Strollmasta, even with a 20-30 bid good Allied players only win 45% of the time against good Axis players. Those are the stats from hundreds of online league games for players who probably have 50-500 games of experience. Sure the game is balanced for relatively inexperienced players, but the flexibility of the Axis air force gives them the strategic advantage when controlled by competent people. For example, Germany has the options to switch up between the following strategies:
- Attack London (early, mid, or even late-game with a couple ground units and a wave of planes)
- Head to Moscow
- Divert south to the Middle East
- Threaten the Atlantic Allied fleet
- Support Italy or head down to Africa
- Counterattack Allied invaders in W. Europe.
The flexibility of the air force to support all 6 roles, along with the flexibility of fast moving mechs + tanks gives an experienced player so many options that he can go after depending on the Allied response. People will claim that a major spending effort by the US to build up an Atlantic fleet can stop Germany, but that just opens up Japan to push harder in the Pacific theater. If Japan has conquered India and has naval superiority in the Pacific, victory is essentially guaranteed. Allies have to win in both theaters, not just one.
Current bids for traditional G40 games have ballooned up to 40 PUs. A large number of planes or ground units are required to tip the balance back towards the Allies in the early game. Alternatively the Balanced Mod makes things relatively fair by slowing down the Japanese invasion in China by requiring occupying ground units in each conquered territory, and also giving the Allies additional income through objectives.