Random Number Generator...

[laCaemis]

I am playing as the Japanese and have taken over 3 civilizations at this point. I'm moving against the Chinese and move my whole army of several dozen cavalry and the few tanks I had at that point (I had just gotten the tech a few turns ago).

It starts out fine, with 4-5 cities being taken within the first turn, losing quite a few cavalry in the process. I notice that my cavalry seem to have problems killing THEIR cavalry with equal health when they're on a plain if I attack. The turn after I take one of their more "inner" cities, they immediately come with about 10 cavalry and instantly take 2 of the cities back, killing the cavalry I used to attack the cities every time without losing half their health.

I take them back, but most of my cavalry are just decimated by theirs because of this damn generator. I ended up just quitting after it got to a point where they were winning the war despite being far behind in tech and having 1/3 the city count as me.

I hate the generator.

 

[vmxa]

Cavs are crap on defense normally, so you do not want to defend a captured town with them. Not even against swords and archers. I dislike using them to attack full health cavs as you have no idea who will win.

Bring some defends along and let them hold the town. By the time you have tanks, you should have at least a couple of armies. Let them defend the place. Better yet, just raze it and wait for a settler and defending units to fill the hole.

If you cannot do any of that, I would use the cavs to take the town and the few tanks to hold the town.

The way to beat the RNG is with superior troops and or tactics. Namely, armies and bombardment. Make as many of the battles as you can be your full health Vs their damaged units.

 

[laCaemis]

Cavs are crap on defense normally, so you do not want to defend a captured town with them. Not even against swords and archers. I dislike using them to attack full health cavs as you have no idea who will win.

Bring some defends along and let them hold the town. By the time you have tanks, you should have at least a couple of armies. Let them defend the place. Better yet, just raze it and wait for a settler and defending units to fill the hole.

If you cannot do any of that, I would use the cavs to take the town and the few tanks to hold the town.

The way to beat the RNG is with superior troops and or tactics. Namely, armies and bombardment. Make as many of the battles as you can be your full health Vs their damaged units.

The main reason I'm annoyed at the RNG is because they have no problems killing my Cav's when they attack, but my Cav's always have problems in the same position.

 

[Theryman]

Sounds like you have a case of cognitive bias. You had a few bad rolls, it happens to everyone. Try sacrificing a floppy disk or something, that normally works for me.

 

[vmxa]

The main reason I'm annoyed at the RNG is because they have no problems killing my Cav's when they attack, but my Cav's always have problems in the same position.

I understand, the odds are 79.1 with no fortification or bonus. The attacker win about 80%. You just run into the deviation. Theryman is just pointing out that we tend to notice the bad stuff, not the times when we got the rolls.

The point I made is that you want to jack up the odds to as high a level as you can. That is best done by pinging them to 1HP or attacking with units that have even higher attack values than cavs, armies, tanks. failing those things, you bring numbers. Enough to with stand the bad rolls.

 

[ChaosArbiter]

Sounds like you have a case of cognitive bias. You had a few bad rolls, it happens to everyone. Try sacrificing a floppy disk or something, that normally works for me.

I used to have an ancient AppleII that used 8" floppies. I wish we'd kept all those ....

 

[1940LaSalle]

What really got me in a recent game is a Panzer getting knocked off by cavalry. As the world found out in September 1939, what the hell is that all about? And the punch line: it happened not once but three times in rapid succession while the AI was on the attack.

 

[ChaosArbiter]

Six Attack vs 8 Defense is not impossible for the Defender to lose. Regarding Poland: The Poles did not charge Tanks with Cavalry. They used Tankettes and anti-tank weaponry against German armoured vehicles, and used cavalry forces against infantry and as mobile raiders, precisely as one would expect. What shattered the Poles was more the speed of the advance and German air superiority.

Further, the Panzer I and II's the Germans had at the beginning of WWII were weak by tank standards (the first had 2 Machine Guns and no heavy gun, and only 13mm max armor; the latter had a 20mm Anti-Tank gun and an MG, and 10-14mm, 10-30mm, or 20-35mm or armor, depending on version). The weaker of the two primary Polish AT guns could penetrate 15mm of armor at 300 meters, allowing frontal penetration of the Panzer I and early versions of the Panzer II.

 

[Theryman]

Six Attack vs 8 Defense is not impossible for the Defender to lose.

It is actually very possible. A 4 health Cav attacking a 4 health Panzer on a grassland will win 30% of the time. If that Panzer already has taken a pip of damage, the Cav's chances jump up to almost 50%.

Of course, if that same Panzer attacks the Cav, the Panzer will win 98% of the time. So be offensive, and cover your tanks with infantry!

 

[Fiddlin Nero]

Back to the original point-Cav against Cav the AI wins more than the player when either is attacking. I've noticed this is also true for Modern Armor and Battleships.

 

[Theryman]

Back to the original point-Cav against Cav the AI wins more than the player when either is attacking. I've noticed this is also true for Modern Armor and Battleships.

Sure, you have noticed it, but I have noticed that whenever I am having an excellent day, something screws it up horribly.

My point is, we remember the BAD things that happen to us, while forgetting when things go exactly as they should have. Quite simply, what you think you are observing is false- all victories and losses are determined by the PRNG, and it does not bias itself in favor of the AI.

 

[TheOverseer714]

Or the turns of luck. My veteran spear repels a regular longbow with no damage, next turn my veteran pike is slaughtered by another regular longbow. The odds are very random, only somewhat having to do with attack vs defense.

 

[Fiddlin Nero]

Quite simply, what you think you are observing is false- all victories and losses are determined by the PRNG, and it does not bias itself in favor of the AI.

So glad you put the "P" in front of RNG, the psuedo means it does bias the outcome to balance the game. Everytime this comes up somebody gets pissy about it, don't bother. The AI is there to challenge your strategy and tactics, not to beat you. My understanding was that the AI originally couldn't be beaten by anybody and they had to dumb it down to balance out the game.

 

[Theryman]

So glad you put the "P" in front of RNG, the psuedo means it does bias the outcome to balance the game. Everytime this comes up somebody gets pissy about it, don't bother. The AI is there to challenge your strategy and tactics, not to beat you. My understanding was that the AI originally couldn't be beaten by anybody and they had to dumb it down to balance out the game.

No, the 'P' means that it is impossible for a computer to make a truly random number.

 

[sk8boardbob2]

It's also technically impossible for humans to pick a random number also. On topic with the thread, I once had an attacking Modern Armor lose to a Rifleman. Not quite but pretty close.

 

[ThinkTank]

237! Gotcha!