@d142:
what would be the most effective attack against 10 infantry, 1 artillery, 1 armor, 1 fighter,
11 bombers, 1 armor, 1 infantry, cost 130 I.P.C.
5 infantry, 5 artillery, 5 armor, cost 60 I.P.C.
I would say that this pretty much depends…
It is a tricky question, with no obvious answer.
Given that there are no Anti-Air gun present :
11 bombers/1 tank/1 art have a 94 % chance to success.
5 inf/5 art/5 tanks have a 85 % cance to success.
The 11 bombers mix are the most effective when the object is to just utterly destroy the enemy force, no matter the IPC cost. This could be a case where your allies are supposed to go in and secure the territory after you have destroyed the enemy. This may also be a strafe attack, whit one round of combat only, and you want to retreat your surveving units as far away as possible. This could also be an amphibious assault, and you figure 11 bombers are cheaper than buying trannies for your men. It could also be a situation where you need your firepower in a spot far away ASAP, and bombers do move faster than infantry.
The 5/5/5 mix have less chance for success, but are cheaper to use, as our friend Uberlager stated in his outstanding post. The expectet loss for the bomber mix are 75 IPC loss, against only 31 IPC loss for the 5/5/5 mix. That is a lot difference, man.
If it was my call, I would send a mix of 10 infantry, 3 artillery and 4 tanks. But that is just me.