Italian reinforcements

In the GDWS participation game for Carronade, 'Breakout from Zara', the Italians are inevitably the attackers. Having finished the Royal Yugoslav Army, I decided that the Italians need a bit more punch. Also, most of my Italian armour was painted for the Greece campaign and wasn't around in 1939.

First off a light tank, the M11/39. In 1939 it would be regarded as a breakthrough tank, although it was quickly superceded by the M13/40, so only 96 were built. It has a hull mounted 37mm light ATG because it wouldn't fit in the small turret, which instead has useful twin MMGs. The model is 3D printed from the Butlers Printed Models range. There is quite a lot of flash, but it peels off easily and in only two parts, it is a joy to assemble. I have painted all these models in the standard Italian dark green/grey colour for vehicles, plus some weathering.

No Italian army of the period would be complete without the L3/33 Tankette. You might think these were next to useless, but they can be quite effective with twin MGs in this early war period. This is another model from Butler's range.

Next up, something a bit different. The Fiat 3000 or L5/21 was the Italian produced version of the Renault FT-17 tank. Obsolete by the outbreak of WW2, 152 of them saw service. This one has a 37mm ATG. This is a resin model produced by Anyscale Models. A nice clean model that just needed a quick wash and a simple two-part assembly. They even insert the gun barrel, my frequent gripe with other firms.

Finally, Butler's do a 20mm Breda AA gun mounted on a Fiat truck. I added a Perry's driver. Virtually no flash at all on this model.

That should keep the Yugoslavs occupied. All that is left is some artillery, Bersaglieri and Blackshirts. Avanti!