More AI aggression, please!

[Horst]

While playing defensive scenarios, I’ve often noticed that an AI with numeric superiority lacks bite and misses chances to overcome stronger units.
With a default aggression parameter of 50, the AI tends to dance around stronger opponents and won’t do anything anymore that looks like an offensive. AI offensives certainly work much better with supporting arty and aircraft, but without such support, the AI hesitates attacking.
While there have been nations/Generals that historically care for men and materiel, other nations/Generals rather (had to) recklessly sacrificed units just to accomplish their ordered objectives.
Historically or not, being a human defender watching the AI simply doing nothing for 10+ turns, is ultra boring. Sacrifices are expensive, but this is something what the AI doesn’t really care about during a campaign.

I’ve done a test with the aggression parameter of the AI teams where four red AI non-experienced Light Tank M24s attack a 5-star fully-entrenched Heavy Tank T-29 of another green AI. This is a totally exaggerated example of course, but still shows that the supposely weaker red AI can become victorious in the end.
With aggression 50, the red AI basically gives up and will become idle soon.
With aggression 100, the red AI attacks relentlessly but still repairs its unit if their strength becomes too low. In the end, the red AI manages to overcome the superior strength of the green AI despite heavy losses.

[GabeKnight]

Agreed.
And thanks for all this little tests you've done over the years, very useful to not have to rely on just speculations...

[steevodeevo]

Nice work Horst. I've noticed this immersion breaking behaviour now that you mention it.

[Horst]

What is often disappointing that you purchase and deploy AT-units just to figure out that the AI won’t attack your units anymore. I think nothing beats the feeling in the game to watch the AI rarely rumble into an AT-ambush, especially if it’s an 8.8cm Flak.
This is already so lame if you have to crawl your 8.8cm Flak in AT-mode several hexes just to get some kills maybe.
I’m not playing this game to enjoy a cold war situation where no side dares to attack the other. When Japanese banzai or green tides of Soviet tanks rush in, I want to see kills, explosions and burning wrecks along my defensive lines that my AT-units and sandbags show some purpose. This should especially happen if the AI has like twice the number of units compared to mine.
It’s not only about ground units, as air and naval units also have such aggression setting.

[Shards]

May I postulate a counter-argument? If the AI defaulted to such kamikaze behaviour, there would be a mirror image of this thread calling for the AI to display more self-preservation

[Horst]

Self-preservation isn't needed in an offensive, especially not if the AI has more units than the player. The fun point is to defeat the onslaught while defending without the need to counter-attack. The challenge point is that the AI won't miss chances to defeat strong defenders with higher aggression.
The AI doesn't totally kakimaze even with an aggro-setting of 100, as you can see on the screenshot. Complete destruction rather happens only during ambushes. It still repairs with 1-3 unit strength left.
I simply don't want to see future scenarios where dozens of Allied/Soviet tanks dance arround my Jagdtiger and Tiger II tanks later in 44-45.

[Erik2]

Many of the official scenarios were probably created before the aggression level was part of AI design.
Offensive AI forces could often use aggression levels 80-90. The same goes for certain nationalities in general, like Japanese and Soviet AI units.
I've found that level 90 works fine for offensive units.
And if the AI is given enough resources it will repair as well.

[Shards]

In the German campaigns, bebro has used a lot of high aggression to give the impression of Commissar whipped conscripts being thrown at your lines, and I think it works well.

I'm experimenting with a map at the moment where I'm trying to combine 100 level aggression in assault troops with enough wherewithal to fall back, heal and recover efficiency before throwing themselves back into the breach. The idea being to give an average player a good sense of pressure and a good player a challenge but without having to just throw 10,000 units at the player

I've found that the AI is a bit too keen to get back into the fight on low efficiency and subsequently not pose any real challenge if it's on Agg 100

[lt1956_slith]

That's weird because when I was looking at the Bataan map all units were 100% Aggression, How many map are at the low 50%?

[gunnyjs]

I think maybe too what you all are talking about is what it reads in the Editor Manual under Secondary Objectives ---- Change AI team behaviour (offensive/defensive/exit map/...) --- so one can have a scenario where some of the units attack aggressively and some do not and then have some that simply have a high entrenchment value and just sit there. I'm talking about having them do this in an area of the map ALL at the same time have 3 different AI Teams with 3 different postures. Then have some that get activated after you start flanking. That way when the AI is doing a turn and a tank rolls up and you can't do anything cause its not your turn you start to wonder is this thing going to attack or is it touring the front or what.