jjdenver wrote:It seems like the AI was vulnerable to getting forces cut off. Would it help to add some AI logic to fight harder in tactical battles that would result in forces being cut off if the AI retreats? The end of the game saw lots of pockets of French forces that a human player probably would not allow.
The AI did continue its attack north after most human players would have stopped-that is true. However, that does not mean that the quick victory in the west is easy. If you give it a shot, you will see what I mean. You will be able to do it after a few tries, but it is not some automatic win just because you want it to be.
I have played this game enough over the past year and 1/2 to know I can beat the ai if I really try-but that normally takes a lot longer than 5 months.
The ai in this game is pretty good-but still not as good as a crafty human. There are very few (I can think of only one) games where the ai gives a human like challenge without absurd cheats. If this last patch enables the ai to give up war plans due to a greater threat, this ai will give a very good challenge. As it is, (or was, in this AAR) it did a decent job. Remember the situation in the east was not favorable at all for Germany in this AAR game-the Russian ai was doing a pretty good job. If I had failed to capture Paris at the last minute (and it was the last minute, and by a hair), I would have had a long way to go to balance things out again in the east.
I have tried the Shliefflen Plan many times. I'm am still not sure whether it is better to just go for a good defensive line (while hurting French moral and production) or the killer blow on Paris. To drive on Paris, even after you have really figured out the game is not a guaranteed win in 1914.
If you do not capture Paris in 1914 it will be a long war. If you just go for good positions in the west in '14 you can set Germany up for some big victories in 1915. However, even with the capture of Paris in the sumer of '15 (which is almost guaranteed if you work towards that end from the start) it will not end the war. It will hurt France, but there will be a long ways to go for eventual victory.