• I read alot about Italian “can openers” on the east front.Which units do you use?There are’nt many fast units available and where do they typically start can opening?If I’m Germany I don’t want to have to wait till rd 3 or 4 for enough Italian units to get up to the front line.

  • '16 '15 '10

    Italy starts with some mechs and tanks.  You can buy some more in the first few rounds that can be used during the 4th, 5th, and 6th rounds.


  • So  Italys 1st buy should be 1tank 1 mech and perhaps I need to commit Italys airforce to can opening?


  • Yes, that is correct. If you want to use Italy as can opener, you must buy a ton of Mechs as fodder and use Your airforce as hammer


  • There’s so much Italy could do if only it did’nt have such a pitiful starting income.I think the mistake I make is that usually scramble against taranto and I buy inf/art to counter possible UK/US landings.


  • To can-open is to kill a stack so that your ally can blitz through and attack what is behind. One example, If the german and italians are in rostov, there is two paths to moscow. If the main russian army is in Bryansk and the russian has 2 infs in Tambov. Then the italians can use 2 mechs, 1 tank to try to kill those two infs. If they die, then all of the german mechs can take moscow and get the ussr income. Germany has to be careful when doing this, so that they dont lose their entire army by splitting it.

    That is the general idea of can-opening. So, What units to use? Answer: Any unit you can get there. And this is why most canopening forces are mechs+tanks. However, there is one trick the axis can use. Germany can take Yugoslavia on G1, then italy can do a noncobat move into Bulgaria. This way you have 4 extra landunits for canopening. In this way it is very easy for italy to get a force where they have 4 inf, 2 mech 2 tanks and 2+ planes.


  • The problem with letting italy take bulgaria is that the uk will sometimes take greece with two units.  So, you have a stack of 6 units that cant be effectively countered for at least two rounds if uk smashed 2 italy trans. during uk1.  This costs Italy the NO for at least 1 or 2 rounds.  Germany may also have to divert forces to deal with this.

  • Disciplinary Group Banned

    Where the heck did that terminology came from (can opener)???


  • WW2. Its an Italian opening a can of beans for you.

  • Disciplinary Group Banned

    In that case it should of been called the blaster as in blast through. The can opener has to go.  :lol: :lol: :lol:

  • '21 '20 '18 '17

    it is bc it opens the door for a german blitz.

    key trick isnt the infantry thing thats too slow.  daves move is to grab the tank off africa to add another one, and use the yugoslavia retreat trick with both germany and italy in sucession

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