Screenshots from the Sicily front

[Rico]

Some screenshots from my war photgrapher attached to my US armored task force in a CMFI battle vs Italian commander Mad Mike...

An American halftrack ambushed by Italian SP guns burns fiercely on the mountain road -- while in the distance the objective, Villa Castelletti, is hammered by artillery.

On the right flank, American mortars and a T-30 assault gun halftrack pound Italian light mortar positions -- just visible by the puffs of smoke amongst the trees on the rise on the other side of the valley.

A group of Italian infantry is spotted amongst a grove of olive trees and mercilessly raked by Sherman 75mm gun and .50 calibre MG's...

The result of their handiwork ... Italian dead and wounded litter ground beneath the trees.

 

[Lighthorse]

For anti-infantry work, can't beat the Sherman.

 

[Mad Mike]

For anti-infantry work, can't beat the Sherman.

You might want to rephrase that:

"For some decent infantry slaughter, can't beat the Sherman"

(So far: I have the Italian secret weapon, the 45mm Brixia mortar, working on it. )

 

[Mad Mike]

Btw, I'm planning on posterising some of Ricos losses .. just waiting for the first Sherman to burn .

 

[Rico]

You know how it is with those propaganda boys when they get carried away

 

[Lighthorse]

(So far: I have the Italian secret weapon, the 45mm Brixia mortar, working on it. )

Agreed, the Italian's, the 45mm Brixia mortar is equal to American's 60 mm mortar, but with 50% more ammo. Its main problem is no radio communication, thus it needs to be LOS or spotter be within 50m of it.

 

[Mad Mike]

Not exactly a burning Sherman, but the American Infantry has finally recognised the Italian superiority and is surrendering in significant numbers:

Only the American commander is still entertaining the hope that he can somehow win this battle.

Colonel Rico, I am ready to accept your surrender anytime it pleases you .

 

[Rico]

If I run out of ammo before you run out of Italians, I'll happily surrender

 

[Mad Mike]

If anybody ever wondered how this battle ended:

Bloody .. very bloody for my Italians. I didn't bring enough AT capability and Rico butchered my infantry. Still, given the disparity between these two forces, I'm still satisfied with the result:


And Rico has earned the "honorary" title of "The butcher of Castelletti"

 

[Rico]

Yeah ... the result was fair reflection ... I didn't bring enough infantry and the Italians had a very heavily built villa complex that my 75mm arty, mortars and tank HE fire could not make enough impact on, so could never really storm it against very determined enemy garrison ... it had to end as US HE ammo ran out ... interesting fight though ... those hordes of little Italian ixia mortars were a real pain at some point... and bloody hard to spot.

 

[Unknown]

Thank you for sharing the battle and for the funny comments! Just great!

 

[womble]

Bloody .. very bloody for my Italians. I didn't bring enough AT capability...

I'm not sure you can bring enough AT capability as the Italians. Their ATGs are popguns, there are no medium tanks on the island (not that they're much better, but at least they could maneuver for a flank shot on Shermans). You're limited to TDs that are either firing low velocity short range 75mm or are sitting ducks for arty and 60mm mortars.

...given the disparity between these two forces, I'm still satisfied with the result:

I think that's a good result for any pure Italian force against an armoured US attack.

 

[Cargol]

I'm not sure you can bring enough AT capability as the Italians. Their ATGs are popguns, there are no medium tanks on the island (not that they're much better, but at least they could maneuver for a flank shot on Shermans). You're limited to TDs that are either firing low velocity short range 75mm or are sitting ducks for arty and 60mm mortars.



I think that's a good result for any pure Italian force against an armoured US attack.

Semovente with the 75 mm Gun can take out a Sherman with a flank shot easily, and can cause serious damage to a Sherman even in a H2H encounter.
I ve played a couple of times with the Italians and they can be dangerous if handled good and having in mind that their infantry squad somehow lacks in firepower compared with their American counterparts .

 

[womble]

You're still maneuvering to get flank shots, preferably at short range because of the low velocity gun. Against a fast tank with a fast-traversing turret that can kill you from any aspect. Yes, Italians can kill Shermans, but it takes a lot of work and not a little luck. Well-sited 47/32s could be as effective in many situations, and forget about pressing an attack.

The infantry squad firepower disparity is at its most acute when there are buildings involved, I think. .30-06 and 7.92mm steel jacketed slugs blow through light walls, whereas the 6mm rifle cartridge of the Italians seems not to. The squads I've seen seem to have fewer automatic weapons and of course there's the bolt-action/semi-auto mismatch, which isn't made up for by the Breda 8mm, IME so far (the Germans have the MG42 which is better than the Breda and more SMGs which does even the firepower odds somewhat with the Amis).