AI Excess Ship Management

[TechSY730]

After scanning through the forums and the wiki, there seems to be 5 ways the AI deals with excess numbers of ships at their planets.

1. Build a barracks and put the excess ships in them
2. Free them according to border aggression
3. Start a cross planet attack
4. Start a scrap wave
5. Simply scrap them

My question is how does the AI choose which strategy to use, and where can I find information describing in detail how each of these mechanics work?

[keith.lamothe]

It can also combine lower-mark ships into higher-mark ones.  CPAs are also not triggered by excess population, they simply happen on a randomized timer.

The AI doesn't really "choose" to use them, the game makes them happen based on thresholds being passed.

The wiki is probably the best source of info, such as it is

[TechSY730]

Thanks for the info, I'll check out the wiki.

It can also combine lower-mark ships into higher-mark ones...

Why can't we do that.

[keith.lamothe]

It can also combine lower-mark ships into higher-mark ones...

Why can't we do that.

It's not actually all that advantageous, the way the AI gets it, it just cuts down on ship count.  Humans don't have nearly so many ships