Italy

Rome

Fascist

Axis (From 1940-06-10)

Italy is a major nation primarily located in the Italian peninsula and the islands of Sicily and Sardinia to the west. It also contains territory in Zara (on the Dalmatian coast)and the Dodecanese (Aegean sea), with African colonies in Libya, Eritrea and Somalia. Its terrain is mainly made of hills, with the peninsula having some coastal plains on the east and west sides of its rugged central spine - important defensive terrain if fighting up or down the peninsula. Its location in the center of the Mediterranean causes Italy to be a dominant force in the region. In game the country has a modest to respectable military, with the navy being its strongest asset. Both branches have immediate adversaries to face, as the French to the west are a constant threat, while the British also vie for control of the Mediterranean Sea, and both powers maintain rival colonies abroad.

Historical background[edit]

Italy was a member of the victorious Entente when World War 1 ended in 1918. In exchange for promises of significant territorial expansion, Italy had sided with the French and British. With the war's end, Italy had anticipated its promised reward would be commensurate with Italian losses in the Alps. But at the 1919 Paris Peace Conference the three pre-eminent powers (the US, the UK and France) largely broke with their promises to lesser allies: Italy gained only the provinces of South Tyrol and Trieste, while the British and French divided the colonial world between them and Dalmatia was handed over to the newly-founded Yugoslavia. Regions Italy had long considered as Italian, such as Corsica, Savoy, Nice and Tunisia, remained under French control, while what German colonies there were went mostly to the British. This seeming betrayal outraged Italy as a whole and is today seen as one of the contributing factors to the rise of Fascism in Italy.

Italy conquered Ethiopia and Albania prior to its entry into World War II. Despite the Pact of Steel with Germany, Italy did not join in the war until June 1940, planning to get a share of Allied territory with the defeat of France (Corsica, Savoy and Nice). Later, in 1941, Italy joined Germany and Hungary in the invasion of Yugoslavia and managed to conquer and annex most of coastal Dalmatia along with some other inland regions from Yugoslavia.

Aside from these successes, however, Italy's war effort went beyond poorly, With Italy being unable to make significant gains in France before the french surrender and then suffering a humiliating defeat in Greece later in 1940. Later, Italy invaded British-controlled Egypt with 150.000 men compared to 3.500 British, capturing 50 miles of territory before being forced to stop due to logistical problems. Not long after, they were brutally beaten back by Richard O'Connor during operation Compass, and the Italian army was pushed back into Libya and eventually expelled from Africa completely with huge losses in both materiel and manpower, whether destroyed/killed or captured by the Allies. The Allies then launched a naval invasion of Italy in the summer of 1943 and Mussolini's government collapsed.

The new royal government of Marshal Pietro Badoglio signed an armistice with the allies, but most of the country was quickly occupied by the Germans who established a puppet government under Mussolini's leadership, the Italian Social Republic, in Northern Italy with its capital in the small town of Saló, located between Milan and Venice. Badoglio and the king escaped to Brindisi in southern Italy without giving any order to the army. The royal government remained in control of the south, declared war on Germany, and declared itself as the government of all of Italy shortly before the end of the war in the spring of 1945, sparking a brief but destructive civil war. Significant partisan actions took place in northern Italy. Italy would eventually recover from the war and, along with France, Germany (divided into West Germany and East Germany) and the low countries, would become one of the founding members of the European Union. Italy did however lose the region of Istria and the Dalmatian city of Zadar to Yugoslavia in addition to all of its African colonies.

Events[edit]

Main article: Italian events

National focus[edit]

Italy's national focus tree.

Main article: Italian national focus tree

Italy, as one of the seven major powers, gets a unique national focus tree.

Italy has an interesting national focus tree with five different branches:

Ethiopian War Logistics: A smaller tree which focuses on industrial build up.
Army Primacy: Strengthens your army research.
Mare Nostrum: The big naval strengthening tree.
Light Ship Focus: Destroyer & Submarine benefits.
Triumph in Africa: The big political and diplomatic tree, where you have lots of different choices on who to befriend and conquer.

Technology[edit]

Italy starts with four research slots and can gain one from its focus tree.

