Hey, I’m perfectly happy to answer snarky questions! Lord knows, I’ve posed enough in my time, it’s only fair. :) But to answer your question – it’s an easy and ultimately short answer, but bear with me while I get there – let me explain why I was* playing Age of Wonders 4 the way I was playing.
I’ve been exploring games that straddle the strategic and tactical layers. Master of Orion (by way of the Remnants of the Precursors remake). The X-coms and Phoenix Points, and Marvel’s Midnight Suns Dorm Life Simulator. Creative Assembly’s Total War games are another example. These are all comprised of series of tactical battles united by a strategic context. That bifurcation creates unique design challenges for those games and their genres. Yet a lot of developers seem reluctant to admit that one layer is just a shell for the other layer, which is how the early Total Wars did this. One of the distinguishing features of Triumph’s Age series, which sets it apart from other 4Xs, is that its historically been focused on richly detailed tactical combat.
For instance, up until Age of Wonders 4, cities in Triumph’s Age series were mostly just elaborate spawners you had to manage to spit out your armies (cf the original Master of Orion). But it feels like Age of Wonders 4 has a) fleshed out the strategic layer and b) streamlined the tactical game so the two layers are more co-equal than ever. I find this a little…alarming and also a little exciting, but for various reasons, I think Age of Wonders 4 needs more work. So I’m on hold with it for now.
HOWEVER, when I came to it, I wasn’t really interested in another game about tactical combats. I’ve been playing various dungeon crawler boardgames, and I was hitting the original X-com really hard earlier this year, and I am absolutely stoked to restart a Phoenix Point playthrough soon. If it weren’t for the godawful Dorm Life shell around Midnight Suns, I’d probably still be playing the heck out of that one.
Instead, I came to Age of Wonders 4 looking for a fantasy 4X and not a tactical combat game, which is where Triumph has traditionally put their focus. That was one reason I was okay with ceding the tactical combat to the AI (the other being that I was surprised at how well the AI handled tactical combat!); it meant I could fully explore the strategic layer, and specifically I could feel out what sort of single-player and multiplayer game Age of Wonders 4 would be (note that multiplayer usually means setting all combat to autoresolve). So by skipping past the time I’d spend moving my elf one space to punch a goblin for 1-6 points of damage, I could experience more of the strategic layer, which is the part of Age of Wonders 4 I was specifically interested in.
Basically, my decision to try autoresolving every battle was less about Age of Wonders 4 and more about the fact that I was checking to see how it holds up next to Old World.
So there’s your answer. I wouldn’t be interested in letting the AI resolve the strategic game because that’s the part I wanted to play. That was the reason I installed it. :)
Also, just to clarify a couple of things:
My assertion isn’t that it’s “always walk forward and punch goblin”, as you say. Instead, my assertion is that 90% of the time, it doesn’t matter because the battle was decided before it started. Again, this is true of most game and all actual battles. But it seems to me we “bother” because we like the sense of agency, because that’s why many people play videogames? But my choice to autoresolve battles was largely a way to speed up the game by skipping past inconsequential decisions that, I felt, were usually just busywork.
By the way, a secondary goal for me when I autoresolve all the battles was to see how the AI holds up if I can’t exploit it tactically by doing things it’s too dumb to do. But because the tactical AI is so solid, I’m not sure I see that making a significant difference.
Yes, this is the question I find fascinating! Because what I’m discovering is that Triumph Studios did indeed make a game that plays the game well. Seriously, I’m delighted with the tactical AI in this and Planetfall. It’s taught me a lot! In fact, watching it in action in both games has just further reinforced my decision to play this way.
* I have shelved Age of Wonders 4 for now. I’m guessing it’s going to be an amazing game in about a year or so, but my opinion of it’s current state is that it’s somewhere between “unfinished” and “a mess”. Given Triumph Studios’ insight, talent, and history, I don’t think it will stay that way, but I’ve decided to go back to Planetfall while they finish up Age of Wonders 4.