Technology is a bad strategic investment

If buying 1 technology dice per round you would average 1 technology per 30ipc.

You can not direct your technology so you have a 1 in 6 chance of getting the technology you want (but there probably is not any technology that your really want) you would be better off buying units that you can direct to be exactly what you want.

All techs are worthless, worth less than 30ipc.

Advanced Artillery -  your artillery is now bigger stronger and more dangerous, german 88s can take out tanks, katyushas bring huge amounts of explosives quickly to an area thus it allows a 2nd inf to upgrade 1 attack pip. for 30ipc you could just buy 7 more artillery that would get you 21 more attack pips, 14 more defence pips and 7 more units that can soak up hits. You even get 2ipc change.

Rockets – these sweet V2s  can rain terror on your opponent from over 300km away, for an average of 3.5ipc per aagun. Problem is you need to have aaguns(or sink in another investment of 6ipc per gun) and own a secure territory within 3 spaces of an enemy industrial complex.

Look at the map and this technology is very impractical for almost every power. Of the 9 powers it sucks the least for Germany. But even for Germany they can usually only hit London and probably only 1 of the Russian complexes.

So in the best case scenario is spend 30ipc upfront to hope to take away 7ipc from your opponent next turn and every turn thereafter. But remember if you spent 30ipc on bombers or other units your opponent would have to deal with them for every turn thereafter as well.

Paratroopers – the bestest and super most fun idea. but the worst of the 12 techs. Can someone actually find a way to take advantage of this rule laden technology? Here are the steps

1 you must control a territory within 3 spaces of your target
2 you must have or build an airbase
3 you must get 2infantry to that airbase
4 you must position other non paratrooper land units to also get to your target

There is no power that can take advantage of this technology.

Increased factory production – your economies of scale now let you produce 1 or 2(minor or major) more units per factory and your labourers have found an ingenious way of repairing bombed factories for half the cost.

But for 30ipc you could just build a new major complex that lets you build 10 more units and probably closer to the front.  In G40 we have factories that have built in aaguns, interceptors, and a larger map all making bombing factories rare so being able to repair at half the cost is not a big benefit.

War bonds – I guess this is why it is no longer called technology. Spend 30ipc now to get 3.5ipc per turn in perpetuity. Yikes that’s an awful investment

Improved mechanized infantry – your researchers found that…. well  your mechs now get 1 extra attack pip. But you have to have a tank to get that benefit and you lose the benefit of any artillery. for 30ipc you could just buy 6 more mech and 1 tank that would get you 9 more attack pips, 15 more defence pips and 7 more units that can soak up hits.

Super subs – your researchers have found that putting a snorkel on your diesel  U-boats allows you to submerge with the engines running so you can be extra sneaky and you get 1 more attack pip. for 30ipc you could just buy 5 more subs that would get you 10 more attack pips, 5 more defence pips and 5 more units that can soak up hits.

Jet fighters -  your engineers have found that compressing air then combusting it allows your planes to fly faster. For this you get 1 extra attack pip. for 30ipc you could just buy 3 more propeller fighters that would get you 9 more attack pips, 12 more defence pips and 3 more units that can soak up hits.

Improved shipyards -  so your seamen found a way to get their units into action at a low cost. If you buy 10 battleships you can save 30ipc!!! Or you can just not spend the 30ipc on the tech in the first place.

Radar – your electronic engineers have probably turned the war in your favour by using RAdio Detection And Ranging. so your aaguns get 1 extra defensive pip.

This tech is to protect ground units. The best protection for ground units is more ground units so you could buy 10 more infantry. However this is hard to rationalize because if your opponent sends 18 or more air units into an attack that has radar defence then your opponent has lost as much ipc as you have spent to acquire it.

I think it is a waste of money but not as bad as most techs. (it is kind of funny how this tech that was the runt of the tech litter in previous games is one of the better ones now)

Long range aircraft -  engineers have crafted a more lightweight, aerodynamic, fuel efficient plane. So you can now move 1 extra movement point. Well this tech can be very useful if you have lots of planes. This tech depending on the power and game situation might be worth the investment. Too bad you only have a 1 in 6 chance of getting it.

Heavy bombers – the Royal Air Force has the Lancaster with bomb bays big enough to fit blockbuster  bombs and the usa is not hesitating to drop nuclear bombs. So you can now roll 3dice wait 2 dice wait pick the best of 2 dice!!!

Bombers normally hit 67% of the time now they hit 89% of the time. That is the equivalent of 1.3 extra attack pips. for 30ipc you could just buy 2.5 bombers that would get you 10 more attack pips, 2.5 more defence pips and 2.5 more units that can soak up hits.