Army Technology	Naval Technology	Air Technology	Electronics & Industry
Carcano M38 (Infantry Eq. I) Fiat 626 (Motorized) Mountain Infantry I Engineer Company I L3 (Light Tank I) Cannone da 75/27 modello 06 (Towed Artillery I) Breda Model 35 (Towed Anti-Air I)	1936 Destroyer Hull Gatteschi-type DCR (Depth Charges I) 1936 Cruiser Hull 100mm Belt/50mm Deck (Cruiser Armor II) 1936 Heavy Ship Hull 250mm Belt/100mm Deck (Battleship Armor II) 305mm Belt/100mm Deck (Battlecruiser Armor II) 1936 Submarine Hull Triple 450mm TT (Torpedo Rack I) 120mm/50 OTO (Light Battery II) 152mm/53 Ansaldo (Light Cruiser Battery II) 203mm/50 Ansaldo (Heavy Cruiser Battery II) 320mm/44 OTO (Heavy Battery II) 46 cm Cannon (Super-heavy Battery) 152mm/55 OTO (Secondary Battery II) Contact Mines Minelaying Submarines Transport Ships 20mm/65 Breda (Anti-Air II)	Fiat CR.32 (Interwar Fighter) Upgraded CR.42 variant Caproni Ca.101 (Interwar Bomber) Breda Ba.65 (Close Air Support I) Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 Sparviero (Naval Bomber I)	Fuel Storage Fuel Refining I
Doctrines
Grand Battleplan	Fleet in Being	None

Without Man the Guns
Curtatone Class (Destroyer I) Upgraded Maestrale Class Taranto Class (Light Cruiser I) Upgraded Montecuccoli Class Trento Class (Heavy Cruiser I) Upgraded Zara Class Caracciolo Class (Battlecruiser I) Caio Duilio Class (Battleship II) Mameli Class (Submarine I) Upgraded Sirena Class Transport Ship

Theorists and Designers[edit]

Tank designers
Designer	Type	Effect	Cost ()
Fiat	Tank Designer	Armor Research Speed: +15 % Armor: Reliability: +5 % By selecting this Design Company it will permanently affect capabilities on all equipment researched while they are hired.	150

Ship designers
Designer	Type	Effect	Cost ()
CRDA	Ship Designer	Naval Research Speed: +15 %	150

Aircraft designers
Designer	Type	Effect	Cost ()
Macchi	Light Aircraft Designer	Air Research Speed: +15 % Fighter: Agility: +10 % Max Speed: +10 % Carrier Fighter: Agility: +10 % Max Speed: +10 % By selecting this Design Company it will permanently affect capabilities on all equipment researched while they are hired.	150
Savoia-Marchetti	Medium Aircraft Designer	Air Research Speed: +15 % Heavy Fighter: Reliability: +20 % Tactical Bomber: Reliability: +20 % By selecting this Design Company it will permanently affect capabilities on all equipment researched while they are hired.	150
Caproni	Naval Aircraft Designer	Air Research Speed: +15 % Naval Bomber: Range: +10 % Naval Attack: +10 % CV Naval Bomber: Range: +10 % Naval Attack: +10 % Carrier Fighter: Range: +10 % Agility: +10 % Carrier CAS: Range: +10 % Naval Attack: +10 % By selecting this Design Company it will permanently affect capabilities on all equipment researched while they are hired.	150
Piaggio	Heavy Aircraft Designer	Air Research Speed: +15 % Strategic Bomber: Strategic Bombing: +10 % By selecting this Design Company it will permanently affect capabilities on all equipment researched while they are hired.	150

Materiel designers
Designer	Type	Effect	Cost ()
Beretta	Infantry Equipment Designer	Weapons and Equipment Research Speed: +15 %	150
Lancia	Motorized Equipment Designer	Motorization Research Speed: +15 %	150
Breda	Artillery Designer	Artillery Research Speed: +15 %	150

Industrial concerns
Designer	Type	Effect	Cost ()
Danieli	Industrial Concern	Industrial Research Speed: +15 %	150

