Alalia--How?

[danconnors]

This really needs some sort of sane answer. Alalia, the last area of the Etruscan league, has a total income of only 1/10th of Rome. Yet they are now maintaing a military force of 22 units. I checked the upkeep price of the most numerous of these units, the Italian spearmen. It's 80 currency units per turn. This means Alalia is upkeeping a military costing it over 1,600 currency units per turn, when it has an income less than 1/5th that. Not only are they doing that, they are bulding at least 5 brand new units per turn. Are there two separate sets of rules? One for your player, the other for all the rest of the world?? I sink 10 of their military units at a time; they just keep on building new ones. It's ridiculous.

[Captain Chris]

Its how they trick you into thinking the AI is "smart". It gives them unfair advantages.
Always has done to be fair, its just soooo much more obvious in Rome 2.

[Gengis Dhen]

Originally posted by GanjaDemon:

Its how they trick you into thinking the AI is "smart". It gives them unfair advantages.
Always has done to be fair, its just soooo much more obvious in Rome 2.

And how are they feeding them troops?

[danconnors]

It really makes it hard for me to continue to suspend my disbelief. The AI is creating armies for free, while the Romans, with over 10 times the income, are having a hard maintaining an army equal in size to this defeated power. As to feeding them, maybe mana frrom heaven on a daily basis.

[danconnors]

Went back to game; clocked an army from Alalia--13 fully manned units--completely sunk. They're now down to 4 units. I'm going to count turns till they're back to 22 again.

[x260bm]

Every faction gets a base income of at least 2000 a turn plus whatever else they make. Look at the financial tab.

[Rabidnid]

Originally posted by danconnors:

Went back to game; clocked an army from Alalia--13 fully manned units--completely sunk. They're now down to 4 units. I'm going to count turns till they're back to 22 again.

If you are playing on very hard or higher the AI cheats really badly.

[rx7t3_gio]

Originally posted by Rabidnid:

Originally posted by danconnors:

Went back to game; clocked an army from Alalia--13 fully manned units--completely sunk. They're now down to 4 units. I'm going to count turns till they're back to 22 again.

If you are playing on very hard or higher the AI cheats really badly.

Exactly! Hard is the max for AI normal behaviour. Above that, many patches are needed, if ever corrected.

[danconnors]

Got tired of waiting, landed a 20 unit force. They had been down to 5 units the turn before, but they met me with 1,800 men anyway. After I slaughtered this army, the next move they counterattacked with 800 men apparently recruited on the ocean. They may get a "free" 2,000 gold a turn, but you know when I'm raising armies I can't raise more than 4 units a turn per city. Alalia apparently raised 15 units in one turn. These units coming from nowhere is a problem Creative Assembly really needs to address.

[Knox]

I was stupid and instantly moved an army out of a small settlement. At the end of my turn some rebels took the city with 4 units. Then, what couldn't have been more than 3 turns at max they had I think 22 units. It is a bit annoying to see petty one city factions keeping up with a much larger military industrial complex.
Best advice I can give is fight every battle yourself because the auto battle doesn't factor in that 1-2 groups of cav will take down the range that makes up 70% of the enemy army and build superior units. You have no chance of out numbering them, so out class them. Oh, and of course try to drag the AI into ambushes or fortified positions, if you can wipe their units on their turn and move in and take a city the very next turn then it was like they never had that advantage.

[danconnors]

I think I have now killed every man, woman, and child on Alalia--twice.

[Knox]

Originally posted by danconnors:

I think I have now killed every man, woman, and child on Alalia--twice.

For every one you cut down two shall grown in their place.

[Thizzle]

It's a cheap trick to make you think the AI is not retarded.

[danconnors]

Got it; they're weeds.