Exploiting AI stupidity :)

[bloodysmurf]

I thought this would be a nice companion to the "AI cheats and strategies to counter them" thread . I just recently played an Emperor game where I effectively destroyed my closest rival (Russia) through the use of a MPP. This will probably be old news to many of you, but I thought I'd share the story:

[list=1][*]I was playing on a pangea map, in which Russia was on the other side of the continent and growing rapidly[*]I was embroiled in war with the Persians and the Aztecs, and although I was winning, diverting all my resources to the war effort was causing me to fall badly behind in Techonlogy[*]I managed to coax the Russians into a MPP, and thus began their decline.[*]The Russians started trekking vast numbers of units all the way across the map, just to help me destroy the remaining 6 Persian/Aztec cities[*]I changed all my output back to city improvements, and the Russians take heavy casualties while I sat by and watched[*]At the same time, I moved a stack of units next to the heavily defended Aztec capital, which contained three wonders (did the same for the Persian capital, which contained one wonder)[*]As soon as the Russians had whittled down the defenses, I took the Aztec capital and its many wonders [*]When all was said and done, the Russians had captured only 2 of the 6 remaining cities, and I had surpassed them in Technology[*]The rest of the game was a cakewalk
[/list=1]

I think this is one of the biggest flaws in the AI... it seems unable to comprehend how costly and counter-productive a long-distance war can be. Anyone else have a similar tale to share?
-ollie-

[Arrian]

Yeah, the AI can be duped into joining a war from which it will not profit. On the upside, at least the AI will try to do the same to you (witness the MPP request followed by starting a war the next turn).

Also, the AI is utterly incapable of dealing with a 2-front war (by the way, many nations in history have had serious trouble with that one as well). One of the main reasons is that the AI concentrates its attack force into a large stack and sends it off to fight, leaving only defensive units at home, for the most part. That's good for a 1-on-1 war, where you want to concentrate your forces. However, when they get hit from the rear, they have no means to repel the invasion. I think their offensive force will be ordered to fight the strongest opponent, so often it will turn around if the civ that is hitting them on the other side is stronger. That is probably a good thing overall, but by the time their stack has turned around and marched back to where it was sent... the civ is probably in such bad shape that it's too late to turn the tide.

The AI can be goaded into declaring war on you fairly easily, so that you don't take the diplomatic and war weariness hit. The easiest way is to make a ridiculous demand until they hit "furious" and then demand they remove their units from your land. Presto! War. Of course this only works if they have units in your territory... oh, wait, they always have units in your territory. I got a "polite" trading partner that was SERIOUSLY outgunned to declare war on me that way. Sorry, Ghandi, you had to go.

-Arrian

[Willem]

Originally posted by Arrian
Yeah, the AI can be duped into joining a war from which it will not profit. On the upside, at least the AI will try to do the same to you (witness the MPP request followed by starting a war the next turn).

Also, the AI is utterly incapable of dealing with a 2-front war (by the way, many nations in history have had serious trouble with that one as well). One of the main reasons is that the AI concentrates its attack force into a large stack and sends it off to fight, leaving only defensive units at home, for the most part. That's good for a 1-on-1 war, where you want to concentrate your forces. However, when they get hit from the rear, they have no means to repel the invasion. I think their offensive force will be ordered to fight the strongest opponent, so often it will turn around if the civ that is hitting them on the other side is stronger. That is probably a good thing overall, but by the time their stack has turned around and marched back to where it was sent... the civ is probably in such bad shape that it's too late to turn the tide.

The AI can be goaded into declaring war on you fairly easily, so that you don't take the diplomatic and war weariness hit. The easiest way is to make a ridiculous demand until they hit "furious" and then demand they remove their units from your land. Presto! War. Of course this only works if they have units in your territory... oh, wait, they always have units in your territory. I got a "polite" trading partner that was SERIOUSLY outgunned to declare war on me that way. Sorry, Ghandi, you had to go.

-Arrian

You've probably already read this one, someone posted it a couple of days ago, but I think it's classic. In a city far away from the enemy civ, take out the defenders in the town and just let them stand outside it. The enemy civ will come marching in towards it thinking it's defenceless. When they start getting close, put the defenders back in. Then go to another town, maybe in the opposite direction and remove the defenders from it. The attacking force will change direction and start heading for the newly defenceless city. You can lead them all over the map this way.

How much do you want to bet Soren fixes that in the next patch?

[solo]

There was another thread along similar lines buried somewhere in one of Vel's strategy threads. I am hazy on exact details, but I believe the idea was to build privateers which seemed to have a magnetic effect on all AI ships, allowing them to be led into and trapped within sea zones having limited access. The idea was to open one exit, but to shut it just as AI ships started to converge upon it, then to open a distant exit and observe the race begin anew. I gathered that it was great fun watching this naval version of AI "ping pong".

Another game that can help relieve boredom is to partially block AI settlers cruising across your turf. Their persistence in trying to find a way around is of the stuff that mere humans can only dream of.

This thread is ripe for becoming a favorite, as there are so many fun ways to outwit the AI.

[Aeson]

For Expansionist Mischief

I've been playing a lot of games with the Zulu's lately, and Scouts are just plain fun. Build lots of them, and fortify one on each resource you want to keep out of the hands of the AI. The AI's Workers wont be able to build roads there, and the they won't demand that you move your Scouts. The AI doesn't even seem to notice that you're blockading their resources. Playing this way can severely hamstring the AI. I kept 8 Civs on Deity without Iron or Horses most of the way through the Middle Ages on my last game, and my scouts were never attacked. It won't be as effective with lots of barbarians though, but still possible.

[solo]

I really like that Scout thing and resources brings to mind another thing I have used. Often you will notice that an AI has a resource, but has yet to build a road to it. You can often sell them that resource for a hefty amount of gold per turn. Once importing from you what they already possess, they will continue to "deprive" you of this resource by not cancelling the deal, even after roading up their own version. This works with luxuries, too.

Another favorite I read in a glitches post was where an AI was offered 10 gold in exchange for 1 gold, and it refused the trade!