in the begining...

[swaghauler]

Originally Posted by Draq

Besides armor and fuel economy, speed is also a factor. The Bradley is better armored but the lav and Humvee are much faster. Can't kill what you can't hit. And the Humvee is a smaller target too. And take into consideration the SLEP for the lav, upgrading the armor to withstanding 14.7mm/.50cal, but sacrificing its amphibious ability.

The other things you need to consider are:

How large & heavy is the vehicle?

There are quite a few 5-ton bridges in Europe. A Hummer can go places a Bradly would NEVER fit. I like to have the dimensions of the commonly used vehicles in game (height, width, and length). There were many places in Somalia where my HEMTT could not go... it was simply too big and too heavy.

What is the "lifespan" of the suspension?

Most tracked vehicles will gain 1 Wear Value level per 500km travelled (min) up to 5000km (max) based on the vehicle's listed "track life" (anywhere from 5000km to 50,000km based on the model). This is one area where US armored vehicles lose out to the lighter Soviet T72. The T72 has a supposed "track life" of 50,000km (if you can believe the Russians).

Wheeled vehicles will have a "tire life" of from 50,000km (passenger car performance tires) up to 180,000km (heavy truck/semi tires) with wheeled AFV tires lasting about 150,000km. The Wear Value level would increase by 1 for every 5k to 18k kilometers moved. As you can see, wheeled vehicles hold an advantage here.

These are both eclipsed by horses or motorcycles. Horses are to most "economical" means of transport in terms of resources required.