The other day, I was trying out a different approach to a more direct strategy in D-day. I was trying to complete my objectives in this order: 1. St. Lo, 2. Caen, 3. Cherbourg. Unfortunately, I ran out of time, and lost the game!
Moral of the story: press hard on every side
Press hard on every side, as you said, and don’t ever leave Cherbourg for last. It’s the farthest away of the VCs, and while usually not heavily defended, still hard to reach in force. It should generally be the first VC you take and hold for the rest of the game.
Unless my combats go well I have a tendency as Germany to abandon it and bring those troops to try and clog exit from the beaches. Last game I played my opponent lost because he didn’t have a unit left anywhere near Cherbourg despite having killed all of my Axis forces. You got to head there as soon as you can.
I’ve played this game less than ten times, but each time I played, St. Lo was the last VC to be contested. I think this is because the British are almost solely responsible for taking Caen, just as the US is almost solely responsible for taking Cherbourg. After those VC’s fall, the Allies just make a mad dash during the second half of the game, converging on St. Lo, while the Germans rush in to reinforce.
I just make my stand at St. Lo. I head my Axis forces there as soon as I can. I try to keep a full stack in St. Lo and keep reinforcements ready to replace the casualties. Hopefully from zones without Allied FTRs.
