What about 1:18 Italian troops?

Melvin · Post by **Melvin** » Wed Apr 28, 2010 1:50 am

I never see any company made 1:18 Italian troops, I think that is a good addition to our WW2 collection, no matter Italian troops in North Africa or Europe. What do you think?

normandy · Post by **normandy** » Wed Apr 28, 2010 3:56 am

I think 21st century made a few sets of Italian troops in 1:32.

Mitch · Post by **Mitch** » Wed Apr 28, 2010 8:14 am

lol - how about "anything" new in 1:18th ?.... that would be GREAT!

-sorry but I have turned into a pessimist.

flyboy_fx · Post by **flyboy_fx** » Wed Apr 28, 2010 8:46 am

Makeshift but enjoy!

Also Added rank to my Fj

VMF115 · Post by **VMF115** » Wed Apr 28, 2010 9:29 am

Mitch wrote:lol - how about "anything" new in 1:18th ?.... that would be GREAT!

-sorry but I have turned into a pessimist.

I agree...

Some Italian, British, and Russians would be cool!

Light.Inf.Scout · Post by **Light.Inf.Scout** » Wed Apr 28, 2010 9:54 am

Love some Italians...and some French.

fightin · Post by **fightin** » Wed Apr 28, 2010 12:44 pm

ANTHING new in 1/18 would be cool!

Melvin · Post by **Melvin** » Wed Apr 28, 2010 5:37 pm

Hey flyboy_fx, your Italian soldier is cool!

snake · Post by **snake** » Wed Apr 28, 2010 6:11 pm

Is the Italian 1/18 white surrender flag the same as the French 1/18 surrender flag?

Jesse James · Post by **Jesse James** » Wed Apr 28, 2010 6:50 pm

Honestly I'd probably take more Germans and GI's right now than Italians, but I'd take Italians too... They're just not the most interesting choice to me. I'd put, well, just about everyone ahead of them on my wants list.

-Australians
-Pacific British
-Canadians/D-Day
-N. African GI's
-N. African Brits
-D-Day & OMG Brits
-Russians, Russians, Russians (Warm weather, Cold Weather, Early War, Late War)
-New run of Cold Weather Germans and GI's
-New runs of Falschirmjagers and US Paratroopers
-French (or "generic") resistance fighters
-Ground Crews

And then maybe the Italians.

YT · Post by YT » Wed Apr 28, 2010 9:02 pm

snake wrote:Is the Italian 1/18 white surrender flag the same as the French 1/18 surrender flag?

Zing! Also make sure the rifles are accurate, never shot and only dropped once.

bananapirate · Post by **bananapirate** » Wed Apr 28, 2010 9:34 pm

I bet russians would sell well

AMERICAN_GRENADIER · Post by **AMERICAN_GRENADIER** » Thu Apr 29, 2010 11:57 am

Light.Inf.Scout wrote:Love some Italians...and some French.

did the french have an army?
as Patton said "I would rather have 3 German divisions in front of me than one French division behind me!"

Volksdeutsch · Post by **Volksdeutsch** » Thu Apr 29, 2010 12:07 pm

the Italian troops did badly more due to terrible leadership and poor equipment

Volksdeutsch · Post by **Volksdeutsch** » Thu Apr 29, 2010 12:08 pm

you know why french streets are lined with trees??

so the germans can march in the shade!

VMF115 · Post by **VMF115** » Thu Apr 29, 2010 12:09 pm

AMERICAN_GRENADIER wrote:
Light.Inf.Scout wrote:Love some Italians...and some French.

did the french have an army?
as Patton said "I would rather have 3 German divisions in front of me than one French division behind me!"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_French_Forces

Post by **aferguson** » Thu Apr 29, 2010 1:43 pm

hm....seems some history lessons are needed.

There was nothing wrong with either the french or italian troops. The french especially fought very bravely but due to inept leadership using very outdated tactics, were completely overwhelmed. They were defending their homeland; of course they fought hard. The french resistance became famous for their courage and fought for years underground against the nazis. They were of enormous importance to the success of the D-Day landings. And those french troops that were able to escape to britain all fought on the front lines to the final days of the war, just like the Polish etc

Russian troops in the first year of the war were captured in far greater numbers than the french or italians, why not laugh at them as well? Or what about the US and British surrenders to the japanese in the early days of the war....let's make fun of them too...what a bunch of gutless sissies.

Easy to poke fun in hindsight....but it's pointless to ask tens of thousands of men to die, rather than surrender, in a hopeless situation. That is what Hitler routinely ordered in the final years of the war....an order which was ignored more and more by the generals.

As for the Italians, their heart was never really in the war. They had little interest in conquest...but it was a dictatorship, so they fight or they die. Many chose surrender to get out of being between a rock and a hard place (i recall many americans choosing other options, rather than going to fight in vietnam, a war that a big part of the US never believed in.....i guess we poke fun at them too though). However there were lots of Italian troops that were the equals of the best soldiers in the world, as stated by Rommel himself. Most Italian equipment was out of date, as Italy wasn't really prepared for a world war...again the fault of leadership, not the people.

