The Royal Italian Army (Italian: Regio Esercito, lit. 'Royal Army') (RE) was the was the land force of the Kingdom of Italy, established with the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy in 1861. They are found the in Breakthrough expansion pack for the Allied Assault series, Medal of Honor: Vanguard and Medal of Honor: Airborne.
Medal of Honor: Allied Assault: Breakthrough[]
They are first fought in Kasserine Pass 1 were a single Italian soldier can be found. They reappear in the Bizerte Canal and Bizerte Harbor missions were they serve as secondary antagonists next to the Afrika Korps. They serve as the main antagonists the levels Sicily, Caltagirone and Gela until the date surpasses 1944 (Monte Cassino 1), when they surrender to Allies. They can be more challenging than the Germans at times and often serve alongside them.
Medal of Honor: Vanguard[]
They only appear in the first mission, Off Target. They share the same equipment as the Heer Infantry, but are slower, weaker and are not as dangerous as Germans. However, they will always come in large groups. These soldiers are actually Italian Blackshirts as indicated by the black shirts they wear.
Medal of Honor: Airborne[]
Italian Blackshirts make an appearance as enemies in the first half of the first mission Infinite Mischief. They were the paramilitary wing of the Italian National Fascist Party, before being transformed into an all-voluntary Militia in 1923. There are two different types, Soldatos & Vicecapos. The latter uses better weapons than the former, but the two are otherwise the same.
Soldatos[]
These soldiers make up the backbone of the Blackshirt forces. They appear wearing a black uniform and a black cap. They have just 90 health. Their primary weapon is a Karabiner 98 Kurz, and they also have Model 24 Stielhandgranate. They aren't particularly difficult foes due to the slow-firing nature of their weapons and low health. They tend to remain stationary, even when shot at, and don't change cover too often or efficiently. They are also incapable of using their grenades. However, if found in groups, they can be a threat if the player is not careful and are also able to use the MG42 Machine Guns. Soldato means 'Soldier', which meant that the Italians in this class are recruits or Privates.
Vicecapos[]
They are very similar to the normal Italian Blackshirts, however the main differences is that they wear helmets instead of caps and the wield MP40s, this makes them deadly on higher difficulty levels due to their automatic fire, particularly on the "hard" difficulty level, where there is no 'damage halt', the split-second invulnerability to damage when a player is shot. Their health is just as low as the normal Italian Blackshirts, meaning that one shot from a rifle or three from an automatic weapon will kill them. However, they can pose more of a threat compared to the Blackshirts, due to their automatic weaponry. The best way to kill these enemies is to flush them from cover using grenades, and shoot them with an automatic weapon while they are fleeing. If the player is using the Springfield, it's best to take distances and zoom in to get clearer shot in order to kill them.
Weapons[]
The Italians are well armed, but in Vanguard and Airborne, they are much more poorly trained and have poorer reactions in comparison to the Waffen-SS and Heer units encountered later in the games.
- M1934 Beretta
- Moschetto SMG
- Carcano M1891
- Breda M30
- Breda Mod. 38
- Bomba a Mano Handgrenade
- Breda.35 Smoke Grenade
- Modello 3 Anti-Tank weapon
- Cannone da 47/32
- MP40* (In Vanguard and Airborne)
- K98K Kurtz* (In Vanguard and Airborne)
- K98k Sniper* (In Breakthrough's multiplayer)
- MG42*
- Flakvierling* (In Breakthrough and Airborne)
- FlaK 88* (In Breakthrough)
- Panzerschreck* (In Breakthrough)
- Stielhandgranate 24* (In Vanguard and Airborne)
*Supplied by Germany
Vehicles[]
- SPA Dovunque 35
- AB 41
- Carro Armato P.40
- Macchi C.205 "Veltro"
- BMW R75*
- Opel Blitz*
- Kubelwagen*
- Sd.Kfz. 251*
- Panzer IV* (Maybe)
- Ju-87* (Maybe)
*Supplied by Germany
Uniforms[]
Trivia[]
- They are replaced by the Italian Blackshirts in Medal of Honor: Vanguard and Medal of Honor: Airborne.
- In Vanguard and Airborne, they use German weapons instead of their own. However, this is historically accurate because the Germans and the Italians were Allies, often sharing weapons and resources.
- Their uniforms in Breakthrough are wildly inaccurate for the most part.
