I know what you mean..., though I was on the opposite side. As the Allies I'd been stacking B-17's and LB-30's up in back areas and trying to limit myself to relatively historic levels. Then I found out how many Tony's my opponant had trained and deployed around Rabaul. About 200 of the 30-odd the Japanese actually built in 1942..., and no idea how many others were out there. After that I didn't worry much about trying to keep my excessive bombers out of the game.
My viewpoint is that wrong is wrong, no matter what side you are playing. Others want to "play with whatever toys tools the game gives them". The fact that the game has given them a chainsaw instead of the axe they were supposed to have historically doesn't bother them at all. To each his own....
It's funny. At first I was all in favor of PDU so that I could upgrade my Nates and Claudes faster. Didn't realize what the long term effect would be.Now I only favor PDU on if it is to be a lunacy type game where anything goes. I much prefer a game based on historical context. Doesn't matter to me whether I win or not, Japan will always lose the war against a competent player. The joy is in competition.
What's funnier is that when I bought the game, I wanted to be the Allied player because I didn't know very much about Japanese land forces or production, had never studied them. I was always drawn to the warships and aircraft on both sides. Fortunately, I couldn't find anyone who wanted to play the Japanese player so I said, "Oh, ok. I'll be the Japanese.. dang it!"
Now, I'm completely satisfied playing as the Japanese. There's just something about being the underdog and trying to stave off thousands of roundeyes intent on killing ya! I have learned so much more about the capabilities and limitations of the forces involved from playing the game, and much of that info came from this forum and our sometimes heated discussions.
I would highly recommend that every player play at least one game year as the Japanese and one as the Allies. I think this would go a long way towards understanding the capabilties of both sides in the game. So many players have misconceptions about what the other side can and cannot do because they have a strong affinity for one side or the other.
Chez