Afraid my vote is mostly on historical grounds again. Flying boats were pretty common in forces of several countries (US, UK, Japan); making them an advantage for one nation seems unfair.
The Commonwealth Troops adv. is far less powerful - which is a good thing, as the UK has some pretty mighty advantages to start with.

The game is a blast whether you win or lose - though it’s more satisfying to win, of course. I don’t lose my temper when I get beat, or even when my strategy proves to be a mistake. Have been known to blow up when my luck with dice goes ridiculously bad… almost always if it stays that way for a couple of turns, sometimes on the first turn (especially if I take a beating in what looks to be a ‘sure thing’ for me).
Once, I had a US fleet (battleship, carrier w/1 plane, 4 transports) get completely wiped out by a Japanese force of 1 sub and 2 fighters, and all I hit was the sub. This was about 5 years ago, and I still see red just thinking about it…

@CommissarYarric:

i fail to see how an NA that throws “the balance of the game entirely out of whack” would be bad.

Not sure if you’re OK with game balance being tilted in favor of Allies, or you just don’t agree that Nonagression Treaty unbalances things. Here’s my take on it: unless USSR attacks Japan right away to blow the advantage, it will take 2 turns or more before Japan can build up enough force to attack any Soviet territory with a decent chance of winning. The differences in production mean that the Axis must win fairly quickly or not at all. The delay caused by this advantage gives Russia a free breathing space in the east that can be decisive, and I think it’s hard enough for the Axis to win without it. One opinion; take it for what it’s worth.

I see your point about Lend/Lease; only problem is, I’ve found it makes the other Allies reluctant to move units - especially aircraft - into Soviet territory. Could be that I just need some less stingy Allies.

Overall, US has best advantages - only one I haven’t found useful is Fast Carriers. IMO Soviets have the worst; 2 of them (Lend-Lease, Salvage) amount to garbage picking, while the Nonaggression Treaty throws balance of entire game out of whack. Japan is in the running for worst ones, too.

Overall, I like the new game. Haven’t tried national advantages yet - figured I’d wait until I’ve got a good handle on the rules. I never minded the blowup boxes, but don’t miss them. New map is good (would be better yet if they’d made it bigger like the previous edition) and opens up new tactical possibilities all over.
A few minor gripes:

• When I shell out 40 bucks for a game, is it too much to expect that they’ll throw in some means of keeping units separated? How much can it cost for a hunk of plastic, like Europe & Pacific came with?
• Is it just my copy, or are everybody’s British units a washed-out, sickly, painful-to-look-at shade of green?
• 8 victory cities allows a win when neither side has a decisive advantage (playing to 9, as many of you suggest, should solve this).
• Most minor of all: several of the “changes” made to improve the game aren’t new (like AA guns firing at any plane passing over - always could) or don’t improve anything (like the territory names; sure, there’s no such place as Finland-Norway; but merging them into one country is no mare accurate).
  Pardon my nit-picking; again, I like the new version, and will probably like it more once I start using the optional rules.

Trying to get an idea which country is most (and/or least) popular to play. Given the choice (and assuming you’re playing as 1 country only), who would you prefer to be?

As the UK, I prefer D-Day, mostly because US forces can follow up before Germany’s next move. Italy is also good, but tricky to pull off (takes 2 turns unless someone has an IC in Africa).
Don’t ignore Eastern Europe, either - especially if USSR still holds Karelia. Attack requires overwhelming force (or luck), but if it works it cuts Germany off from the front and allows Russia to reinforce you or blitz through.
Finland/Norway is usually a dead end; fine for a raid, but not a big enough deal to draw significant forces away from the Russian front.