I should buy the Revised first too if I were you. It’s just the best version there is, although I have to admit that Europe is great one too.
Perhaps you could buy them both, in that way you don’t to make a choice :-D
Play the game over at gleemax. Its free and you wont have to figure out too much because the program does everything for you except buy, move and place new units.
i dont think the axis has that much of an advantage in Europe. germany can be overwhelmed quickly if usa and britain get into the game early. as for pacific, i think japan starts out a little to beast as far as military goes. the aussie and american navies have to quickly take out japans navy to start taking the islands. india also provides an important chokepoint as well for japan that can be annoying for the allied player.