Depending on the battle and country you are with, you will have a different variety of weapons as well. As for the historical aspect, the planes and tanks look exactly the same on the history channel as they do in-game. This rock-paper-scissors relationship can be seen in just about every vehicle and infantry type (or which there are 5). A Battleship can take out many destroyers, but will sink if a single submarine finds it, while the Destroyer can take out subs. Every vehicle has it's strengths and weaknesses.
Vehicles play an important role in battle and combining ground, air, and sea elements with your infantry will turn tables very quickly. A coordinated 8-man team can easily defeat force twice it's since if you are working together. This also puts more focus on teamwork, which is where this game excels. They have team deathmatches, CTF, and other modes but the 'Conquest' gameplay mode stands out as by far the most popular. While all the same levels are available for both solo & multi games, you loose a lot when going up against bots.
A coordinated 8-man team can easily BF42 has GREAT multi-player potential.
