Hearts of Iron IV – Italian Historical Tanks Guide

مقدمة

Like many of the Great Powers of the early 20th century the Italians experimented with tanks and slowly overtime built their own fleet of tanks mainly basing their designs from the already existing Renault FT-17 and Vickers designs available for export.

Unlike the main great powers however the Italians didn’t really focus on tank development to much and they slowly overtime fell out of touch creating many forgettable and weak designs of their time unable to compete with even the obsolete tanks of other nations. This resulted in the eventual adoption of German tanks and later American tanks into the Italian Army.

Keep in mind the Tank Designer in HOI IV doesn’t allow for a lot of variety in modifications so many vehicles will be stuck with the same gun.

The design may say basic radio however you can put whatever radio you want on any of the tanks with the listed basic radio modification. Also the armour and engine upgrades is up to your own preference.

Light Tanks

produced: 152

owned: 190 (presumably the interwar light chassis are suppose to be them)

The Fiat 3000 is the first serial production tank of Italy however it was basically just an Italian copy of the Renault FT-17 tank it came in 2 variants 100 of which are the Fiat 3000 which used only machineguns whilst the 52 Fiat 3000B used a 37mm.

Interwar Light Chassis

• Bogie Suspension
• Riveted Armour
• Gasoline Engine
• Heavy Machine Gun (small cannon in the 3000B)
• One Man Turret
• Additional Machine Gun

produced: 1200 (L3/33) 1300 (L3/33)

owned: 180

The L3/33 and L3/35 are Italian tankettes and are what the Italians used as their light tank throughout the 1930’s and into the 1940’s both are very similar to each other with the only real difference being the guns with the L3/35 being armed with a dual 8mm Machine gun compared to the single 6mm machine gun found on the L3/33. the L3/35 is slighly more armoured by 2mm more armour however it is so insignificant it doesn’t matter. the L3 also had a flamethrower variant called the L3 Lf. A Tank destroyer variant known as the L3 cc was also made it was armed with a 20mm anti tank rifle which would fit as a automatic cannon in the tank designer.

Basic Light Chassis

• Bogie Suspension
• Riveted Armour
• Gasoline Engine
• Heavy Machine Gun
• Fixed Superstructure

produced: 12

owned: 0

The L3/38 is basically a L3/35 with a single 13.2mm machine gun and torsion bar suspension only 12 L3/35 were converted to the L3/38 standard.

Basic Light Chassis

• Torsion Bar Suspension
• Riveted Armour
• Gasoline Engine
• Heavy Machine Gun
• Fixed Superstructure

produced: 283

owned: 0

The L6/40 was the final Italian light tank to have a production series like most Italian designs at the beginning of the war it was inferior to what the Americans or the British could wield however could would be comparable in power to the Soviet T-60. It is armed with a 20mm autocannon and is much more armoured than the light tanks that came before it being 40mm max however it still struggled fighting the American and British tanks in Africa. A flame version was also made in small numbers called the L6/40 Lf

Improved Light Chassis

• Bogie Suspension
• Riveted Armour
• Gasoline Engine
• Automatic Cannon
• One Man Turret
• Additional Machine Gun

Medium Tanks

produced: 100

owned: 0

The M11/39 is a great example of a tank obsolete from the moment it entered the production lines based upon the Vickers 6 ton design the M11/39 had a 37mm in the hull and a 8mm machine gun placed in the turret above the main gun. The tank only had a maximum of 30mm of armour.

Basic Medium Chassis

• Bogie Suspension
• Riveted Armour
• Diesel Engine
• Improved Small-Cannon
• Fixed Superstructure
• Heavy Machine Gun

produced: 740

owned: 0

The M13/40 proved to be much more successful as a tank than it’s predecessor the M11/39 it’s main gun a 47mm sat in the turret instead of in the hull and carried more machine guns armed up to a maximum of 4 8mm of them, It’s armour didn’t improve over the M11/39 however.