Theorists
Theorist	Type	Conditions + Effects	Cost ()
Amedeo Mecozzi	Assault Aviation	Air Experience Gain: +0.05 Operational Integrity Doctrine: +15 %	250
Angelo Iachino	Naval Theorist	Naval Experience Gain: +0.05 Naval Doctrine Research Speed: +10 %	150
Giovanni Messe	Mobile Warfare Expert	Army Experience Gain: +0.05 Mobile Warfare Doctrine: +15 %	250
Guiseppe Fioravanzo	Grand Fleet Proponent	Naval Experience Gain: +0.05 Fleet in Being Doctrine: +15 %	250
Rodolfo Graziani	Grand Battleplan Expert	Army Experience Gain: +0.05 Grand Battleplan Doctrine: +15 %	250
Gaetano Crocco	Rocket Scientist	Rocket Research Speed: +15 %	150
Renato Sandalli	Air Warfare Theorist	Air Experience Gain: +0.05 Air Doctrine Research Speed: +10 %	150

Politics[edit]

National spirits[edit]

Victor Emmanuel III

Stability: +5%

The "Soldier King" remind the Italians of their recent victories in the Great War. His presence and their loyalty to him is a great source of unity for the people.

Vittoria Mutilata

Acceptance of Communist Diplomacy: −10
Acceptance of Democratic Diplomacy: −10
Acceptance of Fascist Diplomacy: +10
AI Modifier: Focus on Offense: +50%
Justify war goal time: −5%

Our allies betrayed Italy and stabbed us in the back when they broke the Pact of London. We sacrificed so much blood at the Isonzo for their victory and they in turn denied us what was ours by right. Now Italy will take her destiny into her own hands and ensure that justice is done.

London Naval Treaty Signatory

Carrier Max Cost: 9500
Cruiser Max Cost: 5300
Heavy Ship Max Cost: 10000

We have signed the London Naval Treaty and accordingly are restricted in the size of our capital ships.

Diplomacy[edit]

Italy's political overview.

Italy starts off at war with Ethiopia, which is something they will be focusing on for the first months of the game. The Italian technological and numerical superiority more or less guarantees that they will win the war, barring player intervention. The new transportation mechanics makes it less of a hassle to strengthen this theater and less of a hassle to move back troops afterward. At the 1936 start date, Italy has no alliances, but is guaranteeing Albania and can choose to either join Germany and the Axis, form a faction of its own with Nationalist Spain, or ally France if they become fascist.

Political parties[edit]

italy is one of the primary Fascist nations and is thus ruled by fascism. The political parties in Italy and their popularity remain the same in both the 1936 and 1939 scenario with Benito Mussolini's Partito Nazionale Fascista ruling with overwhelming support, at 76% support, followed by the democratic Partito Popolare Italiano with a significant 22% popularity and the communist Parito Comunista Italiano with a minuscule 2% support.

Party name	Popularity	Leader	Country Name
Partito Popolare Italiano	22.00%	Ferruccio Parri	Republican Italy
Partito Comunista Italiano	2.00%	Palmiro Togliatti	Italian Union
Partito Nazionale Fascista	76.00%	Benito Mussolini	Italy
Partito Nazionale Monarchico	0.00%		Kingdom of Italy

Ministers[edit]

Political Advisors
Minister	Type	Effects	Cost ()
Amadeo Bordiga	Communist Revolutionary	Daily Communism Support: +0.1	150
Ivanoe Bonomi	Democratic Reformer	Daily Democracy Support: +0.1	150
Carlo Scorza	Fascist Demagogue	Daily Fascism Support: +0.1	150
Giovanni Marinelli	Prince of Terror	Non-core Manpower: +2 % Foreign subversive activities efficiency: -30 % Effect of partisans on us: -25 %	150
Gian Galeazzo Ciano	Compassionate Gentleman	Improve relations opinion: +15 %	150
Roberto Farinacci	Backroom Backstabber	Political Power Gain: +5 % Ideology Drift Defense: +15 %	150
Dino Grandi	Smooth-Talking Charmer	Trade deal opinion factor: +10 %	150
Serafino Mazzolini	Ideological Crusader	Same ideology monthly opinion: +100 %	150
Giacomo Acerbo	War Industralist	Military Factory construction speed: +10 % Dockyard construction speed: +10 % Fuel Silo construction speed: +10 %	150
Junio Valerio Borghese	Armaments Organizer	Civilian to Military Factory conversion cost: -20 %	150
Luigi Einaudi	Captain of Industry	Infrastructure construction speed: +10 % Civilian Factory construction speed: +10 % Refinery construction speed: +10 %	150
Paolo Thaon di Revel	Quartermaster General	Air Base construction speed: +15 % Naval base construction speed: +15 % Radar Station construction speed: +15 % Rocket Site construction speed: +15 % Nuclear Reactor construction speed: +15 %	150

