Ai commander control button question

[Anon052]

Could someone please explain to me the function of the AI commander Button? I just don't get it and the ingame help is too shallow to be of any help.
When the button is active I see absolutly no difference to when the button is inactive. I have to give commands to the units under "AI commander control" or they don't do anything. I would have thought that if the button is active the units would work the same way as allied troops that they fight on their own without commands needed.

[Dane49]

I think you have to give them at least some initial orders at the beginning of the battle.Even if it's just a covered arc for units you just wish to defend(like units in entrenchments)

I've never had units under AI command do nothing,sometimes they do more than I would like them too.

When I play I only let the wire guys and maybe some entrenched units fall under AI control,I mostly keep control of the rest.I don't trust the AI very much except for minor things.

Also in your options settings default orders(8.08) see what your settings are.In the absence of orders I have my default setting for units to defend.But you can also have them attack or move.

[Tac Error]

I believe that you have to turn the AI commander on for indirect fire pieces for them to automatically fire on targets seen and designated by an artillery commander.

[Dane49]

I believe that you have to turn the AI commander on for indirect fire pieces for them to automatically fire on targets seen and designated by an artillery commander.

That's one reason why I don't put them under the command of the AI.

I've often had the artillery commander stop indirect fire missions on targets I considered more important so that they could fire on targets that they had a direct line of sight to,and usually those targets weren't even worth a single mortar round let alone 5-6 and the AI will expend all of its mortar ammo to take out insignificant targets.

I don't give the AI carte blanche for important tasks such as indirect fire control,I personally want to control all indirect support assets.

I had one battle where I assigned a 2 gun 81mm mortar battery an indirect(area) fire mission on an enemy force that looked like 2 platoons worth of infantry,and I was really putting a hurting on them and then the fire stopped for some strange reason eventhough I knew the mortars had a lot more ammo to spare.So I zoomed the camera over to the mortars to see what the problem was and I see them firing on some individual soldiers that weren't even a threat,but they started firing on them anyways because the battery commander could actually see them directly.

Which is the main reason why I do not give indirect fire weapons AI command.

I also "don't" set up my indirect fire weapons in areas were they have a major line of sight on the battlefield,because the mortars will fire on targets that I wish them not to and they are usually targets that aren't worth the ammo expenditure.Which is why I usually put them behind a building or treeline with limited line of sight so that they only fire "indirectly" on the targets I feel warrant the ammo expense.

I mostly want my indirect fire units to concentrate on either large infantry formations or MG,mortar or IG locations.Sometimes I may use them to pin infantry in place while I wait for my off board artillery to start raining down before they move away from the Arty kill zone.

[Flashburn]

ya indirect fire and springing ambushes...  Of you have some quite area that needs covering I give it to ai to watch out for.  Targetting I think they do as well.  They seem too do better killing stuff with it ai on that having them sit there doing there own thing. 

[Dane49]

Generally my rule of thumb for units to qualify for AI control are mostly for units I detach from the platoon for special minor assignments such as capturing or defending key points away from the main area of battle or long range flank recon patrols which I usually assign to squads that have 2-3 men left in them.

But in most battles I play the only units I mostly give over AI command to are the wiremen.

[Dane49]

They seem too do better killing stuff with it ai on that having them sit there doing there own thing. 

I don't know about that,my guys usually do about the same whether I place them under AI control or not.I think the options setting 8.08 has a lot to do with how your troops perform in the absence of orders.I set my setting for defense so that once they reach whatever far flung objective I assigned them to capture initially they will then deploy and hold it afterwards till I get around to issuing them new orders later.