Editing Fascist Italian Equipment (section)

===Vehicles===
====Tanks====
Now, the previous entries might give the impression that while Italian weaponry was full of issues, there were some excellent pieces of equipment that would stand the test of time. That is NOT the case with Italian armour. Saying that every Italian tank was rusty old garbage wouldn’t even be much of a stretch. Of course, this was thanks to a number of factors that the designers and manufacturers of these vehicles couldn’t control, not just a lack of resources. See back in the interwar period, Italy never really showed much interest in tanks (the opposite was true in WWI, but France couldn’t afford to send them any at the time and their local models were sub-par). After all, Italy was, and is, not good tank country. Its heartland is rugged and mountainous, as opposed to the wide open fields of central Europe, and so Italy was inclined to specialize in mountain warfare, not armored warfare. Any armoured warfare would have to fit into the overall idea of mountain warfare, which is why the AB40, L6/40, and the M11/39 were built so lightly: they were intended to be armored support to mountain infantry. 

Another important aspect was that prior to WWII, tanks were a relatively unproven concept. They were slow, easy targets for artillery, and the rise of antitank rifles made many nations, not just Italy, cautious about investing too much into them. The land battleship concepts and the like would largely reinforce these beliefs. This also explains the Italian armored car program: they would be too speedy to get hit by artillery except in direct fire, could relay recon to friendly troops, and provide fire support when needed to infantry forces, with the enemy infantry hopefully not equipped with anti-tank weapons.  

When Mussolini took over, his obsession with military dominance caused him to push armoured vehicles hard, resulting in Italian designers dismantling imported designs to see how they worked. Ultimately, Italy simply did not have the time or resources to play catch-up with the rest of the world. Every time the Italian tank development teams put together something ‘modern’ it had already been made outdated by recent Allied tanks. Resource shortages also forced designs to stay in the ‘light tank’ range with only one exception, which we’ll get to below. The most infamous aspect of Italian armour was that most vehicles were either riveted or bolted. This meant that if and when the armour was dented, these connecting pieces tended to break off and turn into splinters, injuring or even killing the crew. This meant high casualties and very few veteran crews. 

[[File:L3-33--35--38.jpg|200px|thumb|right|Behold! The armoured workhorse of the mighty Italian Army!]]

*'''''L3/33-35''''':  Essentially an armoured go-kart. The primary armoured vehicle of the Italian Army, this little thing was produced in such massive quantities that many were sold to other countries including Spain and Finland. An overall reliable and speedy little bugger, it was also surprisingly adaptable, with variants produced that mounted flamethrowers and Solothurn antitank rifles, along with another version modified to serve as an artillery tractor. Unfortunately, it had about as much armour as a wet paper bag and was so cramped that the gunner would often sit on top of the tank to give the driver some elbow room. Has gained a bit of a following amongst Italian wargamers (that is to say those that play Italians, not Italian players) in the same way as the [[UrbanMech|Urbanmech]] of [[BattleTech|Battletech]] fame. That is to say, it's a small, short underdog of a vehicle that excels in the niche conditions it was designed for but lacklustre in the situations it finds itself in by the nature of the game. I mean, look at this thing! It’s adorable!

[[File:L6-40.gif|200px|thumb|left|]]

*'''''L6/40''''': An attempt to replace the old FIAT 3000 used by Italy since 1921, it was stupidly outdated by the time it entered service, but was used up to the battle of Sicily. To make matters even worse the tank was originally designed with reconnaissance in mind (in fact it was quite short to help with this) but due to a lack of vehicles it was instead pushed into [[FAIL|the role of primary battle tank on the Eastern Front against T-34s.]] This went about as well as you'd expect.

[[File:M11-39 tank.jpeg|200px|thumb|right|Diet M3 Lee]]

*'''''M11/39''''': Italy’s first attempt at a modern tank design, this model did not last long, as one might expect from just looking at it. Just like the similarly shaped M3 Lee it was tall, bulky and had its primary cannon mounted in the hull, giving it a limited firing arc compared to turreted tanks. When you consider it was primarily designed for a breakthrough role, this is kinda nuts. Unlike the Lee, however, its turret was equipped with machine guns instead of a smaller cannon, had bolted armour and oh! It wasn’t a medium tank at all! Yeah, despite the M standing for medium Italy decided to base their tank sizes on roles, not weight. This means that all tanks with the M moniker produced in Italy during WWII were actually all light tanks. Thankfully, they weren’t around for long. Unfortunately, they were replaced with…

[[File:M14-40--41--42.jpg|200px|thumb|left|]]

*'''''M13/40-41-42''''': Considered the ‘primary’ Italian tank of the war, the 40 was the first actual modern tank design from the Italians. Not that it was any good, of course. Basically, take the main gun of the M11/39 and put it IN THE TURRET and put the machine guns in the hull! Beyond the armour and firepower issue mentioned above, the tank was also one of the first to use diesel engines. This allowed the tank to run for longer periods of time and meant it was less likely to explode when hit, but in the earliest models it would fill the vehicle with smoke [[Fail|forcing its crew to open up all the doors in the middle of combat in order to even see what was happening.]] This was quickly fixed though, and following models were more akin to Germany’s variants then full-on new vehicles. 

