When my friends and I first started playing A&A we always went for tech, it was a race for who could get heavy bombers and win the game. Of course we also built huge silly stacks of infantry in Moscow and Western Europe and used America as nothing but a fighter/bomber factory for UK. Later on we never went for techs, they were not removed from the game, but there was no time to waste the IPC’s on a “maybe” since every single IPC was needed. For Germany that was one less tank to throw at Russia, or one less transport for the UK. Whatever the reason it was just not a good investment.
What’s really funny is we got a new player for our group last week and he was tech crazy, it was like a fever that quickly spread and soon I was rolling for it every turn like a little kid. I ended up with jet fighters and rockets with Germany for the first time in years and I felt like a kid at christmas!
Anyway, techs are cute and can change the game, but really if it comes down to it they are a luxury for those who have IPC’s to spare, and if your enemy has IPC’s to spare then your not doing your job buddy.