Have you played MMW? Many of the strategic priorities are the same. Lake control is super important. Not only does it bring in VPs later, but it gives a crucial combat modifier to the controller. I've had some games in which many, many ops points were burned in a shipbuilding arms race.
Yes. It gave me little trouble, because the travel options and supply lines were so clear.
A2A is very open-ended, almost sandbox-y. None of the games I played resembled each other in terms of outcomes, yet all 'felt' historically appropriate.
Yeah. I had the same kind of blundering feeling with 30YW and UKC.
It may well be a sign that I'll like this one a lot.