AI Overseas transport + Escort
We will take a scenario here to use as an example. We will have the AI control Italy and focus on it. Italy joins the war, and is now at war with the UK and France, in a 1936 scenario.
This gives Italy several “fronts” that now need to be defended. This should be any AI countries first aim, to send sufficient forces to each front to ensure that it is defended. How this is decided shall be discussed elsewhere alongside how the battlegroups should be comprised.
Italy, however, has 3 primary “fronts” (we will ignore Somaliland for now), these are:
1) The border with France in Italy's north west
2) The border with the French colonies in Italian Libya (west side)
3) The border with the British colonies in Italian Libya (east side)
Before going on the offensive, the AI should make sure each of these fronts has sufficient defensive forces as can be provided. The AI should ideally be able to construct battlegroups with a mixture of units, and then deploy these to each of these fronts.
The battlegroup(s) that go to the border with France have a rather easy time of getting there, as it is a completely overland route.
However, the other 2 fronts are overseas, and this means they will have to cross potentially hostile seas to get there.
The AI should be able to realise that there is no valid land route between Italy and its colonies, and therefore should know it has to go by sea. The AI should then pick a new path. The following steps should apply:
1) Find the nearest port to the front it is being deployed to. (lets say Tobruk)
2) Find the nearest pathable via land port to the port selected in step 1. (lets say Taranto)
3) Move the battlegroup to the port, or nearby.
4) Once the battlegroup has assembled at the location (although it could happen I suppose whilst they are going to the location), then another battlegroup should be created, but of ships that will form an “escort” to the battlegroup whilst it is being transported (whether this ends up using the existing MM, or some other method).
5) The escort battlegroup will move to nearby the port that the land battlegroup is assembling at/near.
6) Once both groups are assembled at the correct location, then the land battlegroup will begin its transport via sea. This battlegroups existence must be remembered through this transformation.
7) Once the land battlegroup has been converted to its sea transport state (MM), then the escort battlegroup will have ships given the “escort” command to random MM's from the land battlegroup. Additionally, the 2 groups speed should be tied to the slowest moving units speed somehow if that is possible.
The force is then moving from A (Taranto) to B (Tobruk)9) Once the land battlegroup has unloaded at Tobruk, then the escort battlegroup should move back as a single group, and then go back into reserve.
10) The land battlegroup moves from the port (Tobruk) to the frontline and odes its defensive thing.
Do note, that this should apply to any battlegroups that need to go abroad, and not just the defensive one that I've mentioned here.
Now, there are several “catch” conditions that need to be covered:
1) Tobruk falls before the battlegroup arrives – should the AI force the port? Or should it try to get closer and if its still in enemy hands, redirect to the next nearest friendly port? Or simply turn back home with its escort?
2) The convoy gets interdicted – should the escort battlegroup all break off and fight the raider before returning? Or should it stick with the ships its escorting the whole time as they should be moving together pretty closely.
3) The convoy spots an enemy ship/battlegroup – same as the above.
4) The escort battlegroup gets attacked whilst forming up/whilst waiting for the land battlegroup – should the escorts continue to form up? Should they pick extra escorts from the reserve?
5) What happens if a MM gets sunk? The AI ships assigned to escort it should be given escort orders for another surviving ship within the MM battlegroup. If none exist then the escorting battlegroup should return to reserve.
So, how should the AI define a defensive battlegroup?
Ideally, a defensive battlegroup should be a good balance of various units, from Infantry, to anti-tank, to artillery and AA.
The AI should probably ignore the motorized troops/tanks, unless they absolutely need to use them because they have nothing else to use in their reserves.
So, how should the AI define an escort battlegroup?
Ideally, a escort battlegroup should consist of a mixture of ships, primarily from the “escorts” and “Patrol” unit types, but additionally with a small number of ships from the “Capital” group too so as to provide heavy cover. Additionally, it may also be required to add an aircraft carrier or two, but somehow the AI would need to know how to assign these in a sensible way alongside suitable aircraft (i'll discuss this further down).
