Except the L1 fighters can't. Try a fight with some L1 fighters against some L2 fighters and you'll quickly see what I mean. Even against ground attack aircraft (IE, pretty much every other aircraft out there) the L2 fighters are significantly better than the L1 fighters. Most people just don't bother to build them, because they invest in the L2 plant to try for a quick finish.Pxtl wrote:Well, it would put L1 fighter strength closer in line with the rest of L1 unit strength - after all, there's a damn short list of L1 units that, dollar-for-power, hold a candle to their L2 counterparts.
As for people not building AA, I think that's mostly a playstyle thing. I know Min3mat loves to remind people about it when reviewing replays. I agree with him. It's a bad habit acquired by playing people that don't diversify. Most players don't really make use of their L1 air plant, so you usually have time to throw up some AA by the time you see the air swarm coming in L2.
Of course, when you're playing against someone who does use their L1 air plant, that doesn't work so well. Bombers FTW. Especially since the first thing most people crank out of it after a few Bombers/Bladewings/Peepers is a small fighter mob.