Agreed. If I have preserved my fleet properly and I vacate sea zone 6 to go kill India, then I will get sea zone 6 back because A) I can take my time and consolidate my fleet before attempting recapture, B) a US invasion of Japan is impractical for the US and easily defeated with one build in Japan proper before I vacate the sea zone and another after I vacate the sea zone, and C) Germany has a free hand in dealing with Russia while the US is dumping all its income trying to hold onto sea zone 6.
The US can slow me down in gathering my fleet for a bit, but if I can build at factories outside Japan the US cannot stop me from retaking sea zone six without completely abandoning Europe. Or, I can ignore sea zone 6 and threaten ANZAC after killing India – 15 IPCs from ANZAC is worth more than 11 from sea zone 6.
The Allies can’t win just by holding sea zone 6 – the Allies also have to actively contest the East Indies, and they can’t do that if India is dead and the US is trying to hold sea zone 6 against me. If I have killed India and hold the East Indies, the Allies are in a bad way in the Pacific because my income is still equal to the US while they are convoying those 11 IPCs, and furthermore the Allied fleet is pinned in sea zone 6 if they try to defend it to keep my income down.
ANZAC is now in danger, and enough pressure there will force the US to stop defending sea zone 6 to avoid losing the game. ANZAC by itself can either contest the East Indies or keep itself alive for an extra couple of turns while the US comes to take the pressure off. If the US doesn’t come to take the pressure off, ANZAC will fall.
I grant you that I just can’t run back into sea zone 6 the first turn the Allies hold it, and probably not the first three or four. Yeah, the lost income sucks, but I can handle it .
Marsh