Despite my minor snafu missing out on most of the TE troops, this morning I broke through and got my hovers, all 4 of them. My neighborhood has been, uh, less than pleased.
Can't wait to try them out in GBG! Still have plenty of techs left to reach all OF troops, but will take my time. Aged up to Industrial and completed all quest lines from there to Future over last 2 weeks. Diamond rushed all the scouting, diamond-healed my top troops when necessary; no need to spend cash, had plenty from my 3 diamond mine cities. I fought everything that didn't HAVE to be negotiated. Bazooka teams worked well, machine gunners even better: contact is great against reactive armor. Combat drones did the heavy lifting through tomorrow and future.
THANK YOU for this excellent guide.