"The premise for an A.I. or "artificial intelligence"  for miniature war games is to enable solo play, that is, playing the game with one human player running both sides in a conflict, but with one side making  decisions based on process steps and applicable  factors that influence what an army does."

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Read this on why Longstreet's attack failed at Gettysburg.

Initial videos
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On this page:

• Premise
• AI topics (off site)
• AI Cards, Command Valuation System and Table Markers
• Overview and Guidelines
• Setup
• Card Quantity
• Card Concepts and Table Markers
• AI introduction videos

Premise of A.I. in Miniature War Games

The premise for an A.I. or "artificial intelligence" is not new, but illuminating the potential for the Hex Command rules system bears some worthy exploration because the HC rules system has some features ready for excellent tweaking. 

Remember, the idea here is to use the computer as LITTLE as possible or not at all, which means for this to work the system must be easy and fast.

A.I. for miniature war games means that each portion of an A.I. controlled force operates by following its stated or written orders and during that action, in order to make alterations and changes,  making decisions via a question/answer process.

In all cases during the game the AI system always attempts to make the most logical move or position for a unit to get the maximum benefit in firing or cover from terrain.  For instance, if a decision would be to face a unit and reveal it's flank to the enemy, the AI decision would be to NOT make the facing change unless absolutely vital.  

It is only when a choice is presented to a force in the AI system that the questions are asked and an answer determined. Simply using common sense is the basis of AI; in this way, the human player moving the forces cannot install their own views on the situation but must allow the process to make those decisions and views localized.

How it Works

The way the AI process physically works is by asking questions in each situation where there is an option for what a unit will do, guided when necessary, by viewing process charts.  The intent is for speed and on the spot decision making. 

At the start of the game after the scenario and forces are decided, chose an order or "disposition" for each brigade unless pre-determined by the scenario (depending on the size of the game being played it could also be done  per regiment or in larger games, per division), and these orders are Advance/Attack, Hold, or Defend.  

Circumstances that arise during the game influence a forces chosen disposition just as it would if a human player was playing, for instance, the death or loss of a general.   In Hex Command, officers serve to rally routed forces and add their combat bonuses during combat when they are in proximity or attached. The AI system/player will see the loss of a general as a sea-change for further operations, for instance, even if it was winning due to a count of the number of enemy units routing versus how many of its own forces are routed, the loss of the commander would cause an immediate halt unless the game permitted another officer to be created, or if there were enough in the game already.   For instance, if the force has only one officer and at any time 3 units are routing, it is only a matter of time before those routing forces leave the table.

In almost all cases, when the AI player has 30-40% of it's units routing, it will likely determine the game is over if the enemy has only 10-20% routing.  "Over" means the order from the AI commander is Retreat (all forces immediately about face and move until exiting the table) or Withdrawal (all front line forces Retreat but back-line forces cover the retreating units successively until all units are off the table.

So with these things in mind, the AI player considers parameters such as these.  Not all the questions/answer steps may be thought of beforehand, so room must be enabled to add new material as situations are revealed. 

Premise II

The fully complete A.I. process is not simply rolling dice to see what happens to a regiment or a brigade, though that is the root of the process; the fully developed AI system which is being attempted here, considers details that comprise a unit's environment such as enemy disposition, terrain etc., in order to derive a logical conclusion as to what the unit will do.  A simple, less accurate but faster system rolls on the Command Valuation System Tactical Value for a commander; the more complex system asks questions before any probability die roll is derived.

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CVS: Command Valuation System; values for:

C-ombat (zero to 2) M-orale (zero to 2) 
1d10 scale: T-actical (4-9) A-ggressiveness (4-9) I-nitiative (4-9)

Overview, Guidelines and the Use of Cards

1. The game is to be played with no more than one actual human person.
2. The scenario does NOT have to be deliberately designed for solo play.
3. Various mechanical devices can be used to determine actions by the AI player, from playing cards to simply rolling dice based on a series of Decision Charts; but these charts must brief and easy to remember.
4. The CVS has commander values for Tactical, Aggressiveness and Initiative.  

Remember that the AI concept can skip using the Commander CVS die roll concept to see if a force is allowed to change its disposition (Hold, Advance/Attack, Defend etc.) once a commander is attached to a unit or in proximity of the units in question.  It is only when he is NOT attached that such die rolls are needed.  

