NOTE: The post will be separate. The first post here is about weapons and history. When u are interested in faction design only you can use the LINK HERE to hop to the second post and ignore the opening!

WARNING: TEXT HEAVY!!!

First Rework:

Added: 21.12.2023, by Lord Rommel. - I have forgotten to update the post here with a small tech adjustment. Sry!
NOTE: U get the "big pic" by left click > open in a new tab! Thx!

ITALIAN FACTION

It is 1 year now (wow) – 1 year ago I posted my Italian RSI faction thread here at the Dev board to inspire and convince people (and Relic) that an Italian faction would be a welcome addition to the CoH franchise. 

1 year later we have more information. Sure. The release was pushed to 2023 but we know that CoH 3 will launch with 4 factions.

The German army in Italy, the german army in Africa (technically we will see the “Deutsche Afrika-Korps”, the “Panzerarmee Afrika” and the “Heeresgruppe Afrika” merged into the faction) AND the British Forces in Africa and the US Forces in Italy. 

So we will see 2 german faction with limited Italian support and a British faction with commonwealth elements and the well-known US Forces. 

To be honest the factions aren’t a big surprise. The US and British factions plus one German faction were almost guaranteed. For me the “german army in Afrika” was the biggest surprise because I cant think of an army here that would fit in a dynamic mp match but Relic had surprised me and now I have to accept that my prediction was wrong.

With that said I have to think and hope for a 5th faction – a 5th faction that is based on a nation that had a lot of bad reputation (here in the forum and by the player base in general); ITALY.

So today – 1 year after my initial RSI thread that was limited by the unknown knowledge of the upcoming African content – I want to talk about a more general approach for an Italian faction.

With the threat I want to expand the unit rooster, the faction design idea and some general information I would think off that could be utilised for a potential 5th Italian CoH 3 faction. 

So lets start. I hope u will have some fun and we all will learn new stuff. 

My Invitation

To start with I want to add a sort of invitation here.

The threat is packed with stories, details and small elements to get u into the rich history of the Italian armed forces in ww2. I added a lot of historical content and stuff here to get into the topic. Perhaps you know other stories or bits or pieces that could be added OR some of you guys here will have nice gameplay ideas or concepts inspired by the histories you will find here in the thread. 

So please take the thread as an invitation to work with my content and my suggestions and ideas to develop the idea for an Italian faction into a concept that will convince Relic that the ITALIANS are the next faction, we all want to see and we all want to play.

So thanks a lot for your time, reading and your participation in the discussion!

Faction design in Company of Heroes 

To start with I would recommend visiting my RSI thread too because some of the design principles I can see in a CoH faction will be important for the upcoming design and content ideas. 

For the guys who wont read the old post I will try to present u a short version here:

CoH is about unit balance, unit roles, timing, and planning.

CoH factions have a basic layout of weapons and units that are needed to create a working competitive game faction. The units are organised into “tiers” to get some balance for timing and unit deployment and to develop a “pressure curve” that is forcing players to act and reaction depending on their own arsenal and the arsenal of the enemy. That element is enforced by a power curve and/or strength peak. The heaviest – best – most efficient weapons will be available often in the late game. Specialised units that could cause headache by the enemy are often organised behind battlegroups/doctrines or techs that need planning and decision making. 

At the end we can summarize the needed unit pool into the following list:

• Construction unit (when there is base building)
• Base Infantry
• Light scout (fast cap/anti sniper)
• Heavy weapon – suppression
• Heavy weapon – indirect fire
• Heavy weapon – anti tank
• Infantry based anti-tank
• Supporting infantry (additional role/setup)
• Armoured car
• Armoured personal carrier
• Main battle tank (in terms of main fighting tank in the game)
• Tank killer
• Artillery weapon
• Special infantry unit
• Special armoured unit
• Support unit (bonus/modifier unit)

Optional:

• Armoured Artillery
• Heavy tank destroyer
• Elite infantry
• Flamethrower
• (sniper)
• (heavy tank)
• (rocket artillery)

Signature units – the question for easy noticeable (iconic) units

One important aspect for faction design in CoH is the “unique feature” of the faction. When I will ask u for some “iconic units or weapons of a nation in ww2” I’m pretty sure that we will get a big list soon. E.g. when I would ask for German signature units or iconic weapons the chances are high for answers like the big cat tanks, “Waffen-SS soldiers” and other “mythical stuff” (I’m tired for – No Ratte-discussion/suggestion again – Thx). When I ask for US stuff u will say Sherman tanks and GIs – when I ask for the British u will say “Black Prince” (gotcha! U are still reading! Nice!). Will I ask for Italians – well, we had the topic in the past…

Why Italians at all?

I think one question you will ask is the good old question “WHY”.

Well. First of all; The African front WAS the ITALIAN front. Without the Italian declaration of war there would be no desert or Mediterranean war at all. Most of the troops in the theatre were Italian units – until the fatal events that broke Italy into a shattered empire fighting a bloody civil war.

The second reason is the fact that we have seen 3 iterations of CoH with 6 iterations of german forces. The allies saw a fresh faction with the red army in CoH2 until the game went back to its western front roots. Italy is the best candidate in the current theatre to get a non-german-core-faction. They had all weapons needed, they had a strong history and depending on my ideas and your answers and ideas they could get a new gameplay different from the current Wehrmacht and “DAK” layout.

I know that some people will say here that the Italians are already part of the DAK and that an Italian faction would remove content from the DAK. For the first case I want to ask where u see the “Italian aspect” in a faction that is named “DEUTSCHES – german – Afrika Korps”. I cant see anything Italian related here. When Relic would have been interested in adding an Italian element here they would have used a name like “german-italian panzer army” or “Axis African Forces” but they decided to use the ”DEUTSCHE - german - Afrika-Korps”. Sure. We will see “some” Italians because even the “mighty DAK” needed help by its “partner” (I don’t look at the Gazala battles or El Alamein here…). Furthermore, by adding the Italians as a faction there is no reason why the Italian content should be deleted from the DAK. We will see Tiger tanks in the Wehrmacht and in the DAK. There are Panzer IV, Panzergrenadiere and all these types of units and no one is complaining that it is stolen content that should be removed from one faction because the other faction is using the unit too.

The history of the royal Italian armed forces

My last “faction review” was focused on the RSI - the Esercito Nazionale Repubblicano – the Italian social republican army of the Italian 1943+ puppet state in northern Italy.

You can find the FULL POST HERE (Warning: Text heavy!)

To begin with I want to have a look at the history of the proposed Italian faction. The Italian army of ww2 had a very bad reputation. Many here know and think of a meme army that couldn’t do anything in the field that could cause a threat to the enemy. The truth is: Italian soldiers died in battle. They have killed other soldiers in battle. They fought with the same bravery and the same fanaticism u can find in any other ww2 army. They had the same problems with fear, panic and Post-traumatic stress disorders. It was a war and that is something we tend to forget. 

With that in mind we should look into the reasons why the Italian army had developed such a bad reputation in ww2. There are several reasons so I will talk in general about some elements here.

1. The victorious side will write the history – That is the easy part. The allies have won. That made the losing side already “bad” in terms of military performance. But the story got a bit more problematic for the Italians here because they were turned into a “punching bag” for the British nation that had won the war on paper but have lost everything that had turned “Great Britain” into the “British empire”. That had formed some narratives in the perception of the “British war” in ww2. One of the perceptions is the Italian punching bag and the horrible British defeats by the “superior” germans. Within such a narrative the Italian army was the bad loser army that was always beaten by the British in the field. Because when the British were beaten by axis forces it was always the superior German war machine. Such a narrative was easy to understand and was used to justify some British decisions and battle outcomes in ww2. And it is one reason why Italian successes were forgotten – or they were ignored. The fact was further multiplied by german history writing that was blaming all failures of the African/Italian war to the Italians because we all know; Germans cant make a mistake! At the end u have a very toxic mixture of allied and german historiography plus the debacle of the 10th Italian Army that was “overshadowing” all Italian war achievements and successes. 
2. The trap of “knowing the outcome” – A big problem is the time trap. We know how ww2 has ended. The soldiers in ww2 had no idea of the outcome. We are rating the armies of ww2 by the results we all know. That has the tendency to influence our perspective. We know that the axis African army was stopped at El Alamein. We know that the allied forces landed on Sicily causing panic under Italian troops and forcing a collapse of the fragile Italian politics, military and society. Events like the axis defeat and the Italian civil war have a big influence on our expectations and attitudes. The Italians were bad because they have lost all battles causing them to collapse. So they are bad army that couldn’t have been a threat to any other army in ww2. Hell, they weren’t able to beat the outdated Greek army because they were stupide and dump and horrible. Its an easy story – well – because we know the outcome.
3. Numbers – And here is the last trap for the bad reputation of the Italian armed forces: Numbers! We love numbers, stats and data. And that is a problem because they are often one sided and they could force us to ignore other stats and factors – or the numbers tend to create a “clear” and logical picture. That is a problem for the Italian forces in special. In 1940 the Italian army had analysed their stats and status for an upcoming war with the British armed forces. The report summarized the estimated requirements for the Italian army in 1940. The Italian army had only 6% of the planed artillery ammunition, 25% infantry small ammo, 7% medium ammo and 10% heavy ammo. The army had “only” 35% of the requested rifles, 10% of the MGs, 70% of the mortars, 42% of the combat aircraft… ect ect.
   U can see; The Italian Army was well aware of the shortage of ammunition and equipment that would cause performance issues on the battlefield. On the other side the numbers were planned stockpile numbers for a long-time war based on Italian wargames and planning. Furthermore, the army had reorganised its main combat formations – the divisions – from triangular into binary formations before the war. People think that it was a political decision by the “Duce” Mussolini who wanted to impress his enemies with the numbers of his army because with the binary divisions the number of divisions overall skyrocketed between 1936~1940. Sure. The political system planed for an army of 126 divisions but at the same time the army had reported that they could equip and maintain 73 division at all. But it wasn’t Mussolini who had forced such a restructuring alone. The plans were coordinated and synchronised with the Italian army command that was planning to reorganise the army by a new doctrine; The “guerra di rapido Corso” – war of rapid decisions – the “Italian Blitzkrieg” concept. The new doctrine was asking for smaller formations that would allow for fast movement on the battlefield. But as always it was a well planned doctrine on paper that lacked experience and time to prepare and to realise (e.g. the “War of rapid decisions” was one reason why Italian tanks got radios – a detail that often ignored but often used to explain german successes in Poland and France). You can expand the number game in many other directions. The Italian war industry wasn’t capable enough to build sufficient numbers of weapons. The weapons that were build had bad stats and designs. E.g. Italian armored steel was bad in quality. Tanks were riveted and/or bolted instate of welded. The Italian 6.5mm ammunition was weak. The Italian artillery lacked large calibre weapons for sufficient firepower (The Italian army know that they lacked large guns and for that reason they developed such guns). Ect ect ect… U can add a lot of stuff here. But why do I list all the “numbers”? Well… Look at other nations. Germany e.g. had to realize that its stockpiles of ammunition were depleted after the polish campaign. When the army had finished the war with Poland they had artillery ammunition left for 3~5 days of large scale combat. British tanks in 1936~1939 were riveted and bolted too – like many other designs (e.g. tank armor welding was a state secret in Germany in ww2!). The USA had no war industry at all. So by looking at pure numbers it is easy to see a “bad” nation/faction. And to be honest – is it different today….?

With all that said I have scratched the tip of the iceberg. I hope that all sceptical players will recognize and acknowledge that I see the problems of and arguments against an Italian faction.

But with all that said I think it is fair to have a look at the Italians and what they could offer to the CoH franchise when we ignore the big debates of the historical background. I have talked about them to show u that I have that in my mind. Nevertheless, I can see potential in an Italian faction.

Like the RSI review we will have a look for the infantry first and here we will start with the colonial forces. CoH3 will have some focus on the multi ethnical conflict. One of the “game elements” is the presentation of the large ethnical diversity of the armies that were involved in the clash of titans.

So lets start with the CoH 3 Italian faction analyse:

With all that said lets have a look at the Royal Italian Army first…

On paper it was a regular European army for the interwar period. The army was heavily influences by the experience of the last “great war” (ww1). Like any other army the royal Italian army was analysing and planning the next war. Italian officers were convinced that a new war will hit Europe. They weren’t curtained WHO would be the next enemy. Germany was an obvious candidate because it was an enemy in ww1. The other “old” enemy Austria was turned into a friend and with the fascist ideology the German threat was already diminishing. The next obvious rivals were all nations in the Mediterranean theatre and here the focus was the French neighbour. Interestingly the Italians tried to intensify the relations with the British Empire. Until the Italian attack against British Egypt there were trade negotiations to start licence production of British fighter aircraft and engines in Italian factories.  Beside the “big French threat” Italy started to think of increasing its influence in the entire Mediterranean. Inspired by its fascist ideology Italian politics started to develop programs and ideas to turn Italy in a big powerhouse that cant be ignored unlike 1918. To get into a position of strength small nations should be subordinated by the Italian state by conquering or by alliance.

To achieve the ambitious goals (gain a position of strength and getting prepared for a new war) Italy started a number of programs to modernise Italy. The programs were called “battles” to gain self-sufficiency. One of the less known battles is the battle of motorisation and mechanisation. Many nations in Europe were agricultural nations. Italy was no exception. WW1 had shown that motorisation would become an important element for the next war. Together with the concept of the war of rapid decisions Italy needed drivers and persons who could operate and maintain vehicles and machines. With the help of the fascist party fuel and motor vehicles were subsidised to generate more interest in the topic and to train more male people in driving and vehicle maintaining. The program should create the pool of the soldiers for the upcoming war of rapid movement. The plan was a partial success (other nations had similar programs like Germany with the NSKK organisation to generate a motor vehicle hype – another “effect” of the vehicle hype was the birth of the motor sport to attract young males). Italy was always short of tank men and drivers but that was a problem for ALL nations in ww2 (and a reason why tank numbers alone cant be a war winning factor). 

The civil sector efforts were supported by the regular army training. A conscript had to undertake 6 months of training. Part of the training was shooting, marching and other regular combat duties. The time frame wasn’t different from other armies. France had a system of periodic training with a service man having a max of 4 months of training in a year. Britain divided the training in training drills of 12 days with a max of 20 drills in a year (~8 months). With these numbers u can see that the Italian training was on average. The biggest problem for the Italians was the NCO corps. With the binary division the number of stuff officers skyrocketed, and the army needed way more officers they could training causing a drop in the quality of the NCO corps by promoting persons into a position they weren’t fit for. The NCO problems couldn’t be solved in the war causing some serious problems for the Italian idea of the war of rapid decisions (because the officers who had to make these decisions weren’t trained to do so). 

Unlike some conceptions the Italian army had a good reputation in terms of artillery and gunnery skills. Unfortunately, I can’t find information about the Italian artillery training but combat reports of the battle of Sicily and some battles at the African desert indicated that the Italian artillery and the artillery gunners were very skilled and brave. Despite the small gun calibres that were reducing the combat effectives of the artillery the guns were very accurate and of a high production quality (some ww2 guns served until the late 1970s). At Sicily the US infantry had to eliminate Italian artillery guns and crews before the supporting units would surrender. Again, on Sicily the US army had to close some landing beached because of the precise Italian battery fire that was causing casualties and unnecessary problems for the landing US forces. These incidents are two examples of the Italian artillery skills and abilities. There were many other incidents supporting the quality of the Italian artillery (like the Battle of Garfagnana or the Battle of Bir el Gobi or the Battle of Hellfire pass). Often the Italian artillery men were the last men fighting.

An interesting story is the Italian tank training. In 1938 the Italian army published the “Cicolare 10,500, Impiego ed addestramento dei carri d’assalto”, the Italian training book for armored units and tank crews. The training guidelines were confirmed by the “La Dottrina Tattica nella Realizzazioni dell ‘Anno XVI, Circolare 9000 Stato Maggiore” on 28 October 1938 handbook. All the Italian tank training guidelines culminated in the circular “Impiego delle unita’ carriste”, the imperial tank forces circular. Unlike the “modern handbooks” the real tank training was hampered by many facts. First of all Italy had no heavy tank force. With the CV tankettes and Fiat 3000 tanks the Italian army could train tank crews in the basic principles of armoured combat but without a fully working “Main battle tank” (a medium combat tank in ww2 terms) the training effect was limited. Heavy machines needed more training and bigger crews needed more time to transform into a working combat unit. With that in mind its no surprise that the main tank training was performed by the armored divisions in the field and the most important example was the Ariete armored division and its training centre at it’s north african Tripoli barracks. With the arrival of the first M tanks the Ariete command realised that they had to invest into training because of the lack of M tanks and the lack of armor in Italy at all the crews were short on real training in and with the vehicles. For that reason, the Ariete division developed a training parcourse at the Tripolis training barracks. Here the division formed a test track with obstacles and barriers the crews could be find in the desert. The biggest highlight was the firing range. When tank crews left Italy, they had fired up to 5 to 10 real rounds. That number wasn’t sufficient to get a feeling for the gun and to learn the gun characteristics. To train the crews the Ariete division build a firing range with moving targets. The firing range proved to be a vital part of the division’s battle performance. Here the crews could fire many rounds on moving targets to get familiar with the gun. Here the 47mm gun showed its impressive gunnery characteristics. The ballistic was impressive. The firing arc and round velocity was great allowing for an impressive precision. The training would transfer into a good and acceptable hit ratio in combat. At Bir el Gobi the Italian tanks scored many hits on targets. In 1942 the good hit performance allowed to win some tank vs tank engagements. The advantages vanished with the arrival of the new US M3 and M4 tanks that could withstand the standard 47mm AP rounds on big combat ranges – and in the desert many battles were fought over big distances that needed speed to turn the range disadvantage into a close combat brawl where gun calibre and penetrating values were less important.  

To start here we will look into the Italian colonial forces first. With CoH3 we wil see a large number of nations and ethnos involved into the new theatre. Forgotten by many Italy was a colonial empire with a colonial army. Beside ethnic Italians the army had formed some foreign units. The biggest group were Ascari auxiliary soldiers form the Libyan, Eritrean and Abyssinian colonies. But there were some small other ethnic formations like the Battaglione India libera, an Indian formation formed from Indian soldiers who had surrendered in the desert to the axis forces. After the defeat of El Alamein the Indian battalion was dropped because the Italians were afraid that the Indians would desert in the first battles. Another small “foreign formation” was a german company formed in Italian East Africa, former Abyssinia and todays Ethiopia. The company was organised from german colonists who had settled down in Abyssinia and joined the axis armies to defend the Italian colony against the British commonwealth forces. 

COLONIAL INFANTRY

Most of the African colonial soldiers were called “Ascari”, a Turkish term for ‘soldiers’, already used in East Africa. The army official term for “foreign units” was “Indigena”. For most of the colonial forces the Italians formed “di Fanteria Indigena”, “di Cavalleria Indigena” and “Esploratori Indigeni”; colonial infantry, cavalry and scouts. Before ww1 the colonial forces were reinforced by the “Cannonieri Indigeni”, the colonial artillery. With the time the colonial corps was expanded in many directions. Before ww2 the army established militia formations, supply columns and other experimental units. They are the best candidates to look at first. So lets start!

Ascari 

Ascari was the generic term for the colonial soldiers. Soldiers from Libya, Eritrea, Somalia, and later Abyssinia formed the core part of the Ascari corps. Against the size of the conquered space the number of available men for the Ascari forces was very limited. E.g. the Libyan Ascaris were one of the strongest Ascari corps with 2 field divisions in 1935 marking the hight of the Libyan forces. The pool of soldiers was too small to support more formations. Of the 400.000 strong Libyan population of 1935 ¼ were native Italians and ¾ Libyans limiting the number of available men to a small number. Furthermore, many Libyan natives resisted to join the army because of the brutal defeat of the Libyan tribal resistance in 1930. Against all odds the Italian army had managed to form 12 infantry battalions and 9 supporting heavy MG companies with Libyan Ascaris. They fought well. Despite the colonial history and the ethnic conflicts there was no significant difference in the combat performance of the Libyan men and the regular Italian conscript. Like the entire 10th Italian Army the Libyan Ascaris suffered from bad planning, missing heavy weapons and lacking logistical support. In CoH gameplay terms the Ascaris would be a rifle armed regular “line infantry” capable of fighting from long to mid ranges from cover. They wont be “assault” or “charge” infantry so they would be pure defensive capture and hold the ground units. Other “Ascaris” could be found in the Italian “East African colonies” but the situation was very similar to the Libyan soldiers so I wont add the history of the “Italian East African Ascari” here.

Spahi and Meharisti

The desert forced the Italian army to look for a mobile army formation that could patrol the desert land and could be send in regions in cases of emergency. The result were the horse borne Spahi and camel born Meharisti squadrons. Until 1938~1940 both units served as hit and run units with animals. They were stationed in the desert oasis garrisons for protecting the desert boarder. But the climate and warfare conditions had forced them to change their role and “weapons”. With a mechanized army like the British army the animal “cavalry” units were abandoned in favour of mechanised units. The Spahi and Meharisti units formed one of the force pools for the new Italian “Auto-Saharian” units, long range patrol forces to scout the long desert flanks and the stop the infiltration of allied raiding forces like the Long Range Desert group. In CoH “horse borne” units would be a complete novelty so its hard to say anything about their “function” and “effectiveness”. Ingame they would be close to a fast Bike/Jeep scout units and/or a hit-and-run unit for harassing units marching without cover nearby. They would be a pure situational unit and wont have great “survivability” in a potential late game against more semi-automatic weapons and vehicle borne MGs. 

Ascari del Cielo

Many people believe that the paratrooper forces were an elite force and were recruited from the best men available. The Italians take a different approach. In Italy the airborne history started with a colonial experiment at the Libyan colony. Here the project was protected by ambitious Marshal of Italy Italo Balbo. At the airport of Castel Benito near Tripoli the Italian army in Libya recruited a battalion of 300 native “ascaris” to form the first Italian Paratroopers Regiment "Fanti dell'Aria". In late 1938 the battalion had done several daylight and night airdrops causing some deadly casualties. Because of their training and bravery, the Ascari del Cielo were nicknamed Diavoli neri, black devils (green devils, red devils – there is a pattern for airborne nicknames). When the war broke out the men were thrown into combat. But instate of being dropped in combat by aircraft the 1st Regiment was attached to the 1ª Divisione libica, the colonial 1st Libyan Division. They fought in a number of engagements. Most of the first generation “Italian” paratroopers were killed in battle during the British counter offensive Operation Compass. The remaining men capitulated at Beda Fomm with the remnants of the Italian forces that had started the push into British Egypt. After the capitulation there were no more men left to rebuild a new Ascari air regiment. With the fate of the 10th Italian Army the history of the first “Italian” paratroopers” had been forgotten or ignored. Their combat experience and history was “supplanted” by the history of the Italian Paracadutisti of the Nembo and Folgore Divisions.

Based on the armament the Ascari del Cielo could form a long-range firing squad. In cover in combination with static gameplay they could perform as a long-range model dropper. The Ascari del Cielo had access to the basic set of Italian small arms so the most logical choice would be the standard Caracano rifle with adjusted stats for long-mid range fire support. Unlike many other paratroopers we have seen in the history of CoH the Ascari del Cielo would be a support unit and no “close in combat unit” or “assault unit” as most of the CoH airborne infantry units so far.

Paracadutisti Libici

The “Paracadutisti Libici” are just an alternative name for the Fanti dell'Aria, the Ascari del Cielo.

ITALIAN INFANTRY

With the “colonial infantry” solved it is time to have a look into our regular Italian royal army infantry pool. It is no big surprise that I will reuse a number of infantry names and types I have already used for the RSI analyse. That is no big surprise so u can have a look into the old concept or u can read most of the stuff here again. 

We will start the topic with the generic infantry down to the specialists. Lets start!

Genio - Pionieri

We know that base building is an automated process that wont need active building units. BUT there are battlefield fortifications like sandbags and barbed wire and mines that need a unit for construction and placement. That is a typical job for the “pioneer units”, the “pionieri” or official called Genio in the royal Army. Based on the gameplay information so far it is likely an unit that could be skipped for the Italians because there is no distinctive need for “genio” unit in CoH3 and Italian “regular pioneers” wont be a special unit at all. There are more interesting candidates to chose from. 

Fanteria

Fanteria or “infantry” is just a regular and boring name for a standard infantry unit. The “fanteria” would be regular conscripted soldiers with the basic set of combat training. Italian infantry would be armed with regular M1891 Caracano rifle, the standard Italian service rifle. The “fanteria” would be a regular mid to long range combat unit designed to fight from cover. Limited by the firepower of the Caracano rifle the “fanteria” wont be suitable in offensive and pushing operations. In CoH gameplay terms the unit would be a standard unit for caping and defending the captured position from a spontaneous counterattack. The “fanterie” could be enforced in combat performance by adding regular hand grenades and construction abilities like sandbags or barbed wire or anti-tank obstacles. All in all they would a common combat unit in a CoH game layout. Nothing special, nothing exiting. 

Fucilieri

A typical trend of ww2 was the adoption of names to enforce the “esprit de corps”. The Italian army had re-established the Fucilieri before ww2. A Fucilieri in the Royal Army was a light machine gunner. With the introduction of the Breda Modello 1930 – the official name was “fucile mitragliatore Breda Modello 30” – the soldier armed with the light MG was now called Fucilieri. 

Other armies – like the Wehrmacht – hap adopted the term too. The old term “Fusilier” was a light mobile infantry man. As u can see there are two options for the RSI term plus the generic military role.

The Fucilieri could be used for a heavy squad with upgrade options. A squad with such a name should have a Breda LMG by default or by upgrade. A Fucilieri squad could bring in heavy firepower. The squad could serve in a more defensive and supporting rule utilising the firepower of the light Machine gun – despite the flaws of the Breda LMG Model 30.

Bersaglieri

The Bersaglieri were formed in 1836 as light scouting infantry. With the idea of the war of movement the Italian army started to equip its Bersaglieri with bicycles in 1910. In ww1 any Bersaglieri regiment had a bicycles battalion. They were used as a ready reaction force. Furthermore, they were seen as one of the 2 “elite corps” of the Italian army. Between ww1 and ww2 the Italians developed a kind of cult for the “bersaglieri-ciclisti” – the bicycle Bersaglieri. Many men were interested in joining the ranks of the Bersaglieri. Between both world wars the Italian army developed the “guerra di rapido Corso” (high-speed mobile warfare) – the Italian idea and concept of “lightning war”. With the new concept the Italian army started to adopt as many elements as possible of the new doctrine. Mobile units got more and more important, so the Bersaglieri got in the centre of interest. In ww2 Bersaglieri fought on all front. Many Bersaglieri were attached to armored and mobile formations of the Royal Italian Army to concentrate the „mobile warfare experts“ in selected units. Generalfeldmarschall Rommel said about the Bersaglieri: „Der deutsche Soldat hat die Welt erstaunt; der italienische Bersaglieri hat den deutschen Soldaten erstaunt.“ - "the German soldier has astonished the world; the Italian Bersagliere has astonished the German soldier“.

Bersaglieri were trained for offensive assault operations. With hand grenades and sub machine gun upgrades the Bersaglieri could be formed in a suitable attack squad. When you are looking for an offensive unit the Bersaglieri are the best choice to get a solid unit for the Italian unit line up. 

Alpini

The second “elite unit” of the Italian army were the Alpini mountain infantry men. Unknown by many the Italian army had two types of mountains units; the “fanteria da montagna” and the Alpini. To become an Alpini soldier, you had to be born in the northern parts of Italy. These men were already familiar (and trained) with mountain terrain. The Italian army enforced their mountain skills by suppling the “Alpini units” with mountain warfare equipment and weapons. E.g. the Alpini were the first mountain unit to receive special mountain guns to enforce the firepower of the mountain units. Between ww1 and ww2 the Alpini were concentrated in divisions. Italy started ww2 with 5 Alpini divisions, a 6th division was formed later to replace the combat loses in Russia. Although they never fought in the African deserts the Alpini would be a “must have” unit for an Italian faction. They represent the most elite infantry formation you will find in the italian army. Because of their hard training, skills and equipment they were sent to the Russian frontline where they fought in 1942/43 with bravery and skill. After the soviet breakthrough (Operation Uranus/Saturn) at the Voronezh front near Stalingrad in the horrible winter of 1942/1943 many Alpini formations were isolated. The Alpini refused to surrender to the soviet forces. Instead, they tried to reach the new axis lines far in the west. They marched hundreds of kilometres, hunted by the red army and often engaged in battles and skirmishes the Alpini corps vanished. Before the red army’s offensive, the 3-division strong Alpini corps had 52.380 Alpini soldiers on paper. When they reached the Axis lines in February 1943, they had only 7.100 men left. The Alpini corps never recovered from the horrible loses.

The Alpini are an elite unit in terms of recruitment and training. They were the best the italian army could offer. Armed with the standard set of rifles the Alpini performed well in combat compensating the lack of equipment with training, skill and some sort of fanaticism. They are a good candidate for a call in elite infantry with good stats for long range combat. They could be used for long range heavy damage dealing combat roles forcing the allies to get rid of them in close combat with massive firepower by submachine guns.

Fucilieri di marina - Fanteria di marina

The italian fanteria di marina based on the Reggimento "La Marina" from 1713. The regiment formed the the core of the ww1 Brigata Marina (Naval Brigade). In ww1 the old “naval infantry unit” was reinforced with regular field soldiers, former sailors stranded in Venice and some other soldiers. After ww1 the Brigade was downsized into a battalion and renamed into San Marco (a link to Venice and the Italian naval tradition [e.g. ww1 ship San Marco that was sunk in ww1]). With ww2 the battalion was reinforced into a regiment. The unit saw extensive combat. They saw combat against the British army in late 1942 when the San Marco naval infantry stationed at Tobruq repelled a British commando landing. As a reward the III Battaglioni got the honoring title “Tobruch”. The 3rd Battalion fought from Tobruq until the end of the desert campaign. They defended the Mareth line. The fucilieri di marina, Marines, were soon feared and respected by friend and foe. Later the last commanding officer of the Heeresgruppe Afrika (Army group Africa) General von Arnim said that the San Marco naval soldiers were the best men he had every commanded in combat. 

In Africa the fucilieri di marina were armed with the Beretta MAB 38 sub machine guns to add more firepower to the naval marines. All in all their supplies and armament were the best the italian army could offer, emphasising their role, prestige and combat performance. The fucilieri di marina could be used for a sub machine gun armed charge in unit. With grenade abilities they could be a hard hitting assault squad causing some headache to the allied close combat units with their Tommy guns and Sten SMGs. 

Guastatori

In 1941 the Royal Army had formed an elite combat pioneer formation based on the famous german Sturmpioniere (assault pioneers) and german assault and infiltration tactics. The “guastatori del genio” (short: guastatori) were borne. The Guastatori were selected and well-trained elite pioneers. They were used to destroy heavy fortifications, to destroy defensive positions and to break in the enemy’s line of defence. Furthermore, the Italian army developed a strong tactical guideline for the combat deployment of their breakthrough experts. 

The Guastatori were organised in small troops, called “Squadra Guastatori”. The Squadra had always two groups, the destruction group – called Gruppo distruttori – and the support group – called Gruppo d’appoggio. The destruction group had 12 men. 4 men operated the Bangalore torpedo, 4 men deployed heavy demolition charges and 4 men operated 2 flamethrowers. The group could fight down all sort of field fortifications and obstacles with their weapons and arsenal. To protect the “destruction group” they were covered by 6 men strong support group, Gruppo d’appoggio. The support group had a 3 men LMG team and a 3 men 45mm assault mortar team. The MG should suppress enemies with fire. The mortar team should utilise the small 45mm Brixia Modello 1935 mortar. The mortar had a remarkable accuracy allowing the mortar team to pin down enemies with aimed shells. When needed the mortar team can fire smoke rounds to add cover to the assault group. To enforce the shock effect every Guastatori carried as much hand grenades and smoke candles in battle as possible. They first saw combat at Tobruq in 1941 where they attracted the interest of General Rommel. Despite their heavy casualties and limited success Rommel was impressed by their battle courage remembering himself of his ww1 mountain soldier experiences. The retreat of late 1941 showed the biggest flaw of the Guastatori concept. The Guastatori had no anti-tank weapons at their disposal. Furthermore, the Guastatori companies lacked motor vehicles so when they were attacked and hunted by the British tanks they had no chance to retreat. They suffered heavy loses in the 1941 retreat. The Guastatori would return to Africa in May 1942 were they supported the Italo-german army at the Battle of the Gazala line. It was here in 1942 when the Guastatori attacked Torbuq again. This time they were successful. Led by the Guastatori the italian units managed to break into the Tobruq fortress. From Torbruq the Guastatori hunt the British forces to the El Alamein positions. Here they were involved in the heavy battles ending the axis African advance. The Guastatori were once again decimated in battle when the remaining men were attached to the Folgore paratroopers protecting the retreat of the Italo-german forces. After El Alamein the remnants of the Guastatori fought their way back to Tunisia where they surrendered to the Allies with the remnants of the Italian 1a Armata in May 1943. 

The Guastatori were trained to handle special weapons like 45mm mortars, smoke grenades, flamethrowers, heavy demolition charges and bangalore assault mines. 

Arditi

Another special unit was the Arditi assault infantry. The Arditi were the Italian answer to the german “Sturmtruppen” (Stormtroopers). Trained for infiltration and close combat the Arditi were experts in breakthrough operations. Many ww1 Arditi soldiers had served in the Bersaglieri or Alpini units before they were sent to join the Arditi units. The most interesting fact is; the Arditi of ww2 had nothing in common with their ww1 “forerunner”. The ww2 Arditi were formed in 1942. They were formed on the base of the British commandos and Long Range Desert Group. The new Arditi were an infiltration unit to perform sabotage and reconnaissance missions deep behind enemy’s lines. The name “Arditi” should cover the role of the new Italian commando unit and to inspire the new Arditis to preserve the spirit of the ww1 Arditi. The new X reggimento Arditi (10th Arditi regiment) had 3 companies: Arditi Paracadutisti (paratroopers), Arditi Nuotatori (combat swimmers) and Arditi Camionettisti (“jeep mounted Arditi”). Only the Camionettisti saw combat – they fought the British on Sicily. 

The training of the Arditi focused on gymnastics, forced marches, speed marches with full combat equipment, boxing, wrestling and close combat with melee weapons. The Camionettisti (truck borne Arditi) were trained in maintaining their vehicles and weapons and navigating at day and night without many tools or help. For the armament the unit was equipped with Caracano M1891 rifles, 40 round magazine MAB 38 SMGs, a Beretta M1934 pistole, 6 hand grenades (min. requirement). A 20-men patrol group got an additional Breda M1930 LMG, a 45mm mortar and Flamethrowers. The Arditi Camionettisti operated with their AS42 heavy military cars/trucks. The AS42 was a formidable vehicle. Armed with MGs, light anti-air and light anti-tank guns it added much needed firepower to the Arditi squads. They first saw battle in Tunisia in 1943 when 8 AS42 and their crews were transported to the African frontline. 103ª Compagnia saw its baptism of fire at the Mareth line where they collected vital recon information for the axis. They lost 27 men in Africa (9 killed, rest wounded). Furthermore, some Arditi were airdropped in Algeria for destroying bridges in the allied Hinterland. Until the end of the hostilities in Africa the Arditi performed 9 combat airdrops for sabotage missions. The effect was limited and at the end all special missions – from the air and naval landed Arditi – were failures and had no impact at all. Most of them failed because of bad information and wrong drop points. Their biggest moment came at Sicily where the Arditi Camionettisti saw action again with some success in shocking British soldiers with the rushed guns blazing raids. 

Arditi – and the Arditi Camionettisti in special – are the “essence” of an all-out offensive squad. They are good candidates for a hard hitting callin infantry. 

