opinions needed

[helmseye]

so recently I was able as the axis to conquer france without taking the low countries

is there any benefit to this? as you lose out on cash and USA seems to come in the war at the usual time anyway

[Marcinos1985]

Well, US and USSR mob should be few percent lower, which is a thing. Esp. Soviets needs every %. On the other hand, those countries are now defended by bad troops, so be prepared for Allied shennigans. Plus it's less MPP for you, both from pillage and MPP generators.

[HamburgerMeat]

I can see one viable strategy that does not involve invading the Netherlands.

By avoiding the Netherlands, there is a good chance that USA mobilization does not reach 40%. That means no lend lease. If you're going for a sealion attack (or some other kind of UK first strategy), it might be worth denying the UK those few hundred extra MPPs. Once you land in the UK however, USA mobilization will go up, and at that point you should just go ahead and take the Netherlands.