swatter555
Posts: 199
Joined: 3/19/2002 Status: offline
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In my current game I have gone through October '42 achieving a major victory, but I noticed a few odd things that were bugging me about the AI. 1) I know he had at least 3 fleet carriers that were hiding somewhere. He was letting amphib task forces attempt to land whole divisions without carrier support. They lost their butt more than once. Where were his carriers? 2) I noticed the AI was starting to build up a nice bomber force, but really wasn't hitting me where he should. So, I decided to load up the game and see what the heck the AI was doing. It turns out he had 4 large USN carriers in Columbo!!!The AI also had it in its power to destroy any base it wanted to in the SW Pacific in a couple of days with heavy bombing. Yet, it simply was not selecting its targets well. This leads me to a couple of questions: 1) Keep in mind I am using the '42 scenario from bigbshipyard. Is the AI really this bad normally or are the AI scripts in the scenario messed up? I wouldn't mind starting over with a December 7 scenario if the AI scripting is better. The AI is just not up to the job. 2) How in the heck can the Japanese player work against Allied bombers in late 42 and early 43? When I switched over to the Allies I had them direct an airfield attack against my best prepared airbase, Port Moresby. I had over 80 A6M3 zeros there with a base force that had radar. They nearly obliterated it in one attack without losing an aircraft. Previously, as I was playing Japan, the Allies regularly sent over 3 plane B-25 raids over Port Moresby, that at times would not only bomb the base but kill a couple of Zeros and damage several more in the air. I was powerless against 3 plane B-25 raids! Freaking powerless. Not to mention the B-17s, which no matter how many fighters intercept, would never lose a plane. Whether the B-25 were historically invincible or whether B-17s ruled the skies in 42 without fear of loss is beside the point I suppose. I see absolutely no point in playing the game, really. If the Allied bomber force in late 42 is invincible, everything else doesn't matter. It doesn't, nothing else matters. Why would anyone want to play Japan, especially against a human being? All your going to do is hit them with your carriers on occasion until the Allies sink them and build up your bases against the inevitable amphib attacks. That's an awful lot of work to move a few of the final point totals around, considering the hundreds or thousands of hours you would have to put into playing the entire war. Your literally playing to sink a few more carriers than historical, as if a moral victory meant something. I think whoever designed the game let the Allied bomber potency get way out of hand, way too soon. I was literally impotent to stop them the minute a B-25 was within range of one of my bases. Opposed raids should not be riskless affairs, as they are here. Raiding a highly prepared target should be tough, especially when your just sending early model B-25s and 17s without escort. I am not sure what to think at this point. Having invested maybe 200+ hours into the game thus far, I do enjoy it. At the same time, my enjoyment is taking a steep dive here as I realize that the game is even more lopsided than I thought. Even if I played the Allies, its an awful lot of work to achieve something where the outcome is certain on day one.
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