Which are your favourite WWII Italian Campaign forces?

Laxen · Post by **Laxen** » Thu Apr 28, 2011 2:27 pm

Thanks nikb. I will look into it some day. I can manage the translation, but thanks for the offer

Laxen · Post by **Laxen** » Tue May 10, 2011 3:17 pm

(Oops, sorry Adraeth, didn't see until now that I mixed your answer up with nikb's)

Ok, I'm currently working on the release forces. These forces has been added by request:

Devil's Brigade
US 10th Mountain Division
Brazilian Expeditionary Force

(Edit:) nikb: 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force will be added when British outfits are included in the game.

Adraeth: I'm having some some troubles localising the "26th Armoured Auflkarung commanded by Joseph Strauch". Are they part of the 26 Panzer Division (23rd Infantry Division before Sept. -42)? In that case they will be included as the 26th Panzer.

There will of course be many other forces included in the game, and if your favourite force still isn't included, there is always the Force builder where custom forces easily can be done.

Murphz · Post by **Murphz** » Mon Jul 11, 2011 11:20 pm

Hi,
I suggest a less know battle in italy, but "Ortona" was surely the Italian Stalingrad.

Check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Ortona or better, http://digilander.libero.it/historia_mi ... rtona1.htm (italian) for more infos.

Laxen · Post by **Laxen** » Tue Jul 12, 2011 8:58 am

Hmm. Looks like a really interesting battle. It is not included in the current version of the game, but we will definitely look into it when making our campaigns! Thanks

Murphz · Post by **Murphz** » Tue Jul 12, 2011 5:35 pm

No problem, i reached too late this game so i know all of the current version is scheduled. From now on i'll be present for infos etc, really like the idea of the game.

Keep up the good work

Crestone · Post by **Crestone** » Tue Jul 26, 2011 3:07 am

Some thoughts on genuine ITALIAN units for your consideration:

my favorites are the paratroopers. I think that there was a division called "Nembo" (it means storm cloud or something like that) that was in Italy in 43, and a battalion of the division remained loyal to the fascists when the government broke up in September. They had Camo smocks. From pictures I've seen of the RSI units that fought on till '45 alongside the Germans, there were a lot of paratroop uniforms scattered around. Another famous RSI unit was "X'a' MAS" or "Decima MAS" which was a division of marines, commandos and paratroops raised by Prince Borghese who led the famous mini-sub raids on the Brits in the Mediterranean, they also wore a combination of paratroop gear. There was another Marine division, San Marco, and there was a Bersaglieri division "Italia" also there was an Alpini division "Monterosa". Of course there were tons of other units, like the Blackshirts and regular army, plus lots of partisans. I think what is overlooked by many documentaries, that Italians didn't stop fighting in 43 when Mussolini left the government. I don't think they had a tremendous impact on the fighting, since they were mostly fighting among themselves. But Mussolini was captured and executed by a band of anti-fascist partisans, and possibly directed by the Brits in april 45.

Looking forward to the beta!

Laxen · Post by **Laxen** » Tue Jul 26, 2011 8:37 am

Nice tips. There are Italian units planned, but they will be released along with the first campaign pack along with the Brits. I'll make sure to include some of the units you mentioned when it is released

Murphz · Post by **Murphz** » Tue Jul 26, 2011 1:44 pm

Crestone wrote:Some thoughts on genuine ITALIAN units for your consideration:

my favorites are the paratroopers. I think that there was a division called "Nembo" (it means storm cloud or something like that) that was in Italy in 43, and a battalion of the division remained loyal to the fascists when the government broke up in September. They had Camo smocks. From pictures I've seen of the RSI units that fought on till '45 alongside the Germans, there were a lot of paratroop uniforms scattered around. Another famous RSI unit was "X'a' MAS" or "Decima MAS" which was a division of marines, commandos and paratroops raised by Prince Borghese who led the famous mini-sub raids on the Brits in the Mediterranean, they also wore a combination of paratroop gear. There was another Marine division, San Marco, and there was a Bersaglieri division "Italia" also there was an Alpini division "Monterosa". Of course there were tons of other units, like the Blackshirts and regular army, plus lots of partisans. I think what is overlooked by many documentaries, that Italians didn't stop fighting in 43 when Mussolini left the government. I don't think they had a tremendous impact on the fighting, since they were mostly fighting among themselves. But Mussolini was captured and executed by a band of anti-fascist partisans, and possibly directed by the Brits in april 45.

