Where would you put an 8 IPC bid? I think Africa is the best place because it really allows Germany to expand. An 8 IPC bid in Africa allows me to link the fleets while still having an easy time crashing Egypt on G1 without the risk of losing a fighter or 2, which is nice.
I don’t think the Axis really has a good chance at getting Africa with no bid. Just like in our second game I shut you out before you ever got beyond Egypt, without particularly great rolls my part, and you were contesting it as hard as you could with the bb + trans every turn. You could grab it eventually with Japan, but the if the Alllies drop a buttload (size 16? :P) of gear into Africa on like turn 2 or 3, then it may not be worth your time. I was quite easily posed to shut out your Japanese landing forces even with their lucky 3 hits for 3 infantry defense, and the amount of troops funneled away from Russia certainly helped the Allies.
I’m not entirely convinced that the Axis needs as high as an 8 IPC bid, but it is rather easy to destabilize the Germans early on, and the guy I have been talking to has been to tournaments and gotten quite far (lost to a finalist because of horrific dice) and has kicked my butt several times at Triple A, so I am slightly inclined to believe him.
We’ll see once we rematch a lot, Ike, and get both the Axis and the Allies to a point where the games hinge more on dice rather than tactical mistakes.