Krauter wrote:When I do so, I generally have tanks and atgm sitting on the outskirts with things like MotostrelKi in the middle.
What if your opponent does the same ? Avoiding every forest with a margin of 2600m around will not let you many places to go I think.
You can always go for artillery but the bigger the forest he less effective it is. And to clear town arty is not enough you need troops.
Don't take spetz in Mi8 if they are here to clear a forest you don't need that much speed, the forest won't move

There is only one moment when you need troops in choppers : the first minute when you try to size a key part of the map.
After that first minute of the game you never call airborne infantry. It's cheaper to call standard infantry and load them in empty helo and you have time to do this since things have settled.
If you don't plan to use airborne troops during deployment you don't need airborne troops at all. If you are playing on a map with a very key sector in the middle like Storm eye you can use up to 2 slots to be sure to control it first.
But airborne operation are not mandatory, you can already prevent an ennemy drop with attack helicopters, air recon and artillery and send your troops by the road to spare money.