nah I always buy bombers usa 1 when germany buys naval r1. Japan usually DOWs J2. The only exception would be if japan opens with sino russia strategy, in which case I go full pacific buys rounds 1-4… if germany takes london then I can turn around and almost full atlantic (couples subs or dds for upkeep), because I secured the pacific theater with just those 4 rounds of buy (china, uk pac, and anzac can handle after that).
pretty much my allies strategy centers around uk sinking 97 and the spot below it in low luck games, for dice games it depends on what naval germany sunk…
Two different styles of germany, most do 110 and 111 and that dd transport off canada. others do the cruiser off gib, canada fleet, and either 110 or 111 or 109. If 110 is alive, yeah sure you can merge your fleet instead of doing 97 otherwise you pretty much have to sink 97, which kind of sucks because it is only 84% and not 94%