Now I'm a fan of the "golden rule" for troops (if one still even exists, it may have changed, Idk) but I do 1:2 armor to range troops, because that's how I was taught by the various alliances I have been at, and also most people know that damage troops are only more efficient than range troops at round 4 which is preferable to avoid. But I was wondering about the cost-effectiveness of damage troops? Assuming a battles last three rounds, damage troops do as much as ranged troops, and you can have 4/3rds as many (and even save some oil), which means more damage round 3, and equal damage round 2, so range troops would only be better in a 1 round fight. Sure this bonus in resources will slowly diminish overtime with overhead, and the oil saved will go to travelling the extra squads, but that doesn't seem like enough for damage troops to be left out of almost every strategy guide I've read. Can someone explain to me what I'm missing?

Damage troops are better for even battles. But say you have a massive battle, say 100 squads vs 95. Even a small difference like that would be huge with a damage build. You can try it out in a simulator to test it out.

This build has 1 damage unit per squad:



Here is the same build, but 100 vs 95:



The tiny difference of squads in that battle causes a damage build to lose by almost just as much it wins by in an even battle. And the difference only gets bigger the further you go. That's what you were missing.

You also have to look at the Experience your ships get in battle. Would you want your expensive Range ships to get most of the Experience, or do you want to share that experience with your damage? Of coarse, you want your range to get as much Exp as possible.

If you are in an inactive alliance where you are not battling much to get Exp on your ships, or you don't think you will live long enough to keep your ships until the end of the game then I would suggest, what I call the admin build 1:1:1. That way you get a powerful fleet fast. If you think you can keep and "USE" them long enough that the Experience on your fleet will start making a difference then build the 2:1 (Range:Armor.) Build your range first with lower overhead but always have your armor before going to battle.

Good luck!

Abeyant explained it pretty well there.