Granatieri

Like many names and title, the “Granatieri” were a well-established name in the Italian army. Before the armistice the Italians had a guard unit; the Granatieri di Sardegna. The Granatieri were hand selected men. To become a Granatieri the soldier had to be tall and strong. The limitation was kept as long as possible to guarantee the quality of the Granatieri. They were used for parades, guard of honor and other representation tasks. The Granatieri protected the king, the political institutions and the Duce. 

There is no special combat record for the Grenadier division. At the end they were – more or less – a representative unit without any “elite combat behaviour” or “outstanding performance”. So there is no special place to add them right now. They are a potential name reserve.

Paracadutisti

Paracadutisti was the Italian name for paratrooper. Like the Germans the Italians were aware of the soviet parachute trials in the 1930s. 1935 the Italian army started small scale parachute trials near Rome. The combat history of the Italian paratroopers started in at the Libyan airport “Castel Benito” near Tripoli when Marshall Balbo started to form his “fanti dell’Aria” (air infantry) battalion. These men were more like commando units. After the defeat in the African desert in 1940 some of the airborne instructors were evacuated to Italy. Here they were the missing part the Italian army needed to push their large airborne units. With the help of the “African experts” the Italian army could train entire divisions for airdrop missions. The Royal Army formed 2 parachute division before the armistice. A 3rd division wasn’t ready before the armistice. The airborne forces were reinforced by a airlanding specialised division. Potential Paracadutisti were selected by their physical capacities. Because of the lack of available parachutes, the airdrop training was limited so many Paracadutisti spent their time with regular combat training. Like the San Marco navals the italan Paracadutisti saw limited airdropped combat deployments. In Africa they were used as rushed in stop gap infantry. With the sacrifice of the Folgore Division at El Alamein the Italian Paracadutisti were considered to be an elite force – on both sides and for that reason both sides formed new Italian paratrooper units after the armistice. For the germans they integrated the ITA Nembo paratroopers into the new formed 4. Fallschirmjäger-Division sending them into battle at Anzio (with Italian uniforms and weapons). The Allies saw Italian paratroopers as part of the Liberation corps fighting against the axis. Here in 1945 they were one of the last units that were dropped in a ww2 combat mission to prevent a german retreat to Austria by landing in north eastern Italy. 

The Italian paratroopers were armed with the Beretta MAB 1938 SMGs. The Italian army knew that firepower was important for the airlanded units so they were interested in adding as much infantry firepower to the airborne soldiers as possible. Together with the well known “samurai ammunition vest” and the MAB 1938 the paratroopers had a lot of firepower compared to other airlanding infantry. On the other side the Italians never adopted a glider or airlanding heavy weapons. The Italians lacked airdrop guns and weapons. That was one reason for the Italian Army to use the well trained paratrooper forces in ground combat as alert units. The battle of El Alamein is know considered to be the ”monument” of the spirit of the Italian paratroopers. They were sacrificed to save the rest of the italo-german forces. After El Alamein the elements of the Folgore division were concentrated in single battalion. The last men of the Folgore Division fought at the Mareth line and in Tunisia. After the armistice Italian paratroopers fought for the Axis and Allied side. The allied Combat Group "Folgore" was one of the last allied units that was airdropped at the last days of the war in Europe in northern Italy. 

The Paracadutisti were well trained men for offensive combat. With the “samurai vests” and the MAB 1938 they are a deadly threat when charging in for close-mid range combat. They are suitable candidates for a callin assault unit to push enemies out of cover and to compensate the allied advantage in SMG firepower.

With the special units finished it is time to look into some more “generic” names for Italian infantery.

Esploratori

The Italian army lacked recon forces. For that reason, the army had formed Raggruppamento Esplorante Corazzato (armoured reconnaissance group). The units were attached to division that needed recon capabilities in combat. Unfortunately, there were never enough armored recon groups to support any corps and division. To compensate the lack of recon the divisions were ordered to form small non-motorised recon units. The men were often called “Esploratori”. Because of lack of equipment the recon unit were often used for division based fast response force. In german divisions the recon element was turned into a “Fusilier” formation that should launch counter attacks, exploit breakthroughs or to stop enemy’s breakthroughs. They were the “fire brigade” of the field division. Esploratori could be translated with “exploring”. The Italian term is a reference of the mission and design of the “Italian recon unit”. Like their german counterpart they ITA recon forces was formed like the german “Füsilier” units; they had the job to spot, scout, exploit, defend, counterattack and to support the division whenever they were needed.

Cacciatori Carri

In ww2 the tank was one of the most important weapons of the war. Any nation had formed counter units. They had developed counter weapons. They had done as much as possible to stop the threat of the tanks. The Italians weren’t different. With the first anti-tank guns the Italians had started to train experts to use anti-tank guns in the field. The Italian anti-tank units were the “Cacciatori Carri”. The “Cacciatori” of the royal Italian army were equipped with the multipurpose infantry gun Cannone da 47/32 mod. 1935. The gun could fire AP and HE rounds. Its was the standard service AT weapon of the Italian army. Against all misbelief the Italians knew that the 47mm gun wont be able to stop modern armor in battle. For that reason the Italians developed new guns like the multipurpose field gun Cannone da 75/32 modello 37 but the gun was available in small numbers only despite its good anti-tank performance. The other “standard AT infantry gun” was the swiss made Solothurn S18-1000, named “Carabina "S"”, later renamed into “Fucile anticarro tipo S”. Based on Zaloga up to 578 Solothurns plus 63 former Dutch rifles arrived in Italy. 

Thanks to the good Italian gun characteristics Italian AT gunners were accurate. The 47/32 gun allowed for rapid fire and thanks to its HE shells the weapon could be used to fight against bunkers, MG nests and other field fortifications. The Cacciatori tried their best to compensate the lack of gun performance with their skill and bravery. 

Celeri

With the concept of the “guerra di rapido Corso” (high-speed mobile warfare) the Italian army formed 3 “celere divisions”. The Celere was a mixed hybrid of mobile infantry (Bersaglieri), cavalry (Cavalleggeri) and armor (Carro veloce). The concept of the Celere divisions hadn’t worked as planned. With the casualties in Russia the Celere units were sent to the Balkan or back to Italy were they performed garrison duties until September 1943. And here is where we got a problem. The history of the cavalry ended with the armistice. The celere – and here the horse borne Cavalleggeri – were never used in the African desert or against the allies. On paper there was a Raggruppamento Celere Palermo but there is no combat record or combat information so its is likely that the unit “deserted” before they went into combat at Sicily. On paper the Celere Cavalleggeri would be horse mounted men. In Russia the Celere formation were often forces to fight as fire fighters using their horses to change positions fast or to get to the battlefield as fast as possible. Mounted attacks were rare but today the Italian Celere Cavalleggeri were often credited with the last successful cavalry charge of the modern warfare. With the Charge of the "Savoia Cavalleria" at Izbushensky up to 750 Cavalleggeri charged a soviet position killing hundreds of soviets and capturing up to 1000 men. The Italians lost up to 100 men in the charge – a small number for a cavalry mounted attack against an enemy with automatic weapons but still big enough to force the Italians to stop any additional horse mounted cavalry charges. 

In CoH “horse borne” units would be a complete novelty so its hard to say anything about their “function” and “effectiveness”. Ingame they would be close to a fast Bike/Jeep scout units and/or a hit-and-run unit for harassing units marching without cover nearby. They would be a pure situational unit and wont have great “survivability” in a potential late game against more semi-automatic weapons and vehicle borne MGs. 

Carrista/ Carristi

The last new name – or branch – it the tank arm. The Italian tank and armored car crews were named “Carristi”. The carristi were a small corps within the Italian army. Because of the lack of a “motorized society” the Italian army had always problems throughout ww2 to find, train and specialise Italian conscripts for the tank arm. Carristi were always “scarce goods” for the Italian army (same story for tanks). Casualties in Africa and Sicily, in Russia and the armistice had decimated the number of Carristi. 

Against all myths the Carristi were a brave band of soldiers. Most of the Carristi were trained on the Fiat 3000 and CV tankettes before the war. The training was limited because of the MG gun armament and the small crew size. Without a real tank the crews cant be trained for modern warfare and modern tank battles. The lack hit the first generation of Carristi at the African battlefield. They paid a high price. These veterans helped to build up a training program to train new arrivals. The most combat efficient training was done at Tripoli, Africa. 

The Italians never solved their tank crew training problems at all but despite these shortcomings the Italian tank crews fought with success in the African desert and later at Sicily. Bir-el-Gubi (Africa), Kasserine (Tunisia) and Gela (Sicily) marked milestones in the history of the Italian tank forces.

ITALIAN SECOND LINE INFANTRY and honorable mentions…

To end the list of regular Italian infantry types here I want to mention some other formations that are worth mentioning here.

Lagunari

The Lagunari are today part of the naval amphibious San Marco brigade of the modern Italian army. The Lagunari were first formed in the late 19th century. They were pioneer formations specialised in dealing with the north-eastern Italian terrain that was dominated by many rivers and shallow waters. They were logistical experts and focused on Ponton bridge building. They played no crucial role in WW2. They were just one of the Italian army bridge pioneer units, the Pontieri.

Fanteria Costiera

Italy had a large problem in ww2. Because of its geographic situation with its colonial possession, islands and long coast lines it was very vulnerable to amphibious landings. The treat of a naval attack arose with the British Commando units that started to hit the Italians in the African desert. With the defeat in Africa the treat of the invasion got even bigger. The Italians knew that they cant protect all coastal positions so they installed a network of coastal artillery positions, guard posts and alert units. The network should defend vital military objects in the case of an invasion. They should defend the positions until army units could arrive to reinforce the defenders. Furthermore, the coastal garrison network should defend the coast against British commando landings. The costal guard units served as alert formations warning the army when raiding parties hit a beach of the Italian coast. The result was a chaotic network of improvised formations, second class units and alert formations that should establish a first line of defence. In 1941~42 the army tried to implement a overall structure to the chaos by installing the administrative system of the Divisioni costiere. The HQ of a Divisione Costiera was responsible for all men and material in the assigned coastal sector to prepare the coast against the enemy. Because of the type of mission and the demands of the royal army and the frontlines the Divisioni costiere were formed from local men unfit for regular combat duties. The men got no military training, and they were armed with all weapons at hand. For that reason some units were outfitted with rifles that were still in the arsenals or that were captured from France, the Balkan or the Soviet Union. Some of the coastal artillery guns were from the late 19th century and were already installed before ww1 started. The Costiere weren’t designed to fight combat formations. They were just an alert unit designed to warn the army when the enemy was landing at Italian soil. That is one of the reasons why some Divisioni costiere disappeared in the moment before the battle started (like on Sicily where Costiere men created a fatal panic that caused the abandoning of intact harbours and creating the bad reputation that was used by german officers to justify any bad behaviour against their former ally).

In CoH a Costiere soldier would perform similar to a CoH 2 Osttruppen squad: shoot and deal some damage but not suitable to carry the battle in the long run.

ITALIAN MILITIA

Beside the colonial forces and the royal army there was a third formation that played a crucial role in the Italian war machinery; The Italian Fascist Militias.

The Camicie Nere, CC.NN., the Blackshirt fascist militia, was the armed part of Mussolini’s fascist party, Fasci di Combattimento. After Mussolini’s approval as Prime Minister the CC.NN. was integrated into the armed forces. The Milizia Volontaria per La Sicurezza Nazionale, MVSN, was formed in 1923. The MVSN should bring in fascist ideology into the conservative and royal Italian armed forces. Mussolini and his men were convinced that the army could compensate its disadvantages in material and quality with fascist ideology. A Man could overcome any obstacle by the power of his faith and mindset. The MVSN was organised like army formations but the Fascist party used names and traditions based on the ancient roman army. Regimens were called Legions, Battalions Cohorts and Companies Centurias. To proof their combat value the MVSN organised 6 divisions for the war in east Africa. But without military training and without the logistical support and military administration the divisions performed bad in combat. After the east African campaign, the number of Divisions were reduced to 3. Instate of concentrating fascist men in single divisions the MVSN decided to form small Gruppo di Assalto. These Gruppi should reenforce all army divisions to add some fascist “power” to the fighting power of the Italian divisions. Often these gruppi had Legion size and when added to divisions the Italian binary divisions were temporary reenforced into a more classic triangular formation helping the royal army divisions to compensate their lack of manpower. These mobile groups suffered heavy casualties due to being undermanned, underequipped and under-trained because the army division used these men first to save their divisional personal and weapons. 

In terms of combat performance you could compare the overall performance of the MVSN combat formations with the CoH 2 Conscripts or Osttruppen. Like the german Volkssturm there were “good” MVSN that performed like regular field formations but there are most often units that were annihilated in the first battle. Here I will give u some potential names for the MVSN formations:

Squadristi

Squadristi was the name for the men of the fascist black shirt militias – the Camicie Nere.

Guardia

There is another potential name for the MVSN. The name was used for the RSI Guardia Nazionale Repubblicana (GNR) – the fascist guard – but it could be used here too. Any men fighting for the fascist guard was a guardsman. Not all members of the GNR were part of a legion so it is just another term for the armed men of the GNR. They were more or less irregular combatant.

Legionario

The most fitting name would be Legionario. The fascist militias were organised on the ancient roman army system. The armed forces of the Blackshirts were organised in Legions. Soldiers of the legions were legionnaires – Legionario. The legionnaires who served at the “hinterland” were ordered to protect railway lines, harbour installations, post and telegraph infrastructure, mountain and forest areas, national frontiers, highways and land supply convoys. The frontline Legionarios served in the Legions and assault groups that were attached to Italian army divisions to strengthen their combat value. 

Mussoliniano/ mussoliniana

But before we end the story of the MSVN militia here I want to add the men of the M Battalions. The men were “elite soldiers” of the MSVN selected to form a personal Pretorian guard to Il Duce Mussolini. Inspired by Hitlers Pretorian guards, the SS, the men of the M battalions were selected because of their loyalty to Mussolini and the fascist idea. Furthermore, men of the M battalions were battle hardened veterans of the MVSN. The men of the M battalions were called Mussoliniana, followers of Benito Mussolini. For that reason I know we wont see the name in the game at all. But because of their story with the formation of the “elite armored division” 1ª Divisione corazzata CC.NN. "M" – and the failed history behind the M formations – I wanted to mention the Mussoliniana here to get at least a full list.

WEAPONS

With the infantry names finished it is time to have a look into the potential weapons of the Italian royal army faction. Many weapons were already part of the RSI analyse but here I will add some new elements I have ignored by the “limited RSI approach” that could be added here because this time I will included all Italian stuff available to the battlefield. You know my golden rule: I will add what had seen the battlefield here. So lets deep dive – and this is where the fun begins!

Small arms:

Fucile Modello 1891 - M1891 Caracano rifle:

WW1 service rifle with a 6,5mm round. Standard battle performance. Standard rifle comparable to Kar98k and other service rifles. Limited by the small round. It was by far the standard service rifle of the Royal Army. The gun was limited by the small round causing bad shooting performances with a large bullet drop and a very limited “impact effect” (based on the information the “man stop potential” of a 6,5mm round was very limited. You had to score a “bad hit” to stop the enemy. Sure. It’s a weapon that could kill people. I haven’t forgotten about it but based on the “quality profile” of the german Police I add the “man stop criteria” to add a kind of “rating” here. So please keep this in mind).

Because of the limited capabilities of the 6,5mm round the Italians started to develop a more powerful version of the Caracano with a new designed 7,35mm round. The new round was more powerful and had a better range and ballistic performance. The army decided to replace the old 6,5mm rifles with the new calibre. The plan was to replace the old rifle before a new war would hit the Italian army. From 1938 until 1940 up to 280.000 7,35mm Caracano rifles were made but when the war in Europa started the Italians dropped the 7,35mm round. They were afraid that a second main rifle calibre could add too much stress to the logistical network. With Germany now fighting in Poland a new war could hit Italy soon enough. Of the produced rifles 1/3 was donated to Finland and the Fins on their side weren’t happy because the rifles and rounds were unsuitable for the finish battlefield conditions. The remaining rifles were used by the Royal Army and the Fascist Militia to arm secondary formations like Black Shirt Militias and Coastal Infantry Units. There are no information about frontline deployment but there is a small chance that the 7,35mm Caracanos could have been used in battle. They are a potential option for a “second class” standard rifle for Italian infantry with different stats compared to the regular 6,5mm Caracanos.

Moschetto Modello 1891 - M1891 Caracano carabine

Shorter version of the standard ww1 service rifle. Used in some numbers by second line formations and non-first line main combat units. Performance was close to the standard version. Its advantage was the length. Designed for cavalry and light troops it was shorten by ~30cm without the lose of performance. Could be used as a perfect weapon team rifle.

Fusil Modèle 1886/M93 - Fucile Modello 1886 Lebel

With the Italian occupation of southern France the Italian army confiscated large numbers of French rifles. The Lebel was the standard service rifle of the French army. The French tried to replace it but they never had enough new rifles to replace all Lebel in service. With all the stocks in Italian hands the Italians decided to arm the secondary formations with all of their “reserve weapons” and here captured stuff came in handy. The Divisioni costiere were formed in 1942 and to get some sort of firepower the Italian army decided to arm the new formations with the captured stuff. Because of the improvised status of the Divisioni costiere there was no official TOE – as far as I know – so each Divisione Costiera got whatever they could found in the arsenals of the assembly area. I cant find unit names that were armed with the Lebels but the Divisioni costiere were often associated with the captured arms. 

Beretta MAB 1938 & 1938/42

THE italian submachine gun. Perhaps THE best smg of ww2 (to be fair there is no “THE BEST” but the MAB 1938 is always mentioned when there are discussions for “good ww2 SMG designs”).

The story of the MAB 38 started in ww1 with the OVP SMG. The SMG attracted the Beretta company that was looking for new contracts. With the interest in fast firing weapons Beretta developed the Beretta Model 1918. The MAB 18/30 – a modified version – was used in WW2 by the Italian army in small numbers too. The point is here; the engineer who designed the MAB 18 was Tullio Marengoni. He learned a lot by the MAB 18 and as a result his next project was the MAB 38. With the powerful 9mm Parabellum round – one of the most powerful small arms rounds of ww2 – and the improved design technics the result was a sturdy and reliable gun. Thanks to its round and the heavy weight the gun had a high accuracy for a SMG easy outranging other SMGs in battle by slower controlled fire. The biggest setback was the difficult design and slow producing speed. Unlike these problems the MAP 38 soon developed into a weapon soldiers wanted to get their hands on. 

In ww2 the MAB 38 hit the battlefields in 1941 when the army started to equip the new formed airborne units – the Paracadutisti -, the San Marco naval soldiers and the Guastatori assault pioneers with the MAB 38. Most famous and often photograph were Italian soldiers wearing the “samurai vest”, a special vest designed as many MAB 38 30rounds magazines as possible. With the first reports from the battlefield the royal army realised that they had a SMG that allowed Italian infantry to layout more heavy fire on the enemy compared to his fire capabilities. In 1942 the British infantry still lacked SMGs and was limited by the small magazine Bren guns and with the MAB 38 the Italians could get more firepower to overwhelm British infantry in a firefight. 

The MAB 38 even generated interest and “jealousy” within the german army. When the Italians capitulated in 1943 the germans seized the opportunity and confiscate as many MAB 38 as possible. With the factory now in german hands the germans did everything they can to fire up the MAB 38 production resulting in the fact that the majority of all MABs were built AFTER the Italian capitulation FOR the Wehrmacht. For that reason u can find Italian Beretta MAB 38 SMGs in France, the Netherlands, Belgium and at the eastern front. 

The MAB 38 was so successful that the gun was used many years after ww2. The german army used the MAB 38 as MP-1 until 1965. The Italians used the MAB 38 for the army and police until the mid 1970s in modified versions. The gun was exported a number of countries. For that reason it is fair to say that the MAB 38 was a successful Italian rifle design and marked a reason for the good reputation of Beretta firearms.

In terms of CoH the MAB 38 would perform better compared to the SMGs of the german and/or allied factions. The biggest advantage would be the hitting range of the MAB 38. The gun had the potential to be used for a good mid range aggressive pushing weapon capable of dealing with allied close combat units armed with Thompson and Sten SGMs. 

Armaguerra Mod. 39 rifle

The next weapon on the list is a gun we have to talk about – and a gun that some people will reject; The Armaguerra Modello 39 rifle aka Fucile Armaguerra Modello 1939.

There is some debate about the gun. The information on the gun is limited. Most stuff u can find is online stuff of dubious quality. There is no real information at all. The production numbers are ranging from under 500 guns to up to 2000 or more guns made between – well… even there is no definitive answer. In the last years a single photo had popped up of an Italian soldiers holding a weapon that is most likely a Armaguerra Modello 39. Unfortunately, there are no information to the photo at all. You can see an Italian soldiers in winter conditions holding the bayonet rifle looking into the distance. Most likely it’s a staged photo but the fact that there is a staged photo of an soldiers holding the Armaguerra Modello 39 is – from my point of view – an indicator that the rifles that were produced were used in service. 

With the 7,35mm round and a 6 round magazine It would be a rifle with a decent firepower. Ingame it would be a “downgraded” version of a german G43 semi auto rifle. 

Based on Wikipedia (sry, there is no other stuff I can find. I cant find any clues in my books at all) there was a small run in 1943 for a modified version using the weaker Italian 6,5mm standard round of the Caracano.

Whether the rifle saw frontline combat or not the Armaguerra Modello 39 could and should be used for a potential Italian faction lineup to get a semi auto rifle for special units that would need a gun with a specialised service profile. Here the gun could work for a long-range hard-hitting unit or for a mid-range “rapid” fire unit that could deal some damage when moving. Furthermore, with a “faked” upgrade from the weak 6,5mm to the 7,35mm round u could add a scaling upgrade for the gun adding a balance parameter to allow ingame adjustments to the gun by a munition sink. 

Breda Modello 1935 PG

With the Italian army’s competition of a new semiauto rifle for the royal army the Breda company suggested an unusual gas operated semiauto rifle in the standard Italian calibre of 6,5mm. The Breda PG was fed by a 10, 20 or 50 round magazine allowing to fire all rounds in semiauto in a couple of seconds. But for unknown reasons the weapon was refused. Breda could sell a small batch of a modified version to Costa Rica. The weapon got back “into active” service with the Italian capitulation when RSI forces were looking for everything they could find in Italian arsenals and factories. There is no dedicated source material I could find so I have to trust into “Forgotten weapons” here and (unfortunately) wiki. Putting both together there is a small chance that the RSI army operated up to 100 or more rifles (max 300?) in a number of unknown RSI combat units. Most likely the weapons saw combat service against Italian partisans.    

The gun would a potential addition for the Italians to get a sort of “absurd” rifle option with a 50 rounds magazine and high rate of fire but a weak round. The gun would be good against units in open terrain but it would be horrible against units in heavy cover.

FNAB-43

Another Italian SMG. Build in small numbers, complicated to produce. Used by RSI forces and german forces late in the war. The weapons didn’t offer any advantages over the MAB 38 beside a weight saving of ~300g. Used when available. At the end the gun was one of the results to produce as much weapons as possible by the Italian industry to compensate the loses of the years before. Furthermore, the german military command that was in control of the Italian industry after the armistice tried to get as many weapons as possible from Italian factories to reduce the stress and demands for the trans alps logistics.

TZ-45

Build in small numbers, simple production methods. Used by RSI and german forces in the last weeks of the battle for Italy. Same story like the FNAB-43; produced to get local weapons to arm the soldiers in Italy with Italian stuff to fight the allies. Used the same 9x19mm Parabellum cartridge like the MAB 38 and FNAB-43. Last ditch weapon. The TZ-45 used the MAB 38 magazine. Units with MAB 38 could use the TZ-45 without any problems or supply adjustments.

Fucile Mitragliatore Breda Modello 30 – “Breda mitragliatrici“

The Breda 30 was a light Italian MG. Fed by a fixed 20 round clip the Breda 30 had a poor rate of fire and was unreliable do to jammed rounds. Despite of its flaws it was produced in large numbers to compensate the lack of Italian heavy MGs. Issued in large numbers the Breda 30 was responsible for majority of firepower of the Italian infantry squad. Its advantage was the ammunition that it could be shared with the Caracano allowing to keep the logistics simple.

In combat the Italian rifle unit would be focused on the Breda. Like the British Bren the Breda would lay down the fire suppression allowing the own infantry to move. In theory the concept would work like the British jumping advance but in the African desert the tactic was hampered by the poor weapon design and the dust. In combination with the bad Caracano 6,5mm round the Italian infantry squad always had the disadvantage in any firefight with enemies similar in size and armament. 

After the armistice the RSI forces used the Breda 30 in numbers because it was available. The germans used the Breda 30 too but they dropped the LMG because of the problems of the weapon. 

The weapon can be compared to the Bren MG in terms of performance and combat role.

Mitragliatrice Breda calibro 8 Modello 37 – “Breda pesante”

Italian heavy MG. Like the Breda 30 the Breda 37 was fed by a 20-round strip. Unlike other MGs the Breda 37 strip was a “reloading strip” so any spent cases were reinserted in the tray as each round was fired. In theory the “recycling” should help to save resources. In practice the idea was not suitable in combat situations. Because of the re-fed-system the weapon was slow firing and had some problems with jamming rounds. The MG needed at least 2 loaders to allow for a “constant” firing. On the other side the slow firing prevents the MG from overheating and with its powerful round it was quite suitable for long range combat. Furthermore, the heavy round was a threat for soft armoured vehicles like the British Universal Carrier or the US M3 halftracks. Production ended with the armistice. 

In combat the gun proved to be vital for the Italian army. Thanks to its crews the gun was quiet reliable. Concentrated in the MG companys of the Divisions the guns formed the fire support element of the infantry formations. It was praised for a good accuracy and good fire effect. Thanks to its quality the gun served within the Italian army until the mid 1960s when it was replaced by Italian MG42 copies and US build cal.50 heavy MGs. Furthermore, the Modello 37 was the standard gun for all Italian armored vehicle MGs renamed Breda 38.

When looking for a classic heavy MG for CoH gameplay the Breda 37 is the best candidate at all.

Mitragliatrice Breda Modello 5C

To end the Breda series of MGs I have to add the Breda 5C here. Build in small numbers it should replace the old ww1 SIA Modello 1918 light support MGs. Like all Breda designs the MG used the box/magazine fed loading system. The MG had all the problems that marked the failed design history of the later Breda LMG 30 model. Despite its flaws and problems and despite the negative shooting trial results the army accepted the gun because of the need to replace the ww1 weapons. The gun itself was seen in combat in ww2 in limited numbers. Often second line units or colonial forces were equipped with the Breda 5C. Their biggest advantage was the 6,5mm round they had in common with the Caracano simplifying the logistical support for the MG. 

Fiat–Revelli Modello 1914

The heavy MGs of the Italian army were produced by the Italian FIAT company. The oldest gun was the ww1 vintage Modello 1914 box fed MG. Despite its visual appearance the gun was no direct copy of the famous ww1 Maxim MG design. The FIAT MG was used in ww1 because of the lack of alternative designs. In ww2 it was a reserve weapon deployed by second class and colonial formations only. In terms of the Italian ww2 firepower its successor, the FIAT Modello 1935, was far more successful.

Fiat–Revelli Modello 1935

The aging ww1 arsenal the Italian army needed replacement for its MG arsenal. One of the weapons that needed a replacement was the ww1 FIAT Mod. 1914 MG. The FITA company developed a new belt fed MG using the more powerful 8mm round by Breda that was used for the heavy Breda designs and proved to be a good bullet for a MG. Unlike its predecessor the Mod. 1935 was air cooled and was reduced in weight to allow better combat movement and deployment. The gun was acceptable. It fixed many flaws of the 1914 design, but it developed a tendency to cook-off chambered rounds cause some serious weapon malfunctions. 

The gun was produced in some numbers but there is some dispute about the production numbers and production time. It was installed in the Italian alpine bunker systems and in coastal defensive positions. The gun was used in Spain by the volunteer units and in the African desert by the colonial forces. It was the main MG of the Ascari del Cielo. It could be airdropped. 

The Trieste motorised division used a twin mount system on a modified Fiat 1100 Camioncino for mobile anti air defence. When possible the Italian soldiers preferred the FIAT MG for a light anti air defensive weapon instate of the slow firing boy fed Breda designs.

Both FIAT MGs are secondary candidates for an ingame weapon. The FIAT Mod. 1935 would be gun for secondary units and for emplacements or for an improvised anti air MG when needed.

Breda-SAFAT (7,7mm & 12,7mm) 

In ww2 there was a tendency to modify aircraft MGs for ground combat. The germans had the MG 151 and Italy had the Breda-SAFAT guns in various calibres. The gun wasn’t designed for ground combat in the first place. It was designed to fit into aircraft wings and optimised for the aerial deployment. The Breda-SAFAT got its time “to shine” with the armistice and the need of new ground weapons to replace the loses of the Italian army and to reequip the new RSI army. The RSI needed any weapon that was available. With an improvised tripod mounting the weapon was issued to coastal defence and second line units to protect the hinterland and to fight the partisans. The 12,7mm heavy round version was often used as improvised installation protection anti-air weapon.

Fucile controcarro 35(P)

Like all nations Italy had a problem with a men portable anti-tank weapons. Unlike other nations Italy tried to get a heavy weapon system that could work in the anti-tank and anti-infantry role. The result was the Cannone 47/32 ‘Elefantino’. With the first clashes in the western desert the Italian army had to realise that they were in need for a more mobile infantry based anti-tank weapon. The Italians looked for foreign designs to get a weapon fast. At the end they got two weapons: The heavy swiss made Solothurn S18-1000 and the captured polish Karabin przeciwpancerny wzór 35 that was sold by the germans to help the Italian army. The polish rifle used a small calibre round compared to other anti-tank rifles resulting in less armor penetration with 33mm at 100m. Its biggest advantage was its weight with only 10kg. Furthermore, the gun was less stressful to operate. 

The Italians renamed the rifle into Fucile Controcarro 35(P). The rifles were sent to the African frontline to help the Italian infantry to fight any sort of vehicle or light armored opponent. With the deployment of heavier tanks the rifle was soon obsolete and used in secondary roles like MG nest counter or bunker threat. Despite its flaws the gun was kept in service because Italy lacked any alternative.

Fucile anticarro tipo S

With the British mobile forces in the African desert the Italian army realised that the infantry needed some sort of man portable anti-tank weapon. Focused on the multi-gun solution in the interwar period Italy had no infantry based anti-tank weapon and unlike Germany or Great Britain Italy had no large ww1 calibre rifles or anti material rifles in storage. The solution was the adaption of a foreign design. Unfortunately, the market was limited in 1940 but with the Germany Italy had established some sort of political threat to its neighbour Switzerland. Here they could bought the Solothurn S18-1000. The company was owned by the german company of Rheinmetall so the Italians got some help by their axis partners too. 

The first batch of Solothurn S18-1000 rifles arrived in late 1940. The rifle was known as Carabina "S" and renamed in 1942 into Fucile anticarro tipo S. The gun had a calibre of 20mm and had impressive weight of 54kg plus 20kg for a single bag of reserve ammunition. In battle the gun was mounted on a carriage carrying the gun and 2 muntion bags with 10 rounds. The gun could penetrate up to 20~30mm of armoured steel at 500m. Its drawback was its size and weight and the limited penetration values against the heavy British infantry tanks. On the other side the 20mm gun calibre was decent and could be produced in large numbers by the Italian companies that were building 20mm rounds for the Italian 20mm guns. The gun was used until the armistice as main infantry based anti-tank and later anti-vehicle and anti-material rifle (against MG nests, sandbags and bunkers). 

In game terms the Fucile anticarro tipo S would be the weaker CoH3 version of the german Raketenwerfer 43 Puppchen that we have seen in CoH 2 for the Westheer. The gun could be used in an early-mid game AT role with the advantage of a retreat ability and perhaps with active camouflage abilities for a first hit surprise.

Hand grenades

Beside the firearms the Italian army had some hand grenades in its inventory. The most important note here is the design and role of a hand grenade. In ww2 there were two types of combat hand grenades; offensive (pressure based) and defensive (fragmentation based). Offensive hand grenades were pressure-based grenades like the german Stielhandgranaten. They were designed to kill by the air pressure instead of metal fragments and shrapnel. Their positive side effect was the protection of the own assaulting forces. The other grenades were designed to kill the enemy with shrapnel. Hand grenades with shrapnel effect were area denying weapons and hand grenades with pressure effect were assault weapons for rooms and closed environments.

Bomba a mano Modello 1935

In the interwar period the Italian army was looking for a new type of standard hand grenades to replace the aging and rusting ww1 stockpiles of hand grenades. Grenades like the BPD or SIPE had served well in ww1 but now Italy was looking for new grenades that could be produced easy and by any company. At the end the army got 3 designs. Breda suggested the Breda Mod. 35, Società Romana Costruzioni Meccaniche suggested the SRCM Mod. 35 and OTO Melara suggested the OTO Mod. 35. At the end the army accepted all 3 types of grenades. All 3 types used pressed aluminium bodys containing different number of explosive loads and “additions”. The SCRM grenade was the heaviest version with 43g explosives. It was the most dangerous grenade often known for its sudden detonations. It was a dangerous grenade for friend and foe. The OTO grenade came in with 36g of explosives. It was filled with lead pellets for a deadly shrapnel effect. It was the simplest version of the 3 candidates. The OTO grenade had the biggest “explosive load” with 63g of explosives. It was by the far the grenade with the biggest blast radius. On the other side it didn’t had any additions for enforce the shrapnel effect. At the end the Breda grenade is the closest “pure offensive” type of grenade. The OTO grenade would be the aerial denying grenade and the SCRM could be used for whatever is needed.

The set of grenades were supported by a number of specialised grenades. 

Incendiary grenades

In 1942 OTO Melara and Breda build an Italian version of the “Molotov cocktail”. The OTO Mod. 42 and Breda Mod. 42 were officially designated “incendiary anti-tank” grenades. They were closer to industrialised Molotov cocktails instate of pure anti-tank grenade designs. They both had a mixture of gasoline and flammable liquid designed to seep into rooms like engine compartments or bunkers where they should burn for a long time. 

Bomba a mano anticarro 

The set of soft target grenades were supplemented by the heavy anti-tank grenades. At the end the Italian anti-tank grenades were heavy explosives designed to destroy tank tracks and tank road wheels. They weren’t designed to penetrate the tank’s armor or to destroy the tank in the first place. 

The Tipo L by Odero Terni Orlando was the first anti-tank grenade with 2kg in weight of which 1,5kg was explosive material. Because of the weight the rang was limited and the effect wasn’t that great at all. It would need a skilled soldier to throw such a grenade into the tracks of a tank and to get the effect of blowing of the tracks. In the African theatre the soldiers developed a field modification. At the Tripolis arsenals the Italian African army modified some OTO Mod. 35 grenades. They added 1 or 2 kg of additional explosive material that was “detonated” by the added OTO grenade. The explosives and the OTO grenade were put in a sort of cotton/cloth/fabric bag that could be thrown by the soldiers at the targeted tank. The explosives should damage the track to immobile the tank. Like the fabricated Tipo L the improvised Bombe Pazzaglia shouldn’t kill the tank. It should disable it.

Heavy Italian weapons

With the small arms completed it is now time to look into the stuff where the fun begins: HEAVY WEAPONS! So lets start!

Mortai – Mortar

Mortaio d'assalto Brixia Modello 1935

The 45mm mortar was a small rapid-fire mortar. Thanks to its design and construction the mortar was very precise and allowed for a precise bombardment. Skilled crews could use the mortar for “sniping” positions. Based on the small calibre the fragmentation rounds were of limited use (direct hit effect). On the other side the smoke shells were used to “blind” selected targets. Unlike other mortars the Brixia could be operated by a single soldier, but it was often used in a team of 2 soldiers: one operator and one observer. The mortar was used by the Italian army for offensive operations and for special forces to “snipe” positions with indirect rounds.

