Bersaglieri Platoon

A Bersaglieri Platoon is a unit in Flames of War and a specialist portion of the Italian military that traces its roots back over 100 years. They are some of the toughest motherfuckers in the Italian army, earning the praise of US Rangers at the time and having the finest drip of any army in the entire war.

IRL

The Bersaglieri were first founded in 1836 by the Sardinians as a poor man's cavalry, providing manuever troops that would move ahead of the line regiments. These troops were trained to have superior marksmanship, discipline, esprit de corps, and physical standards. Bersaglieri are a proud Italian military tradition that served in the Unification Wars, as expeditionary troops in the Crimean war, and World War One. The feathers that the troops wore then and today once served a practical purpose of camoflage and shade for the marksman to more easily acquire targets. The Bersaglieri evolved in concept to become mechanized warfare and mobile warfare troops. Especially in World War I, where they served as bicycle troops. In the cold war and into the modern day they have evolved into mechanized troops.

Prior to World War II, the Generals of the Italian army resisted demands to lower physical standards for recruits. Clearly this decision payed off, as the Bersaglieri are utterly insane. The Bersaglieri often distinguished themselves in bitter defensive and rearguard actions, regularly earning the respect of the Germans who generally saw the rest of their allies to be substandard, with special note being at Battleaxe and Kasserine Pass. They also got to wear those dashing plumes on their heads like the absolute legends they were.

Bersaglieri rifle platoons were organized in groups of 35 men; 1 Lieutenant, an orderly, with each squad having a Sergeant, 2 corporals and 8 privates. The officers would have SMGs, and the enlisted would have Carcanos. 2 Bredas would be available for anyone unlucky enough to be assigned them. The Sergeant and corporals used M38 Smgs and the the Privates would use Carcanos

Bersaglieri MG platoons were organized into groups of 32 men; 1 Lieutenant, and orderly, with each squad having a Sergeant, 2 corporal machine gunners, 2 Private machine gunners, 2 Private loaders, and 3 Private Ammo Bearers, mostly built around the Breda M37 HMG. Everyone in the platoon would have Beretta pistols, save the orderly who had a rifle.

• The Carcano is by far one of the worst rifles of the war, chambered in an old round that was kinda outdated by WWI. While not nearly as offensively terrible as made out to be, it certainly isn't very good.
• The Breda was fucking shit. Simple as.
• The M37 was horrible, being fed by a 20 bullet feed strip. The Japanese may have been suicide charging automatic weapons, but at least they knew how to build a decent belt fed machine gun.
• The M38 was a fantastic Submachinegun that was used by Romania, Germany, Argentina, and often taken as war loot. It had a trigger for firing tracing shots and a second one for firing auto, similar to the MG34.

...And in spite of these limiting factors, the Bersaglieri still were kicking ass and taking names. It really goes to show that if you give someone a shit weapon but teach them how to use it well, you have a veritable army of gigachads. Huh, that sounds familiar...

Italian Forces in Flames of War
Tanks:	Renault R-35 - P-26/40 - L6/40 - M14/41
Transports:
Infantry:	Italian Parachutist Platoon - Italian Assault Engineer Platoon - Bersaglieri Platoon - Parachutist MG Platoon - Bersaglieri MG Platoon
Artillery:	Parachutist Mortar Platoon - Bersaglieri Mortar Platoon - 47mm Anti-tank - 100mm Howitzer - 88mm Anti-tank
Tank Destroyers and Assault guns:	Semovente 90mm Assault Gun - Semovente 75mm Assault Gun - Semovente Assault Gun
Armored Cars:	AB41 Platoon
Aircraft:	CR.42
Anti-Aircraft:	Lancia 90mm