# I'm looking for a military strategy game with really good AI **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [November 25, 2013, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-looking-for-a-military-strategy-game-with-really-good-ai/674776 "2013-11-25T20:36:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2013, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-looking-for-a-military-strategy-game-with-really-good-ai/674776/21 "2013-11-26T05:41:46Z")
> [@VarlosZ](#): > > …Going back a ways, I always thought that _Sid Meir’s Gettysburg!_ (followed by _Antietam_) had a great AI. It’s not like the computer never made mistakes, but it managed good situational awareness. If it noticed you marching troops off around its flank, it would adjust that whole side of its line compensate. It was also better than a human could be at keeping troops abreast and in proper formation, which was a big part of the game, and that ensured that it would be competitive against even skilled players. I don’t play these games myself, but I have two friends who are Civil War buffs and who really like that particular Gettysburg game. ---
**Author:** ![VarlosZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d78d45/32.png) [@VarlosZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VarlosZ)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2013, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-looking-for-a-military-strategy-game-with-really-good-ai/674776/22 "2013-11-26T05:45:04Z")
Oh, and I should add that Unity of Command meets the OPs requirement for simplicity. You should read the (short) manual and/or play the tutorial, but almost everything is explained in tool tips, and someone could totally jump right in without feeling lost. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2013, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-looking-for-a-military-strategy-game-with-really-good-ai/674776/23 "2013-11-26T08:29:26Z")
The best AI games I’ve played are those by Stardock Systems. See if they have something that might suit. ---
**Author:** ![BlueOhio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/439d5e/32.png) [@BlueOhio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlueOhio)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2013, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-looking-for-a-military-strategy-game-with-really-good-ai/674776/24 "2013-11-26T13:44:22Z")
I came in here to tout the Unity of Command game as well, that VarlosZ mentioned. It is operational scale and plays like a traditional hex-based board wargame. The AI is pretty good. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2013, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-looking-for-a-military-strategy-game-with-really-good-ai/674776/25 "2013-11-26T13:49:48Z")
If you want tactical, the Combat Mission games are OK for AI. The good part is that, being a tactical-level game with player-created scenarios, you can always find one with a situation that’s unbalanced enough to make a good fight against the AI. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2013, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-looking-for-a-military-strategy-game-with-really-good-ai/674776/26 "2013-11-26T14:20:40Z")
Thanks for the replies so far! I’m going to start with _Unity of Command_ and see how that works out. In the process of looking at reviews for this, I saw another game that looks intriguing – _XCOM: Enemy Unknown_. I’m reading that it is complex and difficult, OTOH it gets almost uniformly great reviews and seems primarily designed as a one-player game. Anyone have opinions to share on _XCOM: Enemy Unknown_? ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2013, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-looking-for-a-military-strategy-game-with-really-good-ai/674776/27 "2013-11-26T16:14:25Z")
XCOM Enemy Unknown is turn-based squad combat game. If you want to control the actions of individual soldiers fighting aliens on dynamic destructible battlefields you should like it. The battlefields depict areas around the world whether they are cities or forests. I’d guesstimate they are about a 1km x 1km area. During the battles you deal with line of sight/fog of war, weapon accuracy, time and resource management, and destructible environments. It’s a bit like the old Jagged Alliance games if you have every play those. You will have a variety of equipment like sniper rifles, shotguns, assault rifles, med kits, and quite a few other gadgets including gadgets that can capture live aliens. You also manage a base and with alien technology scavenged from the battlefields you research and produce more advanced weapons to better fight the aliens. As the game progresses you will be challenged more with more advanced types of aliens. I enjoyed the original XCOM a lot, and the new one is a very worthy successor. It also supports multiplayer skirmishes. Once again, view gameplay videos on YouTube to see if it looks like your type of thing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-looking-for-a-military-strategy-game-with-really-good-ai/674776.md?page=1)