The units should be picked from the reserves, and checked that they have the range to go to the other port (and maybe back?). If ships are picked for the battlegroup that don't have the range, then one of two actions should be carried out:
1) Add a transport ship to the battlegroup to provide the supply for the additional range, this ship should not have the amphibious capability flag.
2) If no suitable transport ship is available, then the ships with insufficient range should be dropped out from the pick, and another pick taken (maybe a limit on how many times a pick can take place before it simply doesn't try picking any more units)
Aircraft carriers could potentially be added to the escort battlegroup, but it would involve some logic that would pull a suitable aircraft/number of aircraft from the reserves. For choice, if a carrier only has 1 capacity, then it should pick an “interceptor” if available, and if not then pick a “tactical bomber” or “multirole”.
If a carrier has an interceptor, and sees an enemy plane, then it should move off and attack it provided it has sufficient range to do so.
If a carrier has a tactical bomber or multirole, and the battlegroup spots a ship (or maybe waits for the group to be engaged?), then it should move off and attack it provided it has sufficient range to do so.
Naval Interdiction battlegroups
The AI should be capable of realising that it needs to form interdiction forces, based on likely enemy movement patterns for reinforcements.
We will use the previous example to further push this. So, how would the UK and France try to stop Italy from carrying out its reinforcement of Libya?
To keep it short, it should basically be the reverse of how Italy decided how to get there.
We will use the UK to keep this brief. The UK shares a “front” with Libya on Libya's east side. The UK AI should then detect what the nearest Italian port is to that front (lets say Tobruk again). The UK AI should then see that this is connected to the “Eastern Mediterranean” theatre. This decides where the interdiction patrol should take place.
The AI should do the following once the location has been decided from the above logic:
1) Pick suitable forces (discussed below), and then have them assemble near a friendly port in that theatre.
2) Wait for the battlegroup to arrive.
3) Check what the minimum range of the units within the battlegroup is.
4) Pick several random points to move to within the theatre, but that do not exceed the maximum range of the ship in the battlegroup with the minimum range.
5) Send them off on patrol.
6) Once they return from the patrol to the starting location, either jump back to step 3, or place the units back in reserve so they could potentially be repaired.
If at anytime an enemy formation is spotted, then the patrol points should be forgotten, and the force told to attack the enemy formation. Once the fight has been completed, then the battlegroup should retreat to the nearest available friendly port, and then go into reserve so that any repairs can be carried out.
So, how should the AI define an interdiction battlegroup?
Ideally, the battlegroup should consist of heavy units, with a suitable number of escorts to protect it from any incoming submarines for example.
Alternatively, the battlegroup could be comprised of purely escorting vessels, maybe with a carrier to support it, which could then be used to hunt for submarines. These should be assigned a “Recon” unit that has ASW stats, or an “Interceptor” or both if sufficient capacity on the carrier deck is available.
Submarines
The above items don't mention submarines at all. These should ideally operate individually, and follow the the logic of the interdiction battlegroup, but without actually being grouped. Perhaps though, they could be grouped into small battlegroups, and then each submarine given individual paths, and if one spots a target, and doesn't destroy it quickly, causes the rest of the submarines in the battlegroup to vector in on its location and then move as a single battlegroup before moving back to the reserve for repairs.
Amphibious Assault Battlegroups
The AI should realise that it needs to conduct amphibious assaults on occasion. The conditions for the AI needing to conduct one are up for debate, but when they do, it needs to be an organised affair instead of feeding units in piecemeal, causing it to usually fail.
So, put simply, why would the AI need to conduct an amphibious invasion?
The main reason would be to attack an enemy “front” that they don't share a land border with, for example, an island in the Pacific.
A secondary reason would be to bypass the enemy on a static front, that the attacking country cannot breakthrough on, Japan did this during its war with China, and Salerno would be another example of this.
So now we've got the why, lets go through the how.
The AI must form a naval battlegroup consisting of amphibious transports pulled from the reserve. This will then define our shipping tonnage that we can use for the operation. How the ships are chosen will be discussed further down.
