I think a lot of that is down to the theatre. Italy/Africa just isnt as suited to the classic formula of WW2 perception Hollywood imprinted on us through decades of recycling Normandy landing and Stalingrad.
Fixed for you.
Relic sent out that questioaire at the beginning of developing coh3. "where do you want the game to go etc"
I feel they didnt really have any solid good ideas of what to do with the game, other than elevation which is the only true innovation. They just forced a game out knowing it would sell anyway.
I remember that survey.
Seems like everything players asked for in it arrived in CoH3 and remember, expectations always exceed reality when it comes to games.