@xerex
I think you are right.

In my opinion the delay was included as an option to "umbalance" more the stats. I mean, there is no reason because a heavy swordsman and a light one have the same stats, in the same way they have not the same animation (speed). The delay allows to slow down even more the animation for heavy soldiers, reflecting the difficulties to move a heavier equipment.

This is a way to "balance" the artists' work, just in the other way you thought. If the correct framerate for slow animation should be 30 and they put 28, we have the option to make it longer thanks to the delay.