A glance at HoI3

[Faeelin]

Report?

[Faeelin]

Ah, here we go:

Firstly I know playing against human opponents is the better way to get a better War, but like a lot of ppl, getting on to play a game against an opponent without getting interrupted and having to stop or go AFK is difficult for some. Thats why we play games against computers.
I also understand that the AI isnt easy like Chess programs where there are only a finite number of moves.

Having said that it is disappointing that the end games do not really materialize with the AI.

Im only playing 1.3 but my results so far:

1. As Germany I played the 36 scenario only to find when France is about to surrender the game crashes and my saved Game no longer loads.

2. So I decide to try the Barbarossa campaign, only to find my panzer divisions cannot get supplied for a year.

3. As Italy I start at '36, get Albania, get Greece take area around Suez canal. Eagerly awaits the Africa campaign. 1941 comes still no campaign. Germany has France, notice a lot of German troops just sitting there. England still intact Germany didnt try and take England. So I decide to to load my game and look at what the English are doing.....

Mmmmm they decided to use 33% of their IC to build Escorts (they have a large Empire) thats 60/192 building Escorts. They have 40 Transports and 1800 (yes 1800) Escorts already. They seem to have all HQ's in England and maybe 4 divisions scattered in India. No wonder there is no AFrican campaign.

I see a lot of posts concerning AI especially about the Major Naval powers and their failure to Invade due to supply issues. Japan having trouble taking China, the USA doing anything useful at all. I found out the UK's problem myself. I still see posts about 1.4's AI not much better.

One question I have.... is this game really only a player versus player game OR a great game if you play Cuba or Honduras. I personally bought the game to play a major power.

Perhaps someone who has played Russia can tell me if the game is interesting or challenging before I try that major Power, or should I just save my time and wait for 1.5 or the expansion?

The Dev Team Responds:

1. is solved in 1.4

Elsewhere:

Soviet research AI is crazy. If that were changed, it could make a big difference. They do not research any tank tech or hardly any infantry tech. In 1.4 RC5, I found they had 1918 infantry mostly and just recently got 1936 in 1941. No artillery tech, no brigades. Instead they had 1942-1944 land doctrines, researching even with big penalties. This kills them.

If they had proper infantry and artillery, they could hold the Germans longer. If they actual tank divisions (I have never seen them build armor and no motorized) they would have a chance to plug some gaps. They neglect their air force as bad as anything too.

Barbarossa isn't easy to model, Soviets have to get pushed back and recover. For starters, perhaps just putting up a good initial defense would be good.

The players are trying to fix the USSR. In 1.4.

[Neil]

So is this the one that makes the game playable?

[Razgovory]

So is this the one that makes the game playable?

You have to wait till they release some DLC on gamersgate.

[Threviel]

1.4 is out. Could someone with a supercomputer try it out and report back.

http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?t=468366

[Grallon]

EDIT: wrong thread sorry.



G.

[Fate]

1.4 is horrible. France placed zero units on the Maginot Line when I had 3/4ths of my army on their border. Being able to annex both France and Poland in a single month is a bit much...

[MadBurgerMaker]

1.4 is horrible. France placed zero units on the Maginot Line when I had 3/4ths of my army on their border. Being able to annex both France and Poland in a single month is a bit much...

  Guess I'll wait till 1.5 to reinstall this.

[starbright]

Tried 1.4 and it is slightly better. France is a LOT stronger now. Britain puts a big chunk of its army in France and both defend well.

War in the east is still too easy or too hard. Either USSR is beaten in the first month and never recovers or, if I give it extra manpower early or focus more on the navy as Germany, there is an unmovable wall in the east.

For the amount of effort spent on supply and theater simulation they do almost nothing. Against the AI on hard difficulty the German army should be one-fifth as effective when it gets to Moscow. Theaters should be event created and run in layers. Border layer, inner layer, core layer. The Soviet AI should keep a third of its army in the core theater.

[sbr]

There are a couple of mods that are supposed to really improve the AI

DiDay's mod adds some other things to the game I believe  http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=467

AI Improvement Pack AI improvement only http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=469

AFAIK both have a 1.4 version now.

[Syt]

quill18 is doing a Let's Play as USSR. The first two episodes run at over an hour total where he goes over research, OOB etc. It's also a decent n00b intro, I guess:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLs3acGYgI1-sN8XLKpsjLzZGxxD6cd2gp