The Wargamer

Introduction

In Part I, I described in general terms how the AI evolved in the Strategic Command 2 series and provided some developer comments about my Advanced Third Reich custom campaign. In this Part II article, I provide an after action review of a hands-off AI versus AI game to demonstrate some of the capabilities of both Axis and Allied AI scripting in Advanced Third Reich. I use these AI-AI games primarily to verify that my scripting is doing what I want it to do, but also to verify play balance. Over the course of dozens and dozens of playtest games, I have seen just about everything. Sometimes the Allies can win by late 1944 and sometimes the Axis holds out until 1946. Usually Axis falls by summer or fall of 1945, which to me is a good indicator that the campaign is pretty well balanced.

What follows is an unvarnished replay of an actual game at default difficulty levels (i.e., no production bonuses or unit experience bonuses for either side) where the Axis AI plays against the Allied AI. A brief check of the global variables in the planning DEBUGLOG revealed no special strategies in play (e.g., land, air or naval strategy). I will briefly summarize key events over the course of the game and provide several screenshots with fog of war off. Where AI strengths or weaknesses are evident or where scripted randomness needs to be pointed out, I will provide some supplemental comments in italics. For Third Reich players and others, follow along and immerse yourselves in a game a WWII Grand Strategy…

1939

Germany DOWs (Declaration of War) Poland in early September. French activation increases from 80% to 88%, short of the 90% required to prepare for war. Each German DOW increases French activation 5-15%, so France has a 50-50 chance of entering the war over Poland. If they do not enter over Poland, they will upon the next German DOW. Poland surrenders in late September, on Turn 2. Germany can sometimes defeat Poland in one turn, and sometimes Poland holds out until Turn 3 in October if the weather is bad.

October to December was uneventful, with German Army Groups redeploying west. The USSR decided not to fight over the Finnish border. No Winter War will probably delay Finland’s entry.

1940

There is no Year Start Sequence in the game, but this is a good point to summarize some annual activities. For research, Germany starts the game with Level 1 subs. No change. The USA and the USSR start with research chits invested in Industrial Technology. The USA got lucky and is up to Level 2; The USSR is up to Level 1. The USA also got an advance to Level 1 in Production Technology.

Germany DOWs Denmark in February and lands an infantry corps via amphibious invasion. Denmark surrenders. France enters the war. A Pro-Axis Coup in Norway occurs in April. There is a good recurring chance for either a pro-Axis or pro-Allied coup in Norway. Germany DOWs Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg in April. Luxembourg surrenders immediately.

Germany gets bad luck with weather in May and June. Netherlands surrenders in May. Belgium holds out until June. Italy joins the Axis in July. The USSR invades Baltic States and annexes Bessarabia from Romania in July. Also in July, a naval battle is fought in the English Channel; Germany loses a battleship fleet. Sometimes in AI-AI games, aggressive naval actions result in unnecessary losses; human players against the AI on increased difficulty levels probably would not be so reckless.

A second naval battle is fought in August; Germany loses a second battleship fleet and France loses two fleets. Germany captures Paris in August, but France continues to fight on one more turn and surrenders in September. Germany creates a Vichy French government. French colonies become Vichy, but Morocco then becomes Free French. There is a good chance any or all of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Syria can become Free French, and some variations are more interesting than others.

Hungary joins the Axis in October. Romania joins the Axis in November. Italy has been redeploying some units to Albania and some to Libya since France surrendered. Italy then DOWs Greece in November and also begins an advance towards Cairo with a couple of corps. In December, USA Lend Lease to the UK begins. Italian offensives in Greece and Egypt stall.