The invitation only makes sense under the conditions set by @Imperious-Leader
If you are willing to have the rules be what all of us understood as the real rules to the game (no one played competitively without the “no naval occupation” rule in effect. Had Larry understood the advantage/disadvantage presented in the game from the beginning, he would have said the rules should be Russia Restricted with 2 infantry in Libya (that’s the lightest the Axis should take, I’ve seen 4 bid there and the Allies still have more power).
So, I would play RR (with tech) with 2 extra infantry added to Libya and of course the no naval occupation rule in effect.
There have been tens of thousands of games played online in clubs to prove why that bid is needed. And you and I played and I tried to show why there should be a bid. Of course that was no RR – in that case the bid should be between 17-21 (depending on 2 hit BB’s and things – without 2 hit BB’s the bid is probably 21-24).
The 2 inf in Libya is the only way Germany can hold Africa with any semblance of sanity and try to play in Europe. That’s the reasoning there.
There was a game called “Anzio” where it was no tech and Axis Advantage, and still the regular bid was 9-12. I found that game boring (since I thought tech should be a part of the game) but others truly loved it.