Slitherine

Few eyebrow raising situations that have me thinking that perhaps the AI doesn't use LoS?

- AI seems to to know combat calculations on radar blips. I have a Bf109 and a Bf110 traveling through the FoW, AI's fighters always attack the Bf110 in a deliberate and suspicious manner, even if it's the target further away.

- AI responds to unknown threats to its supply centers. I send a Fallschirmjaeger to an unguarded supply center and I'm tailed all the way there by enemy units, despite never being in LoS.

- AI seems to know the location of concealed units. This was probably the most frustrating and ridiculous moment I've had with OoB so far. I had an artillery unit 2 tiles away from a victory location, and within range (but out of LoS) of an enemy infantry unit. It was guarded by a concealed infantry unit of my own, but I decided to move it away because 1) the artillery was out of LoS and 2) the infantry should go for the victory location. Instead, it moves through the victory location to attack my artillery. "Alright, it must have made an aggressive move through the victory location and happened to get lucky". I reload a save to test and leave the concealed infantry where it was. Enemy infantry decides to just settle for the victory location. I have never seen the AI stumble into an ambush the way I'm so apt to do, even on maps where they're attacking.

I only have about ~12 hours with OoB so far, but I'm getting pretty frustrated with how the AI behaves. I can somewhat forgive 1 strength 0 efficiency units going on suicide missions to cut my supply, but if its not even playing by the same rules as me I may have to reconsider how much time I spend with this game.

Hi Kolaris, a lot of things depend on factors like what difficulty level you're playing at, and what specific scenario you're playing, because the AI's aggression level and experience can vary a lot depending on how the scen creator set everything up.
Maybe you could let us know the details, and also throw in a few screenshots for us to scrutinise?
Meanwhile-
1- Artillery gives away its location even if fired when out of LOS of an enemy unit, so it's quite possible an AI unit decided to go after it.
2- Regarding AI fighters attacking the Me110 instead of the 109, the 110 is a fighter-bomber and can inflict more damage on ground units than a fighter, so it makes sense for the AI fighters to attack the 110.
3- I'm not sure what you mean when you say your Fallschirmjager was "tailed" by AI units.

You can study some basic instructions for AI ground unit orders here:
http://www.slitherine.com/forum/viewtop ... 74&t=91926
There is some kind of detection for ground units sometimes, but not exactly the positions in land combat. The AI is also easy attracted to flags and supply points if these aren't under AI ownership. It all depends on the "AI Task" settings done for the scenario.

I'm still busy with the aircraft mechanics. I already know that there is a mean follow-mechanic for the AI if you fly away from enemy aircraft into the fog, even if you use a 2-step movement of recon planes. The AI plane somehow keeps a 2-hex distance to the chased player-plane then. It's really strange. I still need more time to investigate all this.

The Computer Opponent (CO) does run into ambushes occasionally, like when blundering into a hidden infantry unit in a city/supply hex or attacking an entrenched infantry unit with an anti-tank unit positioned behind it, but I have also seen it stop short or not attack. I always play at the same difficultly level so, I have to wonder, is there a random factor or are individual units or factions in a scenario more "intelligent?"

The aircraft targeting and following thing is annoying and, since there is no terrain in the sky, it is definitely cheating somehow. Panzer General (and Corps?) used to have "surprise encounter" events between aircraft if you accidentally move into a hex occupied by a previously unseen aircraft. That never happens in OoB. The CO appears to have perfect vision in the sky that far exceeds what the human player has access to.

Regarding the CO "tracking" a hidden unit moving through occupied territory: You can do the same, just watch the territorial boundaries: if they start moving there is a hidden non-recon unit there.

Also, as a previous poster explained above, artillery gives away its position when it fires. You can do the same but it is hard to recall the exact hex the enemy artillery unit fired from especially since it appears -- and disappears -- so quickly.

In summary, I believe that the CO does use the same LoS rules that you do -- except when it comes to air combat.

DeathMutant wrote: ↑Sat Jun 15, 2019 3:13 pm...as a previous poster explained, artillery gives away its position when it fires...but it is hard to recall the exact hex the enemy artillery unit fired from especially since it appears -- and disappears -- so quickly.

There's a way round that..-
In this top pic the enemy Italian arty is invisible because it hasn't fired, so before you click to end your turn, zoom out a bit so you'll be able to see it when it fires in its turn, then end your turn.
Now when the arty fires and appears briefly on the map (second pic, circled), HIT YOUR SCREENSHOT KEY (PrntScrn or a Fraps-type app).
Then when your next turn comes around you can minimise OOB and go look at the screenshot you just took and note the location of the arty, and go back into OOB to bomb it or whatever.
I suppose the screenshot method could be called cheating and I never use it myself, but as some members have mentioned, the AI enemy sometimes seems to cheat against us in some situations, so perhaps we can morally give payback.
"If somebody messes wid me, I'm a-gonna mess wid him"- Al Capone






Now that we know where the invisible arty is, we can send a bomber to bomb it like this, note the arty icon appears when the bomber is over it-





Alternatively, we can order an arty unit to fire into an invisible arty's hex like this Sexton is doing-