What'd most likely happen if there wasn't much different between 1st and 2nd is (a) even more troop porking than there is now, and (b) complete pile-on to the country in 3rd in a race to capture bases (as this is the "easiest" target). End result would be to prolong the rotten situation the country under siege faces.
As you know, dweebs and water both travel the path of least resistence.
Sad thing is that ENY really brought the concept of "2nd line" fighters (La-5, 190A-5, P-51B, etc.) more to conciousness of players. Be kind of a shame not to add this to the game in someway. Even if you just limit the ENY launch capability of fields for the first half hour they're captured.
-DoK
