I agree with tech costs. We spend 320 manpower or more to just get a fucking building. LT tech is only 300 mp and 50 fuel - T2 tech is 320 mp and (65?) fuel
Lieut tech is 200MP 50FU, which gives a 'free' 300MP squad-
BP1+T2 is 200MP 45FU + 120MP 15FU, total of 320MP 60F.
Net effect is, USF player is 420MP up over the wehrmacht player 5 minutes in, without having to do anything except tech
BP1 unlocks riflenades and LMGs, but these don't kick in and affect the manpower game significantly until much later.
Other thing to note, wehrmacht T1 > USF HQ and wehrmacht T2 > Lieut tech as the game goes on, USF has more expensive healing MP-wise, more expensive (but better) light vehicles, etc etc, so the calculation isn't really exact. But at the 5-7 minute mark, wehr loses a ton of combat-effective manpower on the field compared to USF, which is why the M20 causes so much of a problem in my opinion.