The Consequences Table is actually meant for games where A.I. is not being used.  But, in our investigation, the Consequences table can still be used.

Examples of when to use the CVS: (Unit here may also refer to Force e.g. an entire brigade)

1. When a unit or group encounters a situation where it's movement needs to be adjusted, such as encountering a bridge or ford, mountain pass, marsh, or other situation where it may deploy differently than how it is currently arranged, e.g. marching down the road then encountering the bridge.  Is there a reason they may stop at the bridge?
2. When a unit wishes to change it's facing direction (NOT as the result of an enemy in sight, or being fired upon or due to encountering terrain), roll on Tactical.
3. When a unit wishes to change disposition e.g. from HOLD to MOVE, Move to Hold etc., roll on Aggressiveness.
4. When a unit/force attempts to activate, roll on Initiative. Being able to activate the entirety of a players force each turn is unrealistic, so roll the CnC die for each army: 
   50% gets activated on Red
   75% on Code
   25% on CnC.  
   Any remaining units can only be activated by attaching the commander to them or in their proximity.
5. Deleted: If players are playing the game by rolling to see which unit fires first (regardless if they moved or not), roll on Tactical.

  
It is interesting to note how the artist positioned the horses heads and necks in this painting, and General Lee's hat, a hat I never noticed before that might be woefully out of place in this setting, and in fact, is too dark, almost black or "Sunday Fox Hunting" style.

Video capture from a broadcast game of Elk Grove battlefield, 15mm ACW

Setup

• Set up a game table with your miniatures each side starting at the edge:  provide 3 brigades per side, 3 batteries and 1 cavalry unit.  
• Provide each side with only ONE commander so if the commander is killed, units can rally only if they have the self-rally ability.
• Remove any Attribute/Random events cards from the deck that can hinder the game or that won't be useful due to the AI concept (the cards are not only meant to be used with the AI concept)  The most likely beneficial cards are those that designate units with bonuses or penalties.  See the rest of this site subject for which cards can be removed based on the type of game being played.
• If there are three brigades in the game per side, designate one brigade that will be arriving later:  

When they appear can be:
a. on the third consecutive turn a force wins activation
b. as soon as the first unit routs
c. as soon as the first enemy unit routs.
d. roll 1d10 and the result is the turn it arrives.

Card Quantity and Commander Effect

To see how many cards to draw for each player, first determine the commander CVS values, then subtract his Initiative value from 10 and draw that many cards. Use the  commander value for M-orale as the number of BAD or negative cards that can be returned to the deck for that player.  

If the commander has a C-ombat value of 2 AND a M-orale value of 2, return up to two bad cards AND draw a replacement for each card returned.  This exchange can only happen once per player.

For instance, a card that says "This unit can only fire x times and is then out of ammunition" might be a little extreme depending on the size of the game and units involved, so if you choose to still use this card simply roll to see if units so marked CAN fire simply roll Red on the CnC die.  For units that might be designated as Veteran or Elite, they will NOT fire if a CnC is rolled.  In any case, all units that have a target 2 hexes or less away will always be able to fire even if this supply restriction has been given to them.

Card Concepts and Game Table Markers

Some of these concepts may be new to the Abilities Card deck:

Attach
The unit must stay with and do-as-it-does next friendly unit that enters any neighboring hex of it.

Ammo marker:

Record that the player has made the bad card exchanges by marking their side with: 

Self-Rally marker: 

Download the Unit Game Table Markers here.

Download the cards here.

Route of Retreat for the army: 

Using the Game Table Unit Markers

The intention of these markers is to follow the cards dealt to the player or A.I. player.  Generally speaking, one card is drawn for each brigade in the players force at the onset.  During the game, incidents occur that cause other cards to be drawn.  Rather than place the card on the table, use the markers provided to move with the unit.

New for Hex Command rules on this site...

Sustained Fire Bonus Markers

Don't forget to also create markers for each unit in the game that are small enough for them to carry with the unit: use these Firing Indicator markers to remember who has fired on who such that Sustained Fire Bonus can be properly applied, if that optional rule is being use.

Front and Back of the Fire Marker.  Place it on the target; remove it if the target or the firer moves.

Download Sustained Fire Markers here.

Intriguing Questions