Just getting into FI

[crsutt]

And it looks as if Italian squads do not break down. Is this correct?

[ChrisND]

They are actually already broken down. The Italian rifle squad is much larger than the squads of other nations - 20 men usually. So the "squads" you are seeing are actually the sub-squad elements. That section HQ is the squad leader.

ETA: and yes the groups cannot split down into teams.

[womble]

This is one of the key disadvantages of the Italians. Contrary to popular stereotype, their soldiers weren't craven spaghetti-eating surrender monkeys. Sub-par Regio Esercito performance was down to out of date equipment and doctrines. It's worth noting that infantry formations are still binary, rather than triangular, as more modern armies had moved to. No "two up, one back" for Italians.

[MikeyD]

CM:Shock Force the Syrian army couldn't split either. In CMFI it has a lot to do with the general lack of radios, NCOs and Sergeants. There is simply no means of C&C leaving a few soldiers on their own without supervision. Mussolini was not exactly a tactical genius. Whatever warfighting doctrine wasn't out of date had been altered to be counterproductive.

[phil stanbridge]

hehe Italian forces in CMFI are a nightmare and fun in equal measure.

[John Kettler]

MikeyD,

The Syrian Army's inability to split the squad is straight out of Soviet doctrine. The squad fights as a single entity, in its platoon, operating as part of the company, the smallest true maneuver element. The fundamental problem? No SL radio for dismounted operations; radios down to PL level only! See v here. See also 25-27, which cover the radios, nets and notes (p. 27) there is no ASL. It's a Cold War DIA pub.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/33890816/DIA-Soviet-Motorized-Rifle-Company

Regards,

John Kettler

[Wodin]

This is one of the key disadvantages of the Italians. Contrary to popular stereotype, their soldiers weren't craven spaghetti-eating surrender monkeys. Sub-par Regio Esercito performance was down to out of date equipment and doctrines. It's worth noting that infantry formations are still binary, rather than triangular, as more modern armies had moved to. No "two up, one back" for Italians.

+1 One book i read totally changed my view of the Italian soldier.A memior of his retreat in Russia, Few Returned: Diary of Twenty-eight Days on the Russian Front, Winter, 1942-43 by Eugenio Corti. A harrowing read and one of my favourite WW2 reads. He also wrote a superb wartime novel based on his and his families war experiences which is one of my all time favourite novels The Red Horse.

[crsutt]

Thanks for the tips. I am enjoying the Italians in my first email contest. They take some learning and really fall short when it comes to firepower. The half squads with the LMGs are precious and need to be used discretely.

[MikeyD]

The baddest dudes in the whole CM series are CMSF Marines. A huge squad compared to the 9-8-7 man squads of other modern forces (CM:Afghanistan Russians may get down to 6, I believe). Yes you can split the Marine squad but its tempting not to because the firepower they generate as a unit is so spectacular. This may not have much bearing on your poor Italians, though. Their rifles are terrible underperformers, and their light mg has been judged the worst machinegun fielded in WWII.

[Battlefront.com]

The Italian soldier gets a bad rap because they are vastly more pragmatic than other soldiers. "Hey, we've got no chance of winning this and now the enemy is right here on our soil, blowing the Hell out of our country and our government just surrendered without telling us what we should do. And why is it I should give up my life today?". I have more respect for that guy than some rabid zealot who fought all the way to the end thinking "oh, I'm sure this will get better tomorrow".

As for the original intent of this post, I think CMFI is one of the finest games Battlefront has ever made.

Steve

[Michael Emrys]

...I think CMFI is one of the finest games Battlefront has ever made.

I am inclined to agree. At any event, I like it.

Michael

[agusto]

I got CMFI last week and i love it

[Buzz]

The Italian soldier gets a bad rap because .........You got to know when to pragmatic or be a dead rabid zealot cause dead is dead. No "better tomorrow" n such.

