Italy LC

[neuropit]

A former “veteran player”, I haven’t played for years and now I’m trying to get back.
I’m playing a long campaign with Italy and man, that’s challenging!

Artillery is good (but you have to use it mostly for counterbattery fire, british artillery is heavy and brutally deadly), some infantry units are better than expected (para, alpini, granatieri, bersaglieri), but tanks and ATG quickly became overmatched by that of the enemies (basically, as soon as Matilda II show themselves you’re in deep trouble).

You could take a breath if you choose to go “Balkans” but it’s only 4 months (and Greece infantry is really stubborn!).

Things are a little better in “Defend” scenarios if you buy a lot of mines and fortifications, or in scenarios when visibility is low and you could try some tactical tricks, but in the desert with full visibility or in the Eastern Front when facing Russian tanks it could became ugly in a matter of minutes (In a single AI turn in the desert, with full visibilty, I lost half of my tank companies despite trying to use every terrain protection, they were just picked apart from long distance by british tanks).

Up until now I have won “decisive wins” only in the Balkans, on the other fronts a “marginal win” makes me happy and in many battles I found that a “draw” is a good result.

Any suggestion on how better use my countrymen?

[Mobhack]

Its been a long while since I fought an Italian LC.

Basically, I simply gave up on armour, bar a platoon or 2 of m13/40 as a mobile sweeper up of objectives in the end game (They would hide with pride behind a ridgeline till then, basically).

The core force was therefore an infantry battalion, with mortars, MG and ATG plus a battery of off map support. I got rid of any rifle-only infantry ASAP, and took sections that included an LMG instead.

That kept the overall points total relatively low, so the UK OPFOR did not have zillions to spend on the nasty infantry tanks. (Cruisers are manageable).

Later on you can have some panzer 3, and so that is a no-brainer to swap the tank platoons to. Then very late, you get some useful Semoventes with a long 75. But again, not worth going for a mechanised force and sticking with infantry.

Of course, you could take some of the 90mm units, but those were in reality as rare as hens teeth, so I tend not to.

They do have a good 81mm mortar, which the Brits used a fair number of as the 3in sucks. Their field artillery is a mix of WW1 antiques, and some decent stuff. The ATG are not exactly fantastic, though you get access to some German stuff later on.

About the only thing you could say of Italian armour, is that its better than the Japanese...

(I did change the AI pick for the UK vs Italy to go for a cruiser choice more often against Italy in the Desert so as to give players more chance.)

So, I'd tend stick to an infantry Bn core with just a little bit of mobile armour for "sweepers up". 1 or 2 sections of Semovente with short 75 can provide useful fire support, once Brit armour is neutralised (otherwise, lob HE from medium to long range, and duck behind a hill when done, with an ammo supply nearby?). In the attack, stick tightly behind a creeping barrage, to stun defenders and screen your troops from fire, and slap your mortars down on any ATG that reveals itself, while your few tin cans hide from it.

The Italian army needs a skilful player and best suits an infantry-based approach. An Italian armoured campaign probably requires a very skilled and cautious (paranoid?!) one.

Cheers
Andy

[neuropit]

Thank you Andy, great suggestions!

My core force is mostly armour/mechanised, so I totally botched the strategy (even if I have to admit that I was contempleting giving up on my tank companies in the last 2-3 battles).

I know it's not historical, especially at the start of the war, but in every campaign (and with every nation) I tend to give my infantry some truck/APC, can't stand moving 1-2 hex at the time (before engaging the enemies) in "normal" 80x1000 maps, even if I understand that doing this I'll give the AI tons of points to spend.

Maybe I should try an infantry campaign with reduced maps, some USMC or "Big Red One" or even ANZAC in the Far East front...

Again thank you, your suggestions are always on point and really appreciated.

Ciao


Max

[Mobhack]

If you plan on using a walking "leg" force, then I'd say go for an 80x80 sized map. The few hexes trimmed off a standard 100 wide map makes the difference if doing so. Especially if you plan on going to jungle maps in the Far East.