Decisions[edit]

Italy can take a decision to form the European Union (if Democratic) or the Roman Empire (if Fascist), if it can expand and conquer the requisite territories.

Economy[edit]

Laws[edit]

Conscription Law	Economy Law	Trade Law
Limited Conscription 2.5% Recruitable population	Partial Mobilization 25% Consumer Goods factories +10% Military factory construction speed −10% Factory (type) conversion cost -10% Fuel Gain per Oil	Limited Exports 25% Resources to market +1% Research speed +5% Factory/Dockyard output +5% Construction speed

Industry[edit]

Italy's industry is quite modest compared to other major powers, at just 50 factories, which is a bit below that of the other European major powers. The country's limited production and construction power will seriously undermine its war effort if not dealt with swiftly.

Factories 1936
19 Military Factories	11 Naval Dockyard	20 Civilian Factories

Resources[edit]

Total resources 1936
Oil	Rubber	Steel	Aluminum	Tungsten	Chromium
0	0	97	99	2	3

These numbers represent the available resources, depending on trade law a certain amount may be traded away.

Military[edit]

Army[edit]

Italy has 39 divisions in 1936. Of these:

Two are Reggimento di Cavalleria with 4x cavalry and no support.
Five are Divisione Alpina with 6x mountaineers, engineers, support artillery, and high reinforcement priority.
Five are Divisione Coloniale with 6x infantry, no support, and low reinforcement priority.
Three are Divisione Celere with 4x cavalry, 2x motorized infantry, 1x light tank, and high reinforcement priority.
The remaining 24 are Divisione di Fanteria with 6x infantry and engineers.

The land borders of Italy's core territory (France, Switzerland, Austria - later German Reich - and Yugoslavia) are all mountains or hills (except for the city of Nice), and naval invasions will be necessary to control the Mediterranean, so a mix of mountaineers and marines is recommended for special forces expansion.

In terms of technology, Italy's support weapons, armor and artillery are rather outdated, the only special forces available are mountain infantry, and the only support companies available are engineers. Extensive modernization and research will be needed.

Motorized units list
Year	Name	Type
1936	Fiat 626	Motorized I
1940	Fiat 2800	Mechanized I
1942	Fiat 727	Mechanized II
1944	Breda 61	Mechanized III

Tank units list
Name	Type	Techyear	Tank Destroyer / SP-Artillery / Armored AA Variants
Fiat 3000	Great War Tank	1918	None
L3	Light Tank I	1934	L3 cc (TD)
L6	Light Tank II	1936	Semovente 47/32 (TD)
L8	Light Tank III	1941	None
Fiat M11/39	Medium Tank I	1939	None
M16 Sahariano	Medium Tank II	1941	Semovente 75/34 (TD) / Semovente M 41 75/18 (SPA)
M20/43	Medium Tank III	1943	Semovente M41M 90/53 / Semovente M42L 105/25 / Semovente M15/42
P75	Heavy Tank I	1934	None
P26	Heavy Tank II	1941	Semovente da 149/40 (SPA)
P43	Heavy Tank III	1943	None
Il Duce	Super Heavy Tank	1943	None
P45	MBT	1945	None

Examples of alternative division template names for Italy include:

Mountaineers - Divisione Alpina
Marines - Divisione Marine
Paratroopers - Divisione Paracadutisti
Motorized - Divisione Motorizzata
Mechanized - Divisione Meccanizzata
Armor - Divisione Corazzata

Navy[edit]

Italy's navies overview.

