Now compare war materiel production of Germany vs the USA in 1936. There is a reason the peacetime armies of the 'great democracies' were drilling with plywood boxes for tanks and broom handles in place of rifles.
If Steve's Commonwealth doesn't (or didn't, until recently) consider itself 'on a war footing' there is no reason for it to be churning out masses of government/military equipment. The priorities that we, the game players, have are unlikely to align with the priorities the society had before the campaign 'started'.
I agree, that without the "war footing" mentality, democratic nations are going to cut back on their defense spending.
BUT! In any situation where you have two strong nations vying for control (and the Cold War springs to mind here) the nations
are going to adopt a "war footing" mentality, and try to "out-spend" the other.
And while the 'social atmosphere' normally associated with the Third Reich is likely to hinder - rather than help - the reaserch effort, maybe the +30% of Herr Reichsminister Doktor von Genius (sorry, I forget his actual name) represents his ability to completely shield his subordinates from the long arm of the Gestapo and other SS interference.
But, with Herr Reichsminister blocking the "long arm of the Gestapo/SS", wouldn't this put the Reich scientists on the same level as the western scientists - rather than giving them an advantage?
Aurora contains such a level of abstraction that I find it easy enough to explain any apparent inconsistancies between races. Though I do agree, the Commonwealth is in serious trouble and building a fifth Naval Academy before a schwackload of mines was a huge mistake.
If we were talking about a total "new" senario (as in one that hasn't been seen before), then I'd agree.
HOWEVER! I believe that the rise of the Reich/Commonwealth powerblocks would closely follow the historical path of the Cold War - resulting in a LOT of similarities between the NATO/USSR cold war and the Reich/Commonwealth cold war......
