Why do they always build flak?

[Cu Chulainn]

I hate flak.
Once I've researched flight every time I get a new town it tries to build flak. Every time a town completes a major project it tries to build flak. It is only usefull for very limited purposes but the computer seems obsessed with trying to get me to build as much of it as possible! I have to watch every town I have so as to not end up with mountains of worthless flak. Is there any way to keep towns from doing this?

 

[Scuffer]

Specifically, I'm not sure. But if you contact the governor, selection production tab, find 'build defensive units', select 'never' for 'all cities', that might do it. It might be a different build instruction than defensive though, not sure of the flak flag offhand.

 

[Pounder]

I love flak, it protects from air and ground attacks.

 

[Doc Tsiolkovski]

That is annoying, I agree. Reason is that the game thinks you lack defenders (but that's what the human usually does, if you ask the military idiot...er, "advisor"), and thus suggests the cheapest availble unit with the 'defence' AI strategy - and that's Flak/Mobile SAM. There is no AI 'Anti-Air' strategy, that unit is simply a cheap defender.
No, you can change nothing here in the preferences (except 'Always build previous unit', so you at least don't get the Flaks when completing a unit).

 

[Turner]

Well, you can change the production preferences as Scuffer said. I've been playing that way for a couple of months now, and it's helpful to not always have Flak show up on my build list.

 

[fuad]

well...... u can do this too but this u will need to use the editor to do it , make the airport improvement build flack every hmmmm.. for example 10 to 15 turns and the sam missile battery improvement build the mobile sam every 10 to 15 turns , and just take them off the build unit list in the editor ..... the advantage about this is that u and the computer will have anti air defense units ..... maybe also give the flack unit an attack of 5 and defense of 6 and mobile sam an attack of 6 and defense of 7 , cos in real life some infantry are there to guard the air defense battery , so make them close in there stats for attack and defense to the regular infantry or marines for mobile sam ....... also u can add the attack animation of the infantry to the flack in case they get attacked on the ground by another ground unit and the attack animation of the marine to the mobile sam for the same purpose .......cos the animation they will use when they shoot down an enemy aircraft is the same like the sam in the cities . the only disadvantages i see in this is that u will need about 10 mins to do that in the editor and also the AI won't use them that great but i noticed something allthough when i tried it is that they are never alone even if they are in the front lines ....the AI does add them with tanks and infantry or modern armor or mechanized infantry when they come to attack 90 % of the times .

 

[Pounder]

@fuad

I like your ideas.

 

[fuad]

thx Pounder ...... well i try to see all the oportunities to work it out against the less well done part of the game , through the editor limits .