Capital ships 1936
2 Battleships	8 Heavy Cruisers

Screens and submarines 1936
11 Light Cruisers	80 Destroyers	51 Submarines

The Regia Marina is sizeable, with access to significant amounts of modern naval technology - Italy possesses all of the 1936 hulls, batteries and armor setups. The one exception is the complete lack of carriers, but given the time necessary to spin up such a project, it may well not seem worth investing in. Most of the existing ships are older models, but there are four battleships anticipating 1940-1941 completion dates, a nearly-completed Montecuccoli Class cruiser and two almost half-complete Duca degli Abruzzi Class cruisers, two half-complete Maestrale Class destroyers, and a half-complete Calvi Class submarine in production. Completing these any time soon will require a bigger investment in Italian dockyard capacity.

Naval units list
Name	Type	Count	Production	Techyear	Design note
Curatone Class*	Destroyer	49		1922	DD battery I, AA I, TT I
Navigatori Class*	Minelayer (DD)	17		1922	Curatone + DC I and mines
Maestrale Class	Destroyer	14	2	1922	Curatone + DC I
Taranto Class*	Minelayer (CL)	2		1922	CL I, TT I, mines
Giussano Class*	Light Cruiser	6		1922	2xCL II batteries, TT I, scout plane I, AA II, no armor
Montecuccoli Class	Light Cruiser	3	1	1936	AA I + II, 2xCL II batteries, scout plane I, TT I, no armor
Duca degli Abruzzi Class	Light Cruiser		2	1936	2xAA, TT I, scout plane, armor I, 2xCL II batteries
San Giorgio Class*	Heavy Cruiser	1		1918	CA I battery, 2xAA I, TT I, 2xSecondary I, Armor II
Trento Class*	Heavy Cruiser	2		1922	2xCA I batteries, 2x AA I, scout plane I, Armor I
Zara Class*	Heavy Cruiser	4		1922	Trento with Armor II
Bolzano Class	Heavy Cruiser	1		1922	Same as Trento
Mameli Class*	Submarine	17		1922	1xTT I
Bandiera Class*	Submarine	11		1922	2xTT I
Sirena Class*	Submarine	21		1936	1xTT I
Calvi Class	Submarine	2	1	1936	2xTT I
Andrea Doria Class*	Battleship	2		1922	2xBB I batteries, 2xAA I, 2xSecondary I, BB Armor I
Conte Di Cavour Class	Battleship		2	1922	2xBB I batteries, AA I, scout plane I, 2xSecondary II, BB Armor I
Littorio Class	Battleship		2	1936	2xBB II batteries, 2xAA I, scout plane II, 2xSecondary II, BB Armor I
* marks a variant as "obsolescent".

Without Man the Guns[edit]

The Regia Marina is rather sizable, it is however not very modern. The only 1936 naval tech that Italy possesses is the Caio Duilio battleship, though it does possess upgraded versions of the 1922 heavy cruiser, light cruiser, destroyer, and submarine. Italy also has several ships under construction. 2 Caio Duilio Class battleships that are about 20% finished. A Montecuccoli class light cruiser that is almost finished along with two Maestrale Class destroyers and a Sirena Class submarine.

Naval units list
Name	Type	Techyear
Curtatone Class Maestrale Class (+3 all categories)	Destroyer I	1922
Soldati Class	Destroyer II	1936
Ciclone Class	Destroyer III	1940
Medaglie d'Oro Class	Destroyer IV	1944
Taranto Class Montecuccoli Class (+3 all categories)	Light Cruiser I	1922
Duca degli Abruzzi Class	Light Cruiser II	1936
Capitani Romani Class	Light Cruiser III	1940
San Marco Class	Light Cruiser IV	1944
Trento Class Zara Class (+2 all stats)	Heavy Cruiser I	1922
San Giorgio Class	Heavy Cruiser II	1936
Pisa Class	Heavy Cruiser III	1940
Garibaldi Class	Heavy Cruiser IV	1944
Caracciolo Class	Battlecruiser I	1922
Principe Amadeo Class	Battlecruiser II	1940
Conte Di Cavour Class	Battleship I	1922
Caio Duilio Class	Battleship II	1936
Littorio Class	Battleship III	1940
Impero Class	Battleship IV	1944
Regina Margherita Class	Super Heavy Battleship I	1936
Regina Elena Class	Super Heavy Battleship II	1944
Giusseppe Miraglia Class	Carrier I	1922
Falco Class	Carrier II	1936
Aquila Class	Carrier III	1940
Sparviero Class	Carrier IV	1944
Mameli Class Sirena Class (+2 all categories)	Submarine I	1922
Perla Class	Submarine II	1936
Marconi Class	Submarine III	1940
Pietro Calvi Class	Submarine IV	1944

