[Norfleet]

The higher the independent setting, obviously, the tougher it gets. The AI is not known for his great aptitude towards developing a strong SC, so he only really does well with pretender combat when he picks a mean basic chassis, such as the Bulls. Just as often, however, by the time you actually MEET the AI's pretender, particularly if he's an SC pretender, you find him a slobbering wreck with 8 or 9 afflictions that render him completely useless. It's not uncommon to see him in the Hall of Fame with a half-dozen crosses after his name for all the times he's gotten KIA, too. This is especially true on Independent 9. All too often, my scouts will encounter his forces ramming head on into an independent province and getting slaughtered. Then doing it again. An interesting luck of the draw effect can be observed if you watch the early-game score graphs, and just try and analyze what the ups and downs mean, and figure out who's getting their butts bLasted...and who's pretender makes it into the hall of fame on the same turn he picks up a death cross.