Morning Knp.
The Italians had no inclination to fight the British and even less the Americans, when they joined the war.
There was also a massive class divide between Officers and the enlisted man. This made morale very low and did not help create a fighting force. Italians were happy to be left alone.
The Italian army was also a foot one. Hardly any units were motorised and that would prove a problem in the vast expanses of desert and the seesaw nature of the campaign.
The British were lucky when they attacked in Dec of 1940 as they had only had limited objectives. The advance was so uncontested, that they kept going until they had Benghazi and Tobruk.
Being Italian, I love to laugh at my WW2 army’s dismal performances and unwillingness to throw their lives away for someone else’s glory.
When the Italians switched sides, however, things got very bloody as civil war broke out amongst the Fascists and Communists. Many Italians proved they were not afraid of dying once they had a real cause and future in which they believed.
My dad’s dad was in Africa, Russia and later ran and hid from the Fascists in Tuscany.
Rules question…
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Someone suggested to me over the weekend, played our first game, Axis lost (Horrible dice rolls for all Axis players), that as Japan I should have taken out the US transport in Hawaii with one of my Bombers from mainland Japan.
Makes sense as I was attacking the Phillipines anyways, but wouldn’t the bomber have to fight off all the scrambled Hawaii fighters before it could destroy the transport?
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Yes. The rule is - Fighters and/or tactical bombers may “scramble” to join the battle in an adjacent sea zone to defend the transport (or others ships). The island must have an airbase for the planes to scramble.
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Use a sub, scrambled planes can’t hit you without a Destroyer.
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Yes, one sub can reach it and that one should be moved there. Combine it with a massive move to Carolines and from there you can pick Hawaii, most ANZAC territories, most of DEI, Phillipines, etc.