not really a dumb question, i know people who have played for over a year who still think it’s fair to play with standard rules and no bid, then again, they are horrible at the game so…
anyway the basic idea is that the allies will win 95% of the time against the axis with equal gameplay. Those 5% are probably bad allies dice. Since the game is so one sided, it’s not much fun to play unless it is evened out. What players do, is bid. Say i bid 24, you bid 18, i bid 16, and you pass, then i will get the axis, and before the game starts, i can place 16 ipc’s worth of units on any territory i control. With russia restriced, a common bid of six, the axis will put 2 infantry on libya. In axis and allies europe, the opposite is true, it’s an unfair advantage for the germans, therefore, you bid for allies.
hope this helps