AI allied troops slowly disintegrating on my cities

[Get]

I'm playing the "Little Model China" scenario and have gotten the hang of the game as Chen Jiongming: the problem is that the allied AI is a little wonky.

I can't complete the 'Keep Guangdong Vitality above 90' objective because the Guomindang have parked two small armies on Shaoguan and Liannan (north Guangdong) and uhhh seem to have forgotten all about them. Their morale is at zero and every turn they are sloooowly losing troops to desertion, leading to bandits and looting. Both small towns have Vitality at 1% and it's stayed that way since I took Guangdong, nearly a year ago. It's now March 1921, and I can't get rid of them.

An option to pay allied troops to move or to disband on your territory would be very helpful! Though I suppose this is a realistic scenario in the Warlord period: if your inept warlord ally parks a marauding gang of bandits on your doorstep all you can do is complain...

[Maestro Cinetik]

Yes, you have no other choice than get rid of your cumbersome ally at some point.

When vitality is too low, the district is in some kind of poverty trap and only direct supervision from statesman characters will in the long run save them.
Some policies also increase vitality.

[Get]

I see, but in that case should the Victory Conditions for "Little Model China" be relooked? It's otherwise impossible to get average Vitality up to 90, and it feels odd to declare war with the GMD whom I am happily coexisting with for the sake of two marginal towns (I'm pretty sure one is just a village) outside my prosperous core.

Perhaps this is something coming with more diplomacy options down the line?

(EDIT: On second thoughts, maybe the problem is more the poverty trap than the GMD deserters and bandits...I'll plug away with a Statesman and see if it can be fixed).

On an unrelated note, I'm not sure if the AI weakness with supply and letting armies disintegrate is also affecting their combat effectiveness. I was able to launch a solo 'Northern Expedition' with Chen Jiongming alone and a single division of 20k elite soldiers, and took Beijing by end 1921. Fengtian and Zhili Clique are only at about 15k troops each to my 45k: I wonder if their armies disintegrated on their own?

[Maestro Cinetik]

Well done!

Chen Jiongming and the GMD

The rupture is the hisorical outcome, and all is made so the player wants to throw the GMD out the window.

AIs

When it comes to supply and maintain huge armies, you will find better AIs in the 1925 scenarios,
After playtests I decided to let an edge to the player in the 1920 scenarios (it is the first big scenario new players go to after playing the short scenarios)

In manners of direct effects, most AI officers in the 1920 scenario recruit less to maintain their forces, and do not resort that much to warlord's usual tactics to make cash to pay them or to maintain them happy.

I am aware this is not satisfying for more seasoned/acute players.

That will certainly change however as the number of players mastering the game increases.
When the number of players saying the game is too easy will be significant, I will certainly make some factions more reactive (I have the Zhili Clique in mind), and/or more resilient (I have the Fengtien Clique in mind)

[Get]

Thanks for being so responsive! :) Have been really impressed with your player engagement since Cauldrons of War: Stalingrad. Looking forward to what comes next for this game or the next!

EDIT: For Chen Jiongming and the GMD, my understanding was Chen Jiongming split on both 1) support for a federal system vs Sun Yat Sen’s more top down approach and 2) his sympathies for the northern factions and communists. I wonder if that could be part of his event chain with more tradeoffs in Guangdong’s independence if he refuses to break with Sun Yat Sen :)

[Maestro Cinetik]

The main reason of the split was the Northern Expedition project.
Chen Jiongming would have prefered peace to develop the province as a model province to promote federalism, instead of reuniting the country by military means.

When he refused to finance the expedition, Sun Yat Sen decided to get rid of him.