Also, in a close game, a sub hit can give you the point you need to win.  If the American player plays his first properly, I see this as the most tenuous A&A game ever made.  Both sides can win and one bad move could change everything.  One other interesting aspect of the game is that both sides roll several dice in a typical engagement.  This keeps large swings due to dice luck from happening with any frequency just because the statistics are more reliable with lots of dice in play.