ORIGINAL: brian brian
I wouldn't get your hopes up on that, and I don't think it would be a wise use of limited resources. I mean, would you wan the AI to do your first move also? When you set up the pieces, you make your initial decisions on what you want each of your military units to do. If you use a pre-determined, AI, or random set-up, I think most of the time you would lose more time in your first movement phase than you saved by using a fixed set-up. You still ultimately have to decide what each unit will do. If you can't decide, your opponent will soon be thrashing you.
I think this is true in any scenario in the game. In Barbarossa, do you want to drive north of the Pripets, or south? Both? Do you want your best Panzer corps at the point of your primary drive?
The scenarios already allocate most of your forces to the various theaters, the decisions after that are all tactical that you will have to make when the units move anyway. Naval set-ups are the slowest but even there it is better to make your own decisions. Maybe the USN wants to send a Cruiser squadron on a winter-time raid of Japanese home waters from their convenient base at Dutch Harbor. It's your call.
I agree with you 110% brian about the setup, if people complain about how bad the AI is all the time in all their games what makes you think the AI is going to change course and be brilliant during setup [;)] There is something else I do not understand here, IMHO the setup is one one of my pleasures about WIF, maybe not in the board game with all of its cardboard counters but on the computer it is a pleasure at least for me.
All the reasons that brian gave are right on, different scenarios require different strategies according to the way you play, why let a computer dictate to you about a setup that you would feel is all wrong for the way you play.
I know that Global war can be a little testy with all the countries to be set up, but I feel that each unit I set up is examined by me for at least a few seconds and I get a feel for these units what they can do, their purpose in the game, their power etc. I play with carrier planes and pilots optional rules, and I enjoy placing the individual carrier plane squadrons on their carriers.
Of course I have made a few mistakes with that when I put my 2 best air units on one carrier and that carrier got sunk, sorry but I do not find this a chore in the least, now cutting my grass at home is a chore [:(] Enjoy the setup it might be the best part of the game if you happen to get beat all the time [:@]
Bo