Mortaio da 81 Mod. 35

Standard mortar of the Italian army. Solid performance, comparable to any other 80~81mm mortar in ww2. Used as standard mortar in royal Italian army infantry formations. The mortar was used by the Wehrmacht too (and build in small numbers for the Wehrmacht) because it was like the german 81mm version. The mortars that have survived the war were used until the mid-1960s. They are – once again – an example of the general production quality of Italian “small arms”. When the Italians made weapons like the Beretta or the Mortaio 81 they were kept in service for a long time.

Unfortunately, that is the end of the Italian mortar branch. Unlike the other armies Italy never adopted any “heavy” mortar like the soviet 107mm or 120mm mortars or like the allied “chemical” mortars with their large calibres. In battle the Italians were more focused on the traditional field gun and for that reason we will have a closer look into italy’s artillery arsenal.

Artiglierie controcarro – Anti-tank artillery

Cannone da 47/32 ‘Elefantino’

Designed by the Austrian factory Böhler the gun was adopted by the Italian army before ww2. The Italian army was looking for a general-purpose infantry gun for the anti-tank defence and infantry support. The Cannone 47/32 was a lightweight gun with good ballistic performance. Anti-tank performance was comparable to the other small calibre anti-tank guns like the german 37mm Pak 36 or soviet 45mm m1937 53-K AT gun. Like the german Pak 36 the cannone 47/32 had a HE round. The 47m HE round was quite potent, so the gun was often used in a direct fire sniping role. It was called “Elefantino” by the Italian soldiers. 

The 47/32 is an interesting candidate for a CoH game. With CoH2 in mind the gun is small enough to think of a retreat function for the gun. That would be a nasty addition allowing the gun to “survive” much longer. On the other side we have the 2pdr gun that seems to be a more stationary gun in CoH3. Furthermore, the 47/32 is small enough to think of an active camouflage ability to add a first hit bonus and shock effect. Another option is a direct fire HE round switch to turn the 47/32 in a direct fire soft unit counter weapon. All in all the gun is a typical Italian gun piece. It is a foreign design, but the Italian gun had a high production quality. The ballistic was excellent and in terms of 1941 gun performance it better compared to the german 37mm gun and equal compared to the British 2pdr and soviet 45mm gun. With the HE round it was nasty counterpart for MG nests and bunkers. When we will see an Italian faction the 47/32 is a sort of “must have” weapon.

Cannone da 75/32

Italy had ended ww1 with a large stockpile of medium sized artillery guns and field guns. The Royal Army knew that the aging arsenal would need replacement. The first replacement were guns of the 75mm calibre category. Result was the Obice 75/18, a well-designed light weigh artillery piece. But the army had to realise that the gun range was too limited and the shell weight and combat effect too limited. To deal with the range the army asked for a range improved 75mm gun that should reuse as many parts as possible of the new light weight 75/18 gun. The result was the Cannone da 75/32.

During firing trials, the gun showed its anti-tank potential. The high muzzle velocity and the gun calibre resulted in good penetration values combined with good gun ballistics. In 1938 the army ordered the first batch of 100+ guns for the divisional artillery regiments of the infantry division. In Russia the gun showed its full AT potential resulting in more guns ordered by the army. Unfortunately, the Italian industry cant produced the number the army had ordered. Out of the 650+ guns ordered between 1938-1943 only 177 (or 200+ - depending on the source files) were build. Many guns were sent to Russia to fight the T-34 tanks. Despite its performance no gun was sent to Africa or Sicily. Only a small number were kept in Italy where they were used to build up the Ariete II armored division. Here the guns were used to protect the capital of Rome against any “armored threat”. After the armistice the Wehrmacht captured 48 guns that were pressed into service. 

Ingame the gun would be a heavy AT gun candidate that could be compared to a german Pak 38 – Pak 40 or the British/US 57mm guns. With its HEAT round it could deal with all armored threats in combat. With CoH 2 in mind the gun could be designed like the soviet ZiS-2 AT gun with an artillery barrage ability or artillery firing mode. It’s a versatile gin design that could be used in a field gun role for an Italian faction lineup.

Cannone da 65/17 modello 13

The Spanish civil war had some vital lessons for the Italian army. One lesson was the threat of the new generation of tanks. The Italians had to learn that the infantry needed weapons to fight the tank threat. In Spain Italy didn’t had any dedicated AT gun at all. Because of the emergency the infantry tried its direct fire support gun, the ww1 vintage mountain gun Cannone da 65/17 modello 13. The gun was available in good numbers and with new light guns for the Alpini forces they could pass a lot of their stored 65mm guns to the regular Italian infantry to bolster up the direct fire support capabilities. Soon the Italian infantry realised that they had a good gun to deal with the pre ww2 light tanks. It was small, robust and reliable. In 1936 the Italian army produced a 4,2kg heavy AP shell but because of the low muzzle velocity the penetration values were limited. In 1942 the gun got a potent HEAT shell that could deal with 120mm armor in short range engagement. It was risky but it was better compared to the other anti-tank weapons. For that reason, the 65/17 served often as emergency AT gun in all theatres and like the 47/32 it is a decent soft target counter and anti-tank counter; a classic theme in the Italian artillery inventory. 

Artiglierie controcarro e contraerei – Anti-tank/anti-air artillery

Cannone-Mitragliera da 20/65

In the interwar period the Italian army was very interested in multipurpose weapon systems. Like the idea of an anti-tank-anti-infantry gun the Italians were looking for an anti-air-anti-tank gun too. The Italians had good experience with armor penetrating MG rounds. Now they were testing bigger rounds like 12 or 14mm rounds. In 1932 the Breda company designed a 20mm gun. The 20mm round developed some fame in many armies of the time. The Italian army wasn’t different. The army had purchased 20mm guns from various nations like the Danish Madsen, Swiss Oerlikon or German Rheinmetall (aka Lübbe) guns. In a firing trial the Breda gun proofed to be an excellent design. The army was so satisfied with the Breda gun that they dropped the competition and adopted the Breda gun as “Cannone-Mitragliera da 20/65” in 1935.

The Breda gun was a magazine fed gas operated rapid fire gun build on a light carriage. Soon the gun was produced in growing numbers to support all arms and branches with a light and robust anti-air gun against most of the common aerial biplane targets of the time. 

In 1937 the army started to test the 20mm gun for a light anti-tank gun for the Celere troops. With the Cartoccio Granata Perforante da 20 Modello 1935 round the gun could penetrate 30mm of armor at 500m. That was quiet a decent achievement for a 1936-37 AT gun. For that reason, Breda developed a tank gun that could be mounted in armored fighting vehicles. 

When the war started in 1940 the army had more than 1100 Breda 20mm gun at their service. In 1942 the army had up to 2500 guns in its inventory but with the defeat in Russia and Africa the numbers were collapsing in 1943. 

In battle the gun was often used for heavy fire support. The gun had a typical mixed munition box loadout so the crews always had HE and AP rounds at their disposal. Because of the light weight the gun was mobile and could be mounted on all sorts of light vehicles and platforms. It could be pulled by motorcycles, or it could be mounted on any sort of motor vehicle. The gun added firepower to the Italian soldiers and some sort of “light” protection against armored targets like armored cars or armored personal carriers. 

Beside Italy the Breda gun was used in many other countries. The gun was used by China, Finland, Ecuador, Slovakia, Sweden, Yugoslavia, Germany, Spain and Israel (after the war). But the interesting fact is that the gun was loved and adopted in numbers by the British forces. The Long-Range Desert Group used captured guns to reinforce their patrol vehicles. The Australians used any gun they could find to form an entire anti-air regiment. Some guns found their way on board of Australian warships to bolster the anti-air capabilities. 

With CoH3 we will see the german forces in Italy with a similar gun so the Breda could be copy-pasted with the german gun design in mind. It would an early-mid game unit creating firepower and pressure that is needed by the Italian army.

Note: Because of its similarity I wont add the Cannone-Mitragliera da 20/77 (Scotti) here. The “Scotti” was always less in numbers and fulfilled the same roles like the 20/65 guns. They are interchangeable. 

Cannone da 76/40

Standard object defence gun. The gun was installed as multipurpose gun in many coastal emplacements. The gun itself was already an old pre-ww1 vintage design. The gun started its live as naval artillery piece to defend small boats against a large range of threats. In ww1 the gun was adopted as truck borne mobile artillery and later mobile anti-air. In 1930 the Italian navy started to replace the 76/40 guns with more modern designs. The guns weren’t melt down. The surplus guns were installed in static positions to add protection to potential aerial targets. When ww2 started the gun formed the back bone of the static anti-air artillery of the royal army. Its effect was limited and for that reason the remaining guns weren’t reused by the cold war Italian army.  

Cannone da 75/46

The Cannone da 75/46 was the intended replacement for the aged 76/40 guns that were installed all over Italy. By paper stats the gun was a solid concept with a decent rate of fire, decent shell and decent max firing range. But like many Italian arms the gun was produced in low numbers because of the slow production speed and the limited Italian industrial output. By mid 1942 the Italian industry had just finished the production order of 240 gun from 1934 ordering. Despite is low production numbers the gun could be found at the African, Russian and Sicilian frontlines in combat against allied armor. Thanks to its gun ballistics and the high muzzle velocity the 75/46 was a potent gun that could deal with most allied armor in typical combat ranges. For that reason, some guns were pressed into the defensive AT gun role when they were at hand. In Tunisia some allied tanks fell victim to the rare 75/46 guns.

And like many other Italians weapons the 75/46 survived the war being reused as emergency anti-air gun of the cold-war Italian army until the mid-1950.

Cannone da 90/53

With the “small calibres” done it is now time to talk about the elephant in the room. Sometime the gun is called “Italy’s Flak 88” – the Ansaldo Cannone da 90/53 AND from my point of view it a good comparison.

The history of the gun started in 1936~37 when the armed forces realised that the bomber aircrafts could outclimb the max firing range of the typical 75mm anti-air guns. The Royal Army needed a new gun to fight high altitude bombing aircrafts. The army found a likely candidate at Ansaldo. The Ansaldo company was already working on new secondary multi-purpose guns for the Italian royal navy. The process started with the replacement project for the outdated Cannone da 76/40 guns. Ansaldo had worked on a 90mm gun that was now turned into a land based anti-air gun. In 1940 the first guns were ready for trials. Here the gun showed its devastating potential. The navy had developed potent rounds that were now used for the ground forces too. The shell had a weight of up to 10kg and could be fired with a max velocity of up to 850~900m/sec (depending on the source files). With the AP round the 90/53 could penetrate up to 126mm of armor at 100m and 90mm at 1000m. The biggest drawback was the weight. During the trials the Lancia company was ordered to mount the 90mm gun on one of their heavy trucks. Italy had already made a lot of good experience with truck mounted guns since ww1 so truck borne weapons had a sort of tradition within the Italian armed forces. The result of the Lancia work was the “famous” 90/53 su Lancia 3Ro, a weapon we must talk about later. Once again production was hampered by the industrial capacities and the Italian “affectation” to build high quality artillery pieces. For that reason the 90mm hit the battlefields in early 1942 when some guns on carriage and some autocannone truck mounted versions were rushed to the African desert to boost the performance of the Italian armored divisions in combat. Despites its low production number the gun earned a reputation of its deadly performance, its remarkable gun ballistics and its overall combat performance. It could used in direct and indirect fire and it could be used against all sorts of ground and air targets.

For that reason, the gun was kept in active service after the war. Between 1940 and 1945 the Italian industry build up to 520~550 guns. After the war 200+ guns were kept in active service. Italy dropped the gun in 1970 but its last rounds were fired in 1990 by Croatian coastal artillery gunners. Unfortunately, the last rounds were fired in anger and not in a ceremonial setting. 

For CoH 3 we can summarize that when we have to look for a static heavy multipurpose gun that could deal with all targets we have to pick the 90/53. Furthermore, it is a somewhat iconic Italian piece of artillery because of its reputation and “similarity” to the famous german 8,8cm Flak guns. The gun is THE perfect static CoH 3 gun and with the truck moving addition/ability it is at least a must have for a single battlegroup. 

Artillery – artiglierie

And with the anti-tank and anti-air guns done it is time to talk about the last type of guns that is left – and loved by many CoH players – the artillery. With Italy artillery is a bit special. Despite the age and calibre size of its gun the Italian artillery earned the reputation of an expert force fighting until the end and against all sorts of targets. Battles like Bir el Gubi, Licata and Garfagnana showed the potential, bravery and skill of the Italian artillery men and weapons. However, in ww2 Italy had a large arsenal of artillery pieces of various calibre. It would useless/pointless to talk about all guns here so I will select some guns that were somewhat iconic or important or special for the Italian artillery. You are welcome to add/suggest other guns here (and please add a reason for the addition ?).

Obice 75/18 Modello 34

We will start with the (perhaps) most important Italian artillery piece of ww2; the Obice 75/18 Modello 34. In 1930s many armies started to modernise their aging arsenal of weapons. France started to develop new weapon systems. Germany started to develop new weapons too although the country was still limited by the Versailles treaties. Italy was no exception here. During the interwar period the Italian army was convinced that the next war will be fought in the alpine boarder region. The Italians weren’t certain about the exact aggressor or enemy but with France, Yugoslavia and “Greater” Germany there were 3 likely candidates. For that reason, the Italians decided to replace the light artillery guns first. With the limited infrastructure and the terrain in mind the first new weapon should be a mountain artillery gun; light weight, easy to disassemble and transport more powerful compared with the former guns. Such a gun was perfect to protect the alpine boarders and it was a good replacement for the Alpini artillery. 

Ansaldo started to work on a new 75mm gun to replace the captured and foreign designs of ww1 and the old Cannone da 65/17 modello 13 that served as the main artillery gun for the Alpini Divisions in the interwar period. Soon the royal army decided to adopt the new gun as the new divisional standard artillery. Compared to other nations Italy kept the 75mm calibre for its divisional artillery. The decision was one reason for the serious lack of firepower of the Italian divisions in ww2. Despite this “flaws” the new gun was an excellent artillery piece. The gun had an excellent elevation and a high rate of fire. Its biggest flaws were the small rounds and limited explosive charge. 

The first guns were tested in combat in Spain. When Italy joined war on axis side, they had 114 guns in service. The gun saw action on all fronts. In 1941 the Italians started to develop HEAT rounds to counter the allied and soviet tank threat. The Effetto Pronto (EP) HEAT shell could deal with a Sherman tank in up to 500~600m range. But the first generation of Italian HEAT shells suffered from the low muzzle velocity and several weapon malfunctions. In 1942 the Effetto Pronto Speciale replaced the EP HEAT boosting the armor penetration values to up to 120mm at 500m distance. 

Because of its light weight and the HEAT anti-tank capability and the rapid-fire ability Italy decided to use the gun for its new assault gun; the Semovente 75/18. 

In CoH 3 the gun could serve as a light portable/transportable artillery gun. With the HEAT shells it is a potent threat to allied armor. Thanks to its size and weight it could be turned into the “heavy counterpart” of the german LeIG 18.

Cannone da 75/27 Modello 1906 and 1911

Before ww1 the French had started a race for a new modern artillery piece. With the famous “soixante-quinze” (Canon de 75 mm Modele 1897) France had developed the first modern field gun. It was no surprise that many other nations started to develop their own 75mm rapid fire field gun. One company was Krupp. The 7,5cm Kanone 1903 L/30 was sold for export and one country buying the gun was Italy. In cooperation with Krupp Italy build up to 1000 guns before ww1. The gun was called Cannone da 75/27 Modello 1906 in the royal Italian armed forces. The gun was the main artillery gun of the Italian army in ww1. In 1911 the Italian army developed an updated version of the 75/27 gun. The new Modello 1911 version had a split trail to enforce fire stability and elevation and the gun used a dual-recoil system for barrel heat management and to allow for an impressive elevation of +65° allowing a sort of mortar like indirect firing barrage against trenches and units behind cover. Both versions were built in large numbers and kept in service in both world wars. The Modello 11 is the perhaps most iconic looking Italian field gun of ww2 and easy to recognize because of the dual-recoil system.

After ww1 the army planned to slowly replaced the aging 75mm guns with new guns of a bigger calibre. The remaining 75/27 guns should be used by secondary units like the Black Shirt Militia Divisions. Furthermore, many guns were sent to Spain to support the national Spanish forces. But like many other plans the Italian industry could build enough modern artillery pieces to fully replace the 75/27 arsenal. When ww2 started the Royal army went into battle with up to 1500 guns still in active service. 

In battle the 75/27 guns formed the backbone of Italian artillery. In battle it was a robust and very reliable gun that could handle sand and dust. Despite its small calibre the gun was seen in all major battles. In battle the artillery gun was seen in the classic indirect barrage role. Because of its short firing range the gun was outmatched by the famous British 25pdr. Counter battery fire was a constant threat forcing the 75/27 crews to relocate often. With the arrival of the Matilda Mk. II Infantry tank Italy pressed many 75/27 guns into the AT gun role. The army developed an AP round that could penetrate 40~50mm steel at 500m. That wasn’t enough to deal with an infantry tank but still good enough to fight the cruiser tanks. Italy developed a HEAT shell too but unlike other HEAT shells the performance of the 75/27 HEAT shells wasn’t sufficient. Unlike the 75/18 the 75/27 HEAT was no threat to T-34 or Sherman tanks at any acceptable combat ranges. After the armistice the remaining 75/27 guns were used by the Wehrmacht and RSI forces to enforce the coastal artillery in northern Italy. After ww2 the gun was replaced with new guns like the OTO-Melara Mod 56 pack howitzer. 

In CoH the 75/27 would be a typical light artillery piece. It would be less capable compared to the 25pdr or german 10,5cm LeFH but with its firing angle the gun would be a real threat against entrenched units and infantry in cover.

honorable mention – Part one

Cannone da 75/27 Modello 12

The 1912 version of the 75/27 gun is a modification for the horse drawn artillery. The gun got some adjustments to allow a fast transport over rough terrain and rural roads. It had the same gun characteristics like the other 75/27 version. In 1939 some guns were still in service for the 3 Celere Divisions that had 1 horse drawn artillery battalion per division. 

Obice da 100/17 Modello 1914 and 1916

Italy got a large number of former KuK artillery guns after WW1 as reparation payments. One gun was the former Skoda 10cm Vz. 1914 or 10cm Feldhaubitze M. 14. Because of the focus of 75mm artillery rounds the Italian army decided to store the guns in the arsenals. Around 1930~1932 when the Italian army decided to modernise the artillery formations, they take a second look at the former KuK gun. With a calibre of 10cm the rounds were more potent compared to the small 75mm rounds. For that reason the Italian Army decided to modernise the guns and to start to fabricate large stockpiles of 10cm rounds. The Obice da 100/17 should reinforce the artillery regiments of the italian infantry divisions. It was planed to arm at least one of the 3 artillery battalions with 100/17 guns. When the war started the army had up to 1600 guns in service. The gun added some of the firepower the italian formations were lacking. Unfortunately, in the waste terrain of the italian desert the gun showed its age. Despite the development of new 10cm rounds the gun was outranged by the British 25pdr guns making them vulnerable for counter battery firing. Units were forced to change fire positions after some rounds to prevent being hit by the British rapid fire guns. 

Ironically it was in the desert too where the gun saw a “second” live as anti-tank gun. The italian army in Africa was looking guns they could mount on trucks for fast deployment. The 100/17 was one of the guns that was chosen for truck mounting. Together with new developed HEAT shells the 100/17 could deal with many tanks. The standard EP HEAT shell could penetrate T-34 armor at 500m ranges. Depending on the muzzle velocity, distance and steel quality the EP HEAT round was able to penetrate the armor of KV tanks too. We will have a second look at the gun in the vehicle section when we will do a little deep dive into the italian truckborn artillery.

After WW2 the remaining gun barrels were reused and modernised to get a new light weight mountain howitzer. For that reason, the remaining 100/17 guns were kept in service until mid 1980. Today there is a single gun in Rome for ceremonial usage. 

Cannone da 105/28

To be honest I will add the gun here because it was a standard artillery gun of the Italian high level (corps and army) artillery units AND we will see it ingame as part of the “DAK battlegroups”. The Cannone da 105/28 was a french gun build in license by Ansaldo in ww1. The gun was a successful design and for that reason the italian army decided to keep the gun in its inventory by modernising the remaining guns for mechanical movement (moving by vehicles in high speed over long distances). 

Its main target was the counter battery firing but with the interwar developments in the neighbouring countries plus the changer from 75mm to 105mm+ in most other countries the Italian Cannone da 105/28 got in trouble. For that reason, the italian industry developed new rounds that could compensate the range disadvantages to keep the gun its intended counter battery role. Unfortunately, the new rounds stressed the gun barrels so the crews shouldn’t use the heavy long-range rounds only when needed. 

With ww2 Italy still had up to 1000 guns in its inventory to arm the corps artillery units. With the german invasion of the USSR the italian army decided to arm selected units with the 105/28 guns turning it into a divisional artillery gun. All italian units in Russia plus the Ariete and Littorio armored Division got a battalion of 105/28 guns as divisional artillery guns. 

In Africa the gun saw service in its intended role with limited success because of its range disadvantage. When the war in the desert started Italy had up to 100 guns in Africa. In May 1943 only ~25 guns were left. After the armistice many guns were reused by the german army and by both italian armies. The RSI army deployed some 105/28 guns at Anzio and the allied Italian Liberation Corps used a number of guns for its corps artillery.

Because of the range problem the gun was phased out after ww2 and replaced by more potent guns.

honorable mention – Part two

Cannone da 105/32

Another ww1 reparation payment of the former KuK artillery. The Skoda gun was used by the italian corps artillery in counter battery operations. It had a sufficient range but because of its weight the gun wasn’t as mobile as the 105/28. I don’t have any information about the combat deployment. The gun was listed as part of the XXXV° Corpo di Armata of the 8a Armata of the Italian Forces in Russia. There is a likely chance that some guns were used by the GaF - Guardia alla Frontiera, Italian Army Border guard – in static emplacements in the African fortresses. I haven’t seen any 105/32 for the corps artillery of the royal army at the battle of El Alamein so I think the gun wasn’t used by frontline units. Because of its age and role it is no candidate for CoH.

Obice da 149/12 Modello 1914

The gun was an italian version of the Krupp 15cm sFH 02 that was sold in a modified version to other countries. The gun was build by Ansaldo and formed the heavy corps and army level artillery. Some guns were kept in service until ww2. The gun was part of the italian army in Russia. Most likely some guns were kept in coastal artillery and fortress artillery units in Italy. The Italain Army in Libya had 37 guns in their inventory but I cant information about the deployment. Bacause of its age the gun range was limited to up to 6500m under ideal weather conditions. The gun was kept in second line only.

Cannone da 149/35 Mod. 1901

Even before ww1 the Italian Army was looking for a heavy artillery piece that could blow up fortresses and fortified position. The Italian army decided for a 15cm calibre gun – or to be correct – a 149mm gun calibre. The first generation was the 149G of 1882. It was an heavy piece of artillery with 5ton in weight and a old fashioned built-up gun with a metal-steel construction. With the gun build the army realised that they need long-range guns because it got to dangerous to pull such a gun into a firing position close to the frontline. 

Once again, the Ansaldo company stepped in. They took the basic 149G gun and modified the barrel and carriage. With enforced steel casting and melting the Ansaldo company could boost the gun to a rang of up to 20km by keeping the same rounds and explosive loading. The gun was a simple design without any recoil system and a simple carriage. Without recoil system the gun had a lot of movement forcing the crews to pull back the 8ton monster into the old firing position and checking the ballistic setting to get another shot on the aimed target. The result was a slow fire rate limiting the gun to static object bombardment. Despite all the flaws the gun was kept in service because Italy had no alternative heavy gun at hands. After ww1 the gun was kept in service until a replacement gun had be delivered in sufficient numbers – and u can guess it – once again the Italian industry wasn’t up to the task resulting in combat deployments in ww2. The biggest concentration could be found at Tobruq where the 1945/35 was used as fortress artillery. The GaF - Guardia alla Frontiera, Italian Army Border guard – had 2 “brigade sized” artillery units at Tobruq with 4 batteries of 149/35 guns. All in all the Italian African army had 90 guns in 1940 when they started with the invasion of Egypt. Only 16 guns made it back to Tunisia. After the Tunisia the allies met more 149/35 guns at Sicily where they formed the backbone of the heavy coastal defense artillery. After the armistice there is no additional report of any 149/35 guns. The fact that there is no german designation number could be an indicator marking the end of the combat deployment of the museum vintage gun. 

All in all it’s a visual impressive gun because it felt off-time for a 1940+ battlefield. Furthermore because of its calibre and role its no likely candidate for an Italian faction. I have added the gun here because its successor was far more successful and far more important for the Italian army in ww2…

Cannone da 149/40

Around 1930 the Italian Army started a contest for a new replacement gun for the long-range heavy artillery of the Italian army. The new gun should replace the old 149/35 and the old KuK 152/37 and 152/45 guns. The gun should serve in the corps and army level artillery. Ansaldo kept its 149mm gun designs they were familiar with since ww1 and their naval artillery. The OTO company was working on a 149mm design and 210mm design. The first was dropped because it cant match the army’s requirements. The second design became the Obice da 210/22 modello 35.

Ansaldo’s gun was ready for firing tests in 1934. The army was impressed by the gun. It had a range of 24km with a shell of 46kg. Despite its weight of 11tons the gun could be moved by vehicles disassembled in smaller loads. Compared to its predecessor the new 149 gun had a recoil system, a carriage with ground spades to keep the gun in position and to enforce fire speed and 360°degree rotating carriage when installed in its firing position. 

Against all odds the first batch of guns were ready in 1938. The army ordered more guns hoping that Ansaldo could deliver the gun as fast as the first batch. Unfortunately, the war had caused a shift in production. Tanks, anti-tank guns, anti-air guns and divisional sized artillery pieces for rapid movement were more important. Some army generals were convinced that speed had ended the time of the long-range heavy artillery. For that reason, the production numbers of the 149/40 dropped. 

The first guns were sent to Africa in 1941 to support the new axis offensives in the African desert. Despite its low numbers the gun saw heavy combat in the entire desert campaign. Its range and shell weight made it a formidable enemy. At El Alamein the 149/40 guns shot in direct fire on British tanks stopping them by the HE shock effect. The guns got some “fame” when filmed for the axis propaganda newsreels. Only 2 to 4 guns made it back to Tunisia showing the intensive fighting in which they were involved. More guns were sent to the eastern front to support their forces with long-range fire support to counter the soviet artillery hammer. In Russia they formed the backbone of the army artillery of the 8a Armata, the ARMIR. The guns were able to stop soviet tanks. Perhaps the shell was powerful enough to “decapitate” T-34 tanks when hit by a shell in direct firing. 

After the armistice the germans got 3 guns forming a heavy artillery battery for long-range counter fire. They were likely deployed at Salerno and later at Anzio boosting the firepower of the german artillery against the long-range allied naval artillery. 

All in all the production numbers were low. Only 100+ guns were built in total. Unlike many other guns Ansaldo build 12 new guns for the Wehrmacht after the armistice. After the war 4 to 6 guns were reused by the cold war Italian army in coastal defensive positions near the Yugoslavian boarder. They were decommissioned in mid-1960.

In CoH the gun would be “equal” in terms of firepower and damage to the CoH 1 Hummel SPG. Its weight would turn the gun into a non-movable emplacement. Its main role would be heavy fire barrages and counterattacks against bunkers and stationary targets like the British “doctrinal 5,5inch howitzer emplacement”.    

Obice da 149/19 Modello 37

The Obice da 149/19 modello 37 was a „side project“ of the 1930 army competition for a new 149mm gun. The OTO company was working on a 149mm design too but they realised that their gun wont fulfill the army requirements for a long-range army level artillery. The first models werent sufficant but OTO improved the gun and in 1937 they had a working mid-range heavy 149mm gun. With 6tons it was lighter compared to the long-range Ansaldo gun. The gun could be moved in a single piece or disassambled in two loads. With Ansaldo involved in many arms projects the Italian Army ordered a large number of 149/19 guns from OTO. The army planned to give each division a battery or a battalion of 149/19 guns for heavy fire support. 

OTO managed to build up to 200+ guns until the armistice. Likely more were build for the Wehrmacht that used them in corps artillery units. The gun saw its fronline debut at Sicily. Here two batteries supported the italian armed forces around Licata. Its „second life“ started with the armistices. The allied Italian Liberation Corps operated atleast a battery of 149/19 guns for heavy fire support. The RSI army managed to form 2 battaliones of 149/19 guns. The 2nd and 3rd RSI Division had 12 guns each. The biggest user was the Wehrmacht with 65+ guns organised in 5 Artillerie-Abteilungen (indepedent artillery battalions for corps level missions). The guns were concentrated under the command of the Höhrer Artilleriekommandeur 301, AOK 19 (Artillery commander 301 of the 19th Army), defending the coast in southern France. Some guns made it back to the Rhine. A handful of guns were kept in Italy fighting with the 10th and 14th Army. 

The gun was liked by its crews because of its low weight for a gun of such an calibre. The shells were heavy with a good HE effect on target. It could be moved in a single piece by motor vehicles and it could be deployed in short time without any large preparation of a firing position. 

The characteristics were one of the main reasons for the gun’s „third life“ after ww2 when the italian cold war army accepted up to 100 guns in its heavy artillery units. The guns were replaced from the mid 1950s by US guns. The 149/19 were kept in service for training units until the italian army run out of ammunition for the guns. 

Obice da 210/22 Modello 35

The last gun we will have a look at is the Obice da 210/22 modello 35. The 210/22 will be part of the „Axis forces in Africa“ and/or „german forces in italy“ faction. The gun was developed for the long range artillery program of the royal italian army. Unlike the Ansaldo gun the OTO 210mm gun had a range of 15km+ only and with 15ton it was one of the heaviest guns in the italian arsenal. Ist biggest advantage was the 100kg round with up to 20kg of explosive load plus it could reuse the old 210mm rounds of the ww1 vintage heavy italian mortar 210/8 DS. Furthermore, the gun had an excellent elovation of up to 70° allowing for indirect fire into trenches and behind objects. 

The production numbers are always difficult to track down ranging from 80 up to 100+ guns build from 1940 until 1943 and/or 1945. The first combat unit was sent to the eastern front to support the 8a Armata against the red army. Beside the eastern front deployment, no additional guns were deployed in combat by italian soldiers. After the armistice the Wehrmacht captured the remaining guns and reused the gun as 21cm H 520 (i) for coastal defensive operations at Italy. 

The last guns were used after the war to form the first new long-range artillery units of the italian cold war army. 

A small but interesting side note is the ordering of OTO 210mm guns by the hungarian army. The hungarian army was looking for a replacemnt of its ww1 vintage heavy KuK howitzers (like the italians). Because of their close relations to Italy the Honved Army showed interest in the 210/22 howitzer. Between 1941 and 1943 the Honved army got up to 12 guns forming two heavy hungarian batteries. 

We know that the 210/22 will be part of the CoH3 release. Most likely it will be a heavy artillery gun similar in performance to the CoH2 soviet 203mm B4 howitzer. Because of the gun size, shell weight and calibre it will be one of the heaviest guns in the CoH inventory.

With all the guns done we have already seen a lot of stuff that could be used for a CoH faction. The most interesting aspect is the Italian interest in multi-role guns. Guns like the 20/ 47/32, 65/17 or 75/32 were used in the soft and hard counter roles and in direct or indirect firing roles. Italy put in a lot of effort to get multirole weapons to compensate its lack of numbers and industrial capabilities. Furthermore, its seems to me that the Italians made excellent light guns. The 47/32 and/or 75/32 were often credited for their superior gun ballistics and precise gunnery. 

Italian wonder weapons – the Effetto Pronto Rounds

One last topic I want to add here is the Italian interest in the “hollow charge” concept. Thanks to the germans the Italians got versatile inside into the hollow charge rounds. The Italians realised that the HEAT rounds could be a way to compensate the lack of anti-tank performance of their artillery pieces. For that reason, the Italians developed the “Effetto Pronto” (EP) – a hollow charge round. The hollow charge concept allowed for penetrating thick armor plates by the creation of a superhot liquid metal jet that is melting through armor with high speed. The problem was the forming of the metal jet by the shell when it hit the armor plate. To get a working jet many factors had to work. The angle must the correct, the shell must detonate, and the jet must have enough time, focus and distance to the armor plate to get its max potential. All in all HEAT rounds could penetrate thick armor plates but they didn’t worked always. There was no guarantee that the round will work when it hit the enemy’s armor. E.g. the germans had developed HEAT shells for most of their tank guns but they were the last round the crews would use when all other rounds had failed because the HEAT shells weren’t very “reliable”. 

The Italians had similar experiences. Their first generation of HEAT rounds, the Effetto Pronto weren’t reliable. Because of the shell design many HEAT shells had malfunctions or cant create a working metal jet when hitting armor. But when the shell was working the Italian rounds could penetrate all allied armor on regular combat distances. In fact by paper stats Italian HEAT rounds could penetrate more armor compared to its german counterpart (StuG 75mm HEAT ~75mm of armor/500m vs. Semovente 75/18 75mm HEAT ~90mm/500m). 

Because of the malfunction rate the Italian industry developed a second generation of HEAT rounds. The Effetto Pronto Speciale (EPS) was a redesigned HEAT shell with new gun ballistics and shell performance. The result was sufficient with armor penetrating values of 100~120+ mm at ~500m. The new rounds could manage the low Italian gun muzzle velocity of the 75mm guns much better. They could create metal jets better and on regular basis. All in all the second generation was more reliable shell type compared to its predecessor. It had no 100% penetration guarantee, but the rounds were preferred when available. And that is where the problems will start… 

The first EP rounds were ready for frontline service in mid-late 1941. There were EP HEAT rounds for the 47/32, 65/17, 75/18, 75/27, 75/34 and 100/17 guns. Later the 105/25 gun got EP rounds too. At least 1/3 to ¼ of the available “ready” ammunition should be made of EP rounds. The second generation of HEAT shells, the EPS, was ready for combat deployment in late 42~early 1943. Because of the defeat in Africa and the catastrophic retreat in Russia the first EPS rounds reached frontline units in summer 43. Most likely the Semovente 47/32 gun units at Sicily were the first candidates for the new EPS rounds. Italian historians (Cappelano in the first place) think that the Ariete II Division at Rome got most of the new EPS rounds to defend the Italian capital. 

In battle the HEAT shells were difficult to identify. After the El Alamein battles British intelligence reports were reporting some heavy, HE shell spamming of Italian tanks and semoventi. The British thought that the Italians were using HE to immobile tanks or to create damage by the explosion because the regular AP rounds wouldn’t be able to deal any damage at all. It took some time for allies to realise that some of large “HE shells explosions” they have observed in battle werent HE rounds. When the British army analysed damaged tanks that were hit by Italian “HE shells” the British were surprised to found them pierced. The British had to learn that it was a side effect of the Italian EP HEAT shells to create a large explosion. External observers could mistake EP HEAT shell hits for standard HE shell hits. 

All in all the Italian HEAT shells are the best answer of the Italian industry to maximise the anti-tank defensive with the artillery guns in its wartime inventory. The Wehrmacht had done the same when they rolled out more HEAT shells for their Infantry guns to push the LeIG 18 or IG 37 in the emergency anti-tank gun role. Same story for the LG 40 guns and the PAW 600.

With the HEAT shells there is enough room for allowing Italian “small calibre” guns (to be fair the 47 gun isn’t worse compared to the 2pdr or 5cm L/60 guns we will see in CoH3) to deal with allied armor like Matilda, Lee or Sherman tanks. With Heat shells in mind Semoventi and M tanks could be a real threat for armor in CoH3 without destroying any “historical immersion”. 

