Yeah, if he's asleep
Anyway as for age being a factor I don't think many teenage Andalites were fighting the Yeerks, Ax said it was illegal by the laws and customs of his people for him to fight, that the Animorphs fought shocked him. Arbron and Elfangor were pretty much given field promotions by Alloran (who probably had the authority anyway) because there was no other option.
As for average teen Hork vs average teen Andalite, I think the Andalites have the disadvantage there in the long run, Ax is stated by KA as being close to the Animorphs in age, Toby on the other hand was if not fully grown then close to it by the end of the series, she was at best nearly three years old then, faster growing shock troops might account for the Yeerks not losing the war until we--uh
they lost Anati and Earth, though it doesnt explain why, if the Hork-Bajir were so quick to grow up, the Yeerks weren't just mass breeding them. Ket had Toby pretty quickly, so it isn't like it takes them twenty years to give birth, however long Ket was pregnant with Toby just adds to how rapidly Toby was battle ready once she was born, though I'm willing to buy that Hork-Bajir might not be unlike Disney's Gargoyles, (who have only one child every ten years or so for evolutionary reasons I'm not fan enough to understand) it could be something bred in by their creators to keep their numbers in check.
So yeah, I can see rapidly growing Hork-Bajir quickly filling the ranks if Andalites win most of the time in melee combat, I also see close quarters battles happening far less often than depicted in Animorphs since on average an Andalite and a Hork-Bajir would just shoot each other, but I just don't see the Hork-Bajir being shock troops at all if they, in addition to being outnumbered by the Andalites, require large numbers just to win fights, the yeerks would have just used the Taxxons instead, they can wield dracon beams and exist in larger numbers, they just get crazy around blood is all and that's a bonus on the battlefield, seeing your buddies eaten alive or at least eaten while mostly alive would spook the crap out of any soldier, human or Andalite.
