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Strategic objective framework

 
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Strategic objective framework - 8/15/2020 10:49:55 AM   
rsunley

 

Posts: 33
Joined: 11/3/2009
From: Perth, Western Australia
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I've been musing about the AI lately and wanted to offer up some thoughts. I've read the old posts about decision makers and so on but strictly in terms of strategy I have tried to come up with an abstract framework.

I see 2 main things that the AIO must be able to do. Select, prioritise and achieve goals and manage threats (although this could itself be a continuous goal). At a lower level, there will be actions that need to take place to accomplish those things but I do not want to get to that just yet.

For each threat
Prioritise - None, Minimal, Low, Moderate, High
- For each level of threat there will be a set of conditions that define it
- For each level of threat there will be a set of actions to mitigate the threat (maintaining the level) or reducing the level

For each goal
Prioritise - 1(high) - 5 (low). Higher priority objectives are tackled before lower priority ones.
- For each priority level there will be a set of conditions that define it
There will be a set of pre-requisites that must be present before the goal can be assessed
There will be a set of conditions that must be fulfilled in order to set the goal as achieved
There will be a set of conditions that define the goal as being unachievable (which would influence other goals)

In terms of politics, there is a posture against each major/minor power
Neutral
Conquered
Contain
Degrade
Conquer

For each power/level there are a set of goals. The level can change depending on progress towards those goals.

Certain postures may vary at the start of each game, for example the AIO may start with a plan to Conquer the CW (in which case a certain build strategy is required from the outset) or merely Degrade it.

I believe this approach could build a logical but predictable opponent. However real players are not always logical and can learn from their mistakes. Perhaps by introducing some variability in the setting of goal priority you could a) keep the human player on their toes and b) measure the priority settings against the achievement of goals so that with more play, optimal priorities are more likely to be chosen. This would require some kind of report to be sent back to Matrix for analysis. So as an example if the AIO is trying to degrade the CW, capturing Malta would be a goal (towards controlling the Mediterranean) , but over 100 games, how did that affect the CW ability to achieve its goals? And we wouldn't want the AIO to do this every game (unless it was undefended), there would be occasions where the focus would be to go hard for Alexandria instead.

I continue to chew on this matter and may post more later on

Ralph


Post #: 1
RE: Strategic objective framework - 8/15/2020 4:11:30 PM   
rsunley

 

Posts: 33
Joined: 11/3/2009
From: Perth, Western Australia
Status: offline
Every unit should be assigned to a goal, but not every goal has units associated with it
A unit can have its goal changed at any time
Every turn, a unit should act in a way that attempts to achieve its goal (which may be remaining in place and doing nothing), assuming it acts at all

Types of goals

Strategic
Conquer an enemy or neutral
Defend a country/territory
Conduct strategic warfare against an enemy (including embargoes/Burma Road)
Invade a country/territory
Meet a pre-requisite for another goal
Accelerate US Entry
Decelerate US Entry
Support a friendly power
Align a neutral

Tactical
Control a sea area
Contest a sea area
Capture a hex
Defend a hex
Destroy enemy units
Conserve friendly units
Put enemy units out of supply
Put friendly unsupplied units back in supply
Reorganise a unit
Bomb a resource or factory
Strike a unit
Attack convoys
Transport a unit

(in reply to rsunley)
Post #: 2
RE: Strategic objective framework - 8/15/2020 4:42:18 PM   
rsunley

 

Posts: 33
Joined: 11/3/2009
From: Perth, Western Australia
Status: offline


Types of threats

Strategic
Strategic bombing
Convoy attacks
Invasion
Presence of enemy ground units in a controlled or contested territory
Neutral becoming aligned to or conquered by an enemy
Loss of control (or destruction of) factories/resources

Tactical
Able to be put out of supply
Ground strikes
Unable to retreat if attacked
Partisan vulnerability
Defending in clear terrain
Able to be attacked in port
Able to be overrun

(in reply to rsunley)
Post #: 3
RE: Strategic objective framework - 8/16/2020 3:43:59 PM   
rsunley

 

Posts: 33
Joined: 11/3/2009
From: Perth, Western Australia
Status: offline
Choosing impulse actions

In order to determine the correct action, the AIO needs to examine what units are available to act towards achieving the highest priority goals.

For example, if all the high priority goals are capturing hexes and there are many land units available that are tasked with achieving them = land impulse
If all the high priority goals involve contesting/controlling sea areas and there are many naval units available that are tasked with achieving them = naval impulse
However if there are many high priority land goals and only a limited amount of land units are available to meet them, examine lower priority goals to see if a combined impulse is better
An invasion may call for a combined impulse depending on number of hexes to be attacked
An air impulse may be used if there are many air units and enemy targets available, for example when DOW on the Soviets.

If due to action limits it is not possible to act towards achieving all of the high priority goals, then decisions will have to be made based on the likelihood of success.

(in reply to rsunley)
Post #: 4
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