Games with best AI

[Musketeer]

Which games turn based, RTS, old, modern or any other type you consider to be with best AI? Which has most adaptable, challenging etc.?

[Panzerpimp]

1) Decisive Campaigns series - especially DC: Barbarossa. When playing as Germany was pleasantly surprised by AI capabilities. Fighting retreats, counter attacks, building fortifications, delaying my advance - It's all there.
2) Pike and Shot / Sengoku Jidai. AI is more than competent. Some battles are hard to win. No easy victories.
3) Unity of Command. Adequate AI. No silly mistakes.
4) Chessmaster series and other chess/poker/draughts/Go engines. Really good analytical abilities. Better than average player.
5) Battle of the Bulge. By Shenandoah Studio. AI plays without obvious blunders.

[Musketeer]

*** We use this forum in PAnzer Corps section because there is like 10x more people ***

[Sourdust]

1) Decisive Campaign Series - I second Panzerpimp's opinion here, the best AI by far.
2) Paradox Europa Universalis series and some of the related games. Can't speak for HOI, but EU does a competent job creating an immersive feel on military, diplomacy and trade fronts. I wish Civ series would learn something from Paradox...
3) Unity of Command - good opponent, albeit with a simpler game
4) SSG Battles in Italy and related games - very dated now, but adequate AI
5) Ultimate General: Gettysburg. Great AI. Though I think they're having some problems with UG: Civil War, the more ambitious whole-war campaign. AI seems to have taken a step backwards somehow - but it's still in Early Access so who knows.

Can't agree with Panzerpimp on Battle of the Bulge. The original Shenandoah version was barely OK, the revised version is rubbish. The AI routinely abandons critical objectives, makes suicidal attacks, allows stupid encirclements, and generally does not present as a credible opponent.

[honvedseg]

I'll chime in with a few comments on Sourdust's #2 choice:

Europa Universalis III (14th - 18th Century) from Paradox seems to have a competent AI, but the extreme randomness of the events and missions occasionally drives really stupid choices. I haven't played EU4 due to the Steam requirement and gazillion DLCs needed to make it work properly.

Hearts of Iron III (WWII) had a pretty decent tactical AI overall, with a few flaws, but the strategic AI could occasionally pull masses troops from one theater to deal with a lone partisan unit in a different theater. It also had the tendency to send huge waves of armor and motorized troops through mountains or deserts, leading to massive attrition and a total breakdown of supply, THEN launch a major assault in the theater it pulled all those troops from. Basically, the AI had no real awareness of the different specialty brigades, so it would send a weak and slow garrison division to exploit a breakthrough, while using an armored division to garrison a port, and send a Mountain division with practically no inherent AT capability to attack an armored formation. Good game when the AI behaved, and a bad one when it didn't. HOI4 inherited most of those problems, and made them worse, or at least gave the AI more rope to hang itself with.

[BiteNibbleChomp]

I'll chime in with a few comments on Sourdust's #2 choice:

Europa Universalis III (14th - 18th Century) from Paradox seems to have a competent AI, but the extreme randomness of the events and missions occasionally drives really stupid choices. I haven't played EU4 due to the Steam requirement and gazillion DLCs needed to make it work properly.

I haven't played EU4 since something like 1.8 or 1.10, but it does have the advantage over EU3 in regards to Castille not eating the Ottomans and all of Africa every single game. Past that, I reckon III is a better game anyway. Less mana point rubbish.

- BNC

[Panzerpimp]

Some more games to add to my list.
I played these last month:
1) Strategic Command - European Theater. (The old one) The AI is good playing as allies, isolating and picking your units one by one. I was impressed.
2) Piercing Fortress Europa. Played campaign two times as both sides. Sometimes the AI is surprisingly good. AI retreats, blocks your advance, counterattacks when necessary. It was good.
3) Panzer General Forever by Rudankort - saw some good moves by AI, It also attacks with artillery first and then with infantry, tanks etc...