AI does not understand ranged combat

The AI got screwed over by randomly picked tactical map when it wanted a open map. x.x Its likely that the AI just decided to give up and left.

And i have done it to the AI too especially in siege battles where there's that huge statue in the middle with two thin lanes that allows passage through on the sides. My ranged units slowly picked them to death. Was ez cuz they just sat there and got defeated cuz I Refused to move in and get my melee cut up until they got reduced in numbers to allow for safe attack.

I would do the same too if I got badly screwed over by randomly picked tactical map, I would just give up and auto resolve for extra causalities and send in another army and try again. And it has happened to me before

And which faction did you battle? If It were yithril, they have no ranged units drawback.

I agree that the ai seems to really do tactical battles poorly. 

Even when it has ranged units, it targets a catapult first, even though the damage to it is only a couple of damage points. Why not target my spell caster or mages that have little armor? Why not target units that have high attack and little armor? When fighting city battles especially, I (and most everyone probably) target the highest melee units with least armor for physical damage and slow, terror, magical damage the high armor units.

Also, I like to knock units down unit they are less effective and go to the next one so there won't be a 70hp+ attack from one of them. This allows me to heal/withdraw units so they don't die. The AI never seems to think about keeping units alive to keep their levels up. 

This means by mid-game my armies have a huge advantage in experience and the ai has no armies with lots of armor and I just wipe them out. 

One thing I feel would help is if the "healed" units wouldn't resurrect or at least lose some experience. By this I mean a 6 man unit down to 1 man left and heals naturally over time shouldn't resurrect the old dead, but be replaced by newer recruits. Probably with a penalty for metal, crystal, etc. That way the human player won't have such a large advantage over the ai. The ai armies tend to get wiped out, the human armies tend not to. That is what causes the resource/experience avalanche that dooms the ai most of all.

As to tactical battles

The ai needs to spread out the range units! That will keep the catapult, AOE spells from doing much! Also, I would like to see the catapult/area spells be less exact. By this I mean a catapult shot, fireball, etc targeted just behind the guys you are fighting won't ever hit yours currently. There is no way to be that exact! There should be an accuracy check that could move the actual landing location by one square in any direction. If you want to go further, make a malus to defense of a unit to getting hit from behind by ranged units. That will make a player think twice before firing so close to their own troops.

I would also like to see ranged units have a lesser, but similar chance to miss and potentially hit something else. I am pretty sure most melee troops would not like arrows flying past their shoulders when engaged with an enemy!

Obviously, as the original poster stated, it needs to do a calculation that if the other side has more range units with higher attack then it needs to go berserk and charge. Perhaps when it is "outgunned" by more than 1.5 to 1 in strength?

Yes, it was this faction, but the issue is not really if they had ranged units or not but them sitting instead of acting. I would have lost this battle should they attack, their army had twice the HP my did, they would suffer terrible losses but win.

We agree with you.