Mobeer
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Joined: 1/17/2007
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Don Bowen
quote:
ORIGINAL: Mobeer
Though the mining looks good at first, the AI is mining homeland bases on 21 December 1941. If mines deteriorate over time, then is this not a waste of supplies?
I'm not exactly sure the AI would know when to mine it's own ports. After all, there are mines at larger ports when the war began. And the AI does not continue mining forever. Once ports get to a certain level, it stops.
Minefield Tenders can preserve the mines, and the AI can lay more if necessary.
I think that is about the best that can be done, but I am always open to better ideas.
But remember, this is the AI we are talking about. Better ideas must be defined in precise detail.
Well how about this for defensive mining:
- objective is to stop or seriously hurt invasion forces
- need to decide where to mine and how
Priority for mining a base as a function of:
(i) value of defending the base
(ii) threat level of invasion
(iii) threat level to the minelaying task force
(iv) value to the defence of laying mines
(v) other issues
Then there is the problem item - availability of forces
I don't know what means there is for the AI to assess each of factors 1-5; I hope it does already. Please tell me it does. If not, then as simplistic approaches:
(i) Value of defending a base =
(score value to own side+score value to enemy) * (port size+airfield size + port potential+airfield potential)
It might then be advisable to add the value of nearby own bases divided by their distance, so that places like Pagan become worth defending to prevent Saipan being threatened.
(ii) threat level of invasion
Again a primitive measure:
Find x nearest enemy bases traced by sea hexes. Use airbalance (available despite FoW?) divided by distance in hexes and average for those x bases. High values are a bad sign. Average these values over several days.
(iii) threat to the minelayers
A function of the air balance at the base being defended - the number of visits from enemy shipping. Average values over several days. Low values discourage mine laying.
This would be improved by considering the danger in obtaining new mines as well.
An issue here is that if trying to stop bombardments then frequent enemy visits suggest the mining is more worthwhile. I have assumed that the objective is to discourage invasion an avoid surface combat in doing so, hence the negative rating on enemy ship presence.
(iv) value to the defence of laying mines
The biggest issue is that as mines are laid, the value of laying more mines should begin to decline. This factor needs to be strong enough to prevent the same base being endlessly mined. Similarly if mine laying task forces are enroute, their mines should be included in calculations, perhaps at a discounted rate.
Also, mines are of little value if there are no troops to hold off a weakened invasion force. On the other hand, strong coastal defences protect mines so make mines more valuable. How to calculate a simple metric here eludes me.
(v)
A few things I have considered but failed to included above:
- is the AI advancing or retreating; defensive mining make more sense in the latter. Perhaps a metric of days base held and days into war could be used, with the days into war effect being inverted for the allies.
- if tenders are available then mining is a better option as the mines can be maintained
- some element of randomness in mine laying keeps the player guessing
- if much friendly shipping is present, the risk of friendly fire discourages mining
And then, availability of forces:
Everything above tries to decide which bases need to be mined, perhaps with some rating of how important the mine laying is. I hope most of the above can be calculated by formulae based upon past turns, without optimisation, decision making or the like.
The problem area is what forces should be allocated to mining, and how should it be done. Firstly, should minelayers lay defensive mines, offensive mines, escort convoys or be under repair? Should supplies be used for laying mines, or something else? Then given ships of disparate capabilities, how should these be used effectively?
Hopefully the AI already decides this matter by itself, but anyway, this problem cannot be solved by an approach to mine laying alone. Now I'm stuck.
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