I have tried it once in X4 (with open research slots - was like that in the past) and dang found iran had maxed aa and it was a very very hard game for me(was russia)
as I had to play vs his coalition alone early on. I was lucky I had mbts and asfs and I was too lucky to survive that

main battle tank

In my opinion not a good mix... to me choppers too slow and short range. And for any air to be effective you need to be in advanced of your troops .. so the Mobile SAM doesnt help you and choppers siting ducks against any fighters.

Try Buckeye’s Strike + Frigs combo sprinkle in some ground forces which I don’t know what he uses (I typically do with AFV and maybe Mechanized) and there’s a good research strat. There have been many threads like this so go look at them for the many variations

Yeah AFV seem good been using last two games. Inf just go with Mot Inf you already start with good bunch and get decent once get lvl 4 - 6 when you stck with maybe a AFV ; AA; RCV; 4 - 5 inf. Also mix in NG to hold cities. To me specialized infanytry (spec; Airborne; marines) are too costly and single purpose (ie can attack but not defend etc). And would need a bunch to really attack a decent stack.

Air - Airstrike 80 pct (offense like both choppers combined with speed and range) / Air supp 20 pct (defense)

Navy - Frigs primarily / Navy Officer rocks (like a frig; cruiser; sub all in one) -- Hve never lost a Naval battle yet with 4 frigg/1 offivcer stack. Based on resource balance Corvettes good for coastal defense.

Inf - I just go Mot Inf / NG -- All basically to conquer cleared territory by Strikes. Mot Inf on front line (just incase have to rally and fight off an attack); NG bringing up rear to sit on cities behind main line (50 pct def bonus in cities). May build a few marines if needed to clean up islands or go after victory points on specialiazed map. but base lvls require not worth to produce in mass to use as a fighting force.

Those are my basics: Late game adds Rest add in based on region I am in (island nation versus in dessert; etc) as well as main rivals I see on horizon. (long term not just whats in front of you).

-- Mobile AA / SAMS if potential big dog is air heavy (doesnt hurt to have anyways)

-- Ballistic Subs -- also build out conventional missile tree. Great regional offense /defense. 1000 mile range can reach almost anything if positioned right. I keep Conventional as biggest bang for buck and dont get as big morle and PR hits (ie - no one likes a Nuker).

-- Theatre defense -- If Im going to start lobbying Ballistic missiles need to assume I need to defend and only thing that will keep out BMs or ICBM is TDs (need two to stop ICBM).

-- Rest play with something new to see how fits in strategy. But early on imo better to start vanilla and have advanced research levels versus 18 types of units all at level 1. (current game may play with stealth strikes just for fun once have money to burn).

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To me also not good return to build above lvl 1 Industry and/or Annex cities (early in game those resources can be saved to build up your force).

Build cities early that can produce maybe 2 air ; 2 navy ; 2 Inf /Armor. Balance wins. as came progresses add capabilities to other cities for flexibility ( ie - if need to crnk 5 air or 5 ships one day based on opponent or a battle gone bad).

But early on look at what it costs you to build a Unit and not just its stats . Like spec ops .. need AB 3 .. ok so by day 4 I could have 4 Mot inf vs your 1 Spec ops. I gurantee I win tht if you attack. Could have 12 NGS built (aint sexxy but still would win). Plus spec ops take 1100 Comp ; 500 Elect. thats like over half a tank; Frigg or Airstrike worth. I save Components ; Elects for advanced weapons not infantry. And with any of the special purpose forces need to pay real close attention to bonuses (+ and -)and terrain. And see people use them all the wrong way.

Take it slow and steady controlled aggression (not losing troops is fastest way to build up a huge force). If you are kamakazing 5 units a day you will just be maintaining force instead of building.

In response to the initial post, I wanted to add a little something:

I'm really big on taking advantage of military doctrine bonuses lately, so I applaud you doing that, BUT an India strat that focuses mostly on helis is going to be limited once you get past early game.

Eastern doctrine gunships are one of my favorite things. You don't really get any bonus for the attack helis (Western does), though. But that's not the main problem. The main problem I see with a major Indian focus on helis is that once you get outside of Pakistan/Afghanistan/the AI -stans to the west/northwest and Myanmar/Thailand/Vietnam to the east, you're looking at HUGE tracts of land in Russia, western/central China, and Kazakhstan (Iran is relatively spread out too), where your heli's are going to be nearly useless.

Don't misunderstand me, please. I'm not saying it's a mistake to ever build any helis in India. India is my favorite country to play, and I build gunships there for the early game every time I play it. I'm just trying to warn you that if you really focus the majortiy of your research on high-level helis of both types, you're probably not even going to make it to midgame before you realize you have these super awesome helis, a LOT of airfields, and a disappointing lack of targets.

If China is making multiple rocket launchers, and you're just now building your first Frigates, you guys are on two completely different development paces.

Okay, so based on what you said above, here's what I'd do. First, if you feel like you're that far behind on Navy, and you have Indonesia as a partner, they should be creating a navy that can assist you. But, if everyone's playing well, China and Japan probably still have you outgunned on the water. Western China takes a bit for the forces in Eastern China to get to, especially if they can't fly. So, if it does look like you're goign to have to square off with China, you'll want to be prepared to deny them flight to western China.

It doesn't sound to me like you should go charging after them if you don't need to, though. Personally, I'd prepare defenses, if you're worried about what's coming. Make yourself some anti-ship aircraft if you have good air faciities but not good naval facilities. You're Eastern Doctrine AND you have the highest mountains in the world between you and China, so make yourself some artillery to put in those mountains. It will take them forever to get to you, and they'll take a terrible pounding the entire time. Plus, if they try to come up those mountains without SAMS, you can use your Strike Fighters on them.

Buckeyechamp wrote:

Air - Airstrike 80 pct (offense like both choppers combined with speed and range) / Air supp 20 pct (defense)

if you wanna commit to SF to kill ground units; mixing them with their naval version is crucial to make them also viable in lategame

I have even tried to go for the ultimate air play in one game. Asfs+ navy asfs + sfs + navy sfs. but didn't fo that well sams was too powerful rivals.

I think best sf stacks are
1- 4sfs 1 naval sf
2- 3 naval sf + 2 sfs
3- against navy 4 naval sfs + 1 sf

Im going for Stealth strikes this game.... main thing navy strikes get you is ship damage but have enough navy to neutralize ships.

main thing naval fighters give you is more damage mitigation
the dmg vs ships is almost completely irrelevant

yes exactly using i asf instead of the naval lowers the attack too much

Are they invading your homelands? Where?