AI keen to waste it's units?

[zorbop]

Originally posted by MoonWolf




It's true how the AI is handling this. I think it's because it can't really think ahead. How often have you e.g. seen a real invasion force heading for your continent?

in all my days in civ 3, i have seen the AI build a very good invasion force twice.

-the first time, monarch, i was Germany, huge map. I was on the massive western continent, with about 10 civs, shaped similar to north/south America. I was at the very north. by year 1000 bc i got the anouncement "The russians have been destroyed"
By 200 ad i got 2 more messages, "The rampaging American forces have destroyed the romans", same for eqypt.
soon they destroyed zulu to. Now they were at my borders, but i had knights and powerful units like that.
then they come at me with a stack of archers, pikemen, horsmen and sqordsmen. 60 OF THEM. this wories me, so i stack about 25 pikemen in on a strait they had to pass, with some catapults and attacking units too. they get past with around 35 units left (they actually used the retreat ability to their advantage). My response to this was building up more units on my southern cities... unfortunately, they droped about 6 boatloads of swordsmen and the like on my northern boarders. I LOST TO THE AI! WAHH

now, in my current game, 500 bc, i am being attacked by hords of 20 japanese archers, who are smart enough to capture me cities with recources first.

sorry that was so long... but my point is the ai will become imperialistic and use good tactics, but only when they use much weaker units (unlike your human player, who will group together more powerful units, and use more than all the ai have combined)

[CiverDan]

The AI is notorious for not being able to mass units effectively. It also tends to attack you more heavily fortifies positions (though it has been getting better at this recently). I remember civ2 when the AI would attack multiple riflement fortified on a mountain with 20 elephants. Not exactly a wise use of forces....