I agree on the fact that most games are won by unconditional surrender. Games are too long to finish and can take FOREVER if you KNOW you are losing to get your opponent to actually win the game. Not because he is delaying (or she in my case) but because the board is so large that you have to really stage up.
I also agree that there is no ONE WAY to win. Many thought Sea Lion was THE way to win, until Russia ended up taking half of Europe and becomming a behemoth. Others think Barbarossa is THE WAY to win, but you cannot just IGNORE the board.
Axis and Allies is about TWO things: Money and Pieces on the Board. If you have 500 IPC and no units, you will lose. If you have only one territory and a 5000 IPC army, you probably already lost (and how did you get a 5000 IPC army with only one territory anyway?) Position and finances are what win. Granted, America is such a pain in the arse because it earns a double nation’s salary, but as we found in KAF games, if you hit them really early, they crumple. And that was THE WAY to win for a while too. (Then the Larry-meister killed the whole tactic, so we’ll never really know the true power or failure of it.)
I disagree that the first round is scripted. Germany 1 is scripted, everything else is a reaction to the board. You want your opponent to react MORE to what you do than what you have to react for what he does, but it is all reaction. Russia buys 6 armor and nothing else, you have to react. England puts carriers in the water, you have to react. Germany buys 10 armor, you have to react. Your reaction might be along what you want to do, but it is still a reaction.
I feel, there are two reasons to attack.
1) To deny the enemy it’s territory, and give you an economic boost. Generally this ends up “trading” but could work out in your benefit through casualties, which is the real hope of trading in my opinion.
2) To get you closer to your goals.
Two is more important than one, but there are times where you want to use one over two. Example: 8 Fighters, 5 Tactical Bombers, 2 Strategic Bombers vs 3 Infantry, Fighter in China (all Chinese.) You will probably lose more in units than China will, but it is still a victory since you killed their only fighter and they will never get it back.
That said, I am still going to destroy you in our game, Gargantua. Not because there is only one strategy, but because you underestimate me and that is the most deadly thing you can do in this game. mwuhahahaha.