Tigerman,
The sneak attack is just fine as it has a turn limitation. If the Axis don’t have it together by the time the US is at war, sneak attack or not, things get messy for them. It’s turn five in the game right now and things are going the Axis’ way but the States is up and is at war. Moscow still stands and the USSR will be counter attacking soon.
The only think you may want to do to satisfy the detractors is cancel the limitations on the US during the sneak attack. Past that, this game is good to go in our (there’s four of us playing) opinion.
Again, compliments on a job well done. I’ve been playing Axis and Allies for 28 years now and this is my favourite incarnation yet. It’s a big project to get the pieces and such together. All involved are loving it. 12 sided dice system works well. More details on S. American neutrals would be good.
While we’re at it, I noticed a plexiglass cover on the map shown on the video presentation. Do you find a lot of glare with this arrangement or difficulty with defining borders (or any other issues)? I’m considering 1/8" plexi for my map (and possibly ordering a spare).