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THEFUCILIERIPLATOON
The Italian Rifle Platoon of 1939 to 1941 was unique in its structure with just two large squads very clearly delineated into a firepower group under the sergeant and a manoeuvre group under the Corporal. This list is for EastAfrica and NorthAfricauptoJune1941.
LISTONE(CONTINUED)
EngineerDemolitionTeam,3men Adjutant Minefield BarbedWire Car,nocrew EntrenchmentsforoneTeam
PLATOONFORCERATING:
Regular:0 Green:5 ColonialMilitia:7
LISTFOUR
Cannone da 47/32 with 5 crew and Junior Leader
EngineerSectionwithJuniorLeader
CommandDice:5
PLATOONHEADQUARTERS
Tenente,SeniorLeader,withpistol
SQUADRAONEANDTWO
Sergente,superiorJuniorLeader,withrifle
LISTFIVE
ScoutSquadwithJuniorLeader M13/40withJuniorLeader AutoblindaAB41withJuniorLeader LISTSIX LanciaFiammeL3/LfwithJuniorLeader
Notes: Options in green may only be selected in East Africa. Options in Bold may only be selected inNorthAfrica. SuperiorJuniorLeadersmayuseaCommandDice rollof3or4toactivate,onceactivatedtheyhave twoCommandInitiatives. Most of the support options on the list will be selfexplanatory and their qualities covered by
RIFLEGROUP Caporale,JuniorLeader,withrifle Tenriflemen All regular Italian Army units should be rated as Regular. Units from Blackshirt or colonial militia formations should be rated as Green. Colonial formationshavejustfourCommandDice. ITALIANSUPPORTLIST
the National Arsenal Table. All tanks and armoured cars come with a Junior Leader. Transport only vehicles, such as the car are simply vehicles which come with no crew. Remember, you will need to allocate men to drivethese.
ITALIANNATIONALCHARACTERISTICS
SAVOIA!
The battle cry of the House of Savoy was the signal to hurl grenades and assault the enemy. To reflect this, when a Senior Leader attached to a Team or Squad uses two Command Initiatives, he may lead a charge against any enemy within 12 preceded by a hail of grenades. Roll 1D6, subtracting 1 if the enemy is in light cover, 2 if in hardcover.Onarollof1or2,onehandgrenade has hit the target unit; on 3 or 4, two grenades hit; on 5 or 6, three grenades hit the target. Roll for the effect of these and the Team or Squad may then move with up to 3D6 to try to initiative CloseCombat. GRUPPOMITRAGLIATORI It was Italian tactical doctrine that the Commandante di Squadra, the Squad Sergente, regulate the control of the machine gun group, in particular looking to provide fire support for his own manoeuvre element under the Caporale and theothersquad. To reflect this doctrine the Sergente can add one firepower dice to each of his MG teams when bothareactivatedbyhim tofireusingbothofhis Command Initiatives. To do this both MG Teams must be within his command radius, but do not needtobedeployedtogetherasanintactsquad.
SCOUTSQUAD
An Italian Scout squad is made up of one Junior Leader and twelve riflemen. A scout squad may movewith2D6andthenassumeaTacticalstance when activated by a Leader using two Command Initiatives.
FLAMETHROWERS
The M35 and M40 infantry flamethrower teams are two men strong. The Italian flamethrower hasamaximumrangeof6.Italianflamethrower tankshaveamaximumrangeof12.
BRIXIAM3545MMMORTAR
The Italian 45mm mortar is very accurate and as such adds +1 when firing at any target in line of sight. However, the mortar rounds have poor fragmentation and as a result do not reduce coverbyonelevel. The Italian 45mm mortar has H.E. and smoke rounds available. However, only three smoke roundsmaybefiredbyeachmortarinanygame.
TWINMACHINEGUNS
The twin machine guns on Italian AFVs fire with a firepower factor of 8 to represent the enhanced firepower.
THEITALIANARSENALTABLE
The Arsenal Table below covers Italian support options for the period 1940 to 1941. For infantry weapons and some armoured vehicle armament seeTableFour,theMasterArsenalTable.
ITALIANHANDGRENADES
Italian hand grenades depended on and impact the force of impactbased detonation system which proved unreliable in action. To reflect this theyrollwitha1tohittheirtarget.
AFVRADIOS
The Italians did not provide all of their AFVs with radio sets. As a result it is assumed that only a platoon commanders AFV would have a radio, and that for communicating with his company commander and not with other AFVs on the table. As a result, Italian AFVs may not use radio communicationsatthisstageinthewar.
ITALIANARSENALTABLE ARMOUREDVEHICLES
VEHICLE FiatAnsaldoL3/35 M11/39 M13/40 LanciaFiammeL3/Lf
Fiat611ArmouredCar
ARMOUR
2 4 5 3 2 2 2 3
A.P.
6 6 5 4
H.E.
TwinMG 4 3 Flame& MG 3 TwinMG TwinMG 6
SPEED
Average Slow Average Average Slow Wheeled Wheeled Wheeled Wheeled
NOTES
Nosecondaryarmament MGcoaxial.NohullMG NohullMG RearfiringhullMG RearfiringhullMG
ANTITANKWEAPONS
Cannoneda65/17
ANTITANKGUNS A.P.
3 6 4 4
H.E.
5 4 6 1
Cannoneda47/32
MitraglieraOerlikonda20mm SolothurnATrifle