AI has it gotten any smarter??

[Uncle_Joe]

I think it makes better use of its artillery and it tends to have a better force mix, both of which make it a tougher opponent.

Its been a long time since I've played the SSI versions so I dont really know if it has any more 'tactical sense'. It doesnt 'learn' from its mistakes even within a game from what I've seen. If it loses 5 squads walking into a specific hex it will still tend to send 5 more along the same route.

I believe there might be some other optimizing in there at this point and the combination makes it a tougher opponent. I believe the pre-built scenarios can also have a better AI than a 'quick battle' since the designer can at least have scripted out some optimal paths to attack over.

Overall, I find the AI to be more challenging when I'm playing a campaign and dont want to sacrifice any of my troops. When playing the one-off battles, I'm much more likely to lose units to win the scenario than in a campaign where force preservation is my first goal and winning a particular scenario is a distant second.