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Post by vvwulfen on Mar 17, 2021 13:20:40 GMT -6
Hello all.
How effective is the AI at controlling your fleet in battle?
I would like to watch a few battles unfold to gain some experience of what tactics I should use when I feel confident to control my fleet in a fight.
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Post by janxol on Mar 17, 2021 16:44:41 GMT -6
I really can't recommend letting AI play with your expensive toys, at least that was my personal experience, which is why I personally don't use a support force. At the same time, while I technically play on captains mode for the VP handicap and using mostly rear-admiral functionality, I think that the ability to stop AIs from making a particularly expensive decision can save a lot of frustration.
For testing your fleet and tactics I'd recommend hosting a naval exercise in peacetime, your ships will be safe and they can gain crew experience.
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Post by vvwulfen on Mar 17, 2021 17:30:37 GMT -6
I really can't recommend letting AI play with your expensive toys, at least that was my personal experience, which is why I personally don't use a support force. At the same time, while I technically play on captains mode for the VP handicap and using mostly rear-admiral functionality, I think that the ability to stop AIs from making a particularly expensive decision can save a lot of frustration. For testing your fleet and tactics I'd recommend hosting a naval exercise in peacetime, your ships will be safe and they can gain crew experience. Many thanks for the reply, sir. Would I be better playing in rear-admiral mode? Would this allow me to control the main wing with support DD controlled by the AI? When controlling your fleet, is there a set of commands used to make them carry out different manoeuvres? |
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Post by aeson on Mar 17, 2021 19:07:21 GMT -6
Would I be better playing in rear-admiral mode? What mode you "should" play in is really something you're going to have to decide for yourself, but the more control you want over subordinate formations, the lower "rank" mode you want to play in. Admiral's mode gives you command of the flagship division in each of up to three formations (Main Force, Scout Force, and Carrier Force), with all subordinate divisions locked to AI control; Rear Admiral's mode gives you the option to control any division within sight of the flagship, but ships outside of visual range will be under AI control; Captain's mode gives you the option to control all subordinate divisions no matter where they are, and also allows manual control of torpedoes on ships that have them.
Subordinate formations can always be controlled by the AI regardless of what mode you're in; the main thing that switching to a lower-rank mode does is that it allows you to take control of subordinate formations away from the computer if you want to do so. There is a setting in the options menu to have subordinate formations default to AI control on Rear Admiral's or Captain's mode, or you can set AI control per division manually during battle by right-clicking on the division flag and checking the box by "AI Controlled" in the bottom middle of the window. To take control of a subordinate division away from the computer, you would right-click the division flag and uncheck the box by "AI controlled" in the bottom middle of the window.
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Post by JagdFlanker on Mar 18, 2021 6:45:32 GMT -6
i'v used the ai in battles extensively, basically it's only good when used defensively like in defensive convoy battles and escorting your invasion fleet to the objective - the ai will (generally) closely guard your merchants very well. but if you see an opportunity to go after the enemy you would need to take over to direct your ships since your escorts will always stick relatively close to the convoy
in general the ai will rarely go after the enemy so you can always put your ships on ai control until contact, then take over if you see an opportunity to go after the enemy
if you give control of your ships to the ai they usually roam far and wide if not escorting a convoy so if you want your ships to stick to a more specific area it's better to right click on the lead formation and change the role from 'independent' to 'patrol' until enemy contact, then switch it back to 'independent' when you want to take over again
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Post by vvwulfen on Mar 18, 2021 15:22:51 GMT -6
Many thanks, chaps. I switched to captain mode. Having much fun, not as intimidating as I thought  |
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Post by wlbjork on Mar 19, 2021 1:20:32 GMT -6
i'v used the ai in battles extensively, basically it's only good when used defensively like in defensive convoy battles and escorting your invasion fleet to the objective - the ai will (generally) closely guard your merchants very well. but if you see an opportunity to go after the enemy you would need to take over to direct your ships since your escorts will always stick relatively close to the convoy in general the ai will rarely go after the enemy so you can always put your ships on ai control until contact, then take over if you see an opportunity to go after the enemy if you give control of your ships to the ai they usually roam far and wide if not escorting a convoy so if you want your ships to stick to a more specific area it's better to right click on the lead formation and change the role from 'independent' to 'patrol' until enemy contact, then switch it back to 'independent' when you want to take over again Depends on which 'mission' you assign them. Core - a division assigned to core will follow the division it is assigned to. Note that each division can only have one unit assigned on core. Support - the division will keep pace with the unit to which it is assigned and will usually be on the far side to the enemy. Screen - when there is no contact, the screen will be slightly ahead of the unit they are screening, then fall back to a support position once contact is made Scout - divisions on Scout duty will be out to the extremes of control from the formation to which they are assigned to maximise visibility. Independent - will steam off and do whatever they want to. Seem to be very effective at getting themselves sunk. I haven't used the Patrol setting, so can't give any comments about that. Personally, I find that in Rear Admiral mode, running the heaviest ships as Core with lighter ships assigned to Screen or Support keeps the task force mostly under control, bar the occasional miscommunication. |
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Post by rodentnavy on Mar 19, 2021 3:24:00 GMT -6
One of the few things that actually seemed to work better in Patch 24 were support forces, they were not always great but they were not terrible as they had been in the past. I like others only left support forces on while testing for the patch but while results were mixed you expect that.
However support forces remain frustrating. For example while having control of a light cruiser division 'supported' ahem by a battlecruiser, the BC left my CLs to take on the escorts, it did however actually nip around the back and take out the convoy with its secondaries which was nice so I will count that as a win. However another example in the negative column saw a support division of battleships pass by my player controlled battlecruiser division and wander off in search of more US airpower to get sunk by. Only luck and the extreme explodey nature of inadequately armoured enemy designs present at that encounter prevented disaster as the AI side of course had its divisions working in co-operation.
I think I would recommend for new players not having support forces active.
On the subject of screen versus support, I found myself manually setting screening divisions to support and back again as the AI seems to forget how screens worked in .24 which was annoying to say the least.
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Post by JagdFlanker on Mar 19, 2021 8:14:40 GMT -6
Depends on which 'mission' you assign them. i'v only ever played Admiral Mode so i only control the lead TF
i also play battles real-time on 'FA' (fastest speed available), only pausing to detach damaged ships/engage flotilla attack so i'v gotten a great overall view on how the ai handles different situations - generally not so good early game but it definitely gets better as you get deeper into the game
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Post by JagdFlanker on Mar 19, 2021 8:18:11 GMT -6
One of the few things that actually seemed to work better in Patch 24 were support forces, they were not always great but they were not terrible as they had been in the past. I like others only left support forces on while testing for the patch but while results were mixed you expect that. However support forces remain frustrating. For example while having control of a light cruiser division 'supported' ahem by a battlecruiser, the BC left my CLs to take on the escorts, it did however actually nip around the back and take out the convoy with its secondaries which was nice so I will count that as a win. However another example in the negative column saw a support division of battleships pass by my player controlled battlecruiser division and wander off in search of more US airpower to get sunk by. Only luck and the extreme explodey nature of inadequately armoured enemy designs present at that encounter prevented disaster as the AI side of course had its divisions working in co-operation. I think I would recommend for new players not having support forces active. havn't tested it recently, but if you have limited forces in the area having "support forces" turned on takes away from possible forces you could be in direct control of so it's better to keep it off |
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