[[File:P26-40.jpg|250px|thumb|right|The Italian Panther]]

*'''''P26/40''''': Believe it or not this tank actually entered the initial stages of development back in 1940, but design issues pushed its debut all the way back to late 1943. Most of this revolved around the designers wanting a traditional petrol engine while the Italian Army wanted a diesel, which granted was better but untested at the time. It didn’t help that Italy didn’t have any ground-based engines powerful enough to drive this 26-ton tank, and unlike the Allies they refused to use repurposed aircraft engines. Requested by Mussolini himself, the P26/40 was inspired by Germany's heavier tanks, but the whole thing had to be redesigned in 1941 by encounters with the T-34 and then its later variants. What resulted from all this was Italy’s only medium tank, which in regards to its performance was surprisingly effective. While not exactly a ‘good’ tank, the P26 had a pretty decent gun, slow but very reliable mechanics and an interesting dual armour system that combined wielded and riveted structures to make it the most durable of the Italian armoured vehicles. Despite this it still couldn’t stand up to late war heavy gun,  but could take a hit or two from a Sherman. Despite being without a doubt the best Italian tank of the war, the design was in the final stage of prototyping before the Armistice of 1943, though five of these prototypes were actually in Rome when this all went down and were used by the defending Italians during the fall of the city. It would see production by the RSI under German watch, with the Nazis receiving and using so many that it's falsely believed to have been used by the German forces exclusively! Turns out it was somewhat popular as it was much more reliable than the heavier late-war German tanks like the Tiger and the Panther, though there was a lot of criticism at its cramped two-person turret.

====Tank Destroyers/Assault Guns====
Turns out while Italian tanks were mostly garbage their tank destroyers were surprisingly effective, which sort of makes sense when you consider that tank destroyers were often used as budget tanks. Most of Italy’s larger guns were reserved for their tank destroyers and while their variety was limited, each one performed remarkably well. 

[[File:Semovente da 47-32.webp|200px|thumb|left|]]

*'''''Semovente da 47/32''''': Okay, maybe not ALL their tank destroyers were effective.  The 47/32 was based on the L6/40 chassis, though the design was up-gunned with an Elefantino and had some extra armour bolted on. In fact, it was the [[What|most heavily armoured Italian vehicle that fought on the Eastern Front.]] While the Elefantino could arguably be effective as an infantry support weapon in the early war, as a dedicated antitank cannon? Yeah, this thing was pinging off T-34s the moment it entered service. 

[[File:Semovente da 75-18.jpg|200px|thumb|right|]]

*'''''Semovente da 75/18''''': Since the P26/40 was seeing setback after setback, it was decided that there had to be an interim vehicle to support the outclassed M13 series. While inspired by the StuG III, it was instead used as short ranged artillery support weapon until the increasing usage of medium tanks forced their use in close quarters as tank destroyers. Despite not being the original purpose of the design, its 75mm cannon and HEAT ammunition proved devastating to the Shermans and Lees it came across. While using the same bolted armour as the M13, its smaller silhouette and extra armour increased its survivability. While not produced in huge numbers they were far from uncommon and ultimately went down in history as [[Awesome|the one Italian vehicle the Allies feared.]] Since most Allied heavy tanks were kept for the Western Front, the 75/18 stayed effective throughout the whole war. 


[[File:Semovente da 75-34.jpg|200px|thumb|left|75/18 version 1.01]]

*'''''Semovente da 75/34''''': Not much to say about this one. It’s pretty much the M13/42 chassis Semovente 75/18 but with a longer-barreled gun, most likely to provide the same punch without the reliance on HEAT ammunition. The only real change was the front armour being made from a single plate instead of having an extra plate bolted onto to the M13s standard. Some were used during the defence of Rome, but the design was mostly used by the RSI and Germany. 

[[File:Semovente da 105-25.jpg|200px|thumb|right|]]

*'''''Semovente da 105/25''''':  Originally conceived as a self-propelled gun made from the P26/40 chassis, the ongoing development of the base model and the success of the 75/18 ultimately saw the M13/42 chassis taking on this 105mm monster of a gun. Despite its size and power the vehicle remained enclosed with little issue and the gun was able to obliterate anything it aimed at. The gun was even repurposed for defensive bunkers in the Vallo Alpino line. Just like above, some were used during the defence of Rome but most saw action with the RSI and Germans. 

[[File:Semovente da 90-53.webp|250px|thumb|left|The Italian glass cannon. Probably would have made it out of glass if they could get away with it…]]

*'''''Semovente da 90/53''''':  When the inability of Italian armour to so much as scratch the T-34s and KV-2s on the Eastern Front became apparent, the Italian army put out a call for a vehicle dedicated to raw firepower. At the time, the Cannone da 90/53 seen above was the only practical choice, though sacrifices had to be made to the eventual design. The armour was paper-thin (seen as a non-issue with the guns range), and the vehicle had both an open top and rear. Probably the worst issue was ammunition. The vehicle itself only had space for eight rounds, although a ‘novel’ solution was found. A number of old outdated L6/40 tanks were transformed into ammunition carriers following these 90/53s while also dragging along additional ammunition carriages. Few were made since most Cannone da 90/53s were needed for air defence. While seeing action in North Africa and Sicily, they [[What|never saw action on the Eastern Front.]]