Air force[edit]

Aircraft 1936
48 Close Air Support	300 Fighters	72 Naval Bombers	288 Tactical Bombers

Upgrading the interwar fighters and bombers to at least 1936 level is a priority for the air force, as is simply expanding the country's contingent of fighters to a size that can achieve air superiority over the home land and sea regions to fend off strategic bombing and port strike missions.(The Allies (AI) can easily send over 1000 bombers and fighters respectively to Italy.) If carriers are to be built, naval variants of fighters, naval bombers, and perhaps close air support will also be needed as a priority, otherwise the carriers are useless.

Light airframe list
Name	Type	Tech year	Carrier variant
Fiat CR.32	Interwar Fighter	1933
Macchi C.200 Saetta	Fighter I	1936	Macchi IC.200 Saetta
Macchi C.202 Folgore	Fighter II	1940	Macchi IC.202
Fiat G.55 Centauro	Fighter III	1944	Fiat G.55S Centauro
Reggiane Re.2007	Jet Fighter I	1945
Reggiane Re.2008	Jet Fighter II	1950
Breda Ba.65	CAS I	1936	Breda Ba.65bis
Breda Ba.88 Lince	CAS II	1940	Reggiane Re.2001G/H Falco II
Breda Ba.201	CAS III	1944	Breda Ba.201bis
Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 Sparviero	Naval Bomber I	1936	Savoia-Marchetti SM.79-II Sparviero
Savoia-Marchetti SM.84	Naval Bomber II	1940	Savoia-Marchetti SM.84-II
Savoia-Marchetti SM.89	Naval Bomber III	1944	Savoia-Marchetti SM.89-II

Medium airframe list
Name	Type	Tech year
Caproni Ca.101	Interwar Bomber	1933
Fiat BR.20 Cicogna	Tactical Bomber I	1936
Cant Z.1007bis Alcione	Tactical Bomber II	1940
Cant Z.1080 Leone	Tactical Bomber III	1944
(No name)	Jet Tactical Bomber I	1945
(No name)	Jet Tactical Bomber II	1950
IMAM Ro.57	Heavy Fighter I	1936
IMAM Ro.58	Heavy Fighter II	1940
Savoia-Marchetti SM.92	Heavy Fighter III	1944

Heavy airframe list
Name	Type	Techyear
Piaggio P.50	Stategic Bomber I	1936
Piaggio P.108	Strategic Bomber II	1940
Piaggio P.133	Stategic Bomber III	1944
(No name)	Jet Stategic Bomber I	1950

Military Staff[edit]

Italy's high command picks are an underwhelming lot, only the air force attracts any candidates above "Specialist" level with one exception for a Naval Expert in Military High Command. Army command tends towards the defensive, Navy command trends in the direction of capital ships, only the Air Force command picks exhibit a degree of intense specialization.

Chief of Army
Candidate	Type I	Type II	Effects + Conditions	Cost ()
Pietro Badoglio	Army Morale	(Specialist)	Division Recovery Rate: +4 %	150
Ugo Cavallero	Army Maneuver	(Specialist)	Division speed: +5 %	150
Emilio De Bono	Army Defense	(Specialist)	Division Defense: +5 %	150

