Konflikt 47 italy

Konflikt '47 has mechs for the Allies and spider-tanks for the Germans, and Italy shouldn't be able to compete in that department just like they couldn't keep up with tanks. Instead, make their "heavy" option be a few fast-attack armored cars. Meanwhile, give them a hyper-mobile infantry unit to deal with enemy armor. Something like Titanfall's jet pack rodeo-ers but with a 40's Rocketeer vibe, Attack on Titan "grappling hook Spider-Man" (pic related), or some kind of long-legged exoskeleton for running fast and jumping high. In any case, their job is to rush in at high speed and slap a satchel charge on your expensive mech, like a land-based version of a MAS boat. Call them the "Mercury Brigade" to go with the Roman theme.

And then on top of those you'd have the aforementioned Roman legionary-themed armored infantry, which would be worse than actual power armor but more numerous while being better than regular infantry, and fast infantry mounted on motorcycles.

But mostly I just mean that for some generic Weird War II setting ideas, because where Italy's at depends entirely on your point of divergence. They could be on either side you want, or even be a shady third party faction that looks out for themselves.

You're supposed to use the shield.

just make everyone in italy marinetti

we know the armor isn't fucking realistic you retard, it's not real life

Definitely fits.

Also keep in mind that in addition to their obvious association with Grand Prix racing, the Italians were a major player in the Schneider Trophy races, the seaplane races that heavily influenced the designs of all the iconic World War II fighter planes like the Spitfire and Mustang.

Porco Rosso is another good reference for what the Italian national flair ought to be- mustaches, goggles, sputtering combustion engines and fast machines with lots of attractive lines.

Fav plane right here.

Italian aircraft design from that period is so fluffy and flavorful, if not always the most practical. Pretty much everything they flew had a vibe that the pilot should be wearing a scarf. That's why I think in a Weird War setting the Italians should steer clear of mechs or anti-gravity technology and just go for a dieselpunk type theme.

>italians
>roman

>POS that the Romanians of all people managed to make better

What were the italian scientists good at?
I only know of Marconi, so some remote controlled robots and vehicles?

Also neutron guns? They pioneered their study.

Any pulp hero from that period? They make a lot of fumetti.

What was the fascist idea of the perfect soldier, btw?

Ps: Dust has some French foreign legion units, maybe they got italians as well.

ROBOT RAVIOLI

MAMA MIA PASTA CANNON

ACID TOMATO SAUCE SHOOTER

ARRIVEDERCI

Aerodynamics. It seems ironic given that so many of Italy's early-war aircraft were radial-engined aerodynamic monstrosities, but that was a deliberate choice by the Italians for low cost and ease of maintenance. I mentioned Italy's contributions to the Schneider Trophy races before, and you can see the outcome in planes like the Macchi C.202.

But Caproni in particular was going all in on jet technology. Obviously they got outpaced later on but Italy and Caproni in particular was an early leader in jet aircraft development. Also note the pictured Stipa-Caproni, which while incredibly silly was also the first ducted fan aircraft...

...And could be imagined as having developed into ducted-fan VTOLs had they kept funding it...

Well, there's Enrico Fermi, who participated in the Manhattan Project if I recall correctly and is also the guy who came up with Fermi's Paradox ("if there are aliens, why can't we detect them?")

Insofar as the typical Italian soldiers, I know that Rommel commented that Italians made fine soldiers but terrible officers. Morale in the Italian army was pretty high, possibly thanks to the fact that Italian rations for their soldiers were much better than their German or Allied counterparts. Italian soldiers ate pasta and drank wine.

Mussolini himself was trained in the Alpini forces and actually saw real combat in World War I, unlike Hitler or any other Allied leaders (ironically, if WWII was instead a Battle Royale between faction leaders, then Mussolini and therefore Italy would have won hands-down). One of the interesting traits of the Alpini regiments is that their soldiers were required to always run or at least jog from place to place while on duty, not walk or march. Their cardio must have been great.

Finally, it's worth highlighting that the Italian perception of nationalism was very different from the German one. To an Italian Fascist, at least on paper, if you were an Italian citizen and worked for Italy, that was all that mattered - race was irrelevant. When WWII broke out Italy called up tens of thousands of Libyan native volunteers and formed Libyan regiments. The Libyan troops had native Italian officers, but otherwise were given identical training, equipment, and supplies as the native Italian troops, and were remarked upon by everyone (including Italy) as being some of the best troops that Italy fielded during the war. Basically, Italian Fascism was inclusive, rather than exclusive.

...Or continuing to be developed as an unconventional airplane.

I want to approve, but how can one work a bolt and hold a shield simultaneously?

Caproni designer Secondo Campini was also pretty significant for his "thermojet" motorjet designs. The Caproni Campini N.1 was, for all its faults, a jet aircraft flying in 1940.

You could combine the two ideas and have my "Mercury Brigade" soldiers jumping around with rickety Campini thermojets.

That doesn't really make for a cool infantry unit.
nazis have their ubermensh, soviets their genetic experiments... And we can't put super-frogmen everywhere, it will look ridiculous.

Any cool experimental weapon tech? They must have been working on something.

>put rifle in shield's crease
>operate rifle as usual

...Or combine the other concepts and make some ducted fan hover bikes/cars/tanks. Which would still naturally follow the "high speed fast attack" concept.

Not really. Italy spent most of the war lagging behind everyone else in tech...they REALLY fell victim to the old trope of perfecting how to win the last war.