On 2001-12-28 16:52, Major_Damage wrote:
Xeno–I think what Yanny is trying to say, is that the Inf. accompany the armour (or vice versa). The Inf. are there as cheap fodder. Theres going to be loses going into Moscow…so why not lose cheap Inf. rather than build a massive force of tanks that cost 2 more IPC’s, only to lose half. By buyng men and moving them on trans. to the mainland (you can ship 8 men by buying 2 more trans. than Japan originally starts with), you can have a force with spare parts along for the ride, at a cheaper cost. I still beleive in tanks…but just not an all out buying spree of them.
I fully understand the bennefit of using infantry as cannon fodder in combat and am not entirely against their use in this situation. However there are a few problems here. If I place infantry in Japan’s capital and begin transporting them the following round, it will take a full 5 rounds to deploy such infantry. That means that if I attack Moscow in round x, I will only be able to attack moscow with infantry that were created a full 5 rounds earlier. Tanks placed in ICs on the Asian mainland can get there two rounds quicker. What this means is that if I attack Moscow with a force of tanks rather than one made up mostly of infantry, the tank force will not necessarily be much smaller than the infantry force because my tanks can get there quicker, so when I hit it I will be hitting it with pieces purchased over a greater number of rounds. Now this problem can not be avoided, but it can be somewhat reduced by purchasing the infantry portion of a force first and the tanks in later rounds, but this will result in the slower expansion of Japan into Asian and Westward because the infantry purchased in early rounds have weak movement capabilities.
I am sure you have heard the expression “the best defense is a strong offense”. This is often true in A&A. If I kill an enemy piece in round 1, that piece will get only one chance to counter attack. A piece killed in round two will get two chances to counter and so one. The point is that the quicker I kill my enemy the fewer chances he gets to inflict casulties against me. And tanks have three times the attack capabilities that infantry do. That difference is huge. A force of Tanks is going to cut through the enemy far quicker than one consisting mostly of infantry, and the result will be fewer casulties suffered.
Japan has two primary objectives: to expand into Asia and Westward as fast as possible, and to take Moscow quickly. Armor has twice the movement capabilities and three times the attacking capabilities that infantry do. Compared to infantry, armor moves twice as fast, they cover twice the land, and they hit three times as hard.
In Europe where you are always concerned with defense, you have far less territory to cover (your opponent is always right next door), and you are not concerned with rapid expansion over large areas, I agree with you that infantry should make up a good portion of your forces. But for Japan’s purposes, armor is far more ideal.