Beyond D Day

[Tisifoni]

I've had several games of the 1944 - 45 scenario. I have worked out how to do the D Day invasion.

I do find it quite easy to thwart my allied plans as the Germans and either push the allies back into the sea or leave them bottled up in the Cherbourg Peninsula. Perhaps 2 times in 5 I have achieved the sort of breakout achieved historically.

Perhaps I should be throwing more air power at the defence of the beach head ?
That is the only additional action I could take I think.

[Tisifoni]

Another test and repeatedly being pushed back. British / Canadian forces evacuate, US bottled up in Cherbourg peninsula.

If the Brits land at the East end of the Normany area they have the option to attack Le Havre to the East or not. Success means no mulberry port option and the historic 'path' would be to push South.

Land the US army to the West and it gets the immediate option to attack Cherbourg, which is necessary to gain a port.

Perhaps if placing the Mulberry ports on landing, before attacking Le Havre it would allow the landing of a third army (Brits and Canadians), or if the army landed where the Mulberry harbours are placed was allowed to push one hex inland without being held by friction with the Le Havre garrison ?

[MarkDey]

It looks like you're successfully working through some of the tactics of the France 1944 scenario. As the allies, I would suggest landing in supporting positions so my armies aren't isolated. I'd also try to get as many units ashore as possible, ideally four armies focused on one or two ports. Placing the Mulberry port on a road hex is vital if you want it to provide long-distance supply. On the following month, the allies should commit as much air as possible to stop the German counterattack.

[RobertBr]

I've had several games of the 1944 - 45 scenario. I have worked out how to do the D Day invasion.

I do find it quite easy to thwart my allied plans as the Germans and either push the allies back into the sea or leave them bottled up in the Cherbourg Peninsula.

To be clear in the historical setup it is virtually impossible for the Axis to stop the Allied landings if they are well executed. The Allies have to make a haphazard poorly co-ordinated landing for it to be pushed back into the sea. In full games formidable defences broadly require at least doubling the German forces and even then will not consistently succeed.

I keep meaning to do a video on this because the landings are such an important part (I did one on the scenario but I don't go into detail on the tactics https://youtu.be/iHA-MRUzsw0 and have covered at points in relation to league games). It sounds like you are playing solo against yourself, there is a firm upper limit to how much that will teach you. The 44 scenario is badly unbalanced (in favour of the Allies) but getting in some games against real opponents will give you a much better sense of the range and it will only take a few games in which an Allied player smashes through your German defences like they don't exist to show you where you are going wrong.

[Tisifoni]

Thank you, I shall look at that.

[Serilo]

In general, for the main campaign, there are usually some factors that can make D-Day fail, most are not present in 1944.
1.Isolated allied landings(Scenario) This is fairly self-explanatory. You land in three different areas and your units are isolated upon attack
2.Terrible luck(Scenario) This includes several 6-1 6-1 interception results.
3.Silly mistakes - Not selecting escorts(Scenario), placing Surprise Attack markers into a hex(Scenario), not re-buying Surprise Attack(UK) in time
4.You left your convoys in the landing ports instead of eliminating them and your opponent has a massive airforce remaining. They get shredded and you go into Low Supply.

The ones above are critical failures - you need only one to likely lose.
5.A locked/useless Mediterranean - if you didn't reach Italy by now this allows your enemy to absolutely stack the coastline with garrisons... and
troops. You need that third front. If your troops are attacking Lybia in the last summer you are way too late.
6.The enemy is guarding every coastal port(-adjacent) hex in the north of France and Belgium/Netherlands.
7. An enemy Airdrop counter.
8. The enemy uses their airforce.
9. An enemy Surprise Attack counter.
10. Elite tanks in 1946 scenarios.