This is something that I for one didn't do particularly well, so was just trying to get something that new folk could reference to and perhaps follow to enable them to progress well and not waste any spendies. PLEASE do note that this is for the early part of the game. Please also note that this is work in progress.

I was thinking of categories as the game is done, eg Log, recon, tank, inf, vehicle, support, helo, and then splitting those down further into attack / defence, eg chieftain is very slow but has strong defence per point spent....

Soooooooooo, can you more experienced guys help fill a guide in? I'm happy to copy / paste back into this post to make it easy to find if needed. Thanks all.

Log

First unlock should be Armoured Command Vehicle (CV), then NEVER use an unarmoured one. Then perhaps think about unlocking the larger supply vehicles and / or supply helicopters.

Recon

Gazelle for early single player (SP) games as the AI has very little Anti-Air (AA).

Tank

When playing NATO (first set of SP missions) as soon as possible unlock the Leopard tanks (Leos). This is because there are 5 variants of the Leo1 and in your pack of 25 slots, the 5 variants will take up only one slot. They are ok all rounders for the SP missions.
Defence:- as mentioned above, early game the Chieftain is a good, cheap (but very slow) tank for defence

Infantry



Vehicle


Support

Anti-air is a must. Again, try to follow the same rules as for the tank tree to free up slots in your deck. Artillery is also useful as are mortars.


Helo

As per tank tree - unlock ones with options. Cobra is useful NATO helo early on in SP missions.

This is my deck
Log
Hemtt
VAB apc
the other heavy armored cv idk the name
fob essential cuz i play 60 min games
chinook

recon
amx
bradley
any of the helos i like the kiowa

tank
patton rise patton is ridiculous for its price and in general i find em better than leo 1's
abrams the m1 and 1p are fantastic to counter medium tanks and the m1a1 is a good mix between leo and chally
leo2 self explanatory

inf
milan f2
legion famas
delta esential to any deck trust me

support
aufi
vulcan
roland
chaparal
mortar

vehicle
tow

helo
heavy hog fantastic for price
cobra fantastic
apache essential
oh-58c good qrf for aa

LOVELY - thanks for the time and input, mate! May I be REAL cheeky and ask for reasons and / or attack / defence strenghts too, please? As I say, is for any new folks as the armoury / deck thing IS perhaps new and big and any pointers would help.

Thanks again

EDIT:- Is that kit available / cheap to be unlocking pretty quickly?

The types of units I find necessary and my personnal favorites :

NATO

LOG
-One armored command (M577 ; 1/1/1/1 armor, and the tracks are useful when you need to flee into forests or when you don't want your fast moving command to lead your army when on roads)
-Second command (Either another M577, a fast and armed command to take points quickly (beware, the MG can be a curse if you want to be sneaky), or the jeep if you think you can capture many points)
-One supply truck (HEMMTs have more health but can be spotted easily than Jupiters)
-One supply helo (Puma ; small, fast and cheap compared to the chinooks)

TANK
-One cheap tank (Leo 1/M 60/Amx 30)
-One heavy tank with a range of 2200m and heavy armor (this means not the Kpz 70 ) Leos are the best.
-One fast tank (AMX/Sheridan/Leo 2)
-One defensive tank with some armor (Chieftain/MBT 70/Heavy tank with 2200m). You can also try the Starship if you are a masochist ATGM fan.
-The combo AMX 30/Chieftain is very good on defense.
I don't use many tanks, this category often ends with 3/5 with AMX/Chieftain/Leo 2 in my decks. Leos are good for anything except cheap tank, so...

RECON
-One air recon with exceptionnal optics (Gazelle; cheap, fast, and if I really need firepower I buy another helo).
-One fast ground recon to raid (Luchs; Sagaies are nice because of the range but autocannons are nicer)
-One basic groud recon to prevent infiltrations/spot for the other troops (Mutt; they are unarmed and fragile but have good optics for their price)
-2 slots left

INF
I never have enough slots in this category
-One recon unit, because the very small size is very useful. You can use SF as recon if you want to. (2eme REP non famas; cheap, vg optics, come with a VAB)
-One line infantry (Jager; Chasseurs famas are good but there is too few of them)
-One elite squad for infantry fights/Sapeurs/SF (Legion non famas; cheap enough and good HE power)
-One ATGM unit (Milan F2, best of the lot if you don't want an airborne ATGM)
-One airborne unit/ another line infantry/ whatever you want

One important thing is the transport : You generally have slow and very cheap APC, fast and cheap APC, medium priced IFV with autocannon and expensive IFV with ATGM (and helos). I like personnaly like the infantry choices with vab and fuchs, but they are not better than the other choices.

