Blind AI in Sandbox?

[Cardboard Box]

Here are the saves. It's a sandbox on Kansas map with no mods. Corps v Corps fight, with one objective (I used the objective to ensure the units move to the same place). The saves have 3 friendly divisions marching along 2 separate roads to the same location. The Confeds beat me to the objective first, and were able to deploy somewhat, though half their force kept marching off in another direction. I played as a battery CO to avoid influencing anything. There are 5 saves:

test0.sav: The "Restart Current Level" save.
test1.sav: Units already on the move to their designated objectives, about 5 game minutes before first contact.
test2.sav: First sighting of Reb forces. Distance was about 600 yards.
test3.sav: More Rebel forces sighted, still no reaction.
test4.sav: Units have moved to about 200 yards, still no reaction.

Shortly following the last save, friendly units entered firing distance and started to react. Hope this helps...

[RebBugler]

Tested these out and it was what I guessed, division co Doubleday was back a couple of brigades as the lead brigade plowed into the enemy. Once he entered his deployment range, about 800 yards I'd guess, his brigade cos got orders to deploy. But too late here as he wasn't leading the column.

Not sure on how to request a fix here, it's a matter of getting the top co, usually division, at the head of the column. Can't go back to the previous roadmarch procedure which would get the co up front because it was very player unfriendly...TC2M has that bug of units going to the commander first then following.

So, no solution from me at this time, least I see this issue now, and can brainstorm, or encourage someone else to suggest a solution here. Thanks

[Cardboard Box]

RebBugler, thanks for taking a look at the save files. While I agree that some of the issue might lie with the Division commander being in the middle of the column, I don't think that's the whole thing though. I ran an experiment to verify.

I setup a Div v. Div sandbox on Kansas map, no mods, one objective. This time I played as corps commander, for the sole purpose of being able to run my subordinate division commander out in front of his formation. While doing this, I noticed two issues: infantry seem to be able to outrun their commanders (the leading brigade slowly caught up with the CO), and leaders "trapped" in mass formations of their troops are slown down greatly, to the point where they are stuck irretrievably. But these are beside the point. I was able to successfully put the Div CO about 300 yards ahead of his formation, where he ran into the enemy. The lay of the land was such that a small rise hide the objective from sight until you were within 300 yards of it. When the CO reached that rise, he spotted roughly 2 brigades of the enemy, 350 yards away and moving towards the objective. He was the first to spot the enemy. He did nothing. In fact, he continued marching right towards them, until he was precisely 80 yards away, at which point his survival code kicked in and he retreated back to a safe position. None of the other brigades eacted. In fact, two brigade commanders who I also ran ahead of their units, repeated the same thing, continuing movement till they were exactly 80 yards away, and then retreating. None of their units responded. The Division CO didn't move. The only thing that even reacted was his artillery, which stopped in the road. When the first friendly infantry deployed and started firing, the Division CO snapped out of his trance and began issuing orders. Almost immediately. I think the issue might lie there.

Attached are the saves.

test0.sav: "Restart Current Level" save
test1.sav: Movement orders issued, 2 or 3 minutes from enemy contact
test2.sav: Seconds after Division CO makes first contact.

Next, I'm going to reload the sandbox and try cross country movement, and see if the Div CO responds any better.

Edit: I ran more tests with cross country movement. Things seemed to be much better. I ran my CO ahead of the formation again, to a spot where I knew the enemy would be. A key thing I noticed however, is that what dictates whether a command responds or not is how close the enemy is to his brigades. It didn't matter where my commander was, as soon as my brigades got within 580 yards of the enemy, they ALL stopped movement at once, and the CO shot off a flurry of couriers and such. Even if the CO was 50 yards or 1000 yards away, it all seemed to depend on the distance between brigade units. Maybe this is working as designed, but it seemed strange that my Division CO was literally 100 yards from the enemy, and he didn't even give any new orders. The brigades just kept marching on, until that magical 580 yard mark. Like I said, may be something to look at, or may be working as designed. Just something I noticed.

Another thing: stopping one of the brigades during movement seemed to help. If units continued to blindly trudge on, having on the brigades stop in place seemed to help snap the commander out of his trance.

[Marching Thru Georgia]

This problem has been around since SOW 1.0 and is one of the primary reasons artillery brigades can't be used. It seems that it is specific to road marching. When a unit marches on a road, it appears that the AI is turned off or is not queried as often as units not using the roads.

I clearly remember one instant when a Union column was following a rebel one that was ~200 yd. ahead. They continued this comical behavior for about a quarter mile until the Union column veered off onto another road. I made a save and reported it, but was told that is was perfectly fine behavior.