Chief of Navy
Candidate	Type I	Type II	Effects + Conditions	Cost ()
Domenico Cavagnari	Commerce Raiding	(Specialist)	Convoy Raiding Efficiency: +10 %	150
Arturo Riccardi	Naval Aviation	(Specialist)	Naval Air Attacks from Carriers: +3 % Naval Air Targeting from Carriers: +3 % Naval Air Agility from Carriers: +4 %	150
Inigo Campioni	Decisive Battle	(Specialist)	Capital Ship Attack: +5 % Capital Ship Armor: +5 % Screen Attack: +5 % Screen Defense: +5 %	150

Chief of Airforce
Candidate	Type I	Type II	Effects + Conditions	Cost ()
Italo Balbo	All-Weather	(Expert)	Bad Weather Penalty: -20 %	150
Rino Corso Fougier	Air Combat Training	(Specialist)	Ace generation chance: +5 %	150
Francesco Pricolo	Air Reformer	(Expert)	Air Experience Gain: +10 %	150

Military High Command
Candidate	Type I	Type II	Effects + Conditions	Cost ()
Mario Roatta	Army Regrouping	(Specialist)	Division Recovery Rate: +4 %	150
Vittorio Ambrosio	Cavalry	(Specialist)	Motorized Attack: +5 % Motorized Defense: +5 % Cavalry Attack: +5 % Cavalry Defense: +5 % Mechanized Attack: +5 % Mechanized Defense: +5 %	150
Alfredo Guzzoni	Infantry	(Specialist)	Infantry Division Attack: +5 % Infantry Division Defense: +10 %	150
Ettore Muti	Tactical Bombing	(Expert)	Ground support: +15 %	150
Marziale Cerutti	Air Combat Training	(Expert)	Ace generation chance: +10 %	150
Silvio Scaroni	Bomber Interception	(Expert)	Interception attack: +3 % Interception defense: +3 % Interception agility: +3 %	150
Alberto da Zara	Anti-Submarine	(Specialist)	Submarine Detection: +10 %	150
Carlo Bergamini	Capital Ships	(Expert) Capital Ship Attack: +10 % Capital Ship Armor: +10 %	150
Luigi Mascherpa	Naval Air Defense	(Specialist)	Naval AA Attack: +8 %	150

Strategies and Guides[edit]

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Basic Strategy[edit]

Italy is an interesting country to play despite being the weakest of every starting Majors. It is unique in that it is the only nation that starts off at war with another nation in 1936, that being Ethiopia. Taking Ethiopia isn't a problem, but the war provides an easy early-game source of military experience for reformatting the Italian army divisions. Timing the end of the war is also important. End it too early and you likely will not be able to earn much experience for your generals and field marshals. End it too late and the war might just drain a large chunk of your manpower and/or equipment and the Spanish civil war might just start and end before you can finish the "Support Nationalist Spain" national focus. While the Ethiopian war and Spanish civil war is ongoing, build up your military and industry, you will need them later.

After Ethiopia, Italy can decide not only the fate of the Allies, but also the Axis. In order for Italy to disrupt Germany (If Italy is going the "Italy first" route), all Italy has to do in the beginning is to invade Austria before Anschluss and then attack Yugoslavia (causing Czechoslovakia to join as well) and then take Czechoslovakia after war with Yugoslavia. This can be difficult to pull off if Czechoslovakia fortifies, but successfully pulling it off will allow you to steal a lot of the low-hanging fruit that is normally meant for Germany, weakening them. Ironically, despite declaring war and making puppets from Austria, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia, this will still generate less world tension than what Germany can produce historically from taking aggressive action against said nations. From here, Italy can choose to expand is alliance by creating further puppets from Hungary, Romania and Turkey. One has to watch the world tension, however, as if it rises to 25% or higher, the allies (France and the UK) will start guaranteeing nations you target, which can easily lead to nasty war with both nations. A war with both the French and British at this stage is likely going to be too much for Italy to handle, even with skilled play, so be careful.

That being said, sometimes Italy can take refuge in audacity. If world tension is below 80% and France hasn't joined the Allies yet through a focus, Italy could complete the national focus "Go After France" (or justify a wargoal on a nation when world tension is over 25%, causing France to guarantee them) and strike them directly. France has a respectable military but Italy can relatively easily build up its own military to match them through superior units, though this might require stretching Italy's manpower pool somewhat. Be mindful, however, of the fact that France's military industry is horribly sloppy, at just 6 Military factories although, France's national focus tree can expand this quite a bit. If Italy builds up its military and industry (the faster the better), attacks France and manages to encircle and destroy enough units to cripple the French military, Italy could conceivably defeat France before 1940, allowing them to more than double their industrial potential if they annex France, or acquire a nice source of manpower if they puppet them.

