German AI buying behaviour
 

This is a bit nit-picky, I know, but recently I noticed that the AI seems to prefer the MG26(t) over the vastly more common MG34 in the early to mid war period. Is there anything that could be done about this? Because while the MG26(t) was very common with anti-partisan and some SS units, I think it is somewha overrepresented right now and that even puts the AI at a disadvantage a bit, doesn't it?

Re: German AI buying behaviour
 

It's because infantry units with that weapon were added after the MG34 units and are further down the list and when the AI looks for units to pick it looks from the bottom of the list and works up.

However, there are a number of units/formations that use that including Ost infantry, regular infantry and SS so perhaps you could be a bit more specific as to WHICH of these types you think are showing up with it too much ( and when exactly ) and then I can look at what we might be able to do to "fix" it although given the attention that OOB gets it is a bit surprising nobody has ever mentioned it before.

Don

Re: German AI buying behaviour
 

SS and Ost troops are fine imo, as these used second line equipment more often. However, for testing purposes I loaded up a June 1941 battle with the AI buying my stuff 10 times and the AI chose the MG26(t) for the infantry squads of the first company every single time. The first three squads of every platoon had it, the 4th squad usually got the MG34. In my opinion that is quite weird and unhistorical for a frontline Wehrmacht unit.

Re: German AI buying behaviour
 

The units with the foreign LMG should be X1 radio codes (rare), with the MG34 units mainly X0 and perhaps X2, with X1 only being used for rarities.

However, in that particular time frame, the MG34 elements are all X1, and the foreign LMG are X0 (and nearer the end of the list too), which returns the results you are seeing, ie 180 degrees from the expected.

Unit #323 should probably be an X0 radio code, #723 the same to make the MG34 sections a reasonably common pick for the AI buy.

#545, #558 and (outside this period of time) #728 should all have X1 radio codes. #728 should never have been an X2 code.

Andy

Re: German AI buying behaviour
 

NB - Moved thread to TO&E section since it is an OOB problem (wrong radio codes).

Andy

Re: German AI buying behaviour
 

If you don't PBEM making the changes Andy suggested will modify the AI's buying habits so that the MG34 shows up normally and the MG26(t) will revert back to being rare

Don

Re: German AI buying behaviour
 

I suppose I can change that with the mobhack program? However, when I change something in there, it always reverts it right back.

edit: Nevermind, figured it out. Next time I read the manual beforehand ;)

Re: German AI buying behaviour
 

That mobhack program is awesome. Now I can also fix some other grievances of mine, like German automatic rifles being available to early or Finns not having access to the DP despite it being their standard lmg in late war.

Re: German AI buying behaviour
 

...and which "German automatic rifles" would that be ?

Don

Re: German AI buying behaviour
 

For one thing the G41, which is available in 6/41. I pushed that date back to late 1942, when the first specimen reached the frontline. I also moved the G43 back to 1944, because only about 50 were delivered in 1943. I also removed the FG42 from the main rifle slot of some FJG units, as this rifle was more used as a squad support weapon. I left it in the lmg troop.
I also gave the later finnish troops the DP. To mix up the rather bland Soviet setup a bit I added rare weapons like the PPD38, PPD40, AVT40 and for late 1944 maps the M44 Carbine. I also removed the SVT38/40s from later squads because the weapon was slowly phased out after 1942.
Obviously this stuff is mostly cosmetic and has no real effect on gameplay, just some fine tuning and personal preference.

Re: German AI buying behaviour
 

Both the Mauser and Walther version of the G41 entered limited production for field trials in 1941. After the field trials the Mauser design was rejected and the Walter design was adopted in December 1942.

There are two ( 2 ) units issued that weapon in the game and both are rare picks and only one ( 1 ) infantry unit has it available in 1941 which fits their actual use and availablity on the battlefield

Don

Re: German AI buying behaviour
 

Oh I thought trials meant they shot it on a range or something. In that case I'll revert it.

Re: German AI buying behaviour
 

Don, what percentage chance is assigned to an x1 or an x2 radio code, and does the AI buy routine have any way of taking theatre into account? The reason I ask is I keep seeing things in various OOBs showing up a bit early, like for instance, a 6/42 Knightsbridge box, North Africa and the AI is showing up with Valentine III's when according to what I've read, the biggest armor threat during the battle of Gazala the British had was the Grant. Earlier in the same campaign the Grants appeared about two months earlier than historically.

Is this one of those scenario vs campaign needs things, or maybe just too complex to 'phase in' a piece of equipment? By 'phase in' I mean a unit would occur multiple times in the OOB with different rarity codes depending up the date.

I realize this is treading on the nitpicky ground :o You all have done great work with this game :)

Thanks,
Brian

Re: German AI buying behaviour
 

Gah, caught the typo too late to edit - in the above replace Valentine III with Crusader III.

Sorry,
Brian

Re: German AI buying behaviour
 

The percentage chance of picking rare is variable. The AI picks units from the bottom of the list upwards and if it finds a 1 for rare it will TEND TO skip it but like a lot of things in this game it runs on variable numbers so "rare" one day you fire it up may mean you never see one picked and the next day you might see one or two ( or five or six ) That is in essence the heart of the game. It's NOT set up to give you a predictable 10 % chance something is or isn't going to happen when you do "A" , "B" or "C" because that's not how it, or real life works


This is partly explained in MOBHack Help . Search for the phrase " Radio Code "

If you have issues with a units start date dig out the source and we'll look into it but these things have been gone over many times and if something IS wrong we'll fix it but be aware sources of information vary

Don

Re: German AI buying behaviour
 

Thanks Don, it makes more sense now. From what I've seen and read the dates aren't off by much if they are actually off and not just a reflection of units that were in theatre but not deployed to a particular battleground at a certain date in history. That might be what I'm seeing with the early Grants; they probably were in theatre and even issued to some units at the time I encountered them, just that historically there were no battles in the month that the long campaign generator created one.

I wish I could afford to buy the books to do more in depth digging but I'm pretty well stuck with net resources plus what I can find in the San Francisco public library (surprisingly they have more than you'd think - ran across some of Guderian's writings there). Is there any chance that in the future we might see some patch for the CD version that would let another player buy the opposing side in a long campaign?

Thanks,
Brian

Re: German AI buying behaviour
 

Another thing I changed is the organization of the "volksgrenadier" units. I split them up in 1 normal platoon and 2 assault platoons like it outlined in the September 1944 organizations. The squads of the normal platoon use a typical rifle squad setup, the assault squads use smgs and assault rifles.