[Eugee]

I was a big time player of the 1986 DOS game and I remember gnashing my teeth in frustration at how often I lost. I fired this up the other day just to mess around and did Mark V attack playing the OGRE.

The AI defender was SO TIMID. I took out the CP with MV3 using one of my MBs. My only tread damage was from my own ramming! I ended up driving around the fleeing units killing them all.

Out of shock I tried another run and this time instead of screaming for the CP like was always critical before, I just drove around murdering everything, too afraid to engage me. It's like each unit individually rates the risk to itself only, instead of recognizing you have to hit the OGRE with so many units some will survive to shoot the next turn. I finished that one with MV3, 1 MB, 6 SB. Just ridiculous.

I thought okay maybe the AI just can't figure out how to run Defender (even though I could write a simple logic checklist on a napkin), so I played Defender.

6 HVY on the southline, 7 GEV in between them, 8 MSL at the northline, and 10x3 INF between them. OGRE comes in at center and DOESN'T MOVE. Then it DOESN'T FIRE A MISSILE. My turn. WTF is happening? GEVs rush in and a pair of them get a 1:1 on a MB without success. They retreat out in a hemisphere to 6 hexes (as you do) with the HVY all forming a circle as well, so the OGRE has to commit to a direction. MSLs start the jaunt down.

The OGRE just sits there AGAIN, and doesn't fire a missle. My turn. What the F?

GEVs all duck in and take out the MBs and duck back out. HVYs have been sitting at 6 hexes the whole time, and the OGRE does not move to engage, nor fire missiles. Over the next couple turns the GEVs reduce the treads to M2. It still hasn't moved, still no missiles fired. HVYs move to 5 hexes, MSLs are now 6 out.

It still doesn't move, but FINALLY fires all 6 missiles. I lose 3 HVYs.

Now everything piles in. GEVs, HVYs, MSLs, all in range. Take out 4 SBs. It knocks out one more HVY and the next turn I take out the remaining SBs and it just cowers on the entry hex while I hammer it with everything remaining down to MV0 and finally finish off the APs.

It was like embarrassing. I swear the AI was better than this but I also don't know how often I played the original scenario when I first got this game.

On defense I don't understand why it values individual units so much, it's almost comical. On attack it's terrified of taking return fire for some reason, and won't move into any hex that it might get shot back from...