From here, the path to supremacy lies open; Italy can either choose to strike at Germany or the United Kingdom and once those two are gone, the rest of Europe is within your reach. Only the Soviet Union could theoretically present a threat to you anymore and that will most likely only become a factor towards the late game. Conquer enough land and you might just find yourself surpassing even Mussolini's wildest dreams and be able to restore the Roman Empire.

Some suggestions regarding units[edit]

A solid, relatively simple strategy is to switch your military doctrine to "Superior Firepower" and place Support and Line Artillery (both Normal, Anti-Tank, and Anti-Air versions) in all of your divisions. Coupled with Fighters (for air supremacy), Close-Air-Support planes (to assist your ground divisions) and Field Hospitals (to conserve manpower, if resources permit) you should be able to both attack and defend against most enemy units without too much of a hassle. Once you can obtain a reliable source of fuel and enough factories to support it, you can also start fielding various kinds of Tanks (supported by Motorized/Mechanized Infantry) to further augment your breakthrough capabilities.

As for your naval units, Italy is a peninsular nation so maintaining naval supremacy in the Mediterranean will go a long way to protecting against possible naval invasions (something and AI-controlled Italy often falls victim to). In the early game, when naval dockyards are in limited supply, a decent early-game fleet would be a mixture of torpedo-equipped destroyers and gun-carrying light cruisers (both with added armor). These ships are decently powerful while also being decently expendable and replaceable. In theory, the light cruisers should engage and destroy enemy screening ships, allowing the destroyers to attack and destroy enemy capital ships once the screen ships are down. Once you acquire more naval dockyards, this combo can be further augmented with the addition of heavy cruisers for heavier ordnance. The Mediterranean sea is small enough that Naval Bombers operating from airfields in coastal states should have enough range to cover most sea zones, allowing you to support your navy. This also makes Aircraft Carrier battleships somewhat redundant early on.

To avoid issues with fuel, Italy could invest in building fuel silos in peacetime and importing Oil to fill them up. If you manage to puppet Romania or any other nation that has a decent Oil reserve, you can import Oil at a discount. Once war does break out and fuel becomes harder to import, this can be remedied by occupying and/or annexing states that produce Oil. Alternatively, if conquering Oil is not an available option, constructing synthetic fuel refineries can help address this. Just make sure to also protect these installations from enemy aggression as both fuel silos and oil refineries can be bombed by hostile planes and captured by enemy troops, so be careful.

A change of heart[edit]

Italy is uniquely versatile for a major power in that it can relatively freely decide what ideology to follow. None of the national focuses in Italy's focus tree require Italy to be of a given ideology and Italy has free access to all three political advisers (Democratic, Fascist and Communist), making it perfectly possible to switch ideology, join the appropriate faction and profit off of it.

Examples of this include: Turning Communist, allying the Soviet Union through the Comintern and then backstabbing Germany if they decide to carry out Operation Barbarossa and invade the Soviets. For extra effectiveness, Italy can also (once communist) boost communist party popularity in France until they flip to communism (since they start out with a significant communist minority and will likely gain more through events). This will cause France to not join the Allies and if Germany, attacks them, they will likely instead join the Comintern, granting you an additional ally to work with, at the expense of Germany.

Alternatively; Turning Democratic, joining the Allies, guaranteeing nations like Poland, Czechoslovakia etc... to hamstring Germany's expansion or trick them into a defensive war, defeat the Germans (for bonus points, let the Germans beat up the French and British a fair bit before you finish them off), puppet Germany or annex their territory to gain access to their industry and resources, then build up your military, leave the Allies and use your national focus tree to generate a war goal against France or Britain at your leisure, and attack and conquer them as well. Once you no longer need it, you can again switch ideologies to either fascism of communism and continue expanding from there.