Vehicles – Autoblindo, Carri Armati, Autocannoni, Semoventi, Blindati transport

With the small and heavy arms done it is time to have a look into the mechanized arsenal of the Italian army in ww2. For the list I will add all sorts of vehicles that were used by the Italian army. My list will include weapon systems that were used in combat – or were sent to the frontlines. There are some exceptions of my list here that could cause some sort of debate: The P.26/40 and Semovente 105/25 – build for the Italian army but used by RSI and Wehrmacht only, the Semovente M15/42 Antiaereo – the Italian Wirbelwind that had an unknown history, and the Semovente M43 da 149/40 – an Italian SP artillery that was captured and tested by the Wehrmacht. I will add the vehicles to my list because they will be needed or they could add something to the faction that is needed and/or requested by players (like SP Artillery). 

Time to look into Italian steel!

CV L3 tankette light tank (CV 33 – L3/33, CV 35 – L3/35, CV 38 – L3/38)

The Italian CV tankette series started with the CV 29 tankette, a direct copy of the famous British Carden Loyd Tankette. The CV tankettes were small 2 men operated, and machine gun, heavy rifle or flamethrower armed armored low silhouette fighting vehicles. They were cheap and easy to mass produce for an automotive industry complex. The tankette was for many nations the first step into their “tank history”. The tankette allowed basic tank training (driver training and basic principles of armored combat and warfare) and they were a good way to get a fast number of tanks in a short time. For that reason, Italy was one of the biggest tank armed nations in the interwar period on paper (behind the Soviet Union and France but ahead of UK, Germany and Japan). Furthermore, the CV was sold to foreign nations allowing Italy to earn some hard needed money for international trade. But the concept of the CV tankette had some heavy drawbacks. The casemate construction reduced the arc of fire. The small armament wasn’t active against heavy opponents (to be fair: The tankette wasn’t designed to battle enemy’s tanks in the first place. Its concept was adding mobile firepower to advancing infantry and to exploit gaps in crucial battle situations). Furthermore, the frontal armor was only good enough to stop small arms fire (Up to 8~10mm rounds) and shrapnel at best. For that reason, Italy never planned to send in the CV tankettes in combat against tank armies in the first place. When the war started the Italian army hadn’t finished the developed of their first combat tank so they were forced to send in all armored vehicles they had in their inventory. The CV tankettes hit the African battlefields from the get-go. Here they earned their nickname of the “scatola di sardine" or "cassa de morto" or even "bara d'acciaio" (sardine boxes & iron coffins). Despite their problems the tank saw combat from 1940 until the end of the war. The last L3 tankette in Africa were abandoned in mid 1942 when the 3rd company, 4th battalion, 32nd armored regiment, Ariete Division, surrendered at the Halfaya pass. Against all odds the CV tankette had “some” success even in the desert battles of 1941. The first battle of Tobruq showed a concept of the CV tankette that could be utilised for a CoH 3 CV unit: When the Italian-german forces approached the defensive parameter of the Tobruq fortress the most numerous working “tank” in the Axis inventory was the CV tankette because they were redeployed by trucks. For the first assault the Axis Army had 108 L3 tankettes available. The Italian XX Corps – the main armored corps of the Italian African army – decided to split the tankettes. Each Italian division in front of the Tobruq fortress got a company of 15~25 CV tankettes. They received MG, anti-tank rifle and flamethrower armed CVs. Here they were deployed as rolling support weapons. They lay down fire protection or they attacked infantry hold strongpoints with the anti-tank rifles (to neutralise MG positions) or flamethrowers (to “neutralise” all enemies in entrenched positions). In November 1941 the Italian African Army had 187 CV tankettes still in frontline service showing that the CV could still “survive” some types of battles and engagements. 

The CV tankette saw extensive service. The vehicle was used in Africa and removed from frontline service in 1942. But because of the numbers the vehicle was kept in training service in Italy and in secondary missions in Russia (partisan protection for the captured areas) and in Yugoslavia. After the armistice the CV tankette was used by the RSI, allied Italian Forces and german forces. The RSI and german forces used the tankette for partisan fighting and for gun towing. The CIL used the flamethrower version to build a flamethrower company that was never used in frontline service. Beside Italy the CV tankette was exported to other nations. Hungary used CV tankettes for its mobile corps and security forces. China bought CV tankettes and used them against Japan. Croatia got some CV tankettes for its Ustashe Militia. Many other nations got the CV tankette too. It was no revolutionary or superb tank design but it was the first step into armored fighting vehicles and doctrines for many nations and was kept in service because of the lack of alternatives (e.g. in Spain until ~1950s). 

Side note: Germany got its “first” CV tankettes when Austria was annexed. The “Schnelle Division” (fast Division) of the Austrian Bundesheer had 72 CV tankettes. The Tankettes were used for driver training by the Wehrmacht. The history of the vehicles in ww2 is unknown.

In gameplay terms the CV tankette would be a “revival” of the PE concept. The CV could serve as a heavy faction MG. Perhaps it could be worth to think of a retreat function for such a small vehicle. That would allow a sort of chance to keep the “vehicle based MG” alive and it could be used to allow the enemy to “suppress” the CV tankette with its own MGs or artillery. A CV retreat ability would be another bonus/Help to compensate the early fuel investment. In CoH fuel is an important element in teching and gameplay progress. Invest fuel early to gain advantages by tech or weapons or keep the fuel to get an early “late game tank”? A fuel based MG would cause a problem here because Blob control and suppression is the core function of a MG and it is typical needed in all faction line ups. 

Carro Armato Leggero L6/40

The Italian army knew that the CV tankettes were not suitable for heavy frontline combat. By the impression of the future war in the alpine region the Italian army was looking for a light tank that could move in the mountain terrain of northern Italy. The mediocre performance of the CV tankettes in Ethiopia the army asked for a cannon armed turret tank. The first attempt of the Italian industry was the Carro d’Assalto Modello 1936. The tank used a heavy modified L3/35 chassis. Test lead to the development of the Carro Cannone Modello 1936. Both prototypes cant fulfil the army requirements. For that reason, FIAT and Ansaldo started to work on a new design. They developed a new torsion bar chassis. The first prototype was armed with an MG turret. The new tank was classified as Light tank, 6ton, accepted for service in 1940 – or short: Carro Leggero L6/40. 

The first army trials revealed that the MG armament wasn’t sufficient. With the Breda development of the 20mm anti-air gun the army demanded a new machine cannon armed turret. The first trials of the new tank ended in a catastrophe with the prototype overturned resulting in an engine fire destroying the tank. After some adjustments, the design was accepted for service in April 1940. Italy – desperate for a new turret tank – was ordering the production of 580 L6/40 tanks. The first batch left the factory in mid-1941. At the end the Italian industry build 432 L6/40 tanks. The chassis was used for a light Semovente. 

In battle the L6 tank had a crew of 2 soldiers. The commander was operating the turret and the main gun and coaxial MG. He had a periscope to observe the battlefield. The driver sat in the frontal chassis part. Beside driving the tank he had to operate the radio. The radio was quite good for ww2 standards with 5km short and 12km long range transmission settings. The crew was “protected” by an armor ranging from 40mm (driver bunker) to 30mm (frontal layout) to only 6mm (engine deck). Because of the bad steel quality, the armor cracked when hit by a heavy round (e.g. Boys AT round). The bolted construction plus the bad steel quality cause splinters flying around in the tank when hit. The Italian industry could solve the problem during the war. They improved the steel as good as possible, but the best steel was always reserved for the navy and the “main battle tanks”. The 20mm gun was fed in combat by 8 round loading clips. The gun had good ballistic performance but lacked armor penetrating capabilities against armored targets like other tanks. The secondary armament was an excellent 8mm Breda Mod. 1938 MG (a tank version of the 1937 MG). Fed by a 24-round clip the MG was slow firing but had a good accuracy and could pierce 11mm of steel at 100m distance. The commander had up to 312 rounds for the 20mm and 1560 rounds for the MG.  

In combat the L6 tanks were assigned to squadroni carri, light tank squadrons. Based on the experience in the desert battles the Italian army formed the RECos - Raggruppamento Esplorante Corazzato (Armored Reconnaissance Regroupement). With the radio, light armament and speed the tank was suitable for flanking protection and screening and for armored recon missions. The RECos were a mix of light tanks and armored cars. The RECos were assigned to armored divisions and divisions that needed reconnaissance for battles. The first L6 tanks arrived in December 1941 in northern Africa. The tank saw action in the desert, at the Balkan and in Russia. They performed garrison duties in France and in Italy. After the armistice, the Wehrmacht captured 100 L6 tanks. The germans used them for secondary missions in occupied Yugoslavia and France. Some L6 tanks saw combat in Normandy fighting with paratrooper units from Italy. More L6 tanks were used by Croatia and Yugoslavia. 3 L6 tanks were used after the war to help the State Police to keep up public order. They were used for strike control and crowd control until 1952 when all spare sparts were used and the tanks cant be repaired. 

We will see the L6/40 in CoH3. It is a callin vehicle for the “Axis forces in Africa”. In terms of gameplay and performance the L6/40 would be close to a heavy armored car. Its 20mm gun would be a threat to soft targets and light vehicles. Furthermore, some L6 tanks were upgraded with a flamethrower replacing its 20mm gun. The flamethrower version will be part of CoH3 too. So we will see these tank in the near future in action.

Carro Armato M11/39

The next tank we have to talk about is the M11/39 tank; the first M tank. 

The M tank was another tank candidate of the mountain tank program. Like the L6 tank the M tank should be able to operate in mountain terrain. With its narrow streets and limited infrastructure in mind the army was looking for a 10ton tank. Because of the terrain the army was convinced that the gun could be mounted into the chassis for frontal engagements only. The planned MG turret should protect the flank against infantry in rocks and hillsides. With the interwar Carro di Rottura program the army had already a potential tank candidate that needed some smaller adjustments. The upgraded version became a 11ton tank with a 37mm gun in the hull and a twin-8mm-MG-turret. Its armor could stop 20mm rounds and with 35km/h it had a good cruising speed. The new tank was called “carro medio, 11tons, introduced into service in 1939” – M11/39. The army used the “medium” designation to get a clear distinction between the specialised M tank design and the intended P tank – Carro Pesante – heavy tank. The P tank should reequip all armored divisions. It should become the main battle tank. But in 1939 it was obvious that the Italian industry would need more time to finish the P tank project. In the meantime, the army need a gun armed tank for its armored divisions. With the M 11/39 they had only one tank for the job and so the army ordered a batch of up to 100 M 11/39 to get some gun tanks for the armored divisions. The army knew that the design was flawed and wont be a match for tanks like the tested Vickers 6ton design or the german tank designs like Panzer III and IV tanks. 

The first M 11/39 left the factory in July 1939. The tank had 3 men. The turret operating commander, the hull gunner and the driver. Unlike the L6 tank the M11 didn’t had a radio. Radios were short in supply and with the planned new heavy tank the industry should save the radios for the planed main combat tank. The armor had some quality problems typical to Italian armored steel. One of the most interesting details was the diesel engine. FIAT had some diesel engines available. The Italian Army asked for the diesel because of the range advantage – and not because of the fire protection. The tank consumed less diesel fuel for the same range it could do with a similar gasoline engine. The diesel engine was a bit smaller and more robust. The fact that Italy used Diesel engines for its tanks created some interest by the British who were looking into diesel engines too. The hull gun was a 37mm gun. The 37/40 gun was a Vickers-Terni design from 1918. It was designed for air defense and later used because of its compact design in the FIAT 3000 light tank. The supply with 37/40 guns were slow and to arm the M11 tanks some FIAT 3000 were stripped of their guns to get the numbers that were needed for the M tanks. The combat value was limited but it could use AP and HE shells. 

In 1940 72 M11 tanks were sent to Libya to form the I and II Battaglioni Carri Medi – medium tank battalions – for the planed invasion of Egypt. On 5th August M11 tanks met Cruiser tanks in a tank-vs-tank battle. The Italians destroyed 2 Cruiser tanks losing 3 M11 tanks in return. After 5 months of combat only 5 M11 were left operational. Most tanks were lost because of bad maintenance. Bad roads, dust and long marches had a high prize. At the end of January 1941 all M11 in North Africa were lost. Another group of 24 M11 were sent to former Ethiopia. Here they were lost during the allied invasion in mid-1941. The loses created a somewhat ironical situation. Italy had only 4 M11 tanks left that were used for training in Italy. The biggest M tank operator was the Australian army that had captured up to 24 M tanks (Most of them M11/39 and some M13/40). One M11 tank was captured by the Wehrmacht during the battle of Rome in 1943 when the Italians used the M tank in the defense of Rome. Its fate is unknown. Photos are showing the tank with tank riding german Fallschirmjäger in Rome. In fact it got a capturing number so I think that the M tank was used some time by the 2. Fallschirmjäger-Division. The last M11 was seen in battle in area of Santa Margherita, Liguria, in August-September 1944. The tank was used by RSI militia forces to protect military convoys in the area. The tank took part in some skirmishes with Partisans. The tank was so annoying to the Partisans that they concentrated their forces on 2nd September 1944 when they disabled the tank. Its was most likely damaged beyond repairs because the RSI forces didn’t recover the tank after the battle. 

In CoH the tank would be a weak “assault gun”. With the M3 Lee we will see a multi gun tank so the M11/39 would be a weaker version. With its small gun and weak armor it would be an early-mid game vehicle. Its biggest weakness would be the mid-late game phase when it could be destroyed by most weapons on the field. Because of its drawbacks its not the best CoH ingame candidate. It would be an interesting tank but it would be less interesting in terms of faction design.

Carro Armato M tanks – M13/40, M14/41, M15/42

With the M11/39 done we will now talk about its “bigger brothers”; The M13/40 – M14/41 – M15/42 tanks.

For obvious reasons I will add all 3 “Main M tank” versions into the article here. Their differences are minor, so I think it won’t be a problem to talk about all versions here.

With the M11/39 Italy knew that they would need a real combat tank. They planned a “heavy” 20+ ton tank. But the project needs more time. To fill the gap the army asked for a modified M tank with its main gun in the turret. The M11/39 chassis and the turret diameter were enlarged to house a bigger turret for a bigger gun. The new M tank got a 125hp FIAT diesel engine to compensate the growing weight. With the bigger armor of 30mm (front hull) ~ 42mm (turret) the weight was increased to 13tons. The speed was kept at reasonable 30km/h. Its best improvements were the addition of a radio set. With the P tank still not finished the army saw no reason in keeping the radios in storage. Now they came in handy. With the radio sets installed the M tanks could communicate in battle allowing for better cooperation in battle. To be fair I have to add that the first M13 left the factories without the radio because of the desperate situation at the battlefields that forces the Italians to rush the new tanks to the combat zone before the radios could be installed in the tanks. The second main improvement was the mounting of the Breda 47/32 gun. For a 1940 tank gun it was a remarkable gun. In terms of performance, it was superior to the famous soviet 45mm guns. Most important the 47mm gun outmatched the British 2pdr. Furthermore, the 47mm gun had access to adequate HE shells and access to EP HEAT shells later. The M13/40 and M14/41 both used a 47mm with 32 calibre length allowing for a good muzzle velocity resulting in good gun ballistics and high accuracy. When the M13/40 hit the African battlefields in December 1940 it outmatched all British Cruiser tanks in the desert. Unfortunately for the Italians, the M tanks couldn’t deal with the British Infantry tanks when engaging them in battle. A lot of tank battles in the desert were started around ranges of 1000~1200m. Higher ranges were not common. Heat, sand, heat flickering and “primitive optics” (e.g. the optics are one of the reasons why german tanks preferred long-range engagement because the Zeiss optics allowed for long-rang gunnery – even in the desert) often prevent duels on long ranges. When the battle started the dust forced tanks to close in ending in point blank range engagements. With an opening duel of around 1000m the 47mm couldn’t penetrate the frontal armor of the British infantry tank. The situation changes in close combat engagements but that was a situation both sides tried to avoid because of the chaos and disadvantages. To protect the vehicle the tank had a coaxial 8mm Breda machine gun plus a hull twin-MG mounting. The crew was increased too. The M13 tank series had a crew of 4 men; 2 in the turret – commander and gunner/loader – and 2 in the hull – driver and radio operator/hull-MG-gunner. The M tanks didn’t have any command cupolas. The Commander used San Giorgio periscopes with a 30° field of vision allowing for an acceptable vision even without the ww2 tank cupolas. With the lessons learned at the battlefields and with the improved production skills a new version left the factory in mid-1941. The new M14/41 had a stronger diesel engine. The tanks ammo storage was increased plus a number of technical additions enforcing the reliability of the M tank. 

The ”biggest improvements” came with the M15/42 version. After 3 years of designing and technical trials the new P tank prototypes were completed but the Italian industry need more time to get the P tank read for mass production. Despite the production of 1600 M13 and M14 tanks Italy was in need of more tanks. At El Alamein the M13/14 had shown that they cant deal with the new M4 Shermans and Churchill tanks. Terrain and new optics had turned any battle against the M tanks. But with all the losses Italy needed replacements so they decided for a last batch of an improved M version. The new M tank got a 47mm gun with a longer calibre. The semi-auto 47/40 gun boost firepower to 14 rounds (10 rounds in combat conditions) a minute. The higher muzzle velocity (old: 630m/s – new: 900m/s) allowed for gunnery ranges of 9km and precise direct fire at 1500m. The standard AP round could pierce 30~40mm at 1000m. Its biggest advantage was the new EPS HEAT round. The round could penetrate an impressive 120mm of armor at 100m. The piercing rate dropped to 43mm at 1000m. Some argue that the 47/40 could pierce the Sherman armor at ranges of 300~400m with the EPS round. It was far from ideal, but it was better compared to the former 47/32 gun that needed EP rounds to fight Shermans in shorter ranges. It gave the tanks a chance to fight the allied tanks from ambushes or with superior numbers. Another change was the increased armor with 42mm for the hull and 50mm for the turret. Once again poor steel quality limited the effect. With the M15/42 the Italians started to weld some elements but they never got rid off all bolts and rivets. The most important change was the new gasoline engine. Italy had run out of Diesel. The remaining Diesel was needed for the navy. Furthermore, FIAT had developed a new gasoline engine with 190hp. The engine allowed to keep the former operational range of ~200km with increased marching speed of 38km/h and 20+ km/h offroad. With the new engine the M15/42 got a longer hull to house the new gear shafts and transmission boxes. 

The M13/40 tank saw its frontline debut in December 1940 when some M13/40 tanks were seen at the Greek battlefields and when the Babini armored brigade met British tanks during Operation Compass. The M13 performed poor in its first battles. Many tanks were left behind on the battlefield captured by the allies in running conditions. Things started to change when the Ariete armored division arrived in the desert. The division recognised the inferior training of the tanks crews. Most tank soldiers were trained on CV tankettes or FIAT 3000 tanks. The lack of M13/40 tanks had prevent gunnery training in Italy. One of the first actions of the Ariete Division was the installation of a tank training center at the Tripoli barracks in Libya. They build a driver training test track and a gunnery range with moving targets. When the first german tank soldiers of the Sperrverband Afrika – the forerunner of the Deutsche Afika-Korps – arrived in Libya the germans helped with tank training. The Ariete Division held manoeuvres and firing trials. The training paid off; When the Ariete Division joined the axis offensive of 1941 in Africa the division fought with success. At Bir-el-Gobi the Division met the 22nd British Armoured Brigade in battle. The British were in full swing with the Operation Crusader counter offensive. Convinced that the Italians wont be a threat the 22nd Brigade attacked the Ariete division. The battle raged for a day and when the dust settled the Ariete Division was victorious. They had stopped the 22nd Brigade holding the flank of the Axis Army allowing the remaining axis formations to crush Operation Crusaders spearhead allowing Axis forces to retreat in full order. At Bir-el-Gubi Ariete had lost 29 M tanks (total lost – more M tanks were damaged). The British loses are heavy debated ranging from a 50 to 150+ tank losses. Most likely the 22nd Brigade lost somewhat around the estimated 50~60 tanks in battle against the Ariete. The rest was lost by mechanical breakdowns caused by the desert marches during the offensive. Bir-el-Gubi marked the skill of the Italian tank forces when they met an enemy in battle in suitable conditions. 

The Italians proofed that the battle of Bir-el-Gubi wasn’t luck only. The Ariete division met the 3rd Indian motor brigade at Gazala in battle annihilating the brigade. The division was able to repulse several British tank attacks. A 1942 report described that desert tank battles of 1942 between Ariete and British tanks as follows: The British tanks started to open fire at 1500~1200m. Parts of the formation would speed up. The British were trying to close the distance. The tanks on the advancing flanks were trying to get into the flanks of the Italian tanks by speed covered by the fire of the slow advancing British centre. Ariete tank crews hold their fire until British tanks crossed the 1000m mark. When both tank forces were down to 200~300m the battle turned into chaos. It was a dangerous point for the Italians because when they break in the close combat engagements they couldn’t run away. The superior speed of the Cruiser tanks don’t allow an Italian retreat. At Gir-el-Gubi and Gazala the Italians won because they were accompanied by Bersaglieri Infantry and Semoventi. Furthermore, the M tanks had more ammunition stored allowing for longer battles. Both elements allowed the Italian tank forces to win tank duels in 1941~1942. 

Tides started to turn at El Alamein when the British got more Lee and Sherman tanks replacing Stuart and Cruiser tanks in the assault tank role. Furthermore, the British tanks were now supported by other arms – and by infantry. These developments negate any Italian advantage in battle. El Alamein the Ariete division was annihilated by British Armor marking the end of the most experienced Italian tank formation in ww2.

Despite all odds M tanks were kept in combat until the end of the African campaign. Fresh reinforcements were thrown into battle. The Italians formed the Gruppo Tattico "Ariete" from the remnants of the Ariete and Littorio armored and Trieste motorized division. The unit had a company of M tanks max. More M tanks reached the African battlefields with the arrival of the 131ª Divisione corazzata "Centauro". The Centauro division achieved some success during the Battle of Kasserine when the M tanks and Bersaglieri overrun US troops of the 1st US Armored Division at Tebessa. M tanks and Semoventi 47/32 charged US positions with a hell of fire. The US tank destroyers should stop the Italian riot but when the US tank destroyer crews saw the approaching Italian tanks guns blazing the US soldiers panicked and run away allowing Centauro to secure the flank of the axis main thrust. 

With the capitulation at Tunis the M tank disappeared from the battlefield. With the destruction of italy’s armored division the royal army had to reform its tank arm. The new M15/42 tanks were now rolling of the factory gates. With Africa in mind all new M15/42 tanks were now concentrated in the Ariete II armored Division that should protect Rome against all threads. Here the M15/42 saw its baptism of fire – but not against the allies… With Fall Achse Germany tried to disarm the Italians. 88.137 soldiers, 124 tanks – 84 M15/42, 257 Semoventi, 122 armored cars and gun trucks and 615 artillery guns met the german attack. The 2. Fallschirmjäger-Division plus the 3. Panzergrenadier-Division, 20.000 soldiers with 71 german Panzers (12 Tiger I), 54 StuGs, 196 APCs, ACs and motor vehicles and 165 guns, were advancing on Rome. On 10th September 1943 Italian Armor met German armor in battle. There are no definitive casualty numbers but both sides lost tanks in armored engagements. 

Despite its flaws the battle of Rome didn’t mark the end of the M tank’s history. After the armistice the Wehrmacht captured 1 M11/39, 21 M13/40, 1 M14/41 and 92 M14/42. The Wehrmacht decided that the M tank cant be used for the Panzer-Divisions so all M tanks were sent to Yugoslavia to fight the partisans. It was here where M tanks met T-34/85 tanks in combat. Like the Sherman the T-34/85 proofed to be a problem for M tanks. The Panzer-Abteilungen – small tank units with 40~45 M tanks – were formed by inexperienced crews. When they met the battle-hardened T-34/85 crews in battle they had no chance. In the chaos of the liberation of Belgrad a T-34/85 tank rammed an M14/42 tanks turning it on its side and destroying another M tank with its 85mm gun. Furthermore, some M tanks saw action in Warsaw and in Budapest. Here they supported Police units in combat against polish fighters or advancing red army soldiers.

With the fall of Yugoslavia, the Tito partisans captured some M tanks. They add the M tanks to their partisan tank forces. In 1945 the partisans used the M tanks in battle when they entered Italian territory. Now the former Italian M tank was used by an allied army to invade Italian homeland… Yugoslavia kept the M tank in service until they run out of spare parts. One of the trophy tanks had survived in a museum at Belgrad. 

The last M tank operating army was the newly formed axis Esercito Nazionale Repubblicano – the Italian national republican army of the RSI puppet state. The RSI armed forces managed to acquire some tanks the Wehrmacht hadn’t confiscated. The Gruppo Corazzato “Leoncello” operated 5 M tanks. The Gruppo Corazzato “Leonessa” operated 30+ M tanks. There is some debate but most of the M tanks were used for parades and counter partisan operations only. Based on the book “I mezzi corazzati italiani delle Guerra civile 1943-1945” there is a chance that some M tanks were used in 1945 to protect the vital Italian oif fields at Piacenza. Perhaps here the last M tanks saw combat with allied Sherman tanks. Records are rare because the clashed and skirmished had no impact on the outcome of the Italian campaign. The Italian reports of the last days were lost and the allies didn’t care much about detailed reports in the last days because of their focus on crossing the river Po by all coasts and before the remaining axis units could cross it…

Side note: After the war the Italian state police operated a handful M tanks of various types to protect the Italian state against a feared communist revolution. The M tanks were kept in the barracks and were written off around 1950~1955. The number of stored M tanks and their technical status are unknown. 

To sum up the story of the M tank; Form a pure paper stats point of view the M tank was a typical design of the 1938~1940 area. It was a working tank that could fight other armored tanks of its time (Cruisers, Stuarts, Vickers 6ton derivatives). Bad steel quality and the limited Italian industrial output forced the royal army to keep the tank in service. Bad crew training and limited maintenance training and support caused a high rate of breakdowns rendering the tank useless in 1944 onwards (lack of spare parts, lack of knowledge how to repair the tank, ectect). On the other side with CoH 3 and the addition of the M 13/40 to the Axis forces in africa battlegroups we will see the M tank ingame. The “CoH combat ranges” plus the paper stats plus the armament are enough arguments to design a capable hit-and-run gun tank that could be utilised as early midgame pressure factor for an potential Italian faction layout. Furthermore, it is Italys signature tank and should be added to an Italian faction because of its status and historical importance. 

Carro Armato P26/40

Our next entry is the tank that caused some headache to the Italian army; the Pesante – heavy – tank. The P tank should become the backbone of the Italian tank forces. The first concept was planning for a 20ton tank armed with a 47mm main gun. With Mussolini and other generals involved the tank gun requirements were changed to a number of types ranging from twin gun mounts and combinations of different 75, 47 and 20mm gun versions. The most promising mockup was presented by Ansaldo. The Ansaldo proposal had a 75/18 main gun, a 20mm coaxial gun and 40mm armor. In 1941 Ansaldo build the first prototypes – and the Italian army was confronted with the soviet T-34 tanks that were met by the Wehrmacht in Soviet Russia. With the T-34 in mind the Italian army asked for a long barrel 75mm gun and increased thickness and sloped armor plus a new and stronger engine to boost manoeuvrability in battle. In July 1942 Ansaldo finished the new prototype. The tank had grown to 26ton. The tank was now protected by 50mm sloped hull and 60mm sloped turret armor and a long barrel 75/34 that could deal with most tanks at acceptable ranges. The gun performance is often compared with the german 7,5cm KwK L/48 gun stats. The engine was a 330hp FIAT V-12 diesel engine allowing for 40km/h with a cruising range of 280km. Like the M tanks the P tank had a crew of 4 men with 2 men in turret and 2 in the hull. Because of the bigger shells the commander had a more stressful job in helping his gunner to operate the main gun in battle. Thanks to its radios, optics and size it would have been a usable tank design. It was – by far – the best tank Italy had build in ww2 and based on 1942 standards it was a solid vehicle that could have been used for armored divisions. But because of the allied invasion of Italy the tank never saw large combat deployment.

Before the armistice 3 P26/40 were completed and delivered to the Ariete II Division for training and testing. The tanks were kept at the Rome tank barracks. A batch of 22 additional tanks were waiting for completion when the armistice hit Italy. With the armistice the P26/40 ended in german hands. When the germans got their hands on the captured tanks in Rome they send it to the new established Panzer-Ausbildungs-Abteilung Süd – tank training battalion south – a testing, evaluation and training unit for captured Italian armor. Based on the first evaluations the tank was a capable machine close to the performance of the Panzer IV. Backed by the reports the Wehrmacht ordered Ansaldo to build more P26/40 tanks for the Wehrmacht. But allied bombing, strikes, resource shortages and problems with the availability of the Diesel engine caused delays and problems. Until the end of 1944 only 61 P26/40 with engines and 38 without engine were finished. The tanks without engines were used as static bunkers comparable to the Pantherturm bunker units. With the P26/40 with engines the Wehrmacht formed 3 Panzer-Kompanien (12 tanks). 2 companies were police companies and 1 company was a SS company. The tanks were used to fight Italian Partisans. Shortage of spare parts, diesel and problems with the armor quality and radio quality forced the Wehrmacht to keep the tank in second line units because it was too risky to send them into frontoline combat. Some P26/40 saw combat against allied armor when the 24. Waffen-Gebirgs-(Karstjäger-)Division der SS (a brigade in strength) defend Triest with RSI units in late April/early May 1945. Unfortunately, it seems like no combat report had survived the war and allied reports didn’t always identify the tanks they met in combat. So there is always a level of uncertainty about the combat effect of the P26/40 tanks. One P26/40 saw combat at the outskirts of Berlin when the red army advanced at the Kummersdorf proving grounds. The P26/40 that was tested here was forced into service with the Panzer-Alarm-Kompanie Kummersdorf facing the advancing soviets. 

Interestingly the RSI forces got two P26/40 tanks into their hands. Capitano Zuccaro, tank officer of the Leoncello Armored Group, had two factory build P26/40 at his disposal. The tanks were used to guard the ministeries that had moved to Milan after the Italian armistice. Here the tanks were presented in a show of force to the Milan public. Based on Capitano Zuccaro the P26/40 crews were trained by german men of the PzAusbildungsAbtl. Süd. Perhaps there were plans to relocate more of the german P26/40 tanks to the Leoncello group to boost its defensive power and to boost the moral of the RSI forces but the plans never materialised because of the allied advance and the spreading chaos. At the end one of the P26/40 was captured by the Italian partisans who liberated Milan in May 1945 from RSI forces. The last P26/40 was destroyed by the RSI crews before the partisans could capture it too. The captured P26/40 patrolled in Milan for some months after the war before it broke down marking its end. 

With the special history of the P26/40 there is some sort of “questionmark” for a potential usage in an Italian CoH faction. On one side the tank never saw large combat at all plus the fact that the Royal army got 3 tanks and the RSI army 2 tanks only. The Wehrmacht was the biggest P26/40 operator with its 3 companies in action. Furthermore, the P26/40 marked Italy’s best tank design but it wasn’t by far the “best” tank design of ww2. The Italian steel quality plus the armor riveting marked some weaknesses in the P26/40 design. On the other side CoH is a videogame and steel quality and rivetings should be a large issue for game stats and game balance. With its paper stats – long 75mm gun, sloped armor of 50/60mm strength – it would be a suitable Tier 4 tank capable of matching Sherman and Lee tanks in battle. In terms of stats it would be somewhere in between the upcoming Panzer III and IV. It wont be a monster but still a lategame threat. With its 40km/h speed it would be a fast tank helping an Italian player to get into the flank of an allied tank and taking advantage of the new side armor feature. It would be a nice hit-and-run tank for an Italian faction and its by far a cool looking vehicle…

honorable mention – Part three

FIAT 3000

In ww1 Italy got interested in the tank like many other nations. For that reason, the Italian army send a delegation to France to inspect the new super weapon of ww1. Based on the reports the Italians were convinced that the tank was a war winning machine starting the development of the FIAT 2000 heavy tank. But with the slow progress on the FIAT 2000 Italy was asking for French build tanks. In late 1917 Italy got 4 Renault “FT” tanks and 1 Schneider CA1 assault tank. With the FT tanks in Italian hands the army decided to build its own FT version in license. The new formed “Ufficio Carri d’Assalto” (Assault Tank Office Bureau) ordered 100 modified FT tanks. The FIAT company was assigned to build the tanks. FIAT modified the FT design. The engine and suspension were replaced with Italian domestic designs. Furthermore, the tracks and armament was adjusted and the hull slightly altered. The new weapon caused some problems for the FIAT company. Because of the difficult manufacturing the first FIAT tank left the factory in mid-1920. The prototype was tested and accepted for service as “Carro d’Assalto FIAT 3000”. 

Soon the FIAT 3000 became italy’s most important tank. The tanks were used to form the Centro di Formazione Carri Armati (Tank Training Center) in Rome. More Fiat tanks were used in the so called “pacification of Italian colonies”. In 1930 the tanks were modernised. The FIAT 3000B got a male and female version. The male tanks were now armed with a 37mm gun that was later reused for the M11/39 tanks too. The female tanks got new twin MG mounting. The FIATs formed the backbone of the growing Italian tank forces. Most Italian Carristi tank men were trained on the FIAT tanks. The FIAT tanks formed the Reggimento Carri Armati and later the Brigata Corazzata. In the 1930s Italy realised that the days of the FIAT 3000 were over. New tanks popped up all over Europe. The army was waiting for its new tanks too but the slow delivery speed forced the army to keep the FIAT tank in active service on secondary frontlines. 

In ww2 the FIAT 3000 saw its first combat in Yugoslavia where the 1ª Compagnia Carrista di Frontiera (1st Border Tank Company) met a Yugoslavian counterattack. The tanks were used in the following years to fight the Yugoslavian partisans. Beside the Balkans the FIAT 3000 saw combat against the allies too. With the defeat of the axis forces in Africa Italy was desperately looking for armor to defend its mainland against the feared invasion. In early 1943 Italy had only captured tanks and training tanks left. So the army was forced to send some of its FIAT tanks to potential invasion places. 18 tanks were sent to Sicily forming two tank companies under the command of the Gruppo Mobile H. Assigned to the 207a Divisione Costiera the tanks were stationed around Licata and the area north of the town where they protected Italian airfields. With Operation Husky the tanks saw combat against the US paratroopers that have landed in the area. At San Pietro airdome FIAT 3000 tanks helped to capture 50 US paratroopers. The next days the FIAT 3000 tanks saw more skirmished and fighting against Patton’s US Forces. After the US breakthrough at the Licata perimeter the remaining tanks were concentrated in the improvised Raggruppamento mobile Ouest that should delay the US advance to Palermo. All remaining FIAT tanks were lost during the so called “US Palermo rallye” marking the end of the combat history of the FIAT 3000 tanks.

To be fair I wont add the FIAT tank at all. I have mentioned the tank here because it was an Italian design that saw frontline combat and for that reason, I want to mention its history here for the “complete” picture. 

Semoventi assault guns

The Semoventi were the Italian assault gun armored fighting vehicles. Italy builts its first Semovente right after ww1 when they mounted a 75mm howitzer on an FT/Fiat 3000 tank but the project was cancelled and for the next 20+ years the idea of tracked artillery had be ignored. The idea got back into Italian miliary minds when they met new armored threats and new dangers at the battlefields of the 2n world war. Inspired by the successful german Italy started to develop its own generation of casemate assault tanks; the Semoventi. They were a vital part to the Italian firepower because it were the Semoventi that provided the firepower needed to deal with more modern allied armor in battle. For that reason, we will look into the Semoventi guns now.

