Medieval 2 Fort Battle Ai Problem

SS-89 · 30 Mar 2009 at 12:08

So i'm playing as the English and getting incessantly attacked on two fronts by the HRE and Milan. When it comes to defending my fort (highest tier with cannon towers) at angers on the battle map the AI refuses to budge and sits at a safe distance from my fort. I try to coerce them towards the fort by placing 1 unit outside the gates as bait which temporarily works as they move their crossbowmen forward but eventually retreat after firing off a few volleys. I've even set the battle to 6x speed and sat there for a full 10 minutes without them moving.

Does anyone know of a fix to this behaviour that doesn't involve me restarting my game with a total conversion?

ljt · 30 Mar 2009 at 12:12

Its not so much of a tactic, but more of a work around (as the AI is usually funny about attacking a fortified position) is set a battle time limit in the options before you get attacked. If they havent taken the square before then you'll get the victory

SS-89 · 30 Mar 2009 at 12:16

ljt said:
Its not so much of a tactic, but more of a work around (as the AI is usually funny about attacking a fortified position) is set a battle time limit in the options before you get attacked. If they havent taken the square before then you'll get the victory

Cheers Ill try that but I guess I might as well stick to autoresolving fort defences if that's the case.

ljt · 30 Mar 2009 at 12:20

i think it also depends upon the general too, and the difficulty level you play on. Some Generals are more cowardly and will sit and wait for you, despite him initiating the attack. Others will assault your defenses.

What difficulty are you playing it on?

Biohazard · 30 Mar 2009 at 13:37

If you are defending, and you do not ride out to confront them... they will win by time.

SS-89 · 30 Mar 2009 at 13:46

ljt said:
i think it also depends upon the general too, and the difficulty level you play on. Some Generals are more cowardly and will sit and wait for you, despite him initiating the attack. Others will assault your defenses.

What difficulty are you playing it on?

Hard, I will try the battle time limit later as I'm hoping that may fix it. It was a 6 star general so I wouldn't expect such cowardice.

Biohazard said:
If you are defending, and you do not ride out to confront them... they will win by time.

I thought otherwise since the victory conditions for assault is either to hold the main square for 3 minutes or rout all defenders.

Biohazard · 30 Mar 2009 at 14:00

iirc if you have timed battles, that stands.

Victory conditions are hold centre for three minutes, rout defenders or if the AI attacker has not been wiped out by the 60 minute counter you lose.

In non timed battles (IIRC!!), you just have to go out and fight.

However it is odd that they will happily charge a castle with boiling oil.

Inazuma · 30 Mar 2009 at 14:43

I'm pretty sure it is a draw if they sit outside and you stay inside for the battle time limit?

Biohazard · 30 Mar 2009 at 15:07

Inazuma said:
I'm pretty sure it is a draw if they sit outside and you stay inside for the battle time limit?

maybe I'll need to check when I get in.

All I can remember is, if you don't repel them when under siege you will lose. No draw, you lose the garrison.

Let me check in game before I dribble in here anymore..

ScottehBotteh · 30 Mar 2009 at 16:15

Its a well known bug. Many of the community mods have tried to cure it, but the three I have played still do it.

Its annoying if you only have a small force of decent defenders ( English longbowmen spikes etc ) and are outnumbered if you have to sally out.

simisker · 30 Mar 2009 at 20:49

Indeed. This is why I always like to have a couple of artillery units in every settlement/fortress. The turn after they lay seige, sally out... their armies will just sit and watch patiently as you roll your artillery out into the open beyond the gates.

With historically-inaccurate generosity, you'll discover that they're only too delighted to be shot at repeatedly by speeding balls of hard.

Dispatch their artillery first, so they have to spend more turns building siege equipment, then kill the wabbit. I mean enemy general.

When your artillery run out of ammo, fast-forward to the end of the time limit. Hey presto - it's a draw with misleading mournful music, and you survive for another day with at worst a handful of losses [assuming they had artillery to return fire] while whittling down their number.

Plus your artillery units will have probably gained at least one experience rank with each sally. So the more you do, the more deadly they become

Rinse and repeat until you feel the rest of your besieged troops can go toe-to-toe with the poor sods that are left.

Turn that glitch into a free shooting gallery chortlefest

Cogwork · 30 Mar 2009 at 21:05

Victory conditions depends on whether you can wait out a the siege any longer.
If they are assaulting and you can hold out for more turns it's up to them to force entry.
However, if they are besieging you eventually you will get to the point where you run out of turns and you either fight or starve.
So the game automatically starts a battle on your behalf - not the enemy deciding to assault, although it says you are under attack which can be confusing.
Now you have to sally out and rout them. They can just sit there and not have to attack - remember they are just waiting for you to starve!

Although on top of this the AI is very confused about sieges either way. If there are no obvious weak points it sometimes doesn't seem to have any idea how to assault and will mill around outside getting pincushioned.