Basic Medium Chassis

• Bogie Suspension
• Riveted Armour
• Diesel Engine
• Basic High-Velocity Cannon
• Two Man Turret
• راديو
• Additional Machine Gun
• Additional Machine Gun
• Additional Machine Gun

produced: 752

owned: 0

The M13/41 improved slightly on the M13/40 design by increasing the engine power however like the previous tank it was inferior to any of the other European Major nations apart from the French who could not build tanks in 1941.

Improved Medium Chassis

• Bogie Suspension
• Riveted Armour
• Diesel Engine
• Basic High-Velocity Cannon
• Two Man Turret
• راديو
• Additional Machine Gun
• Additional Machine Gun
• Additional Machine Gun

produced: 82-287

owned: 0

The M15/42 was the last Italian Medium built in a series as the future M16/43 was only a prototype it improved on the short comings of the previous designs slightly however by 1942 it was even more inferior to what other tanks it could face. it had a maximum armour of 50mm and a much more improved engine.

Improved Medium Chassis

• Bogie Suspension
• Riveted Armour
• Petrol Engine
• Basic High-Velocity Cannon
• Two Man Turret
• راديو
• Additional Machine Gun
• Additional Machine Gun
• Additional Machine Gun

produced: 1

owned: 0

The M16/43 was designed on the Crusader designs of the British so it was mobile however it featured little armour and still like the other Italian medium tanks it featured an inferior gun to any other major nation and even some minor nations like Hungary at this point in the war.

Advanced Medium Chassis

• Torsion Bar Suspension
• Welded Armour
• Diesel Engine
• Basic High-Velocity Cannon
• Two Man Turret
• راديو
• Sloped Armour
• Additional Machine Gun
• Additional Machine Gun

Heavy Tanks

produced: 103

owned: 0

The P26/40 despite being an Italian tank to any other nation apart from the Japanese would of been a medium tank by 1943 standards. it was armed with a 75mm and had a maximum of 60mm of armour.

Improved Heavy Chassis

• Bogie Suspension
• Riveted Armour
• Diesel Engine
• Improved Medium Cannon
• Two Man Turret
• راديو
• Additional Machine Gun
• Sloped Armour
• Additional Machine Gun

produced: 0

owned: 0

The P43 was a Heavy tank design that would of been built if Italy had no surrendered in 1943 it was much more powerful that the P26 with a maximum armour of 100 and a 90mm cannon.

Advanced Heavy Chassis

• Bogie Suspension
• Riveted Armour
• Diesel Engine
• Improved Heavy Cannon
• Three Man Turret
• راديو
• Additional Machine Gun
• Sloped Armour
• Additional Machine Gun

Tank Destroyers

produced: 282

owned: 0

The Semovente da 47/32 was a light tank destroyer built upon the L6/40 chassis it featured the same 47mm featured on the M13/40

Improved Light Chassis

• Bogie Suspension
• Riveted Armour
• Gasoline Engine
• Basic High-Velocity Cannon
• Fixed Superstructure

produced: 262

owned: 0

The Semovente da 75/18 was a medium Tank Destroyer built upon the M13/40, M14/41 and M15/42 chassis. it is the weakest of the medium tank destroyers of Italy.

Improved Medium Chassis

• Bogie Suspension
• Riveted Armour
• Diesel Engine
• Close Support Cannon
• Fixed Superstructure
• راديو
• Additional Machine Gun

produced: 141

owned: 0

The Semovente da 75/34 was a medium Tank Destroyer built upon the M15/42 chassis. it is much more powerful than the previous Semovente.

Improved Medium Chassis

• Bogie Suspension
• Riveted Armour
• Petrol Engine
• Improved Medium Cannon
• Fixed Superstructure
• راديو
• Additional Machine Gun

produced: 11-13

owned: 0

The Semovente da 75/46 was one of the more powerful tank destroyers fielded by the Italians however it came so late into the war that only the Wehrmacht used them.

Improved Medium Chassis

• Bogie Suspension
• Riveted Armour
• Diesel Engine
• Basic Heavy Cannon
• Fixed Superstructure
• راديو
• Additional Machine Gun