Semovente da 47/32

The Semovente da 47/32 was born in late 1939 when the army was looking for a way to add more firepower to the mobile Bersaglieri assault infantry. In battle the Bersaglieri were supported by their Cannona da 47/32 infantry guns providing them fire direct HE or AP firepower but the gun was slow. It was transported to the frontline but trucks or motor vehicles but IN battle the gun had to be moved by infantry. That made it slow in a case of rapid manoeuvres in a battle. For that reason, the army was asking to mount a 47/32 gun on a tracked vehicle that could move with the Bersaglieri in battle. The first prototypes were simple; Companies like Breda took a L3 tankette and bolted the 47/32 gun on a modified superstructure creating a large vehicle with an unprotected gun crew. Ansaldo did the same but instead of an L3 tankette they used the slightly bigger L6 chassis. The prototype was rejected because of its hight but the army liked the L6 concept so Ansaldo was ordered to modify the design. On May 10, 1941, the Semovente 47/32 prototype was finished and presented to the Italian army high command. The army liked the new casemate self-propelled gun. With a height of only 163cm it was one of the smallest tanks in ww2. The army was convinced that the low silhouette would be perfect for an infantry support assault vehicle and a light tank destroyer. 

The Semovente da 47/32 had a crew of 3 men; commander/gunner, loader and driver. In battle the loader had the job to spot targets for the commander and to defend the vehicle against close by enemy’s infantry with the weapons stored on board. The crew was protected by a 30mm thick frontal armor and a 40mm thick gun shield. The armor quality suffered from the embargos and metal shortages resulting in bad armor steel cocking so the armor often tend to crack when hit by any heavier round. The armament consisted of a Cannone da 47/32 Mod. 1935. The gun had a max range of 7000m and allowed for precise direct HE fire up to 4000m and direct AP fire for up to 1000m. The gun had a horizontal travers of 27° and a vertical travers of -12° up to +20°. The casemate build style forced the driver to target potential enemies with the entire vehicle. Often the vehicle got a MAB 38 SMG to protect the crew against infantry. The Semovente had 70 rounds on board. The gun had large variety of rounds. There were HE shells, AP shells and HEAT shells. The AP rounds could pierce 55mm of armor at 100m and 30mm at 1000m. With the EP HEAT it could penetrate 45mm of armor and with the EPS HEAT it could pierce the frontal armor of a Sherman at 250m. The L6 chassis allowed the 6,5ton vehicle to drive with 42km/h on roads with a max range of 200km. The first Semovente left the factory in January 1942 and until the end of the war the Italian industry build 414 Semoventi 47/32 and 93 radio command Semoventi.

In 1942 it was planned to add a Battaglione Semoventi Controcarro (Anti-Tank Self-Propelled Gun Battalions) to all armored divisions. The Battaglione had 21 Semoventi, later 30 Semoventi (9 per company, 1 radio command vehicle). In December 1942 the Battaglione was reorganised for the last time with 10 Semoventi per company plus 1 radio command vehicle and a 4th commander vehicle for a total of 34 Semoventi at all (10+1, 10+1, 10+1, 1). The first Semoventi unit was ready for combat in August 1942. It was sent to the eastern front where it support the Italian army alongside its turret brother, the L6/40 tanks. It could deal with all BT, T-26 and T-60/70 tanks but it had no chance against T-34 and KV-1 tanks. In September 1942 the first Semovente 47/32 landed in Tunisia. With the axis defeat at El Alamein the Semoventi were concentrated with the remaining M tanks into the Raggruppamento Cantaluppi that was assigned to the Gruppo Tattico "Ariete". When the axis forced got a short time to recover in early 1943 the Semoventi were now assigned to the new arrived Centauro armored division. With the Centauro division the Semoventi take part in the axis offensive at Kasserine pass. Here Semoventi 47/32 could destroy a number of Sherman tanks that were caught off guard by the charging Italians. 

After the axis capitulation in Africa more Semoventi 47/32 were sent to Sicily to boost the Italian mainland defense against the upcoming invasion. With 100 vehicles organised in 7 Battaglione Controcarro the Semoventi formed the backbone of the armored fighting vehicles of the Italian army at Sicily. They participated in many battles and skirmishes at the island but at the end they had no impact. Unlike to the Tunisian campaign the US tank crews had learned their lessons forcing the Semoventi 47/32 in the soft counter role by shelling enemy’s infantry with HE shells. When the Allies reached Messina most of the Semoventi were lost or abandoned. 

Like on Sicily the Italian army had sent Semoventi 47/32 to the Island of Corsica too. But unlike to the Sicilian campaign the Semoventi on Corsica wont met allied but german armor in battle. With the armistice the Italian commander on Corsica decided to join the allies and to fight the germans. Together with the free French forces Italian Bersaglieri and Semoventi forced the german garrison to retreat. After the battle the French forces disarmed the Italians. Unfortunately, this is the point where the information of the history of the Semoventi on Corsica ends. Most likely the guns were kept at Corsice to defend the island against a german counterattack. Like on Sicily more Semovente 47/32 saw battle during the german-italian clashed at Rome. 48 Semoventi of the m135ª Divisione corazzata ‘Ariete II’ and the new formed 136ª Divisione corazzata ‘Centauro II’, the former 1ª Divisione corazzata di Camicie Nere “M”, Mussolinis pretorian guard division that decided to fight for the Italian state against the germans and not for the Duce, defend the capital. September 10, the Semoventi met the german Fallschirmjäger of the 2. Fallschirmjäger-Division in battle. The Semoventi shelled the german soldiers but with the help of heavy guns, StuGs and StuKas the germans knocked out one Semoventi after another forcing the Italians to surrender at the end of the day.

After the armistices the Wehrmacht captured 74 Semoventi 47/32. The germans resumed the production of the now called “StuG L6 mit 47/32 630(i)”. 120 new guns were build with some modifications by adding a shielded Italian 8mm MG and radio sets. In Italy 4 german Divisions got Semoventi 47/32 guns for direct fire support. The schwere Panzerjäger-Abteilung 590 got Semoventi too but they used them to pull their Pak 40 guns into position. The guns were used because of their small size. With their HE rounds they could fight infantry and with their AP/HEAT arsenal they could help to deal with the growing numbers of M3 halftracks, Universal Carriers and US and British Armored Cars that here a constant harassment for the infantry divisions that never had enough mobil AT weapons. More Semoventi were sent to the Balkan where they were used in the infantry sniping role against the growing partisan threat. Perhaps some Semoventi 47/32 saw tank-vs-tank battles against soviet T-34s in early 1945 when the remaining Semoventi were used in all battles. The germans liked the HE round so they tried to keep them in battle as long as possible. 

After the armistice the new fascist Italian state rebuild its armed forces. The RSI army managed to get their hands on a number of armored vehicles. Some of them were Semoventi 47/32. The RSI army used most of their Semoventi 47/32 in the same role the germans used them; fire HE infantry sniping. The Italian and Yugoslavian partisan forces lacked AT weapons so the Semoventi could be used with great effect in battle against them. Semoventi 47/32 guns of the Leonessa armored group were the last RSI armored vehicles that were met in an armored engagement with allied forces. In the area of Piacenza the RSI army had concentrated its remaining armor to defend the oil wells against partisans and allied attacks. Here elements of the Leonessa unit met allied forces in battle. In April 26, a group of 3 Semoventi stopped a recon column of M8 Grayhounds and M3 Halftracks of the 1st Brazilian Infantry Division in a fierce firefighting. The Semoventi were able to knock out some allied armored vehicles before retreating over the River Po by leaving behind the last armored vehicles. Because of the lack of additional files some historians believe that the battle of April 26 was the last “armor-vs-armor” battle of the Italian army for the rest of ww2 and the last armored duel of Italian armored units till today. So the gun had a sort of special place in Italian armored history.

Because of the large numbers that were available some Semovente 47/32 were give to Axis allies. The Independent State of Croatia got a handful of Semoventi 47/32 that were used in anti-partisan actions and to fight the advancing red army. In May 1945 they still had 4 Semoventi left in operational conditions. They were captured by the Yugoslavian Army and reused by the army until they run out of spare parts. The Slovenian Home guard got 2? Semoventi 47/32 in mid-1944 to defend the Slovakian territory against partisan movements. The guns were most likely lost during the Slovak National Uprising.

After ww2 the story of the Semovente 47/32 didn’t end. After the war the Italian state searched at the large scrap yards in Italy to get weapons to defend the new Italian state. The Italians managed to get a number of armored vehicles back in action. Among the repaired stuff were a number of Semoventi 47/32. The SPG were given to the new Polizia di Stato (State Police) police corps. The Police corps should protect order and law. They should control demonstrations, end strikes, protect vital infrastructure and elections. So the Semoventi were repainted in a pink-red colour and used for police patrols in Rome, Milan and Torino. The Semoventi were last seen in June 1946 when they protected the election bureaus during the Italian institutional referendum. After the referendum they wont seen again. Most likely they were scrapped in late 1946 ending its history in Italy.

Semovente da 75/18

With the Semovente 75/18 it is time to talk about the Italian armored vehicle that is often regarded as the best armored vehicle of ww2 in the Italian armed forces.

The history of the Semovente 75/18 started with the Semovente 47/32 project. One of the Ansaldo proposals had a 75mm gun mounted on the L6 chassis. The result was not adopted because its would have caused too much stress to the L6 chassis. After the battle of France Italy recognised the success of the german Sturmartillerie and the Sturmgeschütze aka StuG III assault guns. Ansaldo decided to retry the 75mm gun Semovente in combination with the new M11/39 chassis. To keep it simple the Ansaldo company designed a new casemate superstructure for the M chassis. Thanks to the simple design the prototype of the 75mm gun armed Semovente da 75/18 was ready in February 1941.

The Semovente 75/18 used a Obice da 75/18 gun in a ball mount. The gun had a travers of 38° and an elevation of 34°. With the max elevation of +22° the gun had a maximum fire range of 7500m. The gun had an acceptable HE shell, shrapnel shells and smoke shells. Its biggest advantage was the HEAT ammunition. The first generation of EP HEAT rounds could pierce the frontal armor of a Sherman at 700m. The EPS HEAT round could pierce 120mm of armor at the same range. Beside the 75/18 gun the Semovente had no additional close defense weapon. The crew had a MG for aerial defense but it was too dangerous to operate the weapon in combat against ground targets because the MG AA mount would expose the gun operator to small arms fire. To allow the Semovente gun to be used in direct and indirect fire support the vehicle got a radio set. The commander got a full rotatable periscope for target spotting. With the gun sights and the artillery sights the gun had a good chance of direct fire hits. The Semovente was operated by a crew of 3 men; commander/gunner, driver and loader/radio operator. The small crew allowed for an internal storage of 44 rounds. The crew was protected by 50mm frontal armor (2x 25mm plates, a single 50mm plate with Semovente 75/18 on M15/42 chassis) offering a good armor protection – on paper – but like all Italian armored steel plates the armored suffered from the bad steel quality. The Semoventi 75/18 on M13/40 and M14/41 chassis were powered by the Diesel engine and the Semoventi on the M15/42 were powered by the gasoline engine. The weight of the Semoventi ranged from 13tons to 15tons. In terms of mobility it had the same characteristics and speed limitations like the M tanks. With the prototype finished in February the first Semoventi 75/18 left the factory 2 month later. From 1941 until the end of the production in 1944 the Italian industry build 288 Semovente 75/18 – 262 gun tanks and 24 radio command vehicles.

With the first Semoventi 75/18 ready for action the Italian army decided to organise them into the divisional artillery of the armored divisions. The Semoventi were concentrated into “gruppo semoventi”. A Gruppo had 2 batteries with 4 Semoventi. 2 Gruppo were supported by 2 radio control Semoventi. A division had a Semoventi reserve of 2 gun and 2 radio command Semoventi. Unlike the carristi of the tank arm the first Semoventi units got their time to train. The first Semoventi 75/18 were sent to the African frontlines in May 1942. Here they were attached to the Ariete, Centauro and Littorio Armored Division. The Semoventi joined the axis offensive at the Gazala line. The Gazala battles showed the power of the Semoventi in action. With the HE and shrapnel rounds they could support Italian infantry in direct and indirect fire missions. Based on the combat experiences the Semoventi had EP HEAT shells from the get-go. The Semoventi 75/18 helped the Bersaglieri against the bunkers of Tobruq. After the fall of Tobruq the Semoventi joined the Axis dash into Egypt that grinded to a halt a few kilometers away of a small railway terminal stop called “El Alamein”. Here – at the Egyptian battlefields – the Semoventi 75/18 showed their anti-tank potential. The Ariete war diary had a report of a tank engagement that took place on 4 November 1942. The Ariete Division was attacked by ~200 tanks that were advancing behind a creeping barrage. 1000m in front of the Italian firing line the British tanks opened fire. The M tanks answered with their own guns. The crews noticed that most of the 47mm rounds bounced of the armor of the advancing tank unit. The M tanks changed their tactics and concentrated their fire on the tracks and suspension. When a tank was immobilised the Semoventi came into play. With the HEAT rounds the Semoventi knocked out one tank after another. By that method the Ariete Division stopped the attack forcing the Allies to retreat back by leaving behind a number of burning and immobilised tanks. Unfortunately, it was one “last success” of Ariete. The next day the division was down to 12 Semoventi and 27 M tanks. The British tank unit attacked again losing some tanks in the attack but unlike the day before the Italians cant resist the new attack. Around 15:30 the division sent its last radio message reporting ongoing battles. At the end of the day the division was gone… 

After El Alamein the Italians were reorganising their tank forces. The Ariete reports indicated that the Semoventi were the best anti-tank option the Italians have in their arsenal. The army ordered more vehicles from the industry. New Semoventi groups were now reinforced to 18 gun tanks in a Semoventi group. 3 new groups were sent to Africa to rebuild the armored formations. 2 groups were lost on sea by allied air attacks. The last arrived in Africa and joined the Ariete tactical group. The next shipments of Semoventi followed with the arrival of the Centauro division. We had already talked about the Centauro division before; the division was part of the Kasserine pass battles where it met US armor in battle. The Semoventi 75/18 joined their smaller “brothers” – the Semoventi 47/32 – in the battles at Kasserine. Here the Semoventi 75/18 were able to destroy some US tanks in battle. The Semoventi were kept in battle until the end of the battles in Tunisia. The last axis tanks were seen at Capo Bon where 5 M tanks, 4 Tigers and 6 Semoventi 75/18 fought the last armored battle on Tunisian soil. The unit capitulated on 13 May 1943 with the Army group Africa. 

After the African capitulation the Italian Army was preparing for the upcoming invasion. While Sicily was defended by captured tanks and Semoventi 47/32 and 90/53 some Semoventi 75/18 were sent to Sardinia to defend the island against a possible invasion. Like most of the armor build after the defeat in Africa the factory new Semoventi 75/18 – now most of them Semoventi da M42 75/18 – were concentrated at Rome to defend the capital AND like all the other armored vehicles the Semoventi saw action in September against the german units that were ordered to capture the capital. When the fighting in Italy came to an end the german forces had captured 123 Semoventi 75/18. The tank was renamed into Beute-Sturmgeschütz mit 7.5 KwK L/18 (850)(i). The germans restarted the production of the Semovente for the german forces in Italy. 16 german divisions, most of them in Italy and one or two at the Balkans, were armed with a “Zug” (platoon) of 8 Semoventi 75/18. Some formations got more Semoventi. The first german unit sending Semoventi into battle was the 26. Panzer-Division that had a number of Semoventi (75/18 and 105/25) for the Flammpanzer-Kompanien (flamethrower companies). In late 1943 the Semoventi 75/18 were often seen in battles supporting german infantry whenever possible. Often the Semoventi were the only mobile fire support for the infantry divisions in battle. The german crews replaced the board MG with a german MG. Furthermore, the germans add a 4th crew member. The Semoventi crews were part of the Sturmartillerie of the artillery branch. The StuG crews stored as much rounds as possible inside the tank but like the Italians the german asked for more rounds in battle. On 15 March 1945 the Heeresgruppe C sent the last strength report of armor available for service. In mid-March Hrg. C had 146 Italian Semoventi left. 29 were 75/18 guns, the rest had long barrel 75 or 105mm guns. Most Semoventi were lost after battles and after retreating to new defensive positions. Often the army cant recover damaged Semoventi resulting in large numbers of lost vehicles.

Beside the Wehrmacht the RSI army used 5 or more Semoventi in anti-partisan operations. In early 1945 there were plans to transfer most of the remaining Semoventi 75/18 to the RSI Bersaglieri Division to boost the firepower of the RSI division. There are debates about whether the 1ª Divisione bersaglieri "Italia" had received the promised Semoventis or not. The plan was approved by the Heeresgruppe C but there is no confirmation by RSI sources that the Semoventi were handed over to italian crews. Perhaps the plan never materialised.

Another Semoventi-operator was the italian partisan liberation army. On 18 April 1945 Partisans organised themselves in Turin. They took control of the town and the weapons factories. With the help of FIAT workers the Partisans could recover two M 15/42 and two Semoventi 75/18 from factory repair depots. The same day the RSI forces attacked Turin with their own tanks. The Partisan tanks and SPGs were used to defend the axis attack. The situation in Turin was fragile with parts of the town under axis control and the rest under control of the partisans. The situation changed on April 27 when the “7th Autonomous Partisan Division” reached Turin. The “division” had its own Semovente 75/18. They had captured the gun some days before from retreating RSI units. Together with the partisans in the town they liberated Turin. In the next days the Semoventi patrolled at the city. After the capitulation the Turin Semoventi were integrated into the new Italian army – most likely. The exact fate is unknown but there are some arguments for the transfer into the new italian army.

After the war the Italian Army recovered and repaired 62 Semoventi da 75/18. The guns served as indirect artillery and direct fire support vehicles from 1946 until 1965. From 1955 onwards the Semoventi were replaced by US material, but they were kept in training units until they run out of ammunition and spare parts in late 1965. Today, most of the 18 remaining Semoventi 75/18 were from the cold war army’s Semoventi. 2 Semoventi were restored by OTO-Melara in 2008 and they are in running conditions now.

With the release of CoH3 we will see the Semovente 75/18 in a battlegroup for one (or both) axis factions. It will be – most likely – a direct fire unit. We don’t know whether it will be an AT or Soft counter unit. In an potential Italian faction design the Semoventi 75/18 would be one of the most iconic units. It had enough firepower for tank battles making it an interesting tank counter option. Or it could be used as an indirect and direct firing tank like the Wespe SGP or the Brummbär StuH. At the end an Italian faction would need the Semovente – in role or another. Based on the other Semoventi versions on the M chassis the 75/18 could get an update for a long barrel 75mm gun to enforce its AT role in the late game. All in all it will be a “must have” unit – that is out of question.

Semovente da 75/34 (and Semovente da 75/32)

One of the biggest drawbacks of the Semoventi 75/18 was the low ammunition storage and the low muzzle velocity. The last problem had a negative effect on the Italian EP HEAT shells causing malfunctions and “duds/uxos”. For that reason, Ansaldo was ordered to mount the long barrel Cannone da 75/32 into the Semoventi on M14/41 chassis. The prototype was rejected because the 75/32 guns would need a lot of adjustments and altering to be mounted into the Semovente ball mount. It was decided to replace the 75/32 with its “brother” – the 75/34 gun. The 75/34 was a gun designed to be built into fortresses and bunkers. It was optimised for the instalment in small fighting compartments. It was a subtype of the 75/32 but optimised to be mounted into static emplacements and ball mounts. The problem was that the gun wasn’t available. The guns that were needed had to be taken from the Alpini wall fortress line at the former French-Italian and Italian-Yugoslavian boarder. The army accepted the proposal and ordered the installation of refurbished 75/34 “bunker guns” into the Semoventi von M14/41 chassis. The result was the now called Semovente M41 da 75/34. The gun should solve the problem with the anti-tank role for the Semoventi. The new Semoventi 75/18 should now perform in artillery missions only and the Semoventi 75/34 should perform the tank destroyer missions. 

The prototype was ready in late 1942 and in early 1943 the first factory produced Semoventi 75/34 were ready for deployment. The industry built 93 Semoventi 75/34 before the armistice. The guns were sent to Sardinia to boost the island defence. The Italian High Command was convinced that the allies would land at Sardinia for a secondary landing at Rome or at northern Italy to capture the italian industrial heartland. The remaining Semoventi 75/34 were concentrated at Rome to reequip the newly formed armored divisions of the new armored-motorized corps. The Semoventi 75/34 that were stationed at Rome were sent into combat against the germans to defend Rome in September 1943. Based on german reports the Wehrmacht captured 36 Semoventi 75/34 so it seems to me that no Semoventi 75/34 was destroyed during the battles in and around Rome. 

The Semoventi 75/34 was sent to the Panzer-Ausbildungs-Abteilung Süd – tank training battalion south – a testing, evaluation and training unit for captured Italian armor. The gun was tested and evaluated. The unit recommended to reuse the SPG for the tank hunter role in german units. The vehicle was renamed into Sturmgeschütz M42 mit 75/34 851 (i) and accepted into german service. The industry was ordered to build new guns for the german forces. Within a short time the italian industry could build 80 additional guns for the Wehrmacht. A company with 8 guns were assigned to the divisional tank hunter units, the Panzerjäger-Abteilungen of the Infantry Divisions. The guns were used for the tank defence of the infantry divisions. The high muzzle velocity of the gun allowed german crews to deal with allied armor up to 1000m distance. The last armor report of Heeresgruppe C listed 54 Semoventi 75/34 ready for combat. 43 SPGs were listed as total loses. Unfortunately, the strength report didn’t list any reasons for the losses but most likely the guns were lost in battle or left behind after mechanical breakdowns because of the missing capability to recover vehicles. The fact that the gun was kept in production plus the fact that the german army was planning to produce a second batch of 75/34 gun armed StuGs is an indicator for the good performance of the gun in combat. 

The RSI army managed to get a single Semovente 75/34. The Gruppo Squadroni Corazzati ‘San Giusto’ was placed in northern Italy to defend the former Yugoslavian boarder region and the Slovenian mountain region against the growing partisan threat. There are no information about the Semovente of the San Giusto unit. Most likely the gun was still part of the unit when they capitulated. Based on reports of the RSI army the Wehrmacht had promised to transfer 30+ Semoventi 75/34 to the RSI army in the first half of 1945 to boost the anti-tank capabilities of the RSI army against the allied armor that was threatening the Gothic line in the winter 44-45. The plan never materialised – based on the german documents. 

Side note: A number of 75/34 guns were installed in the chassis of the Semovente 105/25 creating the Semovente M43 da 75/34. The subversion had the 75mm frontal superstructure armor like the Semovente 105/25. Based on Panzer-Tracts only 29 vehicles were built. The numbers are – most likely – included in the overall number for all Semoventi 75/34 guns produced.

There is no additional record of the usage of Semoventi 75/34 guns with the cold war italian army. Perhaps some units were kept in service but that is a secret that is still waiting in an archive to be discovered.

Ingame the Semoventi 75/34 would be a formidable tank hunter. It would be similar in terms of stats and performance to the StuG III assault gun. The gun would have stats like the 7,5cm Pak 40 and/or 7,5cm KwK 40 L/48. The biggest question is the armor. With 50mm it’s a good paper value but as always, the armor effect was reduced by the bolted and riveted design plus the bad steel quality. The Semovente 75/34 could be an upgrade option for the Semovente 75/18. Such an upgrade would chance the vehicle role to AT only but with the better gun it would be a serious tank destroyer for a late game match facing Sherman tanks.

Semovente da 105/25

The “last” large scale production type of the Italian Semoventi was the Semovente da 105/25. With the growing numbers of Lee and Sherman tanks in the African desert the italian army realised that they will need a more powerful Semovente version to have a chance in the next armored engagements. 

The army asked for a 105mm gun armed self-propelled gun on the new P tank chassis, but the P tank wasn’t finished in 1942 so the Italian industry proposed a heavy modified M15/42 chassis. The modified chassis was wider and longer compared to the regular M chassis. With the change to the M chassis the new Semovente was lighter compared to the P chassis proposal allowing the new gasoline engine to get a better top speed, better range and better “speedup” (“jump off” potential) for the new Semovente. Furthermore, the wider M chassis allowed for a low silhouetted design. With a hight of only 1,75m it was as big as the average infantry men in ww2. The hide made it ideal for ambush positions. Moreover the small profile was more difficult to hit for the enemy. The new design made it an ideal tank hunter and ambush vehicle. The prototype was ready for testing in late January 1943. 

The new Semovente got a modified M42 chassis. The tank was protected by a 50mm thick armor hull and an impressive 75mm thick superstructure armor. The side armor was 45mm thick. For the first time an italian combat vehicle got 5mm thick skirts to get an additional protection for the side tracks. The Semoventi 105/25 got some welded elements too. Compared to its predecessor the new SPG had a good (paper) armor only suffering from the bad steel quality. The new Semoventi had the same gasoline engine that was used for the new M15/42 production run. It allowed for a top speed of 35km/h with an operational range of 180km with the internal fuel tanks. The radio was replaced with an improved italian radio set allowing the gun to communicate with its supporting units to coordinate fire. With its max range of 12km it could communicate with its HQ units in battle too. The biggest advantage was the new heavy Cannone da 105/25. The gun was a new development by OTO-Melara to replace the divisional artillery with a new heavy multipurpose gun. OTO had already build a number of guns but the carriage wasn’t finished allowing for a fast installation into the new assault gun. The gun had an impressive range of 13km and thanks to its ballistic characteristics it could be used for precise gunnery with a max range of 2500m. The gun had a large variety or rounds. The standard HE shell had a 2,35kg heavy explosive load. The standard AP shell could pierce 72mm of armor at 1000m and the EPS HEAT could pierce 120mm of armor steel at the same distance. Its drawback was the muzzle velocity of 500 m/s only that could cause problems with the HEAT shells against moving targets. The crew could storge 48 rounds inside the vehicle but the number of storage was calculated for the planned crew of 3 men. The germans decided to add a 4th crew member to the Semovente 105/25 reducing the number of stored rounds because of the cramped internal space. The germans weren’t happy about the reduction of ammunition but with the large gun and the experience of the StuG units they saw a bigger advantage in a 4 men crew compared to potential disadvantages of less rounds. 

The first combat vehicle was produced in May 1943. The industry built 30 Semoventi 105/25 until the armistice stopped the production. After the german testing the production was restarted for the Wehrmacht building an additional batch of 91 new Semoventi 105/25. In 1945 the production was halted. The massive allied bomber offensive against the italian industry had knocked out most of the factories in northern Italy. The german arms ministry decided to concentrate the remaining industrial output on infantry rifles, AB43 armored cars, Lince scout cars and Semoventi 75/46. 

With the first vehicles ready for service the italian army organised 12 guns in a gruppi with 3 batteries á 4 Semoventi. 2 gruppi were sent to Rome to rearm the new Ariete II division and to defend the capital and like all the other italian armament that was concentrated at Rome the guns saw their first frontline action on 9th September 1943 when the german forces started their attacks on the italian capital. There is no combat report of the Semoventi in action but after the battle 4 SPGs were destroyed in streets of Rome. One vehicle was knocked out near the Colosseum. There are rumor that the SPG was hit by a Tiger tank blowing up the internal ammunition causing a fatal explosion killing the entire crew. 

After the Italians disarmament the Wehrmacht had captured 26 Semoventi 105/25 in working conditions. Tested and evaluated the gun was accepted for german service as “Sturmgeschütz M43 mit 105/25 853(i)”. The production was restarted. The first unit with Semoventi 105/25 was the 26. Panzer-Division. The Semoventi 105/25 were assigned to the Flammpanzer-Kompanien (armored Flamethrower companies) of the 26. PzDiv. The Semoventi should protect and support the Flammenpanzer III in battle. They saw their first engagement at the battle of Mozzagrogna. The 26. PzDiv was rushed in to plug a gap in the defensive line of the weak 65. Infanterie-Division. The 26. PzDiv attacked the town of Mozzagrogna with 5 Flammenpanzer III supported by 5 Semoventi (3 105/25). The Semoventi took positions outside of the town. They lay down heavy fire on the Indian-british positions. Protected by the heav fire support the Flammenpanzer III were able to penetrate the British lines and causing chaos in the narrow streets of Mozzagrogna. In the end the attack failed because of allied aerial counter attacks and the missing support of german infantry. Without the Grenadiers of the 65. Infanterie-Division the 26. PzDiv ordered the retreat after losing 1 of its Flammenpanzer III in the town. The next days saw more combat for the Semoventi of the 26. PzDiv. Reports of the 26. PzDiv praised the Semoventi 105/25 for their firepower. Its biggest drawbacks was the armor quality and the missing observation tools like additional roof mounted periscopes. Based on the experience the Wehrmacht decided to concentrate most of the 105/25 SPGs in the new formed Fallschirm-Sturmgeschütz-Brigade 21. The unit was used by the 10. Armee in Italy until the end of the war. Based on the report of Heeresgruppe C the german forces in Italy had 63 operational Semoventi 105/25 (56 with Lw.StuG-Brig. 21/210) plus an unknown number (5?) of 105/25 guns with the 26. PzDiv. With the end of the war the Semoventi were warn out. For that reason no 105/25 was adopted into the new italian army.

Beside the Wehrmacht a single Semovente 105/25 was used by the RSI army. The Gruppo Corazzato ‘Leoncello’ acquired a new Semovente 105/25 in February 1945. The gun was kept in service for training and didn’t saw any combat against partisans or allied forces. The situation changed in late April when the partisan movement started to organise more and more fighting formations that started to advance on the major northern industrial cities. For that reason the RSI forces alarmed the Leoncello unit ordering the unit to protect Milan against the Partisans. The Semovente was attacked by allied aircraft on its route to Milan. The aerial attack missed the Semovente but knocked out a M tank of the Leoncello unit. Before the unit reached its target they got orders to retreat into the northern alpine region where they should wait for the allies to surrender. The Semovente sabotaged by its crews after its 100km march in northern Italy. It hadn’t fired a single round. 

Semovente da 75/46

The last Semovente we have to talk about is a rare vehicle; The Semovente da 75/46. With the Semovente 105/25 leaving the factories the Ansaldo company was looking into a more dedicated tank hunter version with a high velocity gun. The Ansaldo factory decided to mount a 75/46 anti-air gun into the chassis of the new Semovente 105/25. The chassis and superstructure needed only minor adjustments. The biggest advantage was the saved weight that was used to boost the frontal armor to 100mm. The vehicle wasn’t presented to the italian army because of the armistice. The vehicle got the attention of the german forces when they were inspecting the italian factories for weapons and arms they could use to rearm the german forces in Italy. The germans ordered the production of the new “Semovente da 75/46”. The new vehicle was accepted into service as “StuG M43 mit 75/46 852(i)”. The new 76/46 gun could pierce 98mm or armor at 100m and 65mm at 2500m with the regular AP round. Its biggest advantage was the high muzzle velocity of 750 m/s allowing to hit moving targets better. Because of the bombing of the italian industry and many other problems the number of produced Semoventi 75/46 was low. The numbers differ depending on the source material. You can find 8 up to 14 produced SPGs. Most books/sites have “accepted” a number of 11 build and delivered vehicles. The tank isn’t listed as a separated vehicle in the german files. It was listed as “StuG lg (ital.)” – italian long barrel assault gun. That makes it difficult to track down the assignment of the SPG to german units. Some source files are claiming that the 71., 305. and 356. Infanterie-Division were supplied with 1 up to 3 Semoventi 75/46. They were assigned to the Panzerjäger-Abteilungen (tank hunter battalion) of the infantry divisions where they were supported by Semoventi 75/34 SPGs. 

With its frontal armor of 100mm the Semovente M43 da 75/46 would be a typical “battlegroup” unit. But the biggest question is: Is the Semovente M43 da 75/46 an “italian” vehicle? It was developed by an initiative of the Ansaldo company, and it was never presented to the italian army. It was built and used by the german forces only and the low number and missing reports could be used for arguments in all directs. To be honest I would keep this vehicle in reserve when needed. With a “105/25” ingame model the 75/46 would be a nice addition and a great “historical” detail for the italian battlefields but its not a vehicle for a core faction design.

Semovente da 90/53

With the casemate semoventi done it is time to have a look at the “glass cannon” semoventi. The Semoventi da 90/53 was Italy’s reaction when meeting soviet T-34 and KV tanks in battle at the eastern front. The Italians knew by the germans that the Soviets had some tanks that would be a challenge for the axis anti-tank arsenal. For that reason the Italians decided to send most of its “long barrel” guns like the Cannone da 75/32 to the eastern front. But here the Italians had to learn another lesson: In Russia mud and snow could immobile any non-mechanized army – or to be fairer: You need some sort of heavy vehicle to compensate the lack of infrastructure in the soviet union. So the italian army had some guns at their inventory to beat a soviet T-34 or KV tank but they weren’t able to move the guns into position. With such a lesson the army was asking for a heavy gun on a tracked chassis. Because it was Italy the solution was another gun mounted on a M chassis. With the Semovente 105/25 still on the horizon (and still planned to be build on the P tank chassis) Ansaldo suggested to mount the 90/53 anti-air gun to the latest M chassis, the M14/41. The gun caused some headache because of its weight. Mounting the gun in the center of the M chassis would cause balance problems. Inspired by the german Marder designs Ansaldo decided to move the engine into the vehicles center and mount the gun at the end of the chassis. This would allow for a balanced gun configuration. The best argument for the new Semoventi was the 90mm anti-air gun, the 90/53. The gun had a muzzle velocity of 830 m/s allowing an indirect firing range of 17km and a precise gunnery for up to 2000m~2200m. The EP HEAT could deal with 70mm of armor at 2000m. The biggest drawback of the entire vehicle configuration was the non-existing protection of the crew that had to operate from behind the vehicle. Often the loaders were standing on the ground behind the gun forced to jump on the gunnery platform when the vehicle was on the move. Another drawback was the ammunition storage with only 6 rounds forcing any Semoventi 90/53 to operate with an ammunition carrier by its side. With its theoretic rate of fire of 18 rounds per minute the stored ammunition wont allow for a long combat engagement… Beside its drawbacks the Semoventi 90/53 was italy’s best tracked anti-tank solution for the Italian army in early-mid 1942. It filled the gap that should be closed by the heavier second generation of semoventi that would be ready at the end of 1942.

The prototype was ready in January 1942 and tested by the Italian army. The project was greenlighted and at the end of April the ordered batch of 30 Semoventi 90/53 were finished and ready for action. The army planned to sent the guns to the eastern front to support the Italian reinforced eastern front corps (now army). The Semoventi 90/53 were organised in a single “regiment” with 3 Gruppo with 2 batteries with 4 guns (24 guns in total, rest remaining in Italy for training). The units left Italy in October. They were on their way to the eastern front when the events around Stalingrad and in Tunisia rendered the initial plan useless. The army ordered the guns back to Italy where they should be reinforcing the 6a Armata on Sicily to defend the island against allied landings. The Semoventi were assigned to the 207a Divisione Costiera at the Licata defensive parameter. Here the guns met US forces in combat after the Husky landing operations. Because of their range they were used for artillery bombardments. When the US forces pushed inland the guns were used in ambush positions blocking US forces from breaking through to the north. The effect was limited because of the Italian forces disintegrating and the overwhelming US forces. After 7 days of fighting the unit was down to 4 operational guns only. Most of the guns were destroyed by artillery shrapnel and aerial attacks. The 4 remaining guns were now assigned to the 15. PzGren-Division that was defending central Sicily. The guns saw their last battle in the Nikosia-Troina area. 2 guns were abandoned in Messina where they were captured by US forces (the gun at the US Army Artillery Museum in Fort Sill is one of the Messina guns). With Sicily gone only 4 guns were left.

After the armistice the remaining guns were confiscated by the Wehrmacht and renamed into Gepanzerte Selbstfahrlafette 90/53 801(i). All guns were assigned to the 26. PzDivision. The 26. PzDiv used them for the HQ company of the Panzer-Regiment. The divisional war diary didn’t mention any specific deployment. The guns were part of the division TOE reports from late 1943 until early 1945. Most likely the guns (or at least a single gun) was used as indirect artillery support gun. The division was complaining about the lack of spare parts rendering the Semoventi 90/53 useless. That is an interesting detail because the unit used some Semoventi 75/18 and 105/25 so there should have been some spare parts of the M chassis. My best guess is here that the guns needed spare parts that weren’t at hand because the 90/53 guns werent adopted by the Wehrmacht so spare parts for the gun had to searched for. One of the Semoventi 90/53 was photographed at a railway station without any specific information. The last time a gun was mentioned in the german reports was in March 1945 when the division planed its crossing of the River Po. The last gun was marked as lost and/or abandoned before the crossing.