Now we know how much capacity we have, the AI should form a land battlegroup with a maximum total weight less than that off the shipping, additionally the units should be checked that they actually fit in individual ships.
Additionally, an escort battlegroup should be formed, based on the same information as described in in the “overseas transport” section of this document.
It would also be worth the AI assembling a fire support battlegroup(s?), which would consist of units with the “indirect bombardment” flag, alongside some escort vessels.
All these groups should be checked that they have sufficient range, if not, then assign supply ships to the relevant battlegroups. If no suitable supply ships are available, then don't conduct the operation.
The location for the assault, should likely be near a port, rather than simply assaulting the port directly, unless this is the only open for lets say a one hex island. It should be picked to be in a suitable location nearby, that when captured would also be capable of providing the force with resupply.
Once both battlegroups have been formed, the following steps should be followed:
1) Pick a port that is closet to the front to be attacked, and move the land battlegroup to that location.
2) Move the amphibious formation to near the port and also assemble its escorting force and fire support group there.
3) Load the land battlegroup into the amphibious battlegroup.
4) Issue the escort battlegroup random “escort” orders to ships of the amphibious battlegroup.
5) Somehow move the fire support battlegroup with them. Maybe also give it random escort orders?
6) The rather large formation now moves towards the location selected on the enemy front for assault.
7) The amphibious units unload onto the target, maybe the hex on each side if that is suitable too. The fire support units should stay a hex or 2 away from the landing site to prevent overloading the hex with units.
Once the troops are ashore, the amphibious battlegroup and its escorting battlegroup should move away and then head back to a friendly port and go back into reserve. The escort battlegroup should still retain its escort orders from the initial move until the amphibious group has gone into reserve.9) The fire support battlegroup should remain on station until either they run out of ammunition, or until the landing hexes have been captured, or the landed troops killed.
10) The land battlegroup shouldn't push too far out, but should dig into defensive positions and become a “defensive” battlegroup on that new front they have opened up. Alternatively, they could push for the nearest sea pier/sea port.
11) The AI should construct a sea pier, if one hasn't been captured. This will allow the AI to follow up with reinforcements using the “Oversea transport” strategy described further up the document.
So, how should the AI define the assault battlegroup?
The assault battlegroup should consist of mixture of units, including tanks if they are sufficiently light enough to fit into the available transports. The remainder of the group should be made up of infantry (ideally a mixture of some vehicles, and some foot infantry), artillery and some AA.
However, if shipping with sufficient space isn't available then the selection should be more limited, and could consist of purely foot infantry with some supporting artillery perhaps.
So, how should the AI define the amphibious assault battlegroup?
The AI should pull ships with the “Amphibious landing” flag, and put them into a battlegroup. The AI should check that these ships have sufficient range, and if not, assign supply ships if available. Perhaps the amount of ships assigned should be based on the number of ships available in the reserve, lets say 50-60% provided they are in the correct theatre?
So, how should the AI define the fire support battlegroup?
The fire support battlegroup should consist of vessels that are capable of heavy bombardment (aka “indirect fire” flagged ships). However, these ships should not go unescorted and so some escorts should be assigned to the group. Again, the range should be checked and if sufficient range isn't available, then a supply ship should be assigned to the battlegroup.
So, where are the carriers in all this?
A carrier battlegroup would be ideal for adding to the force for the landing, but it also must stand off several hexes from the landing zone to protect it from land based fire. The carrier battlegroup would be assigned at least one carrier (ideally more), and would be equipped first of all with at least 1 “interceptor” squadron to provide air cover, but then a mixture of “interceptors”, “tactical bombers” and “multi-role” (and “helicopter” later in game) afterwards.
Once the carrier battlegroup is at the correct location several hexes from the landing zone, then the AI should launch CAP patrols over the area, and if any ground targets are detected send in the bombing forces.
The carrier battlegroup should leave the area once either it is out of ammunition, or the ground taken/force destroyed.
Air forces and their use
The AI recognise some basic missions of an air force, these break down into several tasks:
1) Provide air cover above its own airfield and within its national border – this should be the first and foremost priority for the AI.
2) Provide tactical support for troops on the ground, this is usually referred to as “close air support”.
3) Provide interdiction forces, this is forces that actively hunt non-strategic targets within enemy territory such as trains and supply convoys and land based reinforcements.
4) Provide strategic attack forces, in the early eras, this should consist of strategic bombing campaigns, but later on, concentrate on nuclear ordnance delivery.
5) Forward air cover, this is fighters providing cover for ground forces/CAS,
6) Maritime patrol and attack, this involves hunting for ships and submarines, and carrying out naval strikes against them.
So, these need to be broken down into smaller chunks that the AI can work on.
Air cover
Simply put, the AI needs to provide homeland and especially airfield defence first and foremost, without this, everything else will likely fail.
For this, simply the AI should have fighters available, covering areas of the country. If an enemy aircraft is detected within the battlezone, then the AI should send a relative number of fighters to combat the threat.
If the enemy heavily outnumbers them, then every fighter in that battlezone should be deployed, with (if possible) a call made to neighbouring battlezones to also deploy their fighters to assist.
Currently, the AI doesn't update its waypoint, and so usually ends up in the wrong place. This should be countered by updating the waypoint once the aircraft is in the air, and roughly half way to where the initial waypoint was set. This should at least partially compensate for the usual time delay between detection and interception.
For this mission type, the AI should assign only “interceptors”,
Tactical Support (aka CAS)
Tactical support involves the AI supporting troops on the ground in both the attack and defence. The AI should attempt to deploy CAS aircraft to airfields in the battlezone next to the frontline, or one that contains the frontline.
If ground forces in the area go on the offensive, then CAS should be deployed alongside them (maybe use a temporary escort order assigned to one of the ground units?).
If ground forces in the area are on the defensive, the CAS should wait at the airfields, but once the defensive forces go into action, have a random number of CAS planes (quantity needs discussing) which deploy to the hex of the unit under attack.
For this mission type, the AI should assign “Tactical Bombers”, “Helicopters” and “Multirole”.
Interdiction
Interdiction is the process of interrupting an enemy force whilst it is moving, whether this be a supply convoy or simply enemy troops moving from the rear areas to the front-line. Interdiction should also involve carrying out forward reconnaissance, ideally using patrol planes if possible, but if not using the interdiction aircraft themselves.
Initially, these forces can be deployed in a battlezone next to the frontline, but this does not always need to be so. However, if patrol aircraft are available, then these should be given a random set of move orders into the next enemy battlezone.
On spotting a target, then a force of bombers should be deployed to attack the ground target, potentially these should update their waypoint if the target is still spotted once about halfway there.
For this mission type, the AI should assign “Tactical Bombers”, “patrol” and “Multirole”.
Strategic Attack
Strategic forces should attempt to attack the very heart of the enemies nation, usually this comprises military and industrial targets.
Before the deployment of nuclear weapons, strategic attacks should consist of bombers attacking targets within enemy territory with the intention of damaging or even destroying enemy military and industrial targets. The bombers should be set to ignore ground targets in their ROE, and tasked with bombing facilities.
After the deployment of nuclear weapons with a nations arsenal, then the strategic bombers that can be used for missile carrying should be assigned to the strategic reserve provide weapons are available, if not, then they should continue with the direct attack on facilties.
For this mission type, the AI should assign “Strategic Bombers” and “Interceptors”.
Forward air cover
Forward air cover is the process of using fighters to cover troops on the front line alongside CAS aircraft.
For this mission type, the AI should assign “interceptors” and “multirole”.
Maritime patrol
Maritime patrol is the act of searching for targets at sea.
For this mission type, the AI should assign “patrol” and “helicopters”.
Maritime attack
Maritime attack is the act of attacking targets at sea, whether they be surface or subsurface targets.
For this mission type, the AI should assign “patrol”, “tactical bombers” and “helicopters”.