However, they did have some excellent equipment as well. As i recall one of our 1/18 german paratroopers is using an italian smg. The macchi 205 and fiat g55 were excellent fighters and the reggiane 2005 was the equal of the spitfire and p-51 when it came out in mid-43. But with less than 100 produced and italy's surrender, they had little chance to make a mark in the history books.

Don't make fun of the courage or loyalty of the people's of other countries. Every nation has had its high points and low points.

Anyway, don't hold your breath for Italian of French soldiers in 1/18. It will be a miracle if we get british or russians..

YT · Post by YT » Thu Apr 29, 2010 5:53 pm

History lessons aside, I don't want to live in a world where we can't make fun of the French.

Post by **aferguson** » Thu Apr 29, 2010 7:22 pm

what is it with Americans not liking the French anyway? I mean they helped you out big time during the revolutionary war, gave you the statue of liberty, helped equip US forces during WWI.....why all the bad blood now?

norman888 · Post by **norman888** » Thu Apr 29, 2010 7:45 pm

oops!

AMERICAN_GRENADIER · Post by **AMERICAN_GRENADIER** » Thu Apr 29, 2010 7:55 pm

I agree with that if it were not for France the USA may never have existed. the bad blood start with the postwar attitude of the french government led by De Gaulle. thier arrogant attitude toward the Americans and British after the war was a joke. I have great respect for the fighting spirit of all soldiers that answer the call to arms to defend thier country. and agree with most everything you said.but the French have a great disrespect of all things not french so they bring much of this down on thier own heads. i also find it interesting that many of the great battles they hold up as proof of thier superiority were won by the legion. which as you know are all foriegners.

norman888 · Post by **norman888** » Thu Apr 29, 2010 7:59 pm

aferguson wrote:what is it with Americans not liking the French anyway?

I think you have it backwards-the French don't like us. I think it has someting to do with us saving them in 2 World Wars and DeGaulle's attitude toward us after WW2. I mean pulling out of NATO...c'mon.

As for the Italians their behavior during WW1 along with their fighting ability during WW2 was just terrible. And don't get me started about the French during WW2. First they collapse, then sign a separate peace treaty with the Germans that they promised they weren't going to do, and to add insult to injury they switch sides and join the Axis when England needed them the most.

You are falling into that revisionist attitude that is so prevelant today. I could go on about the supposed majority of anti-Nazi Austrians or Poland annexing parts of Czechoslovakia along with Germany, but...........

With friends like these, who needs enemies????

kduck · Post by **kduck** » Thu Apr 29, 2010 8:32 pm

I think many Americans simply find the French annoying because they are perceived as obstructionists. In the modern era this probably goes back to France's refusal to allow American aircraft overflight privileges for the 1986 air raid on Libya and it has continued over the past few decades with other military and economic issues. Also I'd be willing to bet that there is just as sizable (per capita) a population of the French that dislikes Americans. There's certainly an uproar just about everytime something distinctly American such as McDonalds or Disneyand makes its way to French soil.

As for me, I don't dislike the French. I spent 4 days in Paris back in the 80s and enjoyed it quite a bit. It's just their government that I don't like. BTW something I did notice is that many French really dislike Germans. I know the obvious reason why but the feelings still seem to be there. When I was in Paris we tried to communicate with the French the best way we could. Not many of us knew any french but most of us knew some basic german. After saying "Do you speak english?" was met with a shake of the head we would try "Sprechen sie deutsch?" which was sometimes met with an angry glare.

As far as the Italian military in WW2 is concerned they get an undeserved bad rap. They had many conscript units that were poorly equiped and led. They also had some elite units that were excellent. Even the British spoke highly of the Folgore Division. From Winston Churchill's speech to the Chamber, Nov. 21 1942:"We really must bow in front of the rest of those who have been the lions of the Folgore Division". There were other elite units in the Italian military that were highly regarded including the Nembo Parachute Division and the Xª MAS Marines. After Italy's surrender there were thousands of Italian troops including entire units that volunteered to fight alongside the Germans under the Italian Social Republic (RSI) government. There was an Italian SS division (29th SS Gren. Div. Italia) raised in 1945 that performed so well that Himmler declared them to be fully integrated into the Waffen SS.

grockwood · Post by **grockwood** » Thu Apr 29, 2010 8:34 pm

The British aren't very fond of the French either. Just about every show I have seen on BBC has someone making a crack about them. I myself like the French. Especially that French lady in the new Windows 7 ads.

snake · Post by **snake** » Thu Apr 29, 2010 11:11 pm

Well the French collapse during the 1940 Blitzkreig is not really the issue.

It is Vichy France,and DeGaulles attitude to the other Allied powers.Both Roosevelt and Churchill despised him.And what he was attempting to do.

As for the Italians.They were pat of the axis,So already not good.But their troops fought terribly,against the Ethiopians,and Abbyssinians.

There are reasons that both these countries armies during WWII are still ridiculed to this day.