@calvinhobbesliker:
I think the subs will take away some income, but why bother? For ever 2 ipcs the US loses, Germany loses a 6 ipc sub
The subs will only take away income if the US declares war on Germany during their collect income phase.
But I don’t believe they are REQUIRED to declare war on ALL axis powers in order to collect their at war bonus; just one (probably Italy, if Germany had parked subs, or Japan in the Global game). If the US doesn’t have ships in position to block movement (the only reason to specifically declare war on Germany) then they only need to declare war on a single power. And unlike Anzac/UK, Germany and Italy don’t share the exact same diplomatic status with other countries.
So yes, if the US declared war on Germany in US3 collect income phase, for that one turn, Germany would be able to disrupt income, and the US would have no way to respond (as they couldn’t kill the subs during their combat phase as they were still neutral) and Germany could possibly move the subs away on G4 to safer seazones (temporarily). But under current rules for US DOWs in US3 collect income phase, a wise US player wouldn’t let Germany do that and would declare war only on Italy (for the time being, until US4 combat move).