Yesterday i played a game letting the computer play Germany and made a few observations
AI does not cripple a war gained vassal
I (it) was fighting Rome (and a few other nations later). We had military and technological superiority, but instead of taking the center cities with the settled great people - the AI vassalaged Rome as soon as it came available, making it possible that during a very hard combat against Wilhelm from Oranje 2 vassals (hannibal and a native american nation) broke free (as the German empire has a drop in power rating).
Colonies do undermine the vassalage of their master
In said game on the roman continent the cities cost a huge upkeep, thus the computer released them as a colony (Tokugawa, Japan). A few rounds later Tokugawa happily released the revolting Roman cities, making it possible for Julius to break out of his vassalage bonds !!!!
Julius happily building away on his own now - he gained like 10+ techs during his vassalage.
I think a colony should have their masters intentions in mind and never release a city towards a vassal of it's master.
Don't fight land wars with water superiority
During the fight against Hannibal, the Germans clearly had water superiority. So basically could strip any coastal city off their defense (which the ships did quite well). But Bismark lead by the AI decided the his main force rather likes to right cities in the center of the map where reinforcement is hard and where he needs to strip off defenses for some 4+ turns (and would loose the city to missing reinforcements).
I guess this is hard to code but i think if the AI has sufficient water support it should go for coastal cities first.
Troop upgrades << teching
Bismark teched for 30-50% science all the time. I belief he put the excess gold into upgrading his outdated troops, where in a proper tech race he sould replace them in 30 turns by a better unit if he had spent it's gold on research.
I am not sure what a longbow Man next to a SAM Infantry and a Mech infantry might be of help. He will cost any modern armor a movement point and 1/2 (?) gold upkeep each turn.
(i think this has been discussed elsewhere) Bismark is using a lot of 'research' instead of 'wealth'. Where getting excess Money in outside cities and getting a higher science slider for the high tech cities is more rewarding (e.g. Oxford university has a higher multiplier for science commerce than an average outside city).
AI does not cripple a war gained vassal
I (it) was fighting Rome (and a few other nations later). We had military and technological superiority, but instead of taking the center cities with the settled great people - the AI vassalaged Rome as soon as it came available, making it possible that during a very hard combat against Wilhelm from Oranje 2 vassals (hannibal and a native american nation) broke free (as the German empire has a drop in power rating).
Colonies do undermine the vassalage of their master
In said game on the roman continent the cities cost a huge upkeep, thus the computer released them as a colony (Tokugawa, Japan). A few rounds later Tokugawa happily released the revolting Roman cities, making it possible for Julius to break out of his vassalage bonds !!!!
Julius happily building away on his own now - he gained like 10+ techs during his vassalage.
I think a colony should have their masters intentions in mind and never release a city towards a vassal of it's master.
Don't fight land wars with water superiority
During the fight against Hannibal, the Germans clearly had water superiority. So basically could strip any coastal city off their defense (which the ships did quite well). But Bismark lead by the AI decided the his main force rather likes to right cities in the center of the map where reinforcement is hard and where he needs to strip off defenses for some 4+ turns (and would loose the city to missing reinforcements).
I guess this is hard to code but i think if the AI has sufficient water support it should go for coastal cities first.
Troop upgrades << teching
Bismark teched for 30-50% science all the time. I belief he put the excess gold into upgrading his outdated troops, where in a proper tech race he sould replace them in 30 turns by a better unit if he had spent it's gold on research.
I am not sure what a longbow Man next to a SAM Infantry and a Mech infantry might be of help. He will cost any modern armor a movement point and 1/2 (?) gold upkeep each turn.
(i think this has been discussed elsewhere) Bismark is using a lot of 'research' instead of 'wealth'. Where getting excess Money in outside cities and getting a higher science slider for the high tech cities is more rewarding (e.g. Oxford university has a higher multiplier for science commerce than an average outside city).
