Hmm, I see the AI is still hanging around. It is as though they are mocking some of you "vets" who said the AI would be easy to defeat and stupid. It seems at least some players are playing whack-a-mole with a few of them. I check one turn and they are down by so many provinces, next turn, they are back up.
Aside from the artistry of Gandalf, the AI does have something going for it:
1. It can "think" and analyze all possible moves far faster than any human player. This gives it the ability to do a 100 province turn with all the micromanagment in seconds whereas even the best vets might need several days.
2. It doesn't need to sleep, eat, doesn't get tired, has no real life issues to worry about. It is relentless in the extreme.
3. I don't know the precise programming logic behind the AI's actions and what is actually filtered from it "such as unscouted provinces", but since it is the AI, it has the potential to "know" everything already, including every move you make. Sorta like playing chess with another player than can read your mind.
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IMPERATOR·CAESAR·LVCIVS·SEPTIMIVS·SEVERVS·PERTINAX·AVGVSTVS·PIVS
Be harmonious, enrich the soldiers, and scorn all other men.
-Emperor Septimius Severus, to his sons shortly before his death, quoted in Dio Cassius (77.15.2).