Matrix Games Forums

Does anyone know:

1)do all land units have the same basic rate of movement?
2)what effect (in game terms) does making a device a 'vehicle type' have?
3)what effect (in game terms) does making a device a 'AFV type' have?
4)what effect (in game terms) does making a device a 'squad type' have?

I am trying to model cavalry vs infantry in the 1914 time period. My understanding of the differences being:
Cavalry (and Mounted Rifles) would have:
- less firepower (need horse holders if dismounted and firing)
- more tactical mobility (better for recce - if properly trained)
- similar operational mobility (roughly same rate of advance over days and weeks)
- less strategic mobility (if transported by rail or sea - take up more space)

I am thinking there is no real way to model cavalry's advantages in this game system. Any thoughts on this subject would be welcome?

PS. I have posted the same message on the WITP scenario forum as it is a lot more active.

I only have a partial answers to (1), (3) and (4). 
 
(1) My experience is that units appear to have a common movement rate.  Most of the land unit movement that I've done is land movement along transportation routes and I can testify that all the various LCUs will progress at two hexes a day along rail lines.  What I don't know is whether the units have different rates cross-country and expecially with respect to terrain, e.g. artillery in mountains. 
 
(3)  I believe AFV's are engaged by a squad's "hard" attack factor which is typically very low.  AFV's also may only be transported on AK's instead of AP's. 
 
(4)  Different squad device numbers have unique combat factors and the classes of squads (infantry vs. support vs. engineer) have different functions at the macro level.   Typically some number of support squads have to serve artillery devices, but I don't think that is hard-wired into the game.  Engineers improve bases and fortifications and can have combat power in assault, defense, or deliberate attack roles.  More engineers means quicker entrenchment or base development.  Infantry is the basic combat arm for attack and defense and requires 2-3 squads of support for each squad of infantry.  Squads are also subject to attrition in malaria hexes and have a replacement rate programmed. Squads have a load factor which reflects the space necessary to move them by sea or air.  I've noticed that cavalry does typically have a higher load cost than infantry, but it isn't typically the 5x to 10x that I would expect for mounts, tack, and farrier supplies. 
 
By the end of the Great War, most of the cavalry units on the Western Front had discarded their horses since the battlefield was simply too lethal for them and barrages tore up the ground to much for cavalry to have an edge in mobility.  Mounted rifles were used in the Middle East and the US used them hunting for Pancho Villa in their incursion into Mexico in 1916-1917.  Cavalry was used in the Russian Civil War and the Russo-Polish War, but I don't have the details on those campaigns.    
 

Thanks for the info Engineer.