Infantry

[sTre]

It seems to me from what i've read in the forums, there's going to be no real reliance on infantry. I know you could probably design your own scenario eventually. But it seems like infantry will just end up to be cannon fodder against most targets, which pains me greatly. Am i right? or can you train your infantry to be top-of-the-line destructive forces?

[Balthagor]

Can you be more specific than "infantry"? Do you mean leg infantry will get slaughtered in battle? This is not true. In many of our test games I have relied on very large infantry forces. Usually LAVs or Bradleys. Infantry is an entire class of units in the game and the key advantages to infantry are that they do not pay an attack penalty for moving and attacking and they have much higher “close combat” values. This means they are very well suited for fighting in cities. Tanks are the only other unit that do not have penalties for moving and shooting simultaneously. If your concern is leg infantry, Garrison and Conscript units work well for holding a line or in very small scenarios. Special Forces or Airborne units are used a lot for insertion by helicopter.

[sTre]

I did mean leg infantry. I guess i'll have to wait untill the release and buy the game to see if i can advance a front with legs.

[George Geczy]

I did mean leg infantry. I guess i'll have to wait untill the release and buy the game to see if i can advance a front with legs.

It is generally not wise to have your front line "walk" across the map, in places like Australia it can take a long time (Though interestingly enough some of our testers have actually tried this strategy!)

Though I should expand on what Chris said, most Infantry types have some form of equipment. Light Infantry types use HMMWV "Humvee" types of transport (or the equivalent from other countries than the US), and of course mechanized battalions would use various APC's. Garrison and Conscript infantry types are meant to be, well, garrison type - static defenders usually.

Infantry types are still popular in our test games, primarily because they build/train fast and are cheaper to build/maintain. The downside is the large number of soldiers needed, if a region is short on conscripts but good on money then tanks are a better use of limited manpower.

But in many types of terrain - especially forest and urban - infantry are very tough units, and often end up taking a toll on the more expensive armour units that are attacking. One Special Forces battalion entrenched in a town can hold up an entire column of tanks for a while! (at least until the Artillery start blowing them apart.)

-- George.