Ok, objective cities are pretty straightforward. They are listed in the F7 Ledger. They give 1-3 victory points per turn as defined by scenario. They are identified with a gold star next to their name on the map. However I did find a contradiction about when a garrison is necessary. In the victory point section, the manual states that a garrison is necessary for VP credit if loyalty is less than 51%. In the controlling structures section, it states that loyalty less than 6% requires a garrison for VP credit. Which is correct: 6% or 51%?
Strategic Cities are not really defined or discussed in the manual. They are simply listed in a chart which states a strategic city gives 1 VP per turn. I did find an image of structures in the manual which pointed to a city in white lettering as a strategic city but when looking at cities in white lettering, they are all my own objective cities.
So are objective and strategic cities the same cities? In the manual, I get the general impression they are two distinct types of victory point cities.
What about cities which are objective cities for the AI opponents but not objective cities for me? Are they strategic cities? I know by holding those cities, I am denying points to the AI but are they also strategic cities? If strategic cities, I assume I would need to garrison those cities to gain VPs.