Shun Games

AI Thinking Routines

Overview

Four layers

The computer opponent’s decisions are divided into four layers. The higher the layer, the wider and longer its view; the lower the layer, the closer it is to the single move at hand.

Layer What it decides Time span
Strategy What to achieve, which ground matters, and how to win One game (reviewed only occasionally)
Operations Where to commit forces, and how many: the line, the main effort, the reserve Several turns
Tactics Which hex this one unit moves to One unit, one turn
Combat How this one combat is fought: who attacks whom, and in what order One combat

Above these sits a setting that does not look at the board at all: the opponent’s personality.

How the layers connect

Artery (orders from above); thicker means more traffic Vein (reports from below, requests for review)
Strategy whole board · seldom Operations several turns many units Tactics one unit · each hex Combat each engagement Headquarters Per sector: hold or strike Phases: prepare, break through, encircle, close Opening Plan Way to win; hurry or not Sets the order priority Reviewed only on events Path to Victory Hold or advance Points short; must-take Recomputed every turn Reading the Map Weight of VPs and supply Bridges and defiles Enemy-development map Reading the Enemy Enemy intent; main axis Estimated personality Posture (Personality) Aggressive, cautious, etc. Adapts to the enemy Passes down coefficients Main Effort Anchored main axis Pinning · transfers March · breakthrough Foundation · Line Posts · filling the line Wings · ZOC seal · rivers Gap filling · breach hunt Decisive Rules Sudden death hunt/guard Exit · blocking · chase Infiltrator hunt Objectives Key points (orders) VP ladder · patrols Riposte · supply points Situation Sector tiers · last stand Counterattack · delay Surprise · withdrawal Reserves Graduated commitment Threatened sectors Mobile reserve · 2nd line Order Ledger — reads every assignment and settles one order per unit Follows the priority list (immediate win or loss first) and decides a single destination where orders overlap. Vein: an order the unit could not close on for two turns is withdrawn and the next one is issued. Outside the ledger (moving by posture): retreating units · hidden surprise force · the commander in sudden-death scenarios · escorted units. ① Orders Drive forward (close with the enemy) · narrow to hexes that approach the order ② Safety Keep retreat lanes open Avoid encirclement risk ③ Lookahead Veto · seize · Monte Carlo (dormant by default) ④ Evaluation All terms of the move score Terrain · ZOC · influence · role ⑤ Whole Plan Post-move repair · stacking Activation limit · guards Attack Planning (bridge) Before moving, converge 2–3 units for 2:1 or better Reaches the ledger as an "attack" order Declaration Expected-value grouping · soak-off attacks Rebalancing · demotion · MUST ATTACK repair Reads only aggression and posture from above Resolution Best odds first · trapped targets Retreat hexes · advance to close a ring Main sector · phase Priorities Half of line orders stalled → plan review Reversal Hold or advance Exit · sudden death Must-take hexes Value and the development map Enemy intent Coefficients only Selects the posture Assigned destinations One order per unit Unreachable · reason stopped Move selection: the single route every move passes through. Each checkpoint passes or stops candidates and records why. Declare after moving

Solid red lines are orders flowing downward (arteries). Dashed blue lines are reports flowing back up (veins).

  • Strategy is decided seldom. The way to win is chosen at the start of the game and is reviewed only when an event reverses the situation.
  • Operations carries out one strategic decision, reliably. Several mechanisms (the line, the main effort, the reserve, detachments to key points) each propose a destination for units. The order ledger reads all of them and hands each unit exactly one order.
  • Tactics passes every move through every checkpoint. Candidate hexes are narrowed to those that serve the order, checked for safety, scored, and finally reviewed against the plan for the whole army.
  • Results return upward. An order a unit has failed to close on for two consecutive turns is withdrawn and replaced by the next one. When half of the orders for the line cannot be carried out, the plan itself is reviewed.

Capabilities, not unit types

The thinking routines never treat a unit as “infantry”, “cavalry” or “artillery”. They look at range and movement allowance. Terrain, likewise, is read by the defensive multiplier of the hex and not by its name. When a scenario changes the names of the troop types, the same routines continue to work unchanged.

The need to attack and the means to attack

Whether to attack is settled by two separate measures.

  • Need: victory points and the turns remaining. The further behind and the shorter the time, the harder it presses.
  • Means: the ratio of forces. With superiority it leans toward the offensive; when inferior, toward defence or delay.

When the personality is set to Auto, need is read first. In a position where holding is enough to win, it does not attack even with superior forces. In a position where it loses unless it breaks the enemy, it does not fall back on defence even when inferior; if it cannot win frontally, it goes for a flank.

One player turn, step by step

  1. Apply the side’s personality and settings.
  2. Read the victory conditions and work out whether holding wins or whether ground must be taken.
  3. Read the map (the weight of victory points and supply points, bridges, defiles) and the enemy (how far he can reach, where he is heading).
  4. The operational mechanisms propose posts on the line, the main effort, the reserve and detachments.
  5. The order ledger settles one order per unit.
  6. Each unit chooses its move through the checkpoints.
  7. The movement plan of the whole army is inspected, and dangerous moves and gaps are repaired.
  8. Combats are declared: who attacks whom.
  9. Combats are resolved: order of resolution, retreats, advances after combat.

Design principles

  • Natural flow. A move that looks wrong to an experienced wargamer is a sign that some mechanism is broken. The naturalness of what happens on the board is corrected before the win rate.
  • The line first, objectives second. Zones of control exist to prevent outflanking and encirclement, that is, to form a line. The opponent does not try to guard every victory point; it draws its main line where it can assemble troops first and hold as a line.
  • Concentration, breakthrough and encirclement, not a general offensive along the whole front. The place to attack is the place where one’s own forces can be concentrated.
  • Every mechanism must actually fire. Mechanisms are written to act for certain once their conditions are met, not as faint bonuses whose effect cannot be observed.
  • If it cannot be fixed, remove it. A mechanism that two attempts fail to repair is taken out.
  • Measure. Each time a mechanism is added, the side with it is played against the side without it and the results are compared. Those that failed the test are not deleted; they are kept on the Dormant shelf and appear in the list of routines.