VEH
-One cheap ATGM (Jeep Tow; Generally when an ATGM is spotted it dies in seconds, so the lack of armor/missiles isn't a real problem, and you can use supply trucks)
-One autocannon carrier (Marder 1; fast and armored)
-One flamethrower (Zippo; it's not like you had any choice)
-One light AT gun (AML 90; you have a mortar in the same slot and the speed is excellent)
-1 slot left

'SUP guys
-One long range missile AA (Chapparal; best range you can have)
-One short range AA (Guepard; dakka dakka dakka, stunning power and good range)
-One good arty (AuF1; what else ? Amazing accuracy and RoF)
-One mortar for close range support (AML 60; no slot used )
-1 slot left

HELO
Really a matter of taste, many helos are polyvalent, and sometimes they can't be used because of omnipresent AA.
-AA helo (OH-58 / Gazelle canon / Cobra; Gazelles are deadly when outnumbering the ennemy, which means always considering the price of pact helos)
-One moving arty (basic Cobra/ Hog, both are nice)
-One ATGM helo /high end helo (Cobra for me, but they aren't amazing for the amount of money you pay).

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Solvens, you bloody STAR, Sir! Exactly the sort of thing I was fishing for - that should help any new players PLENTY. Thanks, mate!

You're welcome

And for the comrades :

PACT

LOG
-One armored command (BRDM 2U; corrects stats and four are available)
-Second command (UAZ/BRM; none are really amazing, the cars are fragile, the BRM is expensive, but the gun and the radar are nice. If you need 8 CVs take the UAZ, otherwise the BRM)
-One supply truck (T816/Kolos; like an HEMMT but with an MMG, and supply vehicles aren't targeted automatically, you can easily make some helo kills if your opponent isn't careful)
-One supply helo (Mi-26; it's flying with a big "SHOOT ME" painted on the side, but it's the only one)

TANK
-One cheap tank (T-55/T-62; the variants can give you correct tanks, I prefer the T-62 because of the armor gain and excellent ATGM for the high end versions)
-One heavy tank with a range of 2200m and heavy armor (T-80)
-One fast tank (T-80 with my system, so buy whatever you want, eventually a very cheap tank like the T-34 or a medium like the T-64)
-One defensive tank with some armor (T-72, cheap and resilient)
-One flamethrower tank (FlammPz 55; the TO-62 isn't very useful, and you can have more FlammPz than TO-55)

RECON
-One air recon with exceptionnal optics (Mi-9; 10HP means that no missile can OS your helo).
-One fast ground recon to raid (Ah Ah, you got no fast and armed reco except the poor Vydra. The best you can have is a recon to support your troops (like the AMX 10RC for Nato) with the PT series )
-One basic groud recon to prevent infiltrations/spot for the other troops (UAZ, HMG version is a good AA, the one with grenade launcher is amazing against infantry or to stun vehicles)
-2 slots left

INF
I choose my Pact infantry for the transport, so it’s gonna be different : The line infantry slot I use in Nato is divided into an RPG squad (MotostrelCi) and an elite flamethrower squad, in the same APC so I can use them together, and I use Piechota to gain free BMPs. Those are not excellent choices but I like those troops far too much.
-One recon unit, because the very small size is very useful. You can use SF as recon if you want to (4 VPZU; very good optics, and when they spot something they can always kill it. The only other squad with VG optics, the Grenzers, use a crappy transport compared to the Skot)
-One line infantry (MotostrelKi if you want a correct all round unit)
-One elite squad for infantry fights (Saperzy Szturmowi; the HE 2 rifle makes the flamethrower very useful. Spetznaz are nice but I don’t like the BTR)
-One ATGM unit (Konkurs; the only infantry ATGM that outranges all tank guns)
-One airborne unit/ another line infantry/ whatever you want.

VEH
-One cheap ATGM/light AT gun (UAZ; the slot line gives you a recoiless rifle and excellent ATGMs. As Pact can have many armored ATGM carriers with their tanks, I usually prefer a LM-BT to support the troops)
-One autocannon carrier (BMP-2; you have no choice and it’s still a good ATGM carrier. If you have some place you can also take the Afganskii which sadly got no AP power)
-Whatever you want

SUP
-One long range missile AA (Buk; long range and 10HE means insta-death to blobs and apaches)
-One short range AA (Tungunska; long range missile and autocannon)
-One good arty (They all have drawbacks : Malkas have slow RoF, M-STA are not very accurate, and Dana is fast and accurate but have no armor. I’m not big into rocket artillery)
-One close range support (Buratino; you can use regular arty at close range too)
-1 slot left

HELO
-One moving arty (Mi-8/Mi-17; A really accurate HE 3 arty, if your ennemy have no AA)
-One ATGM helo /high end helo (Mi-24 P; the upper versions aren’t worth it IMO).
The only Havok advantage for me is that it carries 16 missiles, in case you can't refuel you helo, but otherwise it's too expensive compared to a couple of Hinds.
Remember that those two are also transport helos, and can be useful if you need to deploy some troops behind ennemy lines.

In case you didn't saw it

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