Does Athena Understand Historical Attrition?

[Kizig]

I've been experimenting with switching from standard to historical / hardened attrition and I'm wondering: is the AI able to handle it? Does she know to send depleted units to depots to pick up elements? To build depots, or prioritize protecting and capturing them?

Most recommendations I've seen are for human-only historical attrition, but I don't know if that's just for added playing challenge or if it's a recognition that Athena's doomed if you apply historical to her.

I like the idea of both Athena and I having to deal with forces melting away and worrying about depots. I DON'T like the idea of letting her off the hook, especially in shorter scenarios with no depots or bad building opportunities; I see that just leading to her getting replacements anywhere while mine sit "in the bank", unusable. On the other hand, if she just doesn't comprehend the hardened rules, if she doesn't know to prize depots and send units in for refurbishing, then it seems she wouldn't stand a chance. Then SHE'd be the one with hordes of replacements sitting unused.

I'm mostly playing WIA 2 but I posted here since I think the answers to these questions would (probably, barring AI improvements over time) apply to the other games as well.

So does Athena understand and play to historical attrition rules?

[seathom]

I just finished my first game of CW2 and unfortunately, my advice is to not use historical attrition for the AI.

After the game was over, I reloaded it from the CSA point of view and was shocked how poorly Athena handled replacements. Virtually depleted stacks stayed on the front lines and not even sitting on depots. No replacement chits for artillery and most front line artillery was in the red. 28 replacement chits for a needed 250 element loss of front line infantry just sitting around doing nothing because Athena did not prioritize sending elements back to replace or even units back to sit on a depot.

Not sure if Athena built any depots. She is good at trying to take depots away, but I didn't notice her defending depots during the game.

This is my second complete grand campaign game (the other being TEAW) and also liked the idea of both sides losing elements through historical attrition but have learned its too unfair to the AI. I still love TEAW and really like CW2, but I've learned my lesson until this issue is addressed.

I don't have BOA2, but do have BOA and am considering dusting it off and actually playing it now that I better understand how AGEOD games play. I'll probably get BOA2, but have heard that it wasn't as good as the original. If you played both, what is your opinion?

[Kizig]

I hadn't even considered whether Athena could navigate chit purchases. I think CW2 uses the more elaborate, player-driven replacement purchase system that AJE and ROP do. BOA2 is simpler, mostly they come from scripted event and some really limited purchase options. I see Athena make those simple purchases in the log, but I suspect the more detailed system is an entire extra layer of difficulty for her.

I'm currently clobbering her in the 1776-1783 scenario, me as British. She's on Lieutenant difficulty, I gave her bonuses, historical attrition for both. I don't *think* it's the attrition holding her back, more her fondness for splitting up forces maybe, but hard to be sure (or maybe French will change my tune when they appear). Her unit strengths look reasonable, as though she's reinforcing, but on other hand I don't see any evidence of her building or pursuing depots. I think I'll look when game's over as you did. Right now, I'm not optimistic she grasps how to play with historical.

I would really recommend BOA2, hadn't heard it compared negatively with original. BOA1 was first AGEOD game I got but I was totally lost without the replay feature, so upgraded. It's my favorite AGEOD so far. I love the huge area with the tiny forces traipsing across it, love the look of the map, the whole European-meets-frontier warfare. Supply and weather can be brutal, but it feels like a more manageable scale; I'm still trying to adjust to the huge forces in ROP, and as much as I'm interested in Civil War and WWI I've avoided those games on assumption there's just be too much to manage. I'd say BOA2 finds a sweet spot between being light but still engaging. I'm surprised to find I can beat her on Lt difficulty, but that just might mean it's time I took up PBEM for human challenge. So yeah, limited BOA1 exposure, but strong BOA2 recommendation.