Where are the 1:18 Italians?

[dandaman]

You know what 21st Century should put out next for their 1:18 XD line?

World War 2 Italians.

Wouldn't that be the greatest? Think of the helmet and those cool looking machine guns (one of the current DAK guys has one).

There could be an officer too. With pistol. Oh, and don't forget the paint schemes. That grey-green(?) and the tan. You have to have the tan.

On top of that, they should put out some "chaser" figures, like a Black Brigade RSI soldier. Black cap, black shirt, and tan pants.

Which brings me back to the regular infantry Italians. There was a blackshirt brigade in Africa right? Black and tan with pith helmet. The possibilities are endless.

Oh, and I would rather have these over Russians. I would buy up every single figure I saw. I'm not kidding.

[tankduel]

You'd only need one pose 'surrendering'

[tosborne3]

You'd only need one pose 'surrendering'

Thats beautiful.

[Quixote511]

Heck--they've surrendered already.

[warhawker]

21st would have a hard time keeping track of which side they were on. They would just keep switching sides!

[aferguson]

my Italian grandfather is turning over in his grave.

Italian paratroopers were among the elite of the elite and often outclassed even the fallschirmjager. Italian frogmen were among the bravest and most sophisticated in the world at the time, conducting many daring missions that put even the british to shame. Italian torpedo bomber squadrons in north africa were noted for their courage under fire, always pressing home the attack.

The problem with the italians was not their courage, it was that the average soldier's heart wasn't in the war. Mussolini kept throwing them into situations with inadequate equipment and poor planning...so units often capitulated easily. Under similar circumstances anyone probably would. They weren't ardent nazis and most of them could care less about fascism or the war.

The italians did have a lot of cool equipment though. And paras and regular soldiers would be most welcome, but very unlikely we'll see them. One of the best fighters of the war, and widely regarded as the most beautiful fighter plane of the war, the Reggiane 2005 first flew in mid '43 and was easily a match for both the Mustang and Spitfire. And you all know how i feel about the Macchi 202/205 series. Bella! The SM-79 was one of the best torpedo planes of the war and also performed well in many other roles.

Let's not forget the Italians are descended from the Romans, who were world conquerers. It was all a matter of bad preperation, very poor leadership at the top and for the most part, low moral.

Go tell some mafia dude that the Italians are cowards.......see what he has to say on the matter.

BTW i never had an Italian grandfather, but if i did, he would be turning over in his grave.

[King O' Fools]

That's a great idea for 21st! They could come up with the first ever one-man opposing forces dual pack, possibly with a spring-loaded mechanism for automatically raising his hands in the air at the sight of the enemy!

Maybe Captain Alberto Bertorelli in his dashing bersaglieri uniform?

In fact, the whole set of characters from the BBC TV series 'Allo 'Allo! would be great to have in 1:18. Ok, maybe not, unless you've watched it, which may or may not be the case over there, in the land of the great PX.

Come to think of it, this offers great potential for French forces as well, now that we're trotting out those national stereotypes for some good old-fashioned schadenfreude... Hmmm, love ze complicated German words like "schadenfreude".

[Panzer_M]

Capitano Antonio Corelli also.

The Problem with the Italian army was as stated inadequate equipment and poor planning by the general staff.

Added German disdain for them as a fighting force in Russia and North Africa.

But the Italians had some good weapons

CR-42 Fighter/Bomber..even used by the Luftaffe after Italian Surrender.
The Italian assault guns based on the M14 series of tanks did well.
The Beretta 38 SMG was a good design and used by the germans also
And one of the best Navies in the world, just not the heart to risk it in combat.

The Reggia Aeronautica(sp) Airforce also assisted the luftwaffe in France with the battle of Britian

[King O' Fools]

The problem with the italians was not their courage, it was that the average soldier's heart wasn't in the war. Mussolini kept throwing them into situations with inadequate equipment and poor planning...so units often capitulated easily. Under similar circumstances anyone probably would. They weren't ardent nazis and most of them could care less about fascism or the war.

Indeed. It would seem that members of the Giovanni Fascisti division (more like an overstretch of the Italian imagination, considering their strength) acquitted themselves honorably during the North Africa campaign, as did the Folgore "paracadutisti":

The heroic behavior of the division Folgore during the Second battle of El Alamein, it resisted the attack of six British divisions, two armored and four infantry, thus provoking the respect and the admiration of the English enemies. The Folgore Parachute Division had already proved its worth when, at the end of September, they gave very short shrift to a local attack by the British 31st Infantry Brigade.

On 11 November of 1942 in fact, the battle by now concluded London Radio transmitted the famous official notice:

The rests of the Folgore division have resisted beyond every limit of the human possibilities

—London radio

From El Alamein the Folgore was withdrawn without being defeated on 3 November 1942, without water and transporting to arms own pieces tank destroyer. The survivors were reorganized into the 185th Folgore Parachute Battalion. To 14:35 of Day 6, after having exhausted all its ammunition, the remainder of the Division surrendered, but without having to show a white flag and without having to to raise their hands while surrendering to the British.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/185th_Para ... on_Folgore

Additional info on the Folgore: http://www.ww2f.com/north-africa-medite ... lgore.html

The Giovanni Fascisti even made to Merit International's 1:6 scale catalogue: 1/6 Black Shirt Giovani Fascisti Division "Mario"

Contrary to popular belief, the "Giovani Fascisti" (Young Fascists, or GGFF) were not part of the MVSN (Fascist Militia), but were instead a Regular Army unit whose members had been recruited from the GUF (Gioventu' Universitaria Fascista) - which was however, a Fascist Party sponsored organization however.
Updated 2-28-08

Source: http://www.merit-intl.com/merit/main.html

Which is BTW why it's rather doubtful that members of this unit ever sported a black shirt.

[olifant]

I am with you guys on individual moments of valor, but lets face it, the Italians had a poor showing wherever they fought. Bogged down in Greece and disgraced in Afrika, shot up over England, embarrassed in the Mediteranean seas and even under much improved OKW leadership folded like a lawnchair in Russia.

And my Father is half Italian!

[dandaman]

You guys are dismissing a great idea!

So what would you rather have then? More WW2 Germans? More US Vietnam troops?

You say you want WW2 Russians. Ok, I'll admit those would be cool. But please don't encourage 21st Century to make British. Gawd. Peg warmers for sure.

Other than WW2 Italians and Russians, that's all I can imagine that would sell well. Minor countries wouldn't cut it. You probably won't see Fins, Hungarians, or Czech troops. You might see Polish...but still highly unlikely.

[Jesse James]

I'd not dismiss Italians, but there's a wealth of nationalities I'd rather see...

-French Resistance
-British Infantry
-Canadian Infantry (repaint variations on the Brits)
-British Commandoes
-British Red Devils
-British Armor/Crews
-Russians Warm Weather
-Russians Cold Weather
-Russian Female/Male Snipers
-New Cold Weather U.S. and German figures
-USAAF, RAF, Luftwaffe Ground Crews
-More DAK variations (shorts especially)
-N. Africa British & Americans
-French Infantry (Blitzkrieg defense)

Italians fall in there somewhere around the French, and with basically everything else listed above them in terms of "importance" to me. And yes, that includes more Germans... I want German infantry in winter white duds to go with my current winter Germans, and I'd take more Winter U.S. troops as well... The bulk of the removable coats is a little much, and while they're neat filler I'd love to see new articulation style for a very basic couple of winter uniforms for Germans and U.S. Also DAK Germans in shorts, N. Africa U.S. (double for Italian campaigns too) would all be cool.

I could see slipping an Italian or two into the mix... Nice simple basic infantry. They'd mix in with the N. Africa group for sure.

Easily though, Brits and Russians are higher on my list... Especially all the Brit variations possible like Red Devils and such.

About the only thing lower on the list than Italian/French I think is the ground crew idea... I like ground crews as a concept, but ultimately I think they could be the Jeep Drivers of the future too. Hope to get some, but in sporadic and sparse numbers I think...

As for other eras, I'm not a big Nam guy but I'd take a couple new VC and a new NVA figure. Nothing like a whole wave like the Japanese got, but then again it's an era I have less interest in so maybe I'm in the minority.

I actually would like to see 21st take another stab at a "modern" enemy type assortment... An Taliban soldier, a masked Iraqi insurgent, maybe some renegade Russians or Eastern European enemies, some African Militia like Somali soldiers or something... A mixed assortment, one to a case, that encompasses a lot of different possible late 20th/ early 21st Century conflicts. I'd be down with that.

I'd buy Italians of course... But it's all one can do to get a British assortment out of anyone, and I think besides Russians, they have the most backing.

[dandaman]

Awesome ideas. I would like to see DAK with shorts as well. And pith helmets. Gotta have the pith helmets.

By the way, where are the tan German helmets with the current DAK series?

Now I could go for some North African British. That would work for me. Shorts of course. And with bayoneted rifles.

I could go with some more VC/NVA troops as well. Perhaps some dual packs? The Somali militia is an interesting idea. Black Hawk Down...hmm.

Here's an idea that probably won't fly, but it's fun to think about. Have mail-away figures like back in the early Star Wars figure days. You send in proofs of purchase from certain figures to get a specialty figure. That would be neat. It might be an insurgent or some militia guy. It might even be a WW2 Italian.

[momaw nadon]

I don't really know why so many always want allied. I would really like to see more Axis myself. I think Italians are a very cool idea. I would also like to see some Hungarians too, but that might just be me. Don't get me wrong, as Russians, British, and French would be cool too, but if you are going on the winners French would never get made. The Polish put up more of a fight against the Germans than the French did. You really can't could the Resistance, as they are a rag tag bunch of civilians. The Russians got the crap kicked out of them too in the beginning, and if it wasn't for the lend-lease and their climate, they to would have most likely falling too. With that you really can't judge the Italians. Even the US got their ass handed to them in North Africa in the beginning, so this whole thing about the Italians is nonsence. Look at everything the Germans lost, their country was split. Do I need to go on?
momaw nadon

[dandaman]

What about the Romanians? They lost some 30 divisions battling Russia, losing almost 300,000 men.

Are we going to see figures of these guys?

[olifant]

I really like the idea of some civilians. If you did some generic clothing you could make them anything from Russian peasants to Marquis to, well, you get the idea. 21C could spruce them up with berets, kerchiefs, jackets, etc.

[V2 MAN]

Aye what about the brits Plus to fight our dak boys the desert rats

[tderespino]

newbies,,,,dream on,, I am still dreaming of my PBR. they even had a prototype....


customize!!!!!!!


tomd