Unexpected AI Tactics in Sand Box Play

[Cruiser]

I often play Sand Box Style - Corps level with me in command of a division and subordinate to the AI. As usual, I was playing Hunt Them Down with Objectives.

Twice this week, I moved to the Major Objective and asked my Corps Commander for support on my flank and indicated that he should send the remaining Division after the minor objective.

What Happened:

After a few minutes, the Game Ended saying the Union had Routed.... score 0 to 0. I returned to the game and continued. Later, I discovered that the AI had made a feint to the main objective with either a weak division or a couple of brigades. They attacked and since I had my division in a "Hold" stance, they were quickly spent throwing themselves against my lines. It was a massacre. Then I ran out the clock against the objective, got the points.... Next, the AI moved the remainder of its forces against me. This was no feint with a weak force. All out attack from the look and feel of it. I asked for and received support on both flanks from Corps.

This battle raged on until I tired of it and the enemy was very nearly destroyed.

It was a fun battle to play and it was great to watch the AI march his force to attack. It used roads and really did take a while to get organized. The AI dropped its interest in the secondary objective and moved that division as well. I asked that commander to defend and he obliged.

The point of this is that this was not a fluke since it happened twice. It was the most radical behavior I have seen from the AI. Another observation is that with 100 percent agreement, the other division commanders obeyed the "Orders" I sent them. Very interesting and good fun. It was like I was in many ways the Acting Corps Commander. Once in each battle, I "instructed" the Corps Commander to "Move his Unit to the Objective"... and the Corps Commander took his escort and did as "Ordered".

This was the best unscriped AI play I ever saw in any game.

[JC Edwards]

Just goes to show you that Norb knows his stuff