Looking forward to the beta!

After the September 43' the X° MAS was splitted in two. At north some units with the RSI for anti-partisans action and a bit at Anzio and Gothic Line, at south the X°MAS joint operations with allies army.

The San Marco was a regiment, and sure it would be good to have Nembo and Monterosa divisions in the game. Also some partisans units that helped allies.

Laxen · Post by **Laxen** » Wed Jul 27, 2011 8:40 am

More nice info, thanks!

I hope we'll get all these Italian divisions (and other units) into the game as pre-made divisions one day when the Italian/Brits pack is released. But if we miss any, there will be threads in this forum where you can share your custom made (through the Force Builder) divisions as well. And I also guess you'll be wanting to share the same divisions as those already included, since people always have different opinions of how forces should be put together to match the real divisions (which is great)

MajVonRyan · Post by **MajVonRyan** » Fri Sep 23, 2011 10:30 pm

Hi,

What about including Australian troops

, combined with the New Zealand troops they formed called ANZAC - the Australian, New Zealand Army Corp

.

Australian - Italian battle: The battle for Bardia http://www.ww2australia.gov.au/scrapiron/bardia.html

On 3 January 1941, the 2nd AIF took part in the first major Australian battle of World War II at Bardia, Libya, when battalions of the 6th Australian Division penetrated the defences of the Italian stronghold. Despite some heavy resistance the town fell to the Australians just two days later.

Another infantry battle to look at would be the Siege of Tobruk - Rats of Tobruk

http://www.awm.gov.au/encyclopedia/tobruk/
http://www.anzacday.org.au/history/ww2/ ... obruk.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rats_of_Tobruk

The Rats of Tobruk was the name given to the soldiers of the garrison who held the Libyan port of Tobruk against the Afrika Corps, during the Siege of Tobruk in World War II. The siege started on 10 April 1941 and was finally relieved at the end of November.

Australian troops of the Australian 9th Division and the 18th Brigade of the Australian 7th Division under Lieutenant General Leslie Morshead made up more than half of the Allied presence in Tobruk with a total strength of over 14,000 men. The rest of the garrison was made up of 12,000 British (the 3rd Armoured Brigade, 4 artillery regiments) and Indian (the 18th King Edward's Own Cavalry) troops. During the three moonless periods between August and October the Australian troops and Indian cavalry were withdrawn by sea and replaced by British 70th Infantry Division and the Polish Independent Carpathian Brigade with the Czechoslovak 11th Infantry Battalion under command.

Laxen · Post by **Laxen** » Sat Sep 24, 2011 2:40 pm

Australian and NZ troops are definitely something that we want to include among the default forces, but we won't add them until we release the first expansion (which we hope to do) which will include British uniforms and weapons. Felt strange using American uniforms for them (though if that's nothing that bothers you, feel free to create these division suing the Force Builder).

And thanks for the links! They will come useful once we start designing these forces

MajVonRyan · Post by **MajVonRyan** » Sun Sep 25, 2011 2:25 am

Laxen wrote:Australian and NZ troops are definitely something that we want to include among the default forces, but we won't add them until we release the first expansion (which we hope to do) which will include British uniforms and weapons. Felt strange using American uniforms for them (though if that's nothing that bothers you, feel free to create these division suing the Force Builder).

And thanks for the links! They will come useful once we start designing these forces

Hi Laxan,

The Australian uniform included the slouch hat. The hat is turned–up on the left hand side or can be worn with the brim flat.
http://www.awm.gov.au/encyclopedia/slouch/

The Australian Army also used the 9mm Owen sub machine gun.

Owens were produced from 1941 to 1945. Although bulky, the Owen became very popular with soldiers because of its reliability. It was so successful that it was also ordered by the United States and New Zealand.
http://militaryguns.net.au/content/view/74/109/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Owen_submachine_gun
http://www.owenguns.com/owen-gun-book/owen-gun-trial/

Laxen · Post by **Laxen** » Mon Sep 26, 2011 9:12 am

Both the hat and the gun looks really cool. I'm getting very tempted to make unique models/stats for them sometime in the future!

Which are your favourite WWII Italian Campaign forces?

Ortona Battle