custom A&A to model AI warfighting

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I'm modifying Axis and Allies principles to learn realistic war strategies against AI. It will realize any human can turn it off as soon as we blunder into enough AI R+D.
My 1st world board wasn't realistic; Russia (few robots) vs AI (USA). Generally Russia took Japan and Europe and won often by invading the West Coast. AI often got a navy able to jeopardize W.Europe, Germany and Moscow from the Mediterranean and Black seas. Vladivostok usually beat LA or a factory in Alaska to Japan.
I've played two games with more realistic rules using a southern Ontario secondary manufacturing base Atlas map for now (Que has few airports). I've given AI at least one hacked factory city/turn. Humans with only sounding rockets as land forces unless technology. It isn't as playable as an A&A game without infantry as a wave of robots and single rockets tends to be the robot strategy:

1) Off the bat I didn't place two fighter jets over half the factory cities. The AI quickly won factories and production $ after an ON fighter attacked 3 robots over T.O. and lost.
2) I place a fighter and rocket over Ottawa and Hamilton or T.O. and was able to quickly recapture the Horseshoe when hacked. AI won Windsor and took the local towns up to London. With ON fighters at the Horseshoe it never held anywhere east long enough to produce. ON mobile 3d printing wasn't used but ON did research exo-suits (protection from small arms and chemicals) and was able to retake London and west. I had total production capital at 129 and fighters costing 30. The AI R+D made EMPs but without a fighter, it wasn't able to get its sounding rockets east of London. IDK if it would've been wise for AI to EMP Hamilton. AI's last gasp was to double robot speed by trying to R+D a car hack. A Rocket and fighters attacking at 2 won the exo-suit vs robots battles with the latter defending at 1.

With a Great Lakes map or Baltic Sea I'll get good naval battles with mini-subs and platforms. I might not be able to make a realistic MB-ND scenario. Quebec's lack of airports taught me the important of 3D printing helicopters and VTOL planes. The secure printers should be placed away from robotic cities. AI in Ottawa Montreal and Toronto is a problem as these are air-hubs; I doubt there are ten airports in the USA 200km from factories. Thus VTOL should've been the F-35 imperative. I'm not sure if a robo-tech mini-sub can really traverse the French River to reach North Bay. All USSR wanted at worse was fake neurons as leaders identified themselves as workers with Q-of-L. Isn't much but is better than technology profit motivation. I'll figure an inertia measure when I'm ready for a political board game.
 
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I've cancelled the hack(s)/turn if AI gets T.O. I've limited hacks after the 1st turn to one factory. Without communications being cut up we are all dead. There is a lack of big airports around southern Lake Huron. Canadian forces are presently cutoff if the Horseshoe is lost. Personal VTOL planes or helicopters may be a solution to this. They could be fitted with one or two missiles. I'll eventually turn rockets to single use 1/2 missiles for helicopter use. I suspect Toronto is about to become the 3rd North American target that may need to be nuked with LA and Boston joining them in the next few years. Fires will deactivate many sensor technologies; I'll create an urban map as soon as I figure out how to account for reinforcement from without. Civil aircraft positioning uses hackable techniques and these will be key for an urban map.
I've twice almost lost all 5 HQ with North Bay and Trenton being hard to get if AI takes Ottawa. 3D printers are important for humans to fighter attack distant targets and take smaller cities. The is a need for a bigger airport around Kitchener. There is a need to locate all assets including gvmt away from factory cities. Sarnia is a key point in attacking and defending Windsor. A good chunk of Ottawa should be relocated to the Prairies. A key R+D centre is a quiet building in Ottawa that can invent entangled radiowaves to observe metres below the ground assuming good weather. This should be away from robots. I've often had one side with Windsor and Ottawa and the other in the Go Stations. AI is tending to win with robot numbers while humans win with technology.
 
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I 1st integrated part of Michigan and Ohio. Don't have a good southern L.Erie map so can't add Cleveland as it would be too hard to attack. And now have added the Quebec map. The game is fairly realistic. Had to ignore the Trenton airport to give robots a chance to breed and Uxbridge in 1981 was not an industrial centre but might now be a 2. Already enough Horseshoe Production. I also have an Asia and a Baltic Sea map. Naval warfare is the worst part of Nectaris so will give thought to the naval units to make it playable.
My last game was good. AI hacked TO. The Hamilton fighter strike was weak enough not to even keep Oshawa a bit. So ON took Detroit and Montreal. The AI robot attack towards Mtl was stopped south of Ottawa. It was an even game with ON getting fighter attack 2x and then getting exosuits and starting to win. Sarnia fell repeatedly. Lake St.Clair is good if you get platforms to base a rocket. Then losing AI got the car hack and a 3D printer shift. Its robots that turn were stopped at Mtl, but one at National Guard (north of Detroit) swept through undefended Detroit and Windsor. The counter-attacks from Toledo and Sarnia were ineffective against superior production. A 3D printer would appear next to Mtl in two turns along with robots. AI tends to fight with Detroit or Mtl. Hacking Toronto first turn is tough as I give humans two fighters the 1st two turns, and T.O. gives you 3 robots and a rocket.
This is a more playable board game than everything but two Nectaris multiplayer maps. But I'll give WINNER a chance with two computer turns and ROCKIN is also recommended for beginners. I suspect military computer sims are more realistic but are only presently tuned towards nuclear war tactics against Russia and maybe China.
 
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Finished with the ON/AI map and am playing a Baltic Sea map. Had an epic battle with Quebec City being defended by 12 robots(1) and a fodder heli, and attacked by 9 fighter jets(2). The count got down to 3 to 5 and the 3 jets smoked the 5 robots. And then a never-ending game where the car-hack tediously led to towns being swept back and forth. AI got EMPs and got Windsor, but one exo-suit on Detroit defended against two robots. ON needed EMPs and to get close to Toronto from Ottawa. Tie. I revamped the technologies and gave Russia 53 production against two AI hacked cities across Europe. I've added carriers,destroyers and made subs a technology. Russia tends to win the naval battle by buying destroyers and shelling Scandinavia and Hamburg. AI goes for Germany and tries to sweep through Eastern Europe. I didn't use technology well one war and put a 3D printer on Hamburg with 3 fighters and a rocket, and robots took it out, instead of hoping through neutral European cities. It is tough to know whether to choose rail guns(2x attack) or lasers (attack all) when given the sea and land tech or air tech. I've added one jeep per turn build with land rail/lasers. It is meant to be the one GM truck created that can swivel its wheels and thus reverse while hitting robots. All the fighters/drones are VTOL. There is no shortage of airports in Europe, though the bomber tech is weak given a lack of Russia fodder. My best war turned on one fighter attack an AI robot on Warsaw. The fighter lost, and a naval battle raged along with a budding land one. That single robot metastasized into a dozen eventually threatening Moscow and winning. Russia generally shells Hamburg and wins. AI builds two dozen robots and sweeps into St. Petersburg or Moscow. It is two turns to get to Malmo-Oslo from Hamburg, so Russia often has a chance to defend or make technology. When one early robot is in a (4) Eastern Europe city, it is hard to know whether or not to go for it with a fighter or (8)Helsinki, which gives you two fighters built a turn(61). There is more diversity in the Baltic Sea war as there is a "U" shape front vs the straight line from Toledo to Quebec City. It is often hard for AI to know whether to defend Berlin, or the land around it, or take little towns, when there are fighters in Scandinavia.
I forgot Military Madness for NES. Not taking the HQ and giving them 14-16 aircraft with yourself 2-3 is a good game. Attacking is tedious needing to refuel.
 

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