That's how it was in the CMBO days as well. If you didn't know what you were doing, you could walk your men right into ambushes, roll your tanks through criss-cross AT killzones, and so on (I recognize your name Michael, so I know you know).
Thanks for all the responses, guys. I'm leaning towards the already established Normandy, but I will try out both demos next week on my school break to see. I'll probably end up buying Normandy first only because I like the late war equipment and formations, but I'll give both of them a fair amount of time before I pull my wallet out.