"As for the original intent of this post, I think CMFI is one of the finest games Battlefront has ever made."

Steve

As of now.. Maybe? I am kicking the heck out of CMFI. I LIKE IT! Honestly I got more CM (with CMFI/ CMBN/CW v2.0 & now CMSF v1+ for MAC) than I can manage to play. Just this AM I consolidated >2 GB (over 300 ) Scenarios of CMSF!

Take your time to up the game(s) as most regular customers are over their heads with game play opportunities. Off to set some traps and bring in some tactical bacon for the New Year.

[crsutt]

Yes, I am slowly getting down the tactical nuances of the game and FI is indeed very enjoyable. This is my first email battle and I am feeling my way. I was just getting used to fighting in the Bocage and now the terrain is a bit more open. You have to be patient with Italian troops because they have such light firepower and use the half squads equipped with LMGS as fire support. I have one recon squad that has four SMG equipped men in it. It is pretty useful.

[Sublime]

MikeyD I gotta agree. The CMSF Marines are probably the baddest mofos as far as infantry squads in the CM universe. That grenade launcher is absolutely devastating. The beginnings of a Marine ambush when it goes from silence to all hell breaking loose at once is unmistakable.

As for the Italians they're tough to play with but you still have options - if they had fought Axis till 44 they would have really been in trouble, though it's doable against American stuff in the game, just a tough one - Overwhelming numbers are key. And you cant shoot it out, you gotta advance advance advance. The Brixia's are your killers. All those rifles and the lousy mg here and there are great, but the brixias do the killing. Target briefly is your friend to husband the ammo for the Brixias. Any on board arty? If you're defending I'd think seriously about getting it, attacking use it preplanned because it's ancient cannons on 9-11 minute delays.

The best Italian inf. formation QB wise is the Guastatori. They're like elite engineer troops but come with a lot of SMGs - 3 or 4 a squad I believe - and demo charges, etc. Tank wise the Italians have a great anti infantry tank in the R35. Only a two man crew but it has a nice little punch and canister. Unfortunately otherwise on armor your reduced to Semoventes. At least they can KO Shermans but their armor is very weak. The R41 (I think is it's name?) is the armored car you see on the stock loading screen sometimes. It looks like a bathtub on wheels with an MG and light cannon stuck on it. Anyway it's vulnerable as hell and the other armored cars, whose names I dont recall, are about equally as vulnerable as well. Lemon Hill illustrates this aptly. You really see why .50 cal HMGs were designed as anti tank weapons in this game, often leaving my armored cars in working order but with dead crews.

[womble]

Brixia's are your killers. All those rifles and the lousy mg here and there are great, but the brixias do the killing. Target briefly is your friend...

I'd like to throw in a recommendation for Target Light, too. 3 rounds per minute gives the little fellows 16 minutes of continuous fire.

[crsutt]

Yes, I have been wailing away with the brixias as I did not think they had much punch. I will try to be a little more patient with them. Question, since they were pretty much like a grenade launcher will they penetrate the roofs of buildings?

[womble]

I have seen Brixia bombs bring down a barn. Took almost all 48 rounds, including ranging and over- and under-shoots. I have seen Brixias kill troops in upper storeys by impacting on the eaves/lower roof of a brick building. I suspect you won't see a single Unit of Fire from any of the light mortars bring down a strong roof.

[Sublime]

Basically you have a chance if like Womble said they're on the upper floors. Dont count on it though. I wouldnt count on it even with a 81mm - they have a large blast but dont throw much metal around compared to an artillery shell. Mortars are skinned more lightly with metal than their artillery cousins.

Brixia's are best used against troops in the open, or even better around woods so shards of wood are thrown around as well. They're pretty friggin accurate, and either target light or briefly will allow you to take a good amount of troops with each one. Use them Direct Fire. Either way they'll really do the damage, even better if your riflemen pin your opponent's troops down and you can start dropping those grenades onto their heads.