Letting Allies Land in Normandy

[WindowWasher]

All things considered, Normandy is probably the worst place to open up the western front. You cant take France, it doesn’t hurt the axis economy very much, and it is near both Italian and German major complexes.

I’d rather have a strong allied landing in Normandy, than Norway, Southern France, Greece, or Italy. If the allies are going to land, why not open the doors to the worst spot? Just invite them in and keep them there. Does this have any merit?

[therogueraider]

@WindowWasher I do this every single time that I play Germany and it has never failed me. I typically leave both Holland and Normandy completely open and instead heavily fortify Western Germany, Denmark and France with Italian and Germany units. This allows the allies to secure a few extra IPC’s, but at the cost of poor positioning in the long run.

[therogueraider]

@ShadowHAwk

Those units could land in Norway either way, so leaving Normandy open does not change that. Southern France would be protected by Italy since they can easily position several ground units in both France and Southern France with German support.

You also do not have to completely retake Normandy as the Axis once the Allies have landed. All you need to do is attack with a substantial force to continuously grind down their units then retreat before you start to take higher losses. Also, as the Axis player I would gladly trade one for one with the Allies in Normandy and France since the axis can easily replace those units while the Allies cannot.

[therogueraider]

@ShadowHAwk
Those units would have to be defending anyway though? This strategy simply baits the allies into attacking a position you can better defend from with a lower risk of a naval invasion in northeastern Europe or Southern Europe where the axis is more vulnerable. Obviously you would prefer to have these units fighting elsewhere but that is not a realistic option, so I’m not sure that I understand your point.

[therogueraider]

@ShadowHAwk Those units are essential to defend your capital, as well as France’s capital. There is no way around having a substantial defensive force if you want to win the game as the axis. Ideally all of those units could attack Moscow, but that is literally not an option. Germany can lose its capital turn 4 if you don’t have enough units to defend, and Paris can be lost to the allies turn 5 if you aren’t deploying enough units to prevent that.