In terms of gameplay performance, the Semovente 90/53 would be a Marder-like glass canon. The gun would allow for long range gunnery, but its armor would make it vulnerable against any sort of fire. Even small arms could destroy the gun. The gun would be good enough to fight Shermans and Churchill tanks. The stats of the gun were close to the german 88 stats. Based on the design the gun could be used for a tier line-up or a battlegroup callin depending on the overall faction design.

Autocannoni

With the glass cannons its is time to talk about a weapon system that was somewhat famous within the Italian army since ww1; the Autocannoni – the truck borne artillery. 

In ww1 Italy had mounted a number of 75~76mm guns on trucks to get a fast moving artillery support platform and a mobile anti-air support. The concept worked for the Italians and inspired by the cheap and easy converting the Italians build a new generation of Autocannoni in ww2. Some of them were troop improvisation and some were industrial designs. I will separate the designs based on the design background.

Autocannoni Africa Settentrionale

Autocannone da 20/65 

After ww1 the italian army had no interest (and/or need) for a self-propelled anti-air gun system. For that reason the army hadn’t looked into any system to defend units against air attacks when on the march. The situation changed when Italian forces were send to Spain to fight with the Nationalists the Spanish republican forces. Here the Italians came under attack of enemy’s aircrafts. For that reason the units tried to mount heavy MGs and 20/65 anti-air guns on the platform of cargo trucks. The most common type of truck was the FIAT SPA 38R service truck that formed the backbone of the motorized logistical services of the Italian armed forces before ww2. More and more trucks were transformed into autocannoni at the Arsenale Regio Esercito di Napoli to support the Italian units in Spain. The gun was mounted on a simple structure that was put on the cargo bay. The structure allowed for a full 360° rotation. Ammunition was stowed everywhere on the vehicle and on secondary trucks. 

In Spain the combination was successful against the older Spanish aircrafts and for that reason Italy build more 20/65 gun platforms that could be mounted on any cargo bay of any truck in the inventory. The system was often met in the African desert where aerial defence was vital without any natural cover in range. 

Based on some “careful” estimations the Italians had build up to 250+ anti-air platforms for various trucks. In Africa there were Fiat SPA 38R, 508C, AS37, Lancia 3Ro. More guns were installed on captured trucks like Chevrolet C15, CMDs, Ford F60L and Dodge WC51. Some frames were used on Opel Blitz or Krupp Protzen or other vehicles. At the end it was a flexible and simple solution.

The biggest drawback was the lack of protection for the crew and the lack of firepower. The system had worked in Spain with a limited aerial enemy but the system was not sufficient to protect the Italian supply and army formations in the fast African desert against an enemy with more modern aircrafts and better armament. The system was kept in service because at the end some sort of protection (even psychological protection only) was better than no protection. 

Ingame such a 20/65 AA upgrade could be used for any sort of truck to give the Italians a cheap and simple anti-air system. In CoH each faction had at least a single gun system to fight aerial callins and abilities. For that reason the AA system is a “must have” but a truck borne AA would be an emergency solution that could be added e.g. to an Italian artillery towing vehicle to offer the faction an alert upgrade when needed. At the end the system would be very vulnerable against all weapons make it a risky support gun.

Autocannone da 65/17

The Autocannoni da 65/17 su Morris CS8 was one of the improvised vehicles of the Tripolis workshops to add firepower to the Italian African forces. In 1941 the Italian army had captured a large variety of former allied trucks and cars. Like the germans (and the allies) they pressed the vehicles back into supply service to enhance the logistical situation and to supply the frontline unis with needed equipment, food, water and ammunition. Many captured vehicles were Morris CS8 trucks. 

1940~1941 showed that the Italian armored formations had some problems with heavier tanks like the Matilda Mk. II or Valentine Infantry tanks. Furthermore, the Italians were lacking mobile fast reaction forces that could support the units with heavy firepower whenever needed. To add firepower to the Italian armored formations the 12° Autoraggruppamento Africa Settentrionale, a training and repair unit for truck units in the Libyan desert, was ordered to look at the vehicle pool to pick suitable truck platforms that could be transformed into an Autocannoni. The Autocannoni concept was well known by the Italians since ww1 and it was reused in the desert before to fight the Libyan tribes and rebels by hit-and-run raids. The unit decided to rework some of the captured Morris CS8 trucks. They were big enough, reliable and they could carry the additional weight of a gun platform mounted on the cargo bay and/or chassis. Many CS8 trucks were used to pull the Cannone da 65/17. The gun was capable to pierce the armor of a soviet T-26 in Spain at 500m. That wasn’t enough to deal with an British infantry tank but the HE shell and the new developed EP HEAT shells should do the trick; with the HE shells the gun could disable an infantry tank and the HEAT shell could pierce 120mm of armor at 500m when the round was working. The workshop unit used turret rings of destroyed M tanks to build a fully rotatable platform for the 65/17 guns. The truck got ammunition boxes for 36, later 60+ rounds. The Autocannoni was operated by a crew of 5 men. The prototype was ready after a couple of weeks. The system was tested and accepted into service. The Tripoli unit managed to build 24 gun trucks with the parts at their disposal. All trucks were finished on August 8th, 1941. 

The army assigned the new Autocannoni to the Corpo d’Armata di Manovra (Mobile Army Corp), the predecessor of the XX Corpo d’Armata (20th Corps) – the Italian armored corps in Africa. The guns formed so called “Batteria Volante” – flying batteries, units that could be assigned to divisions whenever they were needed. Most “flying batteries” had a mix of Autocannoni 67/17 and 20/65 to fight armored and aerial targets.In the last days of 1941 the guns were often seen in the tank “hunter” role but with the rising numbers of British infantry tanks they often used the HE shells to “brake” the allied tanks because of the inefficient AP shells and problems with the first generation of HEAT shells for the gun. But the end of 1941 saw a new threat rising for the axis formations; the British Long Range Desert Group – the LRDG – and “elite” unit trained and equipped for long range missions deep into the axis hinterland by crossing the vast and empty (and dangerous to life) to attack and interrupt axis supplies and communication. The LRDG was equipped with specialised and heavy armed motor vehicles. In late December one of the first attacks of the LRDG hit the camp where the 12° Autoraggruppamento Africa Settentrionale (RAP) had set up it frontline workshop to repair and maintain the Autocannoni. Luckily for the Italians – and unfortunately for the British – the 12th RAP had some  65/17 at their disposal that came in handy to defend the workshop against the raid ending in heavy casualties for the British. In May 1942 the Autocannoni were restructured. The 1st to 3rd battery formed the new 1st Group and the 4th to 6th battery formed the 2nd Group. With the new structure they were back in battle at the frontline for the battle of Gazala and the fall of Tobruq. The campaign saw a lot of battels and skirmishes for the Autocannoni. The battles had shown one of the biggest weaknesses of the Autocannoni. Against all odds most Autocannoni were destroyed by aerial attacks. The biggest hit was caused by a friendly fire accident when german Ju87 attacked a concentration of autocannoni thinking that they were a British vehicle group. In January half of the 65/17 guns were lost in battle. The remaining guns were now assigned on a permanent base to the new formed 136ª Divisione Corazzata ‘Giovani Fascisti’. The division was an armored formation on paper. The remaining Autocannoni were kept in frontline service by the 136th Division where they saw the battle of the Mareth line and other engagements. The last vehicles were destroyed by its crews after the surrender of the axis forces in Africa. In 1942-1943 the role of the gun had changed from AT duties to infantry support and artillery firing missions. The new allied tanks like the Churchill and Sherman proofed to be invulnerable against the former HE-HEAT shelling tactics forcing the remaining guns into the fast infantry support role. 

In CoH the Autocannoni 65/17 would work like an fast vehicle based early game vehicle counter and/or infantry harassment unit. The gun would be vulnerable for all types of weapons. To compensate the lack of armor the guns would need a good range and speed to be utilised in a hit-and-run tactic with scouting infantry.

Autocannone da 75/27

Like the Autocannoni da 65/17 the Autocannoni da 75/27 was an improvised field modification to boost the firepower of the Italian motorized formations. The modification was done by the Tripoli workshops (12° Autoraggruppamento Africa Settentrionale (RAP) - training and repair unit) by removing the entire superstructure of a FIAT SPA T.L.37 artillery tractor. The FIAT-SPA TL37/AS37 truck series was one of the best and most durable machines of the Italian motor pool. The vehicle was used by the Royal Italian Army, the RSI Army, the Italian Liberation Corps and the cold war Italian army. Because of its reliability and the because of the durable chassis it was a good platform for an Autocannone. To add more firepower to the new Autocannoni the Tripoli workshop decided to mount a Cannone da 75/27 Modello 1906 to the chassis. For more information about the gun you can scroll back to the cannone details. In short; It was a typical 75mm gun with an working but outdated artillery calibre that was limited by the explosive shell load. One of its “advantages” was the development of an AP round that could deal with 50mm armor at 500m and 45mm at 1000m. Like the 65/17 the gun could be utilised in shelling tanks with a mix of HE and AP rounds to disable the tank. The Autocannone da 75/27 had a crew of 6 men of which 2 had to drive with ammunition support truck. The vehicle had a formidable range of 400km. The crew was fixed to the chassis reducing the gun traverse to +26 and -26° left/right. 

The first vehicles were ready in March 1942. 12 SPGs were built for sure but there are claims that the Italians build up to 30 guns in total. The vehicles were organised in 3 batteries with 4 vehicles forming a single group. The Group was assigned to the new formed Raggruppamento Celere Africa Settentrionale (North Africa Fast Grouping). The group was formed to protect the desert flank of the axis forces against the growing threat of the LRDG. The unit didn’t proof to be effective. Many LRDG raids could penetrate the frontline of the RAP Celere and for that reason the army decided to dissolve the unit in May 1942. The army decided to concentrate all Autocannoni to the new formed 136ª Divisione Corazzata ‘Giovani Fascisti’. The division was an armored formation on paper. The 75/27 and the 65/17 formed the artillery regiment of the new formed 136th Division. The guns were used in artillery indirect fire missions. There are no reports of anti-tank missions. The last guns were seen in battle in Tunisia where they supported Italian units by artillery fire. The last guns were blown up by the crews with the capitulation of the axis African forces. 

Ingame the Autocannoni 75/27 would be another glass canon design. Unlike the 65/17 the 75/27 would be an artillery unit in the first place. With its gun size and calibre size it would similar in terms of gun performance to the german LeIG 18 or the US 75mm Pack Howitzer. Its biggest advantage would be the speed. The gun would be fast allowing for harassment tactics. Similar to a Halftrack mortar the 75/27 would need protection because it could be destroyed by any rifle/weapon fire. It would be a working addition to an Italian hit-and-run concept.

Autocannone da 100/17

Like the Autocannoni 75/27 the Autocannoni 100/17 was born out of the necessity to add more mobile firepower to the Italian frontline units. Once again the modification was done by the Tripoli workshops (12° Autoraggruppamento Africa Settentrionale (RAP) - training and repair unit). This time they had taken Lancia 3Ro heavy service trucks. The truck had earned its reputation as the backbone of the heavy truck units. The trucks were reliable and had excellent cross-country performance. The truck could transport CV and L6 tankettes on its cargo bay or M tanks on special trailers. The plan was to mount a heavy artillery piece to a mobile platform. In Italy the Lancia 3Ro was already chosen for the Autocannoni 90/53. The chassis was suitable for a SPG design. The 12th RAP used a Cannone da 105/14 Modello 1917 howitzer. It was a Skoda design given to the Italians after ww1 as part of the KuK reparation payments. The gun had a large variety of shells composing of HE, shrapnel, smoke, AP and HEAT. The german had done some test with 100/17 guns after the armistice. The EP and EPS HEAT shell could penetrate up to 100mm of armor at 100m distance. There were 100 rounds for the gun stored in the truck in 2 ammo boxes. Some 100/17 SPGs were armed with a secondary 8mm Breda mod. 1937 MG for anti-air defence. The Autocannoni 100/17 had a crew of 6 men all driving on board. The new SPG could achieve operational ranges of 650km and 1000km with stored jerry cans. Like the 65/17 the 12th RAP used turret rings of destroyed M tanks to create a simple full rotatable gun platform for the howitzer. 

The first batch of 4 guns were ready in September 1941. They were organised in a single battery and sent to the front to fight the British Operation Crusader. The British were reporting of some losses to “heavy Italian gun portees”. Some historians are convinced that they met the 100/17 guns in battle. The first batch was destroyed in late 1941 by the same StuKa attack that saw the destruction of some 65/17 SPGs. The first batch had proven its combat capabilities, so the Italian African Army asked for more 100/17 SPGs. In February-March 1942 the second batch of 12 guns were finished and they were assigned to the new formed Raggruppamento Celere Africa Settentrionale (North Africa Fast Grouping). The group was formed to protect the desert flank of the axis forces against the growing threat of the LRDG. The unit didn’t proof to be effective. The 100/17 SPGs were used to support the Italian frontline units instead. Most of the guns were lost against the British in the 1942 battles. Unfortunately, there are no reports of the gun performance. Most likely the guns felt victim to artillery fire and aerial attacks. In January 1943 the remaining 100/17 guns (2?) were assigned to the new 136ª Divisione Corazzata ‘Giovani Fascisti’. Like the Autocannoni 65/17 and 75/27 the guns should boost the performance of the artillery regiment of the new division. There is no reports of any 100/17 SPG at the time of the African capitulation so I think the guns were lost in the battle of the Mareth line in the beginning of 1943. 

In terms of gameplay performance, it would be an “extreme” version of the Autocannoni 75/27. Its biggest advantage would the full rotatable gun and like all glass cannons it would be vulnerable against all types of weapons. It would rely on Italian infantry to scout and protect the gun in battle.

Autocannone da 102/35

Autocannone da 102/35 su FIAT 634N was the heaviest improvised SPG of the Tripoli workshops. The gun was built to add more heavy firepower to the Italian armored formations. Unlike to the previous modification the new heavy SPG was converted by the FIAT workshop in Tripoli taking FIAT 634N heavy service trucks. Unlike to the 12th RAP the FIAT workshop used former coastal defence guns to mount the guns on the cargo bay. The gun was the Cannone Schneider-Ansaldo da 102/35 Modello 1914. The gun was used in ww1 for an autocannoni and now FIAT was reusing it for the same concept. FIAT used the coastal mounting for the modification allowing for a full 360° gun rotation. For a naval gun it an impressive rate of fire with 20 rounds per minute. Unfortunately, the trucks could carry only 30 rounds forcing the unit to keep ammunition supply trucks nearby. The FIAT 634N chassis was supplemented by a set of stamps to allow for a more stable gunnery platform. The SPG had a crew of 6 men. The vehicle had a top speed of 30km/h with an operational range of 300km. At the end FIAT build 7 vehicles for the Italian army. 

The guns were ready in may 1941. The guns were organised in 2 batteries. In battle the vehicles were supported by a rangefinder to optimise the accuracy. The batteries were assigned to the Corpo d’Armata di Manovra (Mobile Army Corps) in 1941. The corps decided to attach 5 Autocannoni 102/35 to the Ariete armored division and 2 to the Trieste motorized division. In battle the 7 guns were supported by 14 Autocannoni da 76/30. The Autocannoni 102/35 saw the first heavy clashes at Bir-el-Gubi. When the 22nd British Armoured Brigade attacked the Ariete division the 102/35 were placed in the second line for fire support. Its moment came when Cruiser and Stuart tanks of the brigade managed to outflank the Ariete line breaking through to the secondary artillery line. The 102/35 were covered by truck canopies. The British tank crews thought that they had run into a supply truck column when the crew removed the canopies and open fire on 1000m distance. Unfortunately. The gun stats for the AP shells is unknown but the rounds were fast and heavy enough to punch through the armor of all cruiser tanks. That day the 102/35 achieved 15 confirmed tank kills. Depending on the “lost counting” the Autocannoni had caused ½ to 1/5 of all British tanks lost in battle against the Ariete division that day. Based on the success in the AT role the Ariete division used the guns the next days in tank hunting role. Unfortunately, that decision proved lethal for the Autocannoni. All 5 guns were lost until the end of November 1941. Beside Ariete the Tieste division kept their guns in service much longer. The Trieste division used the gun in artillery fire missions and direct fire support for infantry against static targets. In that role the guns saw intensive action in 1942 at Gazala and at Tobruq where they were used in direct fire against bunkers. After Tobruq the remaining 2 guns were kept at Tobruq for unknown reasons. Here the guns were captured by the British forces when they recaptured the town after the axis retreat at El Alamein. 

Like all the other Autocannoni the 102/35 version would be a hard hitting but easy to kill weapon in the CoH combat environment. The gun it “capable” of dealing with armor so there is room to argue for a primary AT role for the 102/35 version with secondary artillery or anti-air setups. The gun would need a lot of balance and stats adjustments. Most likely such a glass cannon would need a smoke ability or a camouflage ability to have a sort of first-hit panic guarantee or to keep the gun alive. 

Autocannoni

Autocannone da 75/27 C.K. su Ceirano 50 CM

In ww1 some 75/25 CK “anti-air” guns – a modified version of the standard 75/27 field gun that was optimised for air defence with a new mounting system allowing for a full 360° rotation and 70° gun elevation – were mounted on ww1 trucks to add some mobile firepower to the Italian frontline units. The guns worked and had shown some potential. For that reason, the Italian army decided to keep the SPGs in service. Between both wars the army decided to modernise the system by replacing the old and unreliable trucks with new trucks. When ww2 started the Italian army had some vehicles (100+?) still in service. They were used to defend truck supply units against air attacks. For that reason a number of Autocannone da 75/27 C.K. were transferred to the African desert. Here they were supported and maintained by the 12th RAP at Tripoli. In 1941 the Italian army started to organise a number of Autocannoni batteries to support the frontline formations with mobile fire support. Because of the numbers available the Autocannoni 75/27 were assigned to some of the “flying batteries”. There are no information about active ground combat deployment. They were – most likely – replaced by the more modern Autocannoni because of their age and limited performance and combat values.

Autocannone da 75/30

The Autocannone da 75/30 was the successor of the aging 75/27 CK SPGs. In ww1 the Italian navy had formed their own “batteria Autocarreggiate” (truck-mounted batteries) to support their units in the field. The gun was an Italian naval gun that was designed as medium destroyer armament. When ww2 started the army and navy had only anti-air rounds left forcing the gun into anti-air defence only missions. In battle the system was operated by 8 men.

When ww2 started the remaining 14 guns were transferred to the army. They replaced the ww1 trucks with modern Lancia 3RO trucks and sending the guns as mobile heavy anti-air defence to the African desert. In Africa the 14 guns were organised into 3 batteries. The army decided to split the guns by sending 2 guns each to two selected infantry divisions (16th and 60th Division). The rest were concentrated in two units supporting the Ariete and Trieste division by protecting the Autocannoni 102/35 guns in battle. Here they saw ground combat with the Ariete division at Bir-el-Gubi against the British 22nd armoured Brigade. In 1942 the guns were removed from frontline service. They were now task with defending axis supply depots against aerial attacks. They survived the 1942 clashes and ended in Tunisia where at least 2 guns were still in use as SPAAGs before they were destroyed by their crews when the axis forces capitulated. 

Autocannone da 90/53 su Lancia 3Ro and/or Breda 52

I have talked about the 90/53 anti-air gun here, so when u need information about the gun u have to scroll back. With the experiences “earned” in the desert battles in 1941 the Italian army knew that mobility and protection was a basic element of the desert warfare. The army was asking the Ansaldo company for a truck borne version of the 90/53. The army favoured the Lancia Ro3 heavy transport truck but Ansaldo was more in favour of the heavy Breda 52 truck. After the construction of a prototype in early 1941 the army ordered the Autocannoni da 90/53 for the armored divisions. Both sides couldn’t solve their “truck” problem resulting the fact that at the end both trucks were converted into Autocannoni resulting in 120+ built Autocannoni da 90/53.

The advantage was the simplicity of the design. Both trucks were designed to handle heavy loads. The basic truck chassis were supplemented by 6 lift arms that had to be adjusted before firing. The gun was mounted without any big changes to the former truck platform allowing for a full 360° rotation. With the gun mounted the trucks could drive up to 30~35km/h with operational ranges up to 400~450km on paper. Combat deployment had shown that the gun created a lot of stress to the truck chassis forcing the crews to reduce the traveling speed and increase the maintenance. The Autocannoni had a crew of 6 men. Both vehicles had an ammunition storage for 12 to 30 ready rounds. The army organised the new autocannoni in “groups”. An Autocannoni group had 2 batteries of 4 guns. A battery was supported by 4 additional ammunition trucks with a total of 210~250 rounds for the 4 guns. The group commander had a HQ truck and a maintenance truck to support the group. In total a group had 147 men with 31 motor vehicles. Later the group got access to fire and range control units to support the guns in battle against aerial targets. 

At the end of 1941 the first guns were ready, and the army sent 3 groups to Africa where they were attached to the Ariete, Littorio and Centauro armored division. Unfortunately, most information was lost. The guns saw combat in 1942 at Gazala and El Alamein. Some guns escaped the tragedy at El Alamein and retreated all the way back to Tunisia. Here 4 or more guns were still in service fighting with the axis forces until the capitulation. The guns were used in prepared positions against ground targets. The vehicles height with 3m plus the missing armored protection made the gun vulnerable against all sorts of targets and weapon system. Artillery and aerial attacks were the deadliest enemies for the Autocannoni groups. On the other side when placed in a good position and supported by other units the gun could be a difficult opponent for the allied forces. Like the Flak 88 the 90/53 could destroy allied armor in long range engagements.

After the capitulation of the African forces the gun was sent to Sicily and Rome. Here they should help to protect Italian forces against aerial threats. At Sicily the guns were used in indirect fire support missions bombarding the advancing allied forces. Until the armistices the Italian army got a total number of 120+ guns (on both truck types). The weapon system didn’t got a german classification number so no gun was accepted into german service. That could open up any suggestions and speculations about the absence of the gun after the armistice but there is the report of combat deployment of (at least) a single Autocannone da 90/53 at Anzio by the “XMAS” Division against the allied ground forces. Depending on the source files the Xmas Division had deployed the prototype of the Autocannone da 90/53 su SPA Dovunque 41. Other source files are talking about a Lancia truck mounted gun. So I’m not sure about the type that was used by Xmas but I think its fair to say that at least a single Autocannone 90/53 fought allied forces with the RSI army. Furthermore, it looks like that some remaining Autocannoni da 90/53 were used by the RSI for defending the industrial areas of northern Italy. The RSI anti-air artillery had listed a large number of 90/53 guns for the aerial defence. Based on the number I think that some of the guns were remaining Autocannoni da 90/53 that were placed around vital targets for fast reactions against heavy bomber raids. Most likely these units were supported by the fire and range control units because I cant find any evidence that the fire- and range control units were sent to frontline units at all. 

At the end we can summarize that was the “best” autocannoni of the royal army. The design wasn’t ideal and had some serious drawbacks (height, stress to the chassis, ectect) but it added needed firepower to the Italian combat formations. In Africa the gun could be used against allied tanks where it showed its lethal potential. In CoH 3 such a gun would be the extreme version of the glass cannon. Such an unit would need to elements to be useful ingame; range and a sort of protection mechanism. Range is the easiest element here; stationary weapons had often the best ranges in CoH games. The range is compensated by the lack of view range forcing players to keep scouting units nearby – or to place such a gun in a key position forcing the enemy to attack it. The biggest problem would be the protection. Ingame such a vehicle would need a sort of “dig in” ability allowing the gun to take 2-3 rounds of heavy AT gun fire. The time is needed to allow players to protect the gun and to neutralise the threat or to get the gun into a saver spot. At the end I think it would be a nice addition to the Italian faction but not a needed addition. It would be a micro intense and skill-based weapon because of its “extreme stats” making it less attractive to play for many players.

Prototipo

To end the “semoventi” and “autocannoni” I want to talk about two specific prototypes here: The SPAAG Semovente M15/42 Antiaereo and the SPG Semovente M43 da 149/40. Both vehicles don’t fit (or overstretch) to my “golden rule”: Everything that was seen in battle is fine. But because of their special design and combat role I want to add them here to my “faction analyse”. 

Semovente M15/42 Antiaereo

Italy used a lot of different vehicles with a large variety of guns to get some sort of protection against the ever-growing aerial threat in ww2. Most of the vehicles were improvised truck borne guns. Some trucks used small MGs or 20mm rapid fire guns. Some autocannoni used ww1 vintage guns or the heaviest new Italian designs like the 90/53. 

The African desert battles had shown the shortcomings of the improvised SPAAGs so like many other nations Italy started to think of a tank based self-propelled anti-air design that could fight in the first line of engagement and that was fast enough to follow all units in battle.

With the slow-going heavy tank program, the Italians had to use their M tank chassis again. With the new batch of M15/42. Most of the development history had been lost. There is no information about the decision for the gun or other design elements. There are no information about the turret design and gun turret mountain. Based on the surviving information the Prototipo was armed with a modified quad mount of 20mm Cannone-Mitragliera da 20/70 autocannons Scotti. The gun was a simplified 20mm gun that was already in service in large numbers by all Italian branches. The gun performance was similar to the other 20mm guns you can find in ww2. In 1943 the gun could be a potential threat to aerial targets – in a psychological and physical term (against some claims a 20mm could still bring down an aircraft). There are claims that the Italians had developed a belt-fed system for the 20mm guns because the turret was too cramped for the classic Italian box loading mechanisms. A belt-fed system would have skyrocketed the firespeed of the gun to its max potential of up to 600 rounds per minute. With that said there are no information about the amount of the stored ammunition. Perhaps the vehicle hadn’t enough space to store so much rounds for a quad gun with such a rate fire. Problems like these are well known by the german designs that had always problems with the stored ammunition forcing them to keep resupply vehicles nearby. Some files were claiming that the Semovente Antiaero would have a crew of only 3 men with a single gun operator/commander in the turret, the driver and most likely a radio operator. With a belt-fed mechanism there would have been no need for additional loaders or gunners. Furthermore, there are some debates about the amount of vehicles build. There is photographic evidence for a yellow-coloured design and for a vehicle in camouflage. Both vehichles have missing turret armor plates. Some people believe that it is the same vehicle but there are arguments to think of 2 vehicles; the sand yellow prototype for testing and a first preproduction type. It is strange to think of a reason why the prototype should have been painted with camouflage. On the other side the “camouflaged” vehicle is showing a large “Balkenkreuz” (german vehicle marking). Perhaps the germans have captured the prototype and repainted the same vehicle for potential combat deployment. At the end the exact number of SPAAGs isn’t relevant because with 1 or 2 vehicles built it would be a sort of unicorn. 

With that said the entire “combat history” isn’t well documented. Based on the rare files the prototype was evaluated by the Italian army from May until September 1942. Before the Royal Army could decided about any plans for the vehicle the armistice kicked in and the vehicle(s) were captured by the germans at the army proving grounds at Rome. Some “internet fanboys” have started the rumor that one preproduction vehicle was sent to Tunisia but that is fake. After the armistice a single vehicle was transported to Germany for testing and evaluation. At the same time the germans have captured the Italian SPAAG the germans were already working on their new tank based SPAAG designs. So the germans had evaluated the Italian design to get some lessons and additional performance data for their own SPAAG projects. Based on some german files the test vehicle was used in Panzer-Alarm-Kompanie Kummersdorf (Panzer alert company Kummersdorf) that was formed with all sorts of working vehicles that were stationed at the Kummersdorf proving grounds when the Red Army was advancing on Berlin. The Semovente M15/42 Antiaereo is a likely candidate because the alert company had access to a number of Italian tanks and vehicles like P and M tanks so there is a chance that there were spare parts for the vehicle plus the fact that 20mm ammunition was at hand and could be used for the Italian vehicle too. Based on the same “source files” the vehicle was used in ground suppression fire against soviet troops before being lost in battle. So there are some chances that the Italian prototype had seen combat in german hands but like many last-min rumors its is difficult to find some sort of proof. 

Ingame the Semovente M15/42 Antiaereo would be Italian “clone” of the german Wirbelwind. The chassis would be less armored but it have the same soft target and aerial target performance because of its 20mm gun. The vehicle would be a hard infantry hitting vehicle with some deadly effect against callin aircrafts. The vehicle would be a simple solution for a faction when an SPAAG is needed.

Semovente da 149/40

Artillery was seen as one of the most important weapon systems of ww2. There are arguments for the fact that it wasn’t the tank that won ww2 but the artillery firepower. With that said its no surprise that all nations were looking into the concept of mechanized artillery; artillery that is mounted on a tracked chassis that could support armored formations in combat. The Italian army had developed the Semovente 75/18 SPGs. They were used for the indirect fire support like most other casemate vehicles with a howitzer. But the small calibre limited the fire effect of the Semovente in battle. There is some debate about who had started the development of a tracked 149/40 gun. Some documents by Ansaldo could support the thesis that it was a project initiated by Ansaldo to improve the mobility of the Cannone da 149/40. Some documents tend to favour the idea that the SPG was an “answer” to an army request for a tracked SPG. Italy had captured at least 2 french Canon de 194 GPF; a tracked version of the French 194mm heavy siege artillery. Perhaps the project was influenced by the French concept of a tracked carriage for an heavy artillery gun. I will get to the argument later.

The chassis for the Semovente 149/40 seem to be a new design by Ansaldo that was produced with parts of the M and P tank chassis to get a larger and more durable “firing platform” for the heavy artillery gun. Like the Semovente 90/53 the engine was put in the vehicle’s center with a forward driver and radio operator compartment and a large empty area at the end of the vehicle to mount the gun. Documents suggested a new 250hp petrol engine but when the prototype was built such an engine didn’t exist. So most likely the chassis got the engine of a M or P tank. The vehicle was kept simple. The gun with large parts of the gun carriage was bolted to the open area at the end. The vehicle got some hooks, cranks and mounting to fix the gun in a marching position and to support the gun in combat. The gun was a Cannone da 149/40, a long-range heavy artillery piece. With its weight of 11ton it needed to be disassembled before transportation. The new Semovente could carry the entire gun without any additional disassembling or transport modifications. The biggest drawback was the storage of 6 rounds only that could be placed onboard. The gun was operated by 10 men. The fact that the crew was too big to drive on the Semovente plus the lack of ammunition are a good indicator that a Semovente 149/40 would always have been supported by a heavy supply truck in battle. The big difference to other “tank artillery designs” is the fact that the Semovente 149/40 isn’t a tracked self-propelled gun. With the French 194 GFP in mind its more likely that the Italians saw the Semovente 149/40 more like an “exotic” self-propelled carriage. The crew would have to operate from behind the vehicle and not from inside the vehicle. That would already be a big difference to gun like the Hummel. To be fair many heavy “SPGs” were using a similar system. The US M12 GMC was fired from outside the vehicle too.

At the end the Ansaldo company built a single test vehicle that was given to the Italian army. The army tested the gun in 1943. Ansaldo proposed a first batch of 20 vehicles that could be finished until the end of 1943. But the plan got nowhere with the armistice. The gun was captured at Rome by the german army. The germans renamed the gun into “gepanzerte Selbstfahrlafette M 43 854(i)” and tested it. And here is where the story is getting more complicated. Any german report has survived the war but based on US documents the gun was “captured” 1944 outside of Rome. The gun was moved away from the proving ground and was – as far as I understand the information – captured somewhere in the countryside outside of Rome. That is already a spot for speculations. Why should the Wehrmacht move the gun in the countryside? When they would have intended to test the gun longer they would have moved it to the german proving grounds at Kummersdorf like the P26/40 or M15/42 SPAAG. Furthermore, why did the germans give it a “Beute designation”. Most weapons with such a designation were classified for combat. They got such a designation to keep records of the gun in war diaries and war reports. Moreover, there is a chance that the 14. Armee, the german army responsible for the Anzio bridgehead, was supported by captured Cannone da 149/40 guns. The Wehrmacht had captured at least 3 guns. The guns were given to a heavy artillery unit for corps level support. There are some Anzio reports listing 149/40 guns in area. By putting these pieces together I could think of a small chance that the gun was used by the german artillery unit that was already operating the 149/40 guns. Perhaps the gun was in countryside outside of Rome because it was in preparation of (another?) fire mission. 

Fact is that the gun was captured by the US army. The US army sent it to France where the US army was collecting weapons that should be transported back the USA for additional testing and evaluation. Today the gun is in the USA without tracks and in a overall bad shape and preservation.

With CoH3 we will see the Obice 210 for one of the axis factions. Ingame the gun would be a mobile artillery system similar in performance to a Hummel, Brummbär and/or Br-2 howitzer. The weapon would have a devasting effect. The reason why I cant see the gun ingame is simple: we haven’t seen any sort of “tracked artillery” carriage so far. The crew would have to operated from outside the vehicle. That would cause some animation and coding work to get a working immersion of the gun. I’m afraid that the pure amount of work wont worth the effort. Furthermore, it would be a heavy piece to balance and hadn’t seen any combat plus it would be another “unicorn”. So I would suggest to think of the vehicle only when needed. 

Autoblindo – armored cars and armored support vehicles

Autoblinda AB40 – AB 41 – AB 43 

Before ww2 Italy had a number of outdated armored cars of various types. The armed forces and the colonial police operated a number of Lancia 1ZM, FIAT-Terni-Tripoli and FIAT 611 armored cars. The army planned to replace the old fleet with a new more modern design. Based on the new Italian doctrine of the “Guerra di Rapido Corso” the army needed an armored car for long deep infiltration recon missions. At the same time the colonial police was asking for a new light vehicle for armored patrols and “crowed control” (keep in mind that MG armed armored cars were the “standard” for crowed control. A water cannon police truck is a modern and more human concept). FIAT and Ansaldo paired up to work on a single vehicle that could fulfil both requirements. In 1938 the vehicle took its shape with a wooden mockup finished and two prototypes - made of “soft steel” – in production. The design was listed as “AutoBlindo Mitragliatrice” – armored car MG. The prototypes were presented to the army and police on 15 May 1939.

The prototype was build on the chassis of the TM40 artilelry tractor. The FIAT-SPA TM40 was a development of the Italian TM/TL tractor and truck series. The AB prototypes had a 78hp gasoline engine allowing for a top speed of 80km/h with an operational range of 400km. The 4wheel drive and the chassis design allowed for impressive cross-country performance. It was a suitable machine for the desert areas of the Italian colonial empire. The chassis was armored with 9mm armored plates bolted to an internal frame. The armor was sufficient to stop small arms fire and shrapnel. With the concept of the war of rapid decisions the armored car was equipped with a radio set for recon reports. The radio set was strong enough to send reports over a distance of 60km. Its biggest advantage was the concept of a second “rear driver”. The vehicle had a special transmission. Like the german vehicles that were designed at the same time the AB armored car could drive forward and backward with the same speed. The “rear driver” could take the control by a switch allowing the vehicle to jump backward into a save zone when the vehicle came under attack. The second driver was a guarantee for a fast retreat and incredible reaction profile allowing for sudden changes in the vehicles movement. The biggest “disappointment” for the first AB armored car was the armament. FIAT-Ansaldo had designed a twin MG armed turret plus an anti-air mounting for a 3rd stored MG. There were 2040 rounds in 85 wooden boxes stored inside the vehicle. With the AP round the 8mm Breda could pierce 16mm of armor at 100m. 

The vehicle was accepted into service in 1940. The first batch of the AB40 was divided between the army and colonial police. The colonial police used the armored cars to patrol missions in Libya. The biggest part of the first batch was given to the army that was in need for a radio equipped recon armored car. With the war hitting Italy in 1940 the army decided to send the vehicles to Africa and the Balkan. The first army deployment ended in a sort of disaster. An AB armored car column was moving into Egyptian territory for a recon mission. On the way back they came under heavy fire from Italian infantry guarding the boarder. Many AB vehicles were hit and destroyed. It marked the first big loss for the AB armored cars. The Italian soldiers who shot at their comrades hadn’t recognized the new armored car. They thought that they were attacked by British armored cars. 

With the captured soviet armored cars in spain plus the first experiences earned in the desert the army knew that the MG armament wasn’t sufficient for any type of infantry support or combat with enemy’s armored cars. The British ACs were often canon armed. With the 2pdr gun they were a deadly threat to the AB ACs and with the MGs it was dangerous to get in range to use the MG AP rounds against the British ACs. For that reason, the army asked for a new cannon armed turret. Ansaldo proposed the instalment of the new L6 tank turret. The army accepted and Ansaldo was ordered to refit a number of old AB40 cars and the new batch of AB cars with the new turret. With the new turret the weight of the AB car was increasing forcing the army to replace the old engine with a more powerful design plus a more powerful radio allowing for an increased radio range of now 70+ km. With that changes in mind the army and FIAT-Ansaldo decided to add a number of other small changes resulting in a slightly modified AC that was now called AB41. The biggest “advantage” was the new turret with the 20mm Cannone da 20/65 Breda Modello 1935. I had written a lot about the gun so for more information you have to look into the 20/65 and/or L6 section. With the italain round the AB41 could now beat armored targets with 38mm of armor at 100m. The performance was increased in 1943 when the germans used their 20mm AP rounds that could deal with 50mm of armor at the same distance and 40mm at 500m. The new turret had a single coaxial MG. The rear was protected by a MG in a ball mount. In mid-late 1941 435 of the old AB40 were refitted with the L6/40 turret. The first vehicles of the AB41 batch had left the factory. The army had decided to build new armored recon units, the RECAM - ‘Raggruppamento Esplorante Corpo d’Armata di Manovra’ – the armored recon squadron of the mobile army corps. The unit was ready for action in September 1941 supporting the Ariete and Triest division in combat. The situation changed with the growing threat of the LRDG forcing the Italians to create new formations. To protect the desert flanks the army formed the Raggruppamento Celere Africa Settentrionale (RCAS). The unit got a large number of AB40 hybrids and AB41. To support the armored divisions in battle the army formed the new ‘Raggruppamento Esplorante Corazzato’ (RECo), the armored recon regiments. While the RCAS was a failure the RECos proofed to be vital for the Italian army. The RECo had an HQ unit with an AC platoon plus an AC battalion with 2 companies of ACs and a support battalion with infantry and infantry support weapons like 20/65, 47/32 and 65/17 guns. The RECos had 47 AB ACs in total. In 1942 the RECos saw a lot of skirmishes and battles with their British counterparts. Like the german AC units the Italian ACs often run into British ACs units ending in gun battles. Both sides try to get into the flank of the enemy by crossing the vast and open desert terrain. With the 20mm gun the AB ACs had a real chance in fighting down the British ACs. Between 1941 and 1943 the AB ACs developed into the most important AC of the Italian army. Beside the Italian front more ACs were sent to the Balkan where they performed recon, convoy escort and partisan hunting missions. In Russia the AB cars were used for long range recon and for fire support for the Bersaglieris. At Sicily a small number of AB ACs performed recon runs for the axis forces. With 24 MG-armed AB40, 435 Cannon-armed AB40/41 hybrids and 667 AB41 it was the most numerous AC of the Italian army.

In late 1941 the army asked for more improvements leading to the AB42 design. The AB42 design was optimised for the African desert conditions with new engine coolings, more range and with reduced weight for crossing “deep sand”. But with the capitulation of the axis forces in Africa the project was dropped.

The situation for the AB ACs changed with the armistices in 1943. With the defeat in Africa and in Russia the Italian army had to rebuild the armored corps. The AB ACs were sent to Rome where they supported the Italian Police in patrolling the city and to reequip the new formed armored divisions like the Ariete II and Centauro II division. Here at Rome the AB ACs saw battle against the german units. In an engagement between two ABs and Fallschirmjägern of the 2. Fallschirmjäger-Division the AB fall victim to the rare german 4,2cm Pak 41 that was part of the 2. FJDs AT units. 

After the armistice the AB was captured in large numbers by the german forces. Renamed into Panzerspähwagen AB41 201(i) the Wehrmacht had now up to 243 ABs at their disposal. The germans liked the AB design. Because of the captured numbers and the need for armored recon the AB was given to many german units. The german AB ACs saw combat with german units in Russia, at the Balkan and in Italy AND in France. Some ABs defend Berlin in May 1945 against the red army. The last AB was destroyed a couple of hundred meters away from the “Führer Bunker”. In Normandy the AB ACs were used by the paratrooper recon units to support the german forces in Normandy. 

But the germans weren’t the only one who operated the AB ACs. After the armistice the RSI army had 30 or more AB left for service. Later they got more AB41 when the german replaced their AB41 with new AB43 ACs. The RSI army used the AB whenever possible. They used them for policing missions, partisan hunting, VIP transport, supply convoy escorts and many other missions. Perhaps the RSI AB ACs had the “most” uncommon usage for an AB41; Captain Tonegutti, Commander of the AC group of the San Giusto regiment, used one AB41 on the night of 31st December 1944. The captain used the AB to get to a New Year’s Eve party. He was interested in an impressive entrance to get attention. Perhaps it was the most unusual usage of an AB AC.

Another operator was the Italian Co-Belligerent Army, the allied Italian army of the south. The Italian Liberation corps (CIL) was organised in 1943. The unit had access to 3 or more AB41. They were used for recon mission for the CIL. Another AB unit was the “F squadron” of the 6th British Armoured Division. The Division had formed a new Italian crewed Recon squadron with 4 ABs. The unit was formed with Bersaglieri and AB ACs from Corsica. The unit was organised to the CIL but was assigned on a permanent base to the 6th Armoured Division for the rest of the campaign. The unit saw some combat with german forces in Italy.

Italian Partisan forces managed to capture some ABs in April 1945 when the german and Italian forces were retreating. The Partisans used them to fight against the rear guards of the german forces that were still in Italy in May 1945. 

The Commonwealth army captured some ABs in Africa too. They were reused by the Armored Recon units of all Commonwealth forces. An AB AC of the polish Brigade in Africa was chosen to be send back to the Bovington proving and testing grounds in England. Here the British tested the AB AC. The British liked the design. There reports are similar to the german test results when they analysed the advantages and disadvantages of the AB ACs.

Another operator was the Free French Army. After the fall of Vichy the Free French Forces formed new units to join the allied armies in the campaign in Tunisia. The Free French Army formed an armored formation equipped with former Vichy tanks (Somua S35, Char D1) but the unit lacked recon vehicles. Fortunately, the Free French Forces (FFF) managed to capture 10 or more ABs. They were used by the FFF in Tunisia. After the Tunisian battles the ABs were given to the French Gendarmerie that used the ABs until 1955 in Tunisia and Algeria for police duties. More ABs were captured in France and reused by the FFF in the battles in northern France. 

Like the Italian partisans the Yugoslavian Partisans managed to acquire a number of AB ACs. With the armistices some Italian units joined the Partisans. The number of captured ABs is unknown but they were used against the axis forces until the end of the war in Europe. The Yugoslavian army used the AB after the war until they could replace them with soviet models. 

The last operator was the Greek army. With the armistice an Italian unit in Greece joined the Greek partisans. The Italian unit had a number of AB ACs. In late 1944 the Greek army decided to disarm the Italians. The Greek forces had doubts about the loyalty of the Italians plus the fact that Italy had attacked Greece in 1940. When the Italians were informed about the disarmament the crews sabotaged their AB ACs but the Greek army could salvage at least 1 or 2 AB. They were used in the last days of the war to liberate the rest of Greece. They were last seen in the following Greek civil war where they were used in police missions.

After ww2 the new Italian army had captured an unknown number of AB ACs. Most of the vehicles had seen extensive combat usage in ww2. For that reason, the army decided to pass the worn out vehicles to the new state police. With the threat of a communist revolution the AB ACs were still a capable vehicle for police duties. They were used for crowed control, strike breaking and public patrols and parades. In 1954 they were replaced by new police cars.

The AB armored cars were a very good design. It was fast and could cross most types of terrain. The radio allowed for a deep infiltration mission. The speed was formidable and the operational range impressive. But the design had drawbacks like the weak Italian armor steel. Furthermore, the chassis and suspension made problems. The dual drive mode could cause breakdowns when not maintained. 

~ AB43 ~

The last design of the AB ACs was the AB43 type. The vehicle was designed in mid-1942. The units in the field had reported their problems and wishes for the AB ACs. With the cancelation of the AB42 design FIAT-Ansaldo started to work on the AB43 version. The AB43 design used elements of the AB42 design and put the new elements in the old AB41 hulls. The armor was kept at 9 to 8,5mm thickness. FIAT developed a new 108hp engine with a top speed of 90km/h and an operational range of 460km. The army was asking for a new more powerful gun. Ansaldo made a new simplified turret housing the old 20/65 and 8mm coaxial MG of the AB41 design until the work on the 47mm gun instalment and mounting system was finished. The roof had an additional mounting for an anti-air MG. The commander got a new periscope for the single-man turret. The 4 men crew could store 456 rounds of 20mm ammunition and 1992 rounds of 8mm ammunition onboard. To improve the protection the AB43 got a smoke launcher system to hide the vehicle in smoke when needed. With the rear driver the smoke launcher allowed for a fast retreat when needed. FIAT-Ansaldo added a new radio set. The radio had less range but improved voice and communication quality. The prototype was ready for testing in August 1943. The Italian army liked the new design. It was simplified and improved by the new engine. That allowed for a fast production but with the armistice the Italian army had no chance to get their hands on the new AB43 version. With the control taken over by the germans the Italian factories build the new AB43 for the german forces. Renamed into Beute-Panzerspähwagen AB43 203(i) the germans restarted the production of the AB43. The first AB43 were handed over in early 1944. The AB43 saw combat in Italy against the allies and the Italian and Yugoslavian partisans. The germans formed ACs units with AB43 and Lince armored cars. The Lince ACs performed as “recon cars”. Their task was information collecting. The AB43 served as “Waffenwagen” (weapon/gun car). The mission of the “gun cars” was the protection of the recon car in the mission. The “gun cars” had to fight enemies to allow the recon car to retreat with the information. With new AB43 leaving the factories the german replaced old worn out AB41 ACs with the new design. The old AB41s were given to the RSI army to boost their firepower against the growing partisan movement. After the war a small number of AB43 were kept in army service. Unlike the AB41 the new AB43 were in a batter condition and more suitable to work as a stopgap until the army had access to new armored cars. The AB43 were retired from service in 1955 with the rest of the AB ACs. 

In 1943 Ansaldo had proposed to upgun the AB43 with the 47/40 gun that was used by the latest M tank design too. Because of the armistice the turret couldn’t be finished in time so the new turret was armed with the old guns. After the armistice Ansaldo finished the instalment creating the AB43 Cannone. Not much is known about the project. Some people are claiming that a single vehicle was outfitted with the new 47/40 turret. The vehicle was used by the 90. Panzergrenadier-Division. Its fate is unknown. Before the new turret was finished the Italian army had already ordered 360 AB43 Cannone for the Italian army. With the order in place there is small chance that the Ansaldo factory had build more AB43 Cannone and not a single vehicle. The 47/40 AB43 Cannone had a weight of now over 8tons reducing its speed to 80~85km/h. The crew could store 63 rounds for the 47/40 ammunition. There are no information about a second men for the turret. The commander of the AB43 Cannone had to do the recon job and gunnery job and the reloading job. Most likely the AB43 Cannone would have added an additional crew member to reduce the stress for the commander. 

In CoH the AB Armored Cars would be a “must have” unit. With 459 AB40, 667 AB41 and 102 AB43 it was the most numerous and most iconic armored car of the Italian army in ww2. The vehicle was used by many nations and was liked by its crews. With the 20mm gun the unit performance would be comparable with the typical CoH ACs. The AB AC would be a fast unit ideal for recon runs and unit harassment. The gun could deal with soft targets and light vehicles. To get some protection against late game AT weapons the unit could be outfitted with a smoke ability based on the AB43 upgrade. Furthermore the AB43 Cannone could be used as late-game upgrade to allow for more AT power against armored targets. With the new CoH3 side armor and a 47/40 upgrade the vehicle could be nasty and dangerous when getting in a position to hit enemy’s armor in the side and rear armor. An Italian faction should have at least ONE version of the AB Armored Car in its faction lineup. 

honorable mention – Part four

Lancia 1ZM

The Lancia 1ZM was designed in ww1. The vehicle had a twin turret design with two MGs in the lower ring and a single MG in the top turret. The superstructure had a number of view and gun ports for the crew to fire from inside the vehicle with small arms. After ww1 the Lancia 1ZM was the standard AC of the Italian army. The vehicle was used on all Italian “fronts”. The AC was sold to other nations. The vehicle that was sold to Afghanistan was captured in 2007. The rusting vehicle is the last remaining 1ZM model. The 1ZM saw action in ww2. The vehicle that were used in Abyssinia were used in 1940-1941 to defend the Italian “colony” against the allied invasion of Abyssinia. The end of the 1ZM came in Spain when the Italians met soviet ACs in battle. The Italians realised that the 1ZM was no match in the upcoming war so they started a program to replace the 1ZM. The result was the AB AC design. With a number of 1ZMs stored in Abyssinia the remaining 1ZMs were used for the Balkan campaign. Despite their outdated design they were still a threat to lightly armed partisan forces. The ACs was kept at the Balkan. After the armistice the Wehrmacht used the captured 1ZMs for anti-partisan missions like the Italians had used them before. With the AB there is no need to add the 1ZM to a potential Italian faction design.

Fiat 611

In 1932 the army ordered a new armored car to support the 1ZM. The new design should use the chassis of the new interwar trucks. At the end the Fiat 611 was an updated version of the 1ZM design adopted for a new chassis. With the Fiat 611 truck chosen the FIAT company got the contract. The first MG armed Fiat 611 AC was ready in late 1933. Ansaldo suggested a gun armed version. Because of the slow production speed Ansaldo could build 5 altered versions armed with the 37/40 gun – the same gun that was used on the FIAT 3000 light tank and later on the M11/39. In 1934 10 vehicles were finished (5 MG armed, 5 gun armed). The army didn’t order a second batch. In 1935 the army decided to send the 5 gun armed vehicles to Abyssinia. The vehicles survived the conflict. They were kept in service with the Italian police in Abyssinia. They were pressed into combat service when the allied forces started to recapture Abyssinia from the Italian army in ww2. The 5 MG armed were stored in Italy. Their fate is unknown. Perhaps they were reused by the RSI forces that operated some “unidentified” ACs in 44-45. Because of the low numbers the Fiat 611 would fit into the “unidentified/unknown” category. But like the 1ZM they are no candidate for a CoH faction because of the more famous AB ACs.

Autoprotetto S.37

In January 1941 the Italian Army acknowledged the need for an armored personal carrier. The army started a contest by requesting for proposals at the Italian industry. FIAT and Ansaldo proposed a tracked candidate – a direct copy of the British Universal carrier. Furthermore,  Viberti suggested a wheeled design on the chassis of the SPA Dovunque 35 heavy cargo truck. FIAT design teams suggested some wheelded design too. One design was built on the chassis of FIAT 665NM truck and one design on the chassis of the T.L.37 artillery tractor design. Desperate in need for an APC the army tested all designs and ordered the production of the FIAT wheeled proposals. 

In 1940 FIAT had created a light armored car design on the TL37 chassis. The Autoblindo T.L.37 design was finished in early 1941 and sent to Africa for testing. Because of the catastrophic military defeat in Egypt at the end 1940 the vehicle was sent into combat. The test had changed from a theoretical evaluation into a test in combat. Despite the bad circumstances the vehicle proofed to be reliable and robust. For that reason, a FIAT design team used the TL37 chassis for the requested APC design. The modified the Autoblindo design by removing the gun turret. The free space was used to carry Bersaglieri instead. The armor profile was copied form the Autoblindo design. The armor thickness ranged from 8,5mm to 6mm. It should protect the crew against small arms fire and shrapnel. The vehicle got a large rear door allowing the Bersaglieri to leave the vehicle on cover. With the 67hp petrol engine the now called “Autoprotetto S.37” the vehicle had a top speed of 50km/h with an operational range of impressive 725km. To protect the Bersaglieri while dismounting the FIAT designers add a Breda Model 1938 MG on a rotatable arm allowing to swing the MG around for forward and backward fire protection. The vehicle had a crew of a single driver but most likely the driver was accomplished by a second men commanding the vehicle and operating the MG to protect disembarking infantry. The vehicle could house 8 (7?) Bersaglieri. The production started in mid-1941. For unknown reasons the vehicle wasn’t sent to Africa. Between 1942 and 1943 the S.37 was used in Yugoslavia where it saw extensive combat against the partisans. Between mid-1941 and April 1943 the FIAT factories had delivered more than 200 Autoprotetto S.37. In April 1943 102 vehicles were left. After the armistice the Wehrmacht captured 37 or more Autoprotetto S.37. The vehicle was renamed into “gepanzerter Mannschaftstransportwagen S.37 250(i) - gp.M.Trsp.Wg.S.37 250(i)” and used by the german forces at the Balkan. They saw more action against the Yugoslavian partisans and against the soviet-bulgarian armies at the Balkan theatre. A small number (1 or 3?) were used by the RSI San Giusto unit at the Italian-Yugoslavian-Slovenian boarder to protect the Italian settlements against the growing partisan threat. 

In Yugoslavia the Italian crews used the Autoprotetto S.37 for some field modifications. One modification was the addition of armored plates at the top to create a protective housing for soldiers firing from gun ports from inside the vehicle. Another modification was the instalment of flamethrowers turning the vehicle in a light flamethrower APC. The crews added small shield with gun ports to operate the flamethrower from inside the vehicle. The number of flamethrower APCs is unknown. Another modification was done by german soldiers. Men of the 7. SS-Gebirgsdivision had modified at least a single vehicle with a 47/32 infantry gun. Most likely the units were looking for some HE direct firepower against the partisan forces. 

At the end the Autoprotetto S.37 was the most numerous APC of the Italian army. It was an unusual design for ww2 with a wheeled chassis. The germans, British and US forces had built half-tracked or full-tracked APCs. The Italians favoured wheel designs. In CoH APCs are common for a faction. They are used for infantry transport, fire support and forward healing and reinforcement. Even the soviet faction got the land-lease M3 halftrack for their faction plus the M3A1 Scout car (the “clown car”). The Autoprotetto S.37 would be a welcome addition to the Italian arsenal. With its flamethrower and/or cannone versions it’s a likely candidate with ingame upgrade potential. The SdKfz 251 with the flamethrower was a nasty midgame shock unit, the PE had the 250 with 3,7cm Pak and the broken “track breaking immobilising” ability. The Soviets had the “clown car”; The S.37 could be designed around the stats and unit characteristics of the other APCs. 

FIAT 665NM Protetto

The FIAT 665NM Protetto was the second proposal by FIAT for the 1941 army APC request. The design was called “Autocarro Scudato” (Shielded Truck). FIAT engineers and army engineers of the Turin arsenal took the FIAT 665NM heavy truck chassis. The engineers planed for a more radical design, but the time and the urgency forced the team for a simple design. The team build a simple armored superstructure that could be mounted on the truck’s chassis. Compared to the Autoprotetto S.37 the infantry should disembark in battle. The armored hull firing ports on each side allowing the men to fight from inside the vehicle with their rifles and small arms. The driver’s cabin was protected by 7,5mm of armor at the front and 5mm on the side. The crew fighting compartment was protected by 4,5mm of armor. The cabin had no access to the fighting compartment. The engine wasn’t changed and with a new weight of 11tons the new APC had a theoretical top speed of 55km/h with an range of 700km. The real top speed and range were lower, but they weren’t documented. FIAT produced up to 110 FIAT 665NM Protetto until the armistices stopped the production. 

Like the Autoprotetto S.37 the FIAT 665NM Protetto was sent to the Balkan front. The first vehicles arrived in time to take part in the Axis operations that would end in the “famous” Battle of Neretva between the axis and Yugoslavian forces. Because of the fact that soldiers couldn’t disembark from the vehicle in battle without risk the vehicle was used for supply convoy escort missions and for partisan hunting. Perhaps some of the FIAT 665NM Protetto APCs were used in the Battle of Rome in 1943 when one of the 2 divisions supplied with the APC was transferred back to Rome to protect the capital but there is no evidence. 

After the armistice some FIAT 665NM Protetto were reused by the newly formed RSI formations. The RSI forces kept the vehicle in service to protect their infantry in anti-partisan operations. The vehicle offered sufficient protection against the partisans but in mid-1944 the Partisans were supplied by soviet and allied airdrops. With a growing number of anti-tank rifles the APCs were losing their combat value ending in secondary missions and parade duties. The vehicles that werent used by RSI units ended in german hands. The germans captured 10+ vehicles. The “Gepanzerter Mannschaftstransportwagen 665(i)” (armored APC) was used by the OZAK command (Operationszone Adriatisches Küstenland - Operational Zone of the Adriatic Littoral). The APCs were assigned to the 1. Infanterie-Batallion/ SS-Polizeiregiment “Bozen”. The unit served as shock unit against partisan forces. The 1. Bat/SS-PolReg was often supported by armored vehicles. The last vehicles were destroyed when the OZAK forces were retreating to the Austrian border. There is no information of usage by other nations or formations. 

With the Autoprotetto S.37 there is more likely candidate for an Italian APC. The FIAT 665NM Protetto had a distinctive look. It looks and feels “out of place” and is an interesting vehicle from the pure visual point of view but the fact that units had to jump over the 2,73m high side walls to disembark in battle is a problem. It was a pure emergency vehicle and not suited for frontline combat. The “vehicle characteristics” won’t fit to the CoH gameplay. The vehicle cant offer anything special to an Italian faction and without upgrades its less interesting from the gameplay point of view compared to the S.37 APC.

Dovunque 35 Blindato

The last vehicle of the 1941 APC competition was the Dovunque 35 Blindato. The basic idea of the Dovunque 35 Blindato was the concept of the army and FIAT to convert any heavy truck into an APC. The Italian Army and FIAT tried to develop a sort of concept for an APC design that could be adopted to any truck in the Italian army. FIAT started the first concept drawing on basis of SPA Dovunque 35 chassis, an Italian heavy military service truck of the Società Piemontese Automobili, a subdivision of the FIAT company. The Dovunque 35 was the first truck at hand and should serve as “proof on concept”. The men of the army and FIAT developed a simple bolted armored superstructure with 10mm thick frontal and 8mm thick side armor. Driver and co-driver had large doors to get into the cabin. The crew could disembark by a large hatch door at the rear end of the vehicle. The original concept had plans for a roof that could be closes in combat to protect the crew for aerial detonations and grenades thrown inside the crew compartment. The vehicle could carry 10 men into battle. The biggest problem was the weight of the fully armored superstructure. The armor would add a lot of weight to the truck’s chassis resulting in stress and mechanical breakdowns. For that reason, the project moved on in a slow speed. A single prototype was finished in 1943. But steel was always short in supplies and needed for all sorts of combat vehicles. For that reason, FIAT never invest more time and resources into the “concept”. The idea was revitalised after the armistices when the Viberti company got the plans and orders to modify the design for the RSI army to build an APC for the new Bersaglieri formations. Because of the FIAT plans Viberti kept the original test chassis of the Dovunque 35 truck. They modified the design by adding a redesigned roof. Like FIAT Viberti never had enough steel to produce complete vehicles. In 1945 the RSI army forced Viberti to finish the work on the 3 started vehicles. The RSI army was desperate in need for vehicles for the final battles at the Gothic line and against the advancing Partisan forces. The 3 APCs were given to the 1ª Brigata Nera that was in garrison in Turin where the Viberti factory was located. The Militia should use the APCs to protect Turin against all enemies. The brigade saw some days of combat in Turin in late April 1945 when the frontline had already collapsed, and the partisans had started to organise and arm themselves in and outside Turin. Together with tanks of the Gruppo Corazzato ‘Leonessa’ the 1000 men strong militia could maintain the control over the urban areas and recapture the factories and train stations that were occupied by partisan units. The RSI unit left Turin when they got the orders by the RSI high command to retreat all combat forces into the northern alpine region for a last stand (a last stand that never came with the capitulation some days later). The 3 APCs were destroyed by the Militia men somewhere in northern Italy.

During the partisan uprising in Turin the Partisans forced Viberti to finish more Dovunque 35 Blindato with the parts stored in the factory to support them against the RSI forces in the town. They managed to finish 2 more trucks that were used by the Partisans. One APC was lost in combat against german soldiers passing the town to escape north. Together with the RSI forces the germans helped to fight down the partisan uprising to allow all RSI units to flee the area. Based on reports the APC was hit by a Panzerfaust bursting into flames. The vehicle that survived the war and that is seen in some reenacting events in Italy nowadays is most likely the second partisan APC that had survived the Turin partisan uprising. 

Together with the FIAT concept prototype there were only 6 or 7 Dovunque 35 Blindato. The vehicle was too heavy and too large. It was used because of the desperate situation. With the Autoprotetto S.37 a potential Italian faction had a much better APC candidate. The Dovunque 35 Blindato is an impressive vehicle for sure but not needed for the faction proposal. 

honorable mention – Part five

Renault ADR Blindato

The Renault ADR Blindato is the next “improvised Italian APC”. At the end the vehicle is one of the results of the concept of turning all trucks into APCs – a concept that was “turned into a system” with the Dovunque 35 Blindato trials. After the fall of France Italy could capture a large number of French army trucks. One model was the Camion Léger Bâché Renault Type ADR 65cv 3,5 tonnes. A number of trucks were sent to the Balkan front where they should keep the Italian supply system running. With the growing partisan threats the Italian army was in need for protected vehicles. With the Autoprotetto S.37 in theatre the Italians improvised more “APCs” by looting scrapyards for armored steel that could be used for APC field conversations. Like the FIAT 665NM Protetto APC the new APC had an armored cargo bay. The armor got a bunch of gun ports to shoot from inside the vehicle. To get some more firepower the Italians add a FIAT-Revelli Mod. 1935 MG into the vehicles center.

The first vehicles popped up in 1942. Italy had up to 50 Renault trucks in Yugoslavia and out of the 50 vehicles the Italian workshop converted 2 up to 12 vehicles. The main task of the new vehicles was supply and supply convoy escort duties. Often, they were used to transport vital documents or goods (like the payment for soldiers or payment for local administrations). Depending on the situation they were used for VIP transports too and with the rising numbers of officers killed by partisan ambushes the Italians used the improvised APCs to protect their military officer corps when traveling in Yugoslavia. The Renault ADR and other “improvised” APCs vanished after the Italian armistices. From time-to-time stories are popping up talking about “armored trucks” in the Balkan region that were used by all forces fighting the control over the vital region. Perhaps some of the 1943+ “improvised APCs” were Renaults. At the end they are just a typical representative for the Italian ability to improvise and to get something “okayish” and “unique” out of it. I add it here because unlike many other truck-based APCs the Renault version is documented with photos and by reports – unlike many other vehicles that had be lost to the history.

Camionetta SPA-Viberti AS42

All nations needed a heavy jeep – heavy gun car; Germans slapped all sorts of weapons to their halftracks and 4- and 8-wheel ACs and APCs. The US Army had the Willy Jeep with its upgrades and subtypes (rocket launcher, double bazooka, ect) or the Dodge WC series with the anti-tank gun or rocket launchers. The British army had a large variety of Universal Carrier design… ectect.

Italy had a vehicle that is considered to be one of the best “heavy cars” of the ww2; The AS42. Impressed by the British Long Range Desert Group the Italians were trying to build up their own long range deep infiltration forces. To mislead allied intelligence the Italians named the new elite unit “Arditi”. The Arditi were specialised close combat assault infantry men in ww1 (to get the most simple definition for them here). With the unit in mind the italians were looking for a vehicle that could be used for these types of long-range desert recon and infiltration missions. The army realised that they had a potential candidate with the TL37 chassis. The TL37 chassis and its subtypes and developments were used for the successful AB Armored cars. The development of the AS42 started in January 1942. The first prototype was ready in July 1942 and the production started in August 1942 at the SPA-Viberti factories in Turin. The AS42 was an improved chassis and vehicle design of the AB41 chassis. The vehicle had a weight of 4ton (without armament) that could carry a loading of 2,5tons (supplies, weapons, ect). The vehicle got 4 big tires to allow for sand driving. The FIAT-SPA ABM 2 engine had 88hp allowing for a top speed of 84km/h with a range of 530km with the “standard fuel tank”. The biggest advantage of the AS42 was storage compartment. Test had shown that a fully loaded AS42 with additional recommended 20 Jerry cans (20 litre drums – perhaps one of the most influential german invention of ww2) could manage to drive 2000km in a patrol mission. Because of the huge central cargo bay and storage compartment the vehicle was the ideal platform to mount a large variety of guns to the vehicle to give an Arditi unit firepower to overwhelm their allied counterparts of the LRDG when meeting in the no-man’s-land of the African desert. The following weapons were documented for the AS42: Breda MGs, Cannone da 20/65, Cannone da 47/32, Solothurn S18 anti-tank rifle. There were reports of mortars and captured Vickers K MGs too. The italians decided to army each Arditi squad with some gun armed vehicles.

The first unit was sent to the African desert in December 1942. The number of AS42 vehicles is not documented but all sorts of “light” units like the Auto-Avio-Saharan Battalions (Vehicle-aircraft-desert-Recon units), 103° Battaglione Sahariano and Raggruppamento Sahariano were equipped with the AS42. Unfortunately, because of the retreat and the military defeat most reports of the axis forces were lost. What has survived is a British report from early 1943. The British had a lot of trouble with the AS42 companies. The rate of loses to the LRDG had risen in a few weeks forcing the British army to forbid any engagement of LRDG forces against any AS42 units they were hitting. At the end the AS42 cant turn the tides in the African campaign and the remaining AS42 were destroyed when the axis forces capitulated in May 1943 in Tunisia. 

With all AS42 of the first big batch sent to the desert front line the Italians build a up a new fully motorized Arditi regiment. The 10° Reggimento Arditi had 3 companies with 24 AS42 per company. All companies were sent to Sicily to defend the island against the allied invasion. The AS42 were part of the first Italian counter attacks. E.g. the British positions at the Primosole bridge were harassed by the Arditi. With the advancing allies the Italian army decided to pull back the remaining AS42 units. With the stalemate at the Catania plain and the small mountain roads in the Palermo region there was no terrain the AS42 could utilise. The unit was sent to Rome to rebuild and train new Arditi. With the new armored divisions in the area the capital had turned in a major staging area for the Italian royal army so its no surprise that the AS42 was seen in action in Rome again when the german hit their former allies. With the armistices the story of the Arditi – and the AS42 shattered into 4 parts; one group of former Arditi joined the RSI army – without their trucks. One units joined the allies (and is still part of the current Italian army) with some AS42 vehicles. One unit joined the semi self-independent Xmas Division/Xª Flottiglia MAS. They used up to 20 AS42 at Anzio to harass allied forces with hit-and-run raids. The last group joined the germans and here the 2. Fallschirmjäger-Division – and with the germans the “Gruppo Italiano Arditi Camionettisti” joined the odyssey of the 2. Fallschirmjäger-Division from the fast Russian steps at the Ukrainian-Romanian boarder – to Normandy – to Belgium – to the Netherlands – and ending in Italy integrated into the RSI army to reinforce the first Arditi group that joined the RSI army back in late 1943~ early 1944. The last AS42 were used by the Turin factory workers to defend their factory from the german-RSI-italian units in Turin. When the war ended the Turin factory up to 220 AS42 in different configurations and with different vehicle armament. After the war 7 AS42 were refitted for Police duties serving with the state police to keep up order and stability in Rome against all sorts of unrest and strikes. In 1946 the production was restarted to get more “police AS42”. The last AS42 was retired from service after 1956.

In terms of gameplay and design the AS42 is a sort of a – sorry – “wet dream”; It’s a small, robust and hard-hitting vehicle. With its historical arsenal it could be turned into a multiperformance platform; standard version with MG and upgrades with different types of weapons like heavy AT rifles, infantry guns and AA guns. The vehicle would be more “sturdy” compared to a Jeep or Kübelwagen with (at least) more HP. Depending on the upgrade prizes it could used for a sort of “must have unit” for the Italians; build an AS42 early – get vet1 or vet2 and open midgame with one of the 3 upgrades. The Cannone da 47/32 would be here the HE round soft counter, the S18 AT rifle would be the vehicle shock and the Cannone da 20/65 would be a “heavy MG” upgrade with some AA protection. All three abilities could use to create or react to “stress” and ingame situations. Furthermore, it’s a nice-looking vehicle and an iconic vehicle. It would be a shame to miss it. 

THE ITALIAN FACTION

With the weapons done it is now time to talk about the element some of you are waiting for; the Italian faction design. Before the start talking about the faction, we have to talk about the overall structure and the place WHERE the Italians will fight…

The dilemma of missing weapons AND playing on both sides

Some people will say that the Italian faction is lacking some sort of weapons like a heavy tank and/or an indirect self-propelled artillery system. Sure. The faction is missing weapons like this but there is a sort of double-edge solution; axis-allied-side playing with side related battlegroups. The other solution is the end of a strict “in nation thinking” – a sort of “everything has to be part of nation X/Y”. 

The idea is simple; In ww2 Italian armed forced fought for both sides. But allowing Italy to play on both sides u get a 5th faction adding a type of game variety.  

The biggest problem is the balance here. CoH is difficult to balance. A faction that can be played on both sides is a balance nightmare. Is it impossible? No. Is it worth the effort? Difficult question. For the concept here I wont give an answer to the question but I think it is the best to see an axis army in the concept first – and think of something like “playable on both sides” later down the road when we know more about CoH 3 general balance and technical aspects (target tables, weapon stats, ectect).

The Italian faction layout 

The Italian faction in my mind is a hit-and-run faction. The light vehicles are meant to create pressure to the enemy. The infantry has clear roles with a defensive squad or an all-in assault unit. Both units can be supported by long range damage dealing infantry (Esploratori) or by heavy-weapon counter with the twin 45mm Brixia “mortar snipe” ability of the Guastatori del genio. The faction has NO flamethrower. Flamethrowing weapons will be BG units. When flame weapons are needed the Italians have to use the flame grenade of the Legionario squad. The flame grenade is at least needed to have a fast garrison clearing ability – the Bersaglieri on their side could be outfitted with the breach mechanic thanks to their SMG armament. 

The biggest deal for the Italians is the tier flexibility. The 3 “main tier building” will start with the same prize allowing a player to decided which building to play first. With the construction of the first tier building the prize for the 2 remaining tiers will be adjusted – it’s a sort of scaling prize to balance gameplay and timing of the Italian faction. The process is repeating with the 2nd tier again. The “special tier” is the “phase support tier”; the “Ragruppamento Speciale”. Here the Italians have access to support tools to enforce the gameplay or to help with certain situations.

To sum it up: All tier building have a fix starting prize – building a tier will increase the prize for the remaining tier – only the special support tier has a fixed prize that is not influenced by the tiers and escalation phases.

Tier unit progress is controlled by an HQ phase escalation tech upgrade. The HQ has 3 units that can be built by default for the first game seconds until the first building is completed. The 3 base tiers have a single starting unit. To unlock the escalation phases the player must build the tier building. For unlock the first tier progress u have to build one of the three tier building. To get the second escalation phase upgrade the Italians need 2 out of the 3 tiers and to get the last phase the player will need all 3 tier building. With that linking there is a forced element to build all tiers in the long run – or to be locked to a phase.

With the 3 units u can start with a HQ and the tier 1 defensive infantry game. The tier 1 start will favour cover gameplay and long-range engagements. Stay in cover and let the enemy bled is the primary tactic for the tier1 opening. With the 2nd tier u have a support weapon gameplay relaying on the HQ specialists with the munition abilities and upgrades supported by a mortar to harass the enemy. It could be mixed with the CV tankette to have a mobile protection to the mortar or to pin down mortar targets. The 3rd tier is the aggressive tier focused on a pushing gameplay with the close to mid-range Bersaglieri. Here you could utilise a CV pinning gameplay with charging Bersaglieri or you try to push enemies out of cover to allow the Esploratori to “snipe” units in negative cover (long range hard hits – not sniping in terms of “CoH snipers – 1 shot, 1 kill”).

Depending on the 2nd built tier building in combination with an escalation phase upgrade the unit pool will be expanded. With a regular MG team in tier 1 players don’t have to rely on the CV tankette for blob control and suppression gameplay. The infantry-based MG team is not as fast as CV tankettes but on the other side the infantry-based MG can’t be countered by an anti-tank weapon making it ideal for a more defensive gameplay and more reliable in blob control. Tier 2 is offering an anti-tank gun with a decent HE potential – it is a sort of a direct fire light infantry gun. The gun can deal with vehicles and some armor plus it can be a sort of “heavy weapon” sniper against enemy’s infantry and heavy weapons. The gun would be the “little brother” of the CoH soviet ZiS-2 gun. The gun would fit into the Italian multirole concept and thanks to its light weight it can be moved fast with reduced setup times for fast shooting. And in tier 3 u can get the first vehicle harassment unit with the AS.42 heavy duty truck that is offering several upgrades for a number of scenarios and actions. With its upgrades it can get a boost in terms of anti-tank performance or anti-infantry performance. It’s a sort of “Jeep on steroids” that can take a punch or hit (a AS.42 was hit in Rome in 1944 by a Sherman HE shell – the vehicle survived but it was ready for the scrapyard). With the Bersaglieri the AS.42 would offer emergency AT when needed by upgrades (and when u haven combined the Tier 3 with a secondary tier 2 build for the AT gun). There could be some arguments for allowing territory capping with the AS.42 to get additional stress to the enemy and to allow Bersaglieri to keep moving and hunting.

The base unit combination is supported by the fixed support tier. Here Italy can get access to some weapons that will help to deal with certain situations and/or support the gameplay. With the Carro Comando the ITA army will have access to a mobile retreat and reinforcement point allowing the player to set up a forward position. Such a forward position will allow Italians to keep the pressure to the enemy. One the other side with the enemy can try to neutralise the vehicle with some AT weapons to get rid of the Italian strongpoint. With the heavy MG the Carro Camondo can defend itself against light vehicles like the British Dingo or the US jeep and with its light secondary MG it can deal with infantry (and try to hit an aircraft – just for the lulz). The Cacciatori Carri is the Italian “Puppchen team” (CoH2) allowing the Italians to compensate the lack of infantry based anti-tank weapons. The team can be placed in buildings to get an advantage over the enemy and its armor. Similar to the flamethrower ITA wont have any anti-tank based infantry but with the AS.42, AB armored car, 47/32 AT gun and Cacciatori carri the Italians have a large number of flexible anti-tank options. The last unit in the special tier is the last-ditch solution when all anti-tank options aren’t sufficient to deal with the allied armor. The Semovente 105/25 is the best anti-tank platform in the Italian arsenal. The vehicle has a sufficient frontal armor to allow allied rounds to bounce off. The SPG is the punching bag of the Italian forces allowing the other vehicles to get into the flank of the enemy and to deal with the side or rear armor. And when needed the “Bassotto” can punish infantry that is trying to harass the Semovente 105/25. It’s a versatile vehicle with good armor and a health bar reflecting the “taking a hit” aspect of the Semovente. 

The faction wont have access to bunkers or heavy emplacements. The Guastatori del genio are the basic repair and “construction unit”. They can build barbed wire, sandbags and tank obstacles. They are the supporting infantry unit of the Italian army and with the mortar upgrade they are second line units to keep them ready for repair actions. Likely there is no way around the unit here and for that reason they should have an upgrade to allow them to stay in the second line for awaited repairs.

The hit-and-run character is a result of the infantry and vehicle combination. With the Legionario infantry you have to keep your men in cover. To defend your position or to push the enemy u need another tier with additional tools. When u play with the mortar team u will need stuff to defend the line and territory points or u need additional units to spot the enemy (Esploratori and CV). With the Bersaglieri you have the problem that you must push the enemy making you vulnerable to aggressive counter pushs and sector capping or a well-placed MG. To enforce the hit-and-run character, you can build the Carro Comando that is working as a mobile forward HQ for the Italians with the benefit of heal and reinforcing but with the downside that you cant build units here. Furthermore, unlike to a forward HQ you can move it around. In combination with the forward retreat point ability the vehicle can be turn into a nasty “point of gravity” (Schwerpunkt) in the Italian gameplay – OR the Italian player is ignoring these methods and is focusing on early flexible vehicles. The AS.42 is the first tool here that is supporting the aggressive Bersaglieri in that tier building OR when the Italian player is more focused and is playing with the 1st tier he can use the remarkable AB armored car with its 20mm gun. The 20mm gun is a nightmare for soft targets. The 2nd tier on the side is offering the first armored vehicle for the mid game; with the Semovente 75/18 the Italian player has a tool against the first tanks hitting the field or he can utilise the Semovente to use its HE shells to push units out of cover and harass soft targets. 

All these elements are supported by the general “escalation phase upgrades” that will unlock the colour marked units. The phase upgrade is like the CoH1 known german Wehrmacht phase upgrades. The prize of the upgrade is the core element for timing and scaling. The tech will need an additional fuel cost to guarantee similar fuel investments into certain weapons compared to the other factions to keep the Italian faction in balance. At the end the phase upgrade will reward the player with 3 strong Italian weapons allowing for some nasty tactics. The glass cannon Autocannone da 102/35 is the “Marder” of the Italian army with a bigger impact compared to the single sided AT Marder. The gun will need scouting and good positioning to get its max anti-tank potential from it. Furthermore, the gun will add some heavy HE shells allowing to bombard the enemy and force him to hunt the 102/35. The Cannone da 90/53 is the more defensive system here that could take one or two shots before it is dead. On the other side the gun can deal with tanks like the 102/35 but it cant barrage soft targets. The M tank is the hit-and-run tank that have to get into the enemy’s flanks to get its max potential from its high accuracy 47mm gun. Its size will allow a “small collision box” enforcing the path finding and flexibility. In a case of emergency, it can utilise HEAT shells to get some frontal penetrations when needed. The M tank will be the best in combination with the Semovente 105/25.

Retreat!

One feature for the Italians is the expanded retreat ability for more light vehicles and heavy weapons. In CoH2 we have seen that “heavier” weapons could retreat. The Maxim MG and the Raketenwerfer 43 ‘Puppchen’ were heavier crew weapons. The Italians will use the same mechanic for some selected weapons to keep them alive and to “save” in the investments. With the Fucile controcarro tipo S and the Cannone da 47/32 the Italian can retreat two of their anti-tank weapons to compensate the lack of infantry based AT weapons. A new trial is the retreat for the CV tankette. The CV tankette is a vehicle-based MG to suppress infantry. To protect the investment and to add a mechanic helping to enforce the vehicle gameplay a vehicle retreat could be used for such a small tankette. I would suggest debating about vehicle retreat for other vehicles like AB armored car and AS.42. The AB ACs were protected with the AB43 version with smoke cannisters so a retreat ability for a vehicle could trigger a 2~3sec auto smoke screen to allow the vehicle to turn (or in case of the AB car to start the “rear drive mode) and start the retreat. Based on old CoH development information vehicle retreating is a complicated topic but CoH3 has surprised us with gun towing so the Italians could be a nice test bed for the new concept of light vehicle retreat.

The Battlegroups

With the basic faction set we should have a look at the potential BGs for the Italians here. With the arsenal for the basic unit pool there are some weapons left that could AND SHOULD be used for BGs.

With the M tank in the basic unit pool one BG should offer the P.26/40 tank. The P.26/40 would be a Panzer IV like tank. The BG would allow the Italians to field a tank for frontal tank engagements against allied Sherman and Grant tanks. The BG would allow to ignore the Semovente 105/25 in the support tier or it would allow to ignore the M tank. In combination with an aggressive infantry callin like Arditi or Paracadutisti such a BG could even replace the entire Italian tier 3 to allow the faction to save resources and build pressure by the BG callins. 

Another candidate for a BG callin is the Autoprotetto S.37. The Autoprotetto S.37 is an Italian wheeled APC. The vehicle was seen in combat with flamethrower upgrades. With the lack of a flamethrower in the regular pool a callin flamethrower could be an useful addition to the Italian faction. Furthermore, in CoH APC are often used for reinforcing infantry. With such an ability the Autoprotetto S.37 could be an additional unit to get around the Carro Comando and to get pressure to the enemy by an early unlock APC. The callin could be combined with an infantry squad for additional firepower. 

The last candidate here is a BG focused on the Semovente 90/53. The Semovente 90/53 is the long range “Nashorn” of the Italian faction. Its gun has no problem to deal with any allied armor. The Semovente 90/53 would get rid of the need for a towing vehicle of the regular Cannone da 90/53. The entire BG could be build around tank hunting. Similar to the PE doctrine of CoH1 the “Italian tank hunter BG” could offer Italian infantry callins or upgrades allowing Italian infantry to operate Panzerfäuste or the BG could offer an additional Panzerschreck callin.

One sort of Infantry that should be added is the Alpini infantry. They were the elite of the Italian combat forces. In ww2 they don’t saw extensive combat against the allies. Only RSI alpini forces met allied forces in battles – with some limited success. But with their performance at the eastern front and their reputation plus their iconic uniforms and hats they are a “must have” unit that should be added to a BG. In terms of gameplay they could be a strong long range damage dealing infantry designed to cause model drops for allied squads. They could receive special aura effects buffing other units nearby or getting buffs when heavy weapons are in range. Unlike to many other callin infantry they wont be pure charge-in assault infantry (like Rangers with Thompsons in CoH1). 

With the lack of a self-propelled artillery gun there is a kind of “need” for a single heavy long-range gun in one of the battlegroups. With the Cannone da 75/25 Mod. 11 there is a tier-based artillery gun but it lacks the mobility of a M7 Priest or the firepower of a Hummel or Wespe OR M7 Priest SPG. With the concept of BGs forcing game decision such an artillery gun could be added to a BG for a late game decision. E.g. with a potential P.26/40 or Semovente 90/53 a heavy artillery piece could be a option here like trading armored firepower for a long range powerful weapon. So such an offer must be somewhere in the “soviet B-4 howitzer” region (to get a CoH2 comparison here).

With the focus on the hit and run character of the Italian faction there are more abilities and ideas for a potential BG set up. Beside the classic callin air and artillery abilities the Italian BGs could enforce the hit-and-run gameplay by adding boosts when fighting in own territory (moving speed, hit accuracy) or abilities to replaces loses in combat (vehicle repair ability, healing drops, healing effects, replace loses on a reduced cost base, upkeep reduction). E.g. with a BG based auto repair ability the Italian vehicles could stay in battle longer keeping up the pressure. 

Other elements could be added by BG related bunkers and/or positions but to be fair I would try to ignore static emplacements at all for the Italian faction to keep the hit and run element. One special element for the Italian BGs could a sort of “callin anti-tank” infantry. The fascist RSI army had access to german anti-tank weapons like the Panzerfaust or Panzerschreck. So one of the BGs could offer a classic Panzerschreck armed Italian squad for players looking for the traditional infantry based rocket AT gameplay. But that is a sort of emergency addition to a BG. Most likely such a BG would be a panic pic in a pvp match when u are hit by an armored enemy without being prepared for it (something that should be hard for the proposed faction layout).

There are many combinations there that could be utilised for such a faction. I’m will be vague here with concrete “BG setups” because at the end the BGs will be heavy influenced by the final faction design and by the fact what the faction can do without additional abilities and callin units.

Technology

One last element here we have to look at is the tech upgrades. CoH has always a number of techs and upgrades improving the overall faction layout and gameplay.

But to keep it simple here: Italy wont be the biggest and most complicated tech nation here. With the battle phase techs and the unit upgrades and the tier system they already have a large stress in the faction design. But like all factions the Italians need some basic tech stuff like unit healing and upgrade unlocks that are often locked behind a tech for timing and prizing. And for that reason, the Italian faction will have some techs (basic techs) to get some timing and planning in the faction progress. 

Healing is a core element and is located in the HQ to allow always access to the tech. With the tech infantry can heal in the base. With healing in the base, the Carro Comando gameplay could be interesting for some players to use its frontline healing. But with a faction that is formed around hit-and-run an always frontline healing could end in too much battlefield power – a power an allied faction cant handle (perhaps) so healing for a faction is a balance aspect that needed to be watched. The other basis tech is the “repair station” of the tier3 building to get a second possibility to repair Italian armor with the lack of repair units. In contrast a BG could add ability-based auto repair, a repair/recovery vehicle and/or a specialised combat mechanic infantry unit.

With the special tier we have to talk about upkeep and unit costs. One element in CoH to balance factions and unit impact is the upkeep. Heavy upkeep costs will reduce the ability to horde resources for callins or mass ability use. On the other side when the upkeep is too high a faction loses its flexibility when they have to replace loses or when they play with a heavy callin gameplay or ability gameplay. In the long run most, factions have ways to reduce upkeep by upgrades and/or vet abilities or other techs. It’s a standard tech that is often used in late game and implemented here. We will talk about the upkeep with the veteran topic later on.

The last tech is a fuel-based lock for weapon upgrades. Infantry based weapon upgrades like the BAR are some sort of gamechanger. US infantry in CoH1, 2 and 3 scaled better into late game with the damage heavy infantry weapons like the BAR. To prevent a staggering effect in early game the infantry weapon upgrades are locked behind a fuel wall to force the player to push for the first vehicle or to utilise the infantry weapons. The Italians will have the same dilemma. The Legionario infantry will get its “BARs” with the Breda 30 LMG upgrade and the Bersaglieri will get weapons capable of dealing more damage on mid ranges while charging enforcing the charge effect and damage. There upgrades plus the hand grenades can have a decisive impact on infantry gameplay and to get a delay and balance element the upgrades need the ability here. Its placed in the only tier without an infantry squad to force the player to invest into the tier early OR to ignore it and use the vehicles instead. 

With the basic techs Italy can compensate some of its faction flaws. Furthermore, the techs will help to time and balance power peaks.

Veterancy – the dilemma between buyable vet, new vet systems and the balance of veterancy

Veterancy is a big part of the unit scaling in a CoH game. Infantry gets stronger by vet. Vehicles get better by vet. We have seen now buyable vet1 for the CoH3 Wehrmacht and ability unlocks by vet levels (US Forces – CoH3). We have seen full buyable vet (Wehrmacht – CoH1) and unit linked vet (British officers – CoH1). All systems had advantages and disadvantages. 

So the question is now; what kind of vet system should Italy use? 

The main aspect of veterancy in CoH is vet by combat. Units must gain vet by combat. That is nothing to change so Italian units can earn vet points by combat. But with the CoH3 Wehrmacht we have seen buyable veterancy. I know many people don’t like buyable vet because it is a permanent advantage traded by a “small” resource investment. On the other side is Vet1 only a single vet level and it is a sort of comeback mechanic in the late game. When u lose a vet3 squad and u have/can replace it with a vet1 unit its not perfect but better compared to a vet0 unit. 

With that said a proposed Italian faction should use a “new” system. Instead of “paying” the vet with resources on a permanent base the Italian faction should get a sort of “training mode”.

For the Italian faction you can start producing the base unit in the tier building. It is a vet0 unit and will be deployed to the battlefield when the building time is completed. By adding a vet level system, the Italian faction can decide what of vet unit they should build now. By investing more time and resources (scaling system) the Italian faction can produce vet1 or vet2 units. Vet3 should be locked by battlefield kills only. For the proposal the Italian can build an unit in the versions “conscript”, “trained” and “veteran”. An unit build as conscript will have its base prize and base build time and will spawn with vet0. An unit with the selected “trained” level will cost the double amount of resources and needs the double time to be build (the stats are placeholders – its more about explaining the system here). When the time and ress have been invested the Italians get a vet1 unit. The clue is the vet2 here. When the player is deciding to go in full risk, he can train a veteran unit that will coast three or four times the base prize and will need three or four times the building time of the conscript unit. When finished the unit will spawn with vet2.

The system is complicated – sure. The system is micro heavy - yes. The advantage of the system is a sort of flexibility and shock potential. You can build your base units and get them into battle – or u invest the resources and time and when timing and placement is done right u can get a vet2 unit that will add pressure to the enemy. With such a system players must decide and plan the unit rooster. Is there an opportunity in the round to get a vet unit? Is there an advantage to invest in the vet2 unit right now or is it better to wait? The “individual vet system” that is paid by scaling prices and scaling build time is an indirect way to compensate the “advantage” of “buying” vet. Instead of paying once and get all units with vet the player must decide about the vet level of his units. The system could help to compensate unit loses in a long game by allowing the player with stockpiled resources to replaces vet loses in a long game and to get the pressure to the enemy until the end of the game. Such a system could have a heavy impact in VP games where players fight for any VP ticket. The build time increase is the way to get an additional balance modification into the “buy vet” system here plus the fact that the system must be “paid” for each unit limiting a sort of “invest in vet once and get a reward all the time” – an old problem of the CoH1 Wehrmacht. I know that people wont like such a system for many reasons but I think it could be a new variation to add a new layer of game decisions and game timing. When u have played well and when u have the time you can build vet units. When u want to get an advantage over the enemy why not try a vet unit counter? When u have lost a high vet unit in a close game and u need replacement… well… invest the time and ress to try to get back into the battle with the vet unit? There are many ways the system could add a dynamic to an Italian faction.

To get an additional counter element into the system high vet should add a heavy lift to the Italian upkeep. Italian vet units should have a significant impact on the upkeep ration. When u start with a some vet2 units (and when your enemy is allowing you to do so) the upkeep inflation should prevent a sort of snowball system. With rising upkeep the player cant pump units (or get to max pop fast) and the player cant stockpile resources to build new units when he is losing units in battle. The get a compensation for the lategame the upkeep will get a reduction tech for late game to prevent the system to be turned in a snowball system against the Italians when they have lost men in combat. 

BUT such a system would need heavy balance tests! So don’t bother with my “suggested stats” here. They are placeholders to discuss the planed system. The values and the scaling could be adopted. Instead of a fixed prize or prize increase depending on the vet level you could replace the static system with a dynamic system like building the unit and keep it in production. Now the unit will earn vet as long as it is still “in training” in the building but the training time will cost resources per tick or will hit the army upkeep with a hard malus/reduction to add stress to the Italian player economy. Think of it like a HoI IV division training system: start training and after a “base training” u can “callin/deploy” the unit or keep it in training with an auto deploy when vet2 had be finished. The core aspect is the dynamic of Italian unit performance and the chance to create stress or to compensate stress or to get back into a fight after a misplay or bad luck RNG trigger.

Summarizing the Italians

With the vet we have looked into all aspects that are important for a CoH faction. We started to look into the history of the army to find inspiration and “balance parameter” for the weapons. We have looked into the weapon concepts and deployment. We have seen that the Italian weapons had some advantages like the Effeto Pronto HEAT rounds. 

With the specialised infantry and the light vehicles the faction had no traditional “power peak” like “strong in phase X,Y,Z of the game”. They can create pressure in the entire game. Their strength is the faction flexibility based on the tier structure allowing to start with any tier in the faction lineup. The timing and scaling is limited by the escalation phase upgrades plus the need to build all tiers and by locking some basic elements behind techs (e.g. healing). 

With the Carro Comando they can create an aggressive forward base gameplay OR they utilise the healing and auto repair in the base when faced with a mass retreat. 

A big advantage is the multi-role concept of many units allowing to do a secondary job with a reduced effect or munition cost (like ability or upgrade). With the abilities and upgrades they can react to many situations compensating the lack of powerful weapons and “super weapons”.

Their biggest weak point will be the lack of a full frontal “main tank”. To get some hits in an armored duel the Italians will need the Semovente. When they want a classic tank with turret they have to pick a BG with the P.26/40. 

The faction is designed without snipers and heavy tanks and rocket artillery. All 3 weapons werent part of the Italian army in ww2 plus the fact that they would put the Italians back in old established gameplay rules and elements I would like to avoid with the concept. 

Unlike the DAK the Italians wont need vehicles to get bonus for the infantry in combat. When needed the Italians can bring in all sorts of heavy weapons that will allow the infantry to hit the enemy whenever needed. A weak point will be garrison gameplay due to the intended lack of flamethrowers that could force a panic BG pick when needed OR to utilise the breach mechanic or to spent ammunition in the flame nade of the Legionario infantry.

And unlike to the “Wehrmacht” aka German forces in Italy faction the Italians can relay on a vehicle dominated late game with game turning tanks. 

These elements should allow to get a fresh and new axis faction to the CoH franchise.

VISUAL CONCEPTS and BATTLEGROUPS

The core element of the CoH 3 faction is the battle group. Relic has established a system of 10 abilities in a BG with a maximum of 3 callins, passive buffs and bonuses, and a number of off map ammunition sinking strike abilities. The new BG system allows for a more dynamic gameplay. But the problem with the BGs is a sort of balance between the abilities players can choose from. When one option is far stronger, it is a standard pick and that would render the BG system useless. For that reason, the options should offer comparable gameplay options. The BGs are called "Raggruppamento". Raggruppamento is the Italian "term" and "concept" for a "combat team" or "Kampfgruppe". For that reason, the BGs are called Raggruppamento here. All the following BGs are inspired by historical examples mixed with historical interpretations and gameplay adjustments. None of the following BGs are 100% historically accurate for the sake of adding interesting gameplay elements here.

The Raggruppamento Alpini is inspired by the elite Italian Alpine Corps. The Alpini saw their first large-scale battle debut against the allies in late 1944, when the Battle of Garfagnana and the 4ª Divisione alpini "Monterosa". Inspired by the battle, the BG has a strong callin infantry for long-range heavy gameplay. Alpini were well-trained, even in 1944. They were seen at the eastern front, where the majority was annihilated in fearsome battles. The artillery option is inspired by the remarkable Italian artillery performance in the Battle of Garfagnana. German officers were convinced that the terrain won't allow artillery to follow the advance and support the attacking units, but the Italians showed their skill by moving their guns into position and supporting the advancing Alpini and German units with rapid and precise fire support. The alternative here is a heavy gun emplacement that is vulnerable to counterfire. The Cacciatori wing is built around a supportive gameplay. The focus is on the anti-tank gameplay. The Semovente 47/32 callin is inspired by the fact that the Germans formed units with these SPGs and AT guns to support units in combat. Guns like the Pak 40 were also used by the Italians to compensate for their lack of heavy AT gunfire in the last weeks of the war. So the callin is "German idea" ported to the Italian BG here. The late-game abilities offer different ways to deal with selected armored targets. The Italian Ju87 with Italian bombs was last seen in Sicily, where the Italian pilots showed their skills in aerial maneuvers utilizing the Ju87's flying characteristics.  

The Raggruppamento Alpini is built around the potential Italian plans for the 1944+ armored divisions and the RSI armored units. The left side is enforcing firepower gameplay with a soft-hard countering mid-game callin. The MG bike here is a typical Bersaglieri combination. The tricycle was often used by the Bersaglieri to transport light guns like the Cannone da 47/32 or the Cannone da 65/17 into battle. The Cannone da 65/17 is an old gun, but because of its caliber, accuracy, and HEAT shell, it was used in WW2 for AT duties to fight British cruiser tanks. For the late-game options, there is a rapid artillery strike inspired by the Italian artillery crews that showed remarkable performance in the African battles. The Italian crews could deploy their guns in no time and start with the bombardment after a short preparation time. The alternative is classic CoH 3 loitering. The Italians never developed a real ground attack support doctrine. Aircraft like the Fiat CR.42 or Macci MC.202 got ground attack versions, but they were never massed in dedicated ground attack units, so Italian ground strafing was often seen. The right side is offering mobile reinforcement options with the mobile APC or a forward HQ. The forward HQ is an old CoH tradition and has not been seen in CoH3 so far. With its unit production option, it's a nice alternative to a moving but vulnerable APC. On the other side, the S.37 can be used for mobile support, and with the flamethrower, it's adding support for enemies in cover. The end of the right side is marked by the P.26/40 tank. The tank is at the same level as a Panzer IV and Sherman, allowing for a more aggressive and frontal approach compared to the weaker M tanks or the casemate Semovente with its limitations.  

The Raggruppamento Marine is inspired by the history of the Italian naval infantry of the San Marco regiment (RSI: Division) and the Decima MAS naval men. The navals were known for their bravery, skills, and talent to utilize what they had at their disposal. The indirect strike approach allows for resource-based combat gameplay by boosting the own resource income and manipulating the resources in the late game to replace own losses or enforce enemy losses after a heavy engagement. The Semovente 75/34 is a midgame heavy tank killer option that offers HP/armor comparable to a StuG III while offering the firepower of a Marder TD or Jagdpanzer IV. The midgame callin could be a threat for allied cruiser tanks or light tanks like the Stuart, Chaffee or early cruiser tanks. The direct assault tree is supported by the naval infantry squad using an interesting Italian rifle that was most likely seen after the armistice in battle against partisans. The Decima MAS men were known to take advantage of all weapons in their hands, so with such a rifle in a naval depot it's reasonable that the naval infantry would use such a gun in combat against the allies too. The midgame here is built around territory manipulation by capping a sector, neutralizing the minimap for the enemy, and masking the capping actions, or by neutralizing a selected sector for cutoff gameplay or resource denying. The end is marked here by heavy indirect fire support with the option of Italian naval bombardment. The Italian Navy never had the chance to support their men often in battle, but there were incidents where Italian cruisers or DDs offered support.  

The Raggruppamento Paracadutisti is built around the Italian Folgore airborne soldiers and their history. In Africa, the Folgore men were seen in some of the heaviest battles of the African Campaign. At El Alamein they got a reputation for being fearless fighters - the Italian desert lions -, defending their ground with their light weapons. To compensate for the lack of heavy weapons, the Folgore men built strong ad hoc field fortifications to defend their position. The airborne infantry is using the Beretta M1938 SMG for fire support and suppressing the enemy. With the SMGs the Folgore men are ideal for charging positions. The creeping barrage - a tactic used by the Italian artillery too - is a supporting element here and allows for great synergy when timed well. The alternative is a carpet bombing run that is more defensive by killing an allied assault. The heavy support tree is inspired by the Folgore and their skills in taking advantage of field fortifications. For that reason, the BG allows for defensive buildings, mines, and a special trench similar to the CoH1 British or CoH2 Ostheer "trench building". The midgame is dominated by situational weapon drops. In the case of allied armor, the BG can callin AT guns. The alternative is a more aggressive gameplay with the 20mm AA gun working as a heavy soft target killing machine gun. The lategame is influenced by the need of the Italian airborne forces for heavy support. In ww2 the Italian airborne soldiers never got the chance to get reinforced by weapons like the Semovente. Here, the "non-historical" option allows for a heavy AT counter (when needed) or a heavy indirect fire counter (when needed). With both options, the BG can react to the current situation on the battlefield.

The Raggruppamento Tattico is built around the Italian 6a Aramata tactics and concepts for the mobile defense of Sicily. The Coastal Infantry is an "Osttruppen like" soft unit armed with simple arms and only suitable for defensive actions. The defensive design ends with the choice of a mobile but damageable version of the "standard" 90/53 gun. The basic faction concept has access to the towing 90/53 gun, but here you get the more mobile version with additional abilities. The other option is a sort of fortification mechanic to boost weapons like the towable version of the 90/53 or the 47/32 AT gun. The entire side is built around full defensive gameplay. The Arditi side, on the other hand, is built for command-style hit-and-run actions with specialized artillery strikes and late game boosts like manpower adjustments or resource territory manipulation. The core of the Arditi side is the Arditi callin with the Arditi command infantry and a supporting AS.43 vehicle. The Arditi squad is designed for heavy assault operations, sneaky assaults, and demolition charges. The unit is supported by the AS.43 vehicle with a heavy MG for unit suppression, infantry healing, and heavy weapon recrewing. In combination with the Arditi group, the Arditi side is the counterweight for defensive coastal infantry design and more defensive gameplay.  

The Raggruppamento Tedesco is here for multiple reasons. Sure. Italy didn't have a heavy tank in terms of WW2 standards, and there are arguments for at least one optional heavy tank for a CoH faction layout. For that reason, the only option is the Tiger tank here, with the clue that the vehicle has a HE barrage ability that is inspired by the historical circumstances forcing Tigers into indirect fire support roles in the winter 44/45. Furthermore, the BG is added as a sort of compensation for the heavy Italian BGs of the DAK and because the Germans formed a vital part in the history of the Battle of Italy. To support the Tiger-based BG the BG has access to Panzerpioneers to get a close combat unit and an "elite repair" unit for the Italian vehicles. The German terror side has access to supporting abilities built around historical scenarios the allies encountered in Italy. Part of these abilities is an Anzio Annie reference forcing enemies to retreat and a light version of the classic CoH 1 V1 strike, the Fritz X. Unlike the V1 the Fritz X was a guided bomb that was used for the first time in combat in Italy with acceptable results against naval and point targets like bridges or crossings.  

END

I hope u like the wild drive into the Italian concept.

I had tried to give u many historical information. Feel free to dive deep into the content and search for new stuff. Perhaps u have additional stories or information that could be added.

At the end the threat should inspire Relic to think of the Italians as a faction. Feel free to comment.

Thx for the time – and sorry for the wall of text.

The text isn’t the best but after 84 word pages and 57k of words I don’t have time and resources for the text. I hope u have understand everything and when needed feel free to ask for clarification and additional information.

Sources

T.L. Jentz & H.L. Doyle, Panzer Tracts No. 19-01 (Beute-Panzerwagen)

T.L. Jentz & H.L. Doyle, Panzer Tracts No. 19-02 (Beute-Panzerwagen)

L. Archer, Panzerwrecks Vol. 22 – Africa

L. Archer, Panzerwrecks Vol. 23 - Italy III

L. Archer, Panzerwrecks Vol. 13 - Italy II

L. Archer, Panzerwrecks Vol. 8 - Italy I

F. Cappellano, P. P. Battistelli, Italian Light Tanks 1919-45

F. Cappellano, P. P. Battistelli, Italian Medium Tanks 1939-45

F. Cappellano, P. P. Battistelli, Italian Medium Tanks 1939-45

F. Cappellano, P. P. Battistelli, Italian Armoured and Reconnaissance Cars 1911 - 1945

E. Finazzer, Le artiglierie del regio esercito nella seconda guerra Mondiale

R. Riccio, Italian Artillery of WWII

P. Crociani & P. P. Battistelli, Italian Army Elite Units & Special Forces 1940-43.

P. Crociani & P. P. Battistelli, Italian Blackshirt 1935-45.

P. Crippa, C. Cucut, The Tankers of Mussolini

P. Crippa, C. Cucut, The armored units of the royal army and the armistice, Volume 1

P. Crippa, C. Cucut, The armored units of the royal army and the armistice, Volume 2

P. Crippa, I mezzi corazzati italiani della guerra civile 1943-1945.

C. Cucut, Le Artiglierie delle forze armate delle repubblica sociale italiana

J. Greene & A. Massignai, The black prince and the sea devils - the story of Valerio Borghese and the elite units of the Decima Mas.

B. Quarrie, German Airborne Division: Mediterranean Theater 1942-45

S. J. Zaloga, Anzio 1944 - The beleaguered beachhead

R. Atkinson, The Day of Battle: The War in Sicily and Italy, 1943-44

J. Grehan, M. Mace, The War in Italy 1943-1944: Despatches from the Front

S. J. Zaloga, Sicily 1943 The Debut of Allied Joint Operations

A. Konstam, Salerno 1943 - The Allies invade southern Italy

C. Gillono, Fortress - German armour in the defence of sicily.

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R. Riccio, M. Afiero, ‘Luck Was Lacking, But Valor Was Not’.

M. Sobski, Mussolini’s Eastern Crusade – Italian Expeditionary Corps in Operation Barbarossa.

H. R. Christie, Fallen Eagles – The Italian 10th Army in the opening campaign in the western desert, June 1940.

W. S. Zapotoczby, The Italian army in north Africa – a poor fighting force or doomed by circumstance?

M. Knox, Hitler’s Italian allies – Royal armed forces, fascist regime, and the war of 1940-1943.

J. Maiolo, Cry havoc – the arms race and the second world war 1931-1941.

P. P. Battistelli, Mussolini’s army at war – Regio Esercito Commands and Divisions.

(List is not completed)

Very nice work! It would be awesome to have an Italian faction like this in the game.

I really like the faction mechanics but I think that they  might restrict flexibility at the beginning of the match if balanced incorrectly since, after finishing the construction of the first building, the player would gain only one more trainable unit before having to invest resources (which are very precious at the start of the match) to unlock a new phase and gain 1 more unit, so the cost of both the phases and the 1st tier should be much lower than other factions’ ones. As it is the “flow” of the faction seems very fun and has the potential to snowball very nicely but might struggle just a little at the start of the match. I also believe that the dynamic veterancy system would be better than the static one.

Balance apart, it looks super interesting and I’d love to see some other Italians units such as Bersaglieri on motorcycles, alpini, the Obice da 210/22 Modello 35, the P26/40 and many others in the faction’s Battle groups.

Gosh I love that Camionetta SPA-Viberti AS.42 "Sahariana"!  That has to be one of the most handsome AFVs I have ever seen.

I have searched high & low to find one in the flesh, even travelling as far as the Al Alamein War Museum in Egypt where they have lots of undocumented bits & wrecks. Nothing in Italy either.

I am certainly in favour of an Italian faction.  I think the comments about Italy's use in the war are a little misguided also.  The Navy & the Air Force made a dent & they tied up large amounts of Allied resources to keep them in check.  Like the French, the largest Army in Europe, they were just outdated.

Honestly I don´t find a good idea to put Italy as a faction for Allies since all they weapons were made by the Fascist Italy so the best thing would be to just make it be an Axis Faction and focus on doctrines for the Axis, the Kingdom of Italy was the Italy wich fought against the Axis and all their weapons were literally the same weapons as UK and US used so there is no point on making them be able to play as an Ally Faction.

EDIT BY MOD: Removed the quote as it was too long.

EricSoldadito wrote:

Honestly I don´t find a good idea to put Italy as a faction for Allies since all they weapons were made by the Fascist Italy so the best thing would be to just make it be an Axis Faction and focus on doctrines for the Axis, the Kingdom of Italy was the Italy wich fought against the Axis and all their weapons were literally the same weapons as UK and US used so there is no point on making them be able to play as an Ally Faction.

Jeah.

My working "thesis/idea" was inspired by the fact that the italian army fought on both sides AND that we havent seen such a faction idea in the first place.
For that reason I added the idea here but with some time past I started to drop the concept and for that reason its now a pure axis faction concept.

To be fair I would love to see an italian BG for the allies at some point in the future because people think that with the armistice the italians had "left" the battlefield but they ignore that after the armistice italian soldiers and men were scattered all over europe and fight on all sides. E.g. the british army in italy was build around the italians in 1945 because of the severe manpower shortage of the british army so they replaced as many men as possible in italy with italian soldiers to get the british men for the frontlines at the german-dutch boarder. The same story was repeated in early 1945 with the canadians that were replaced by more italian men again.
But yes: Now I would agree - such a faction is an axis faction and that would be the best.