How smart are my troops?

[Mannie]

I know that different units are better at defeating specific kinds of enemy units, but I was wondering - Do they know that?

For example, if there is a huge battle going on, with many units on both sides involved, do they know what is best for them to attack? Or do I need to direct each one to the proper target? The latter may be the case, but it seems like it would be incredibly difficult.

[crakerz]

Your troops are only as smart as you are. Yes, you need to provide a great deal of direction to keep them from suiciding for the cause.

Basically, when units are created, they are in "Defender" mode, which means "if any enemy units are in my immediate sight (or area), attack until destroyed or ordered to move" by you selecting them and moving them away from the enemy (who continues to shoot as long as they are in range).

Enemies have more personality. They can be cowards, pacifists, defenders, or pitbulls.

[Pounce]

What i have observed best is to use units about 10-15 and us the terrain for your advantage.
Like canyons or crossings where the enemy units come single into fire range.

Best mix is about 6 anti tank, 4 anti infantry and 2 cyclops (they are not designed to work against moving targets but 2 of them deal a lot of damage over long range, so you have 2 units extra dealing damage where others can't move near.

The computer enemy is rather dumb, i can invade a base from one side with rather small force and a whole armee on the other end of the camp stays...

Other area the computer enemy lacks is ressources, its rather easy to hunt down enemy bullpubs and collect all the ressourses, letting the enemy run dry...

[Mannie]

Yeah, I noticed the enemy being dimwitted in that way.

As for my units, it's just so hard to direct each one to their fullest potential when you're being attacked constantly form all sides! I guess that's just one of the expected characteristics of the game.

I wonder how long my screen is going to hold up...

[Luke]

If you're finding it tricky directing fire, especially in a critical firefight you know you have to win, try slowing the speed right down. Gives you more time to think and select targets. Or is that cheating? Particularly useful at start of M10...mind you, haven't quite got through that one yet.

[claxbane]

I thought I would point out one more thing. It's not always best to have each unit attack another unit that is weak against it. Sometimes it is more important to take out an enemy unit which is extremely effective against your units. For example....If you have a large group of rocket troopers and you come across an enemy that has a bunch of Hydras and a couple Liberators, you would be well advised to knock out the Liberators first. This is one of the reasons we decided to do it the way we did.