a general increase in the numbers shown on the statistics screen.

On a related note, do you think it makes sense to pre-build different kinds of units in a number of cities, so that an entire army completes within a few turns to better surprise the AI?

 

[maltz]

The pre-build idea is cool. Yet there is one thing you probably knew -- unfinished unit/buildings starts to lose its stocked hammer after 10 turns or so.

The best defense is... offense. I say, bribe another neighbor to attack your target when you are building a large army from almost all of your cities, and throw that huge army to your weakened target.

 

[Lord Chambers]

My hunch is that the AI will beef up its defenses if it sees troops massing on its borders but I am not sure whether this is in response to units seen or to a general increase in the numbers shown on the statistics screen.

I've never seen them react in any way to the location of military units of peaceful civs. That is, they'll defend their cities the same way whether you have a stack on the border or your armies on another continent. They'll also invade you whether your troops are on another continent or right on the border. All the AI considers during peace are the raw numbers.

When at war, they'll attack you where you are, not where you aren't. A few times I've seen some mounted units streak past the battle zone behind my lines to pillage and attack cities, but I'm not sure if that's because they think the cities are less defended than ones on the border.

 

[DaveMcW]

On a related note, do you think it makes sense to pre-build different kinds of units in a number of cities, so that an entire army completes within a few turns to better surprise the AI?

Your army should be so big that a few turns of military production makes no difference.

A more effective pre-build strategy is to mass upgrade obsolete units, preferably at the same time you discover an advanced military tech.

 

[Mordraken]

In a recent game, I massed 2 armies just outside my opponent's borders (he hated me already), and he beefed up one location, but not the other. It was only after my stack attacked that he re-inforced that location.

In my current game, where I attacked two friendly nations (because they were on my "back" side and were weak) I massed troops right at the border and they didnt' even build any extra military... fools

 

[sgrig]

In my second game on Monarch, I was alone on the continent with Louis, and quite early on we signed an Open Borders treaty. So he sent an axemen into my territory to scout. As soon as the axemen stepped into a hill which revealed my capital - which had 2 wonders in it, but protected by jsut 1 warrior, Louis declared war on me! Moreover, our relations were pretty good - at about +4. So I guess the AI does evaluate if there is an easy opportunity.

 

[DngrMse]

I've never seen them react in any way to the location of military units of peaceful civs.

Peaceful civs, possibly not. But I'm convinced the AI 'cheats', and peeks at the locations and destinations of your military units. I was using spies to destroy an aluminum mine in a neighboring civ I was at war with, and after I had destroyed the mine, the AI promptly sent a worker there to fix things, (I had another spy stationed close by, for follow up work if the first failed...so I could see what was going on). I decided to send a couple modern tanks up that way, and keep the aluminum out of the picture entirely, and as soon as I completed my turn, the AI moved the worker back into a nearby city...even though the tanks were'nt anywhere near at the time....they were 5 or 6 moves away. I stopped the tanks....and the next turn, the worker was back out. Lather, rinse, repeat.

It proved an easy, and risk free way of keeping the aluminum from being redeveloped, and I had no qualms about exploiting this, since the AI was cheating anyway.

 

[DaveMcW]

Maybe the AI had their own spy?

I would be interested in seeing that saved game.

 

[DngrMse]

Maybe the AI had their own spy?

I had'nt considered that. It's possible, I guess. Still, this is of limited usefulness, because during any war the AI's eventually park military units on top of their more important resources anyway. But it was interesting.

I would be interested in seeing that saved game.

I might still have that game in the saved folder, I'll check this afternoon, and post it if I do. If not, it should'nt be hard to recreate the same circumstances.

1. Send spies to target civ.

2. Declare war.

3. Destroy resources, (I like to do it this way, because the AI switches to war production, and loses whatever it was it was working on before that, and then promptly loses production on the stuff the resources I destroy are needed for....it's a two-fer!).

4. Wait for the workers to show up, and send some tanks up that way.

 

[lawren65]

I had'nt considered that. It's possible, I guess. Still, this is of limited usefulness, because during any war the AI's eventually park military units on top of their more important resources anyway. But it was interesting.



I might still have that game in the saved folder, I'll check this afternoon, and post it if I do. If not, it should'nt be hard to recreate the same circumstances.

1. Send spies to target civ.

2. Declare war.

3. Destroy resources, (I like to do it this way, because the AI switches to war production, and loses whatever it was it was working on before that, and then promptly loses production on the stuff the resources I destroy are needed for....it's a two-fer!).

4. Wait for the workers to show up, and send some tanks up that way.

I'd insert wait a turn or two in before step 3.
Another trick is to bribe the civ to change civics then invade....

 

[DngrMse]

Another trick is to bribe the civ to change civics then invade....

Lol. I'll give that a shot too.