When does the AI attack full health Armies?

[MeteorPunch]

It's basic knowledge that generally the AI does not attack full-strength armies. However, if they have tanks, for example, won't they attack a archer army? Is there a formula or something floating around out there so I could determine this?

Mainly I want to know this so I can build Conquistador armies and know how late I can have them pillaging the AI's improvements. I don't think they would attack with cavalry, but it seems like they would attack with tanks.

 

[Bartleby]

Sounds like you need to do a test...

 

[MeteorPunch]

Sounds like you need to do a test...

That's what I was afraid of...c'mon, surely one of "the greats" have already done this test for me!

...surely?

 

[vmxa]

I think you have to break it out into a NoAiPatrol on or off question. I have seen that it makes a big difference.

If you set it to zero, no army is completely safe at any time. I have had mech armies attacked. You would never see that before.

Of course once bombers are available all bets are off anyway.

Now if you do not use the partol setting things are up in the air. I have never had any full health army attacked in the field under those conditions. Understand that I do not have AA armies out and about later in the game, so it is a tainted experience.

I have not even seen calv armies attacked by tanks in the pre patrol games. It is fair to say that I do not put armies at risk often, so again my experiences are juandiced.
I tend to only lose armies in AW games where you may be obliged to attack and then defend under less than optimal conditions.

By the time I see infantry, I would not have anything less than calv armies attacking or running around exposed. If I had say AC armies, they would be used to sit on catpured towns or kill straglers in out of reach tiles.

Since all the games I start for myself are going to be at least DG an mostly Sid, I am facing units as good or better than mine, hence I am cautious.

 

[MeteorPunch]

I use noAIpatrol=1. I think it's been determined that noAIpatrol=0 causes AI units to inadvertently "bump" into your armies during random patrol, hence the attack.

 

[Theoden]

I think the AI decides whether to attack an army or not in the same way as with any other unit. It needs to have at least ~25% chance of winning to attack. Sometimes though it seems that if there is nothing else on the continent to attack then any target will do.

 

[vmxa]

I use noAIpatrol=1. I think it's been determined that noAIpatrol=0 causes AI units to inadvertently "bump" into your armies during random patrol, hence the attack.

I have heard that expressed, but I do not follow it. I could see that if they had no idea you were there, but they know where all your units are.

So what does it mean to bump into an army, when you already knew it was there?

The bumps I have seen all involve a good unit at that stage of the game, so it looks like an attack. The part that makes me not certain, is I have not seen a concentrated attack. That I have not taken note to see if they had other units, they could have bumped into it with or not is the only thing that makes me hesitate.

So in the end, I am not sure if it is a "bump" or an attack. I am sure that none of them would have happen without the patrol flag.

 

[vmxa]

I guess if Sirpleb's game was a C3C at 1.22 and a save was around, that would be a great way to see for sure. Those armies lined up would get attacked or not by those stacks and either way the question would be answered.

 

[MeteorPunch]

the reason why I call it a "bump": you remember this thread

Archers shouldn't attack full health armies.

 

[ts64]

One more thing that is important is if the AI has anything other then the army to attack. If it does it will move almost all of their available troops towards the threat and not patrol. In Sir Pleb's game for examle, all the AI troops where moving towards the city and even if he had have AI patrol on, the enemy troops would not have patrolled and thus not "accidently" bumped in to the army and attacked.
I have seen this in my games to, and I play with patrol on. I you are playing a archipelago game and are landing an army on an island to pillage, if you can use the "bikini babe" trick, the army is safe. This is obviously not true if the enemy has bombers or if you let the army get too injured.

 

[vmxa]

I remember a unit attacked, but not that it was an archer. OK, I accept it was not hunting. Seems weird that it could bump into anything, but they do bump into subs, so ok.

 

[Arathorn]

Some of us have tried tests. It's definitely NOT a 25% chance of success. The AI just reacts wierdly to units with high hit point values. I found a fair bit of data once, as did SirPleb, and there's no trivial formula to determine when an attack will take place. But it is definitively not a certain percent chance to win the battle. That's easy to demonstrate.

Arathorn

 

[RxWarfare]

quick question whats the "bikini babe" trick ???

 

[Ivan the Kulak]

A "bikini babe" is a nice weak unit, maybe a horseman with one HP left, or an explorer, that you land just out of reach of AI forces in order to lure the AI after it. The AI will chase after the unit, often leaving a path open for your armies to exploit, or keeping a stack of doom from going after the armies you landed to attack a city. This can be a good exploit, however, you must carefully guage the terrain and make sure your "bikini babe" can't be cornered - and ravished.

 

[RxWarfare]

thanx ivan for the input ,great tick

 

[Bluemofia]

Would an AI attack an army with another army?

 

[vmxa]

Who knows, they don't make them in epic games in C3C. I cannot recall the last time I saw an army. Even powerhouse Sid civs that make wonders in a flash and have structures up in a blink of an eye, do not make armies.

 

[Pounder]

Who knows, they don't make them in epic games in C3C. I cannot recall the last time I saw an army. Even powerhouse Sid civs that make wonders in a flash and have structures up in a blink of an eye, do not make armies.

Even when Armies are given to an AI at the beginning of a scenario, the AI will not or can not add units to the Army. I think that ever since they gave the armies a movement bonus, they will no longer work for AI's.

Maybe someone could confirm, something about the AI will not add units that have movement equal to or less than the armies movement.

 

[confused713]

Who knows, they don't make them in epic games in C3C. I cannot recall the last time I saw an army. Even powerhouse Sid civs that make wonders in a flash and have structures up in a blink of an eye, do not make armies.

Hummmm!! Then could someone tell me who was creating the Carthigenian Armies that attacked me on Sicily? I was playing RoR and not on line (I never have played any game on line)

 

[Theoden]

Even when Armies are given to an AI at the beginning of a scenario, the AI will not or can not add units to the Army. I think that ever since they gave the armies a movement bonus, they will no longer work for AI's.

Maybe someone could confirm, something about the AI will not add units that have movement equal to or less than the armies movement.

They will only add units the army that have equal to or more move than the army. So if they add a swordsman first, then two horseman, it would be possible for the AI to fill up an army.

Hummmm!! Then could someone tell me who was creating the Carthigenian Armies that attacked me on Sicily?

The scenario creator did Carthage starts out with an army in RoR.