- The XXI Corps uniform is an authentic Italian M41 Paratrooper uniform, however its appearance is still rather inaccurate as the XXI Corps surrendered in North Africa and therefore should not appear in Sicily, Caltagirone and Gela and the troops who appear in North Africa would not use that uniform and would instead use uniforms similar to the Paracadutista Militare model as it was better suited for the North African environment. The XXI Corps also did not have any paratroopers attached to it, instead it only had infantry, motorised and armoured units throughout it's service and only infantry units in 1943. They did fight in Bizerte which is accurate.
- The 202nd Coastal Division green uniform is a partly correct Sahariana m40 tropical uniform, but the jacket is way too short, missing its' bottom pockets and also impractically tucked inside the pants. The helmet is a British Brodie helmet, whereas in real-life italian soldiers with these uniforms would usually wear tropical helmets or tan M33 helmets or, as this is a coastal division, World War I Adrian helmets . The colour should also be tan not green as it is a tropical uniform. The 202nd Coastal Division also should not wear these tropical uniforms as they fought in Sicily, not North Africa so these troops should not appear in Kasserine Pass 1, Bizerte Canal and Bizerte Harbor. Even them appearing in the levels in Sicily is a stretch as they served in the West of Sicily, no wear near Caltagirone or Gela and should instead be replaced with the 4th Infantry Division "Livorno" as they fought in Northern Gela.
- The 114th Infantry uniform is the most baffling, since it's a British P37 battledress complete with British webbing and a incorrect post-WWII Italian flag on the left arm. Curiously the British soldiers in Breakthrough never wear this uniform themselves. The helmet is a U.S. M1 helmets, likely to mimic an Italian M33 helmet. The unit did not serve in either the North African or Sicily campaigns so should not appear in either of them. Interestingly, the unit did serve in the later part of the Allied invasion of Italy, however it was part of the Italian Co-belligerent Army who helped the allies liberate Italy and they were supplied by the Allies (mainly the British) so this would likely explain the P37 battledress.
- The Paracadutista Militare model was added later in a patch and never appears in any of the single player levels. It is exclusive to multiplayer-only.
- Their vehicles and heavy weapons in Breakthrough are also inaccurate for the most part.
- The Cannone da 47/32 is accurate as the Italians made and used many of these cannons.
- The Obice Da 75/18 Model 37 is also accurate, however the Italians are never seen using it in game, only the Germans use it.
- The SPA Dovunque 35 is an accurate Italian truck design and should replace most of the Opel Blitz trucks seen in use with the RE in the rest of Breakthrough as well as Airborne and Vanguard.
- The Autoblinda AB41 is mostly accurate however it is depicted with a main cannon rather than the more realistic a 20 mm Breda 35 autocannon and it's Breda Mod. 38 has very large aiming angles (almost 180°), which is inaccurate, because the armoured car is too small to allow that.
- The Macchi C.205 "Veltro" is somewhat accurate. It did serve in Sicily but should not be seen being worked on by German Mechanics and instead Italians ones. It's model is depicted with the flag of the National Republican Air Force, which was formed in September 1943, although it is seen in service with the Royal Italian Air Force on the 10th of July, 1943. The planes also should not be seen alone and should be seen along side other Italian plane types as well like the Macchi C.202 Folgore (which it often served with) and the Fiat CR.42 Falco (which was the most used Italian plane of the war)
- The Carro Armato P 26/40 is the strangest as it is anachronistic for when it appears and who uses it. The tank appears during the Allied invasion of Sicily in July 1943 however the first tanks of this types were finished in September 1943, well after the invasion and it is also seen in use with the Italians when in reality it was mostly used by the Germans. Most of the tanks also had didn't have engines and were used as static defences while the tanks are seen driving around in game. It should be replaced with Fiat 3000 (which served in Sicily at the time), the Renault R35 (which was the tank type that charged at Gela during the Battle) and the L6/40 tank (which was also used in the defence of Sicily).
- The rest of the vehicles are German and while they did use some German equipment, they used more of there own vehicles than they used lend-leased ones.
- While most accounts of the war portrays the Italians as the weak link of the Axis or "Larry of the Three Stooges"; in actuality they had made considerable contributions to the Axis. General Rommel was remembered for his saying "The German solider has impressed the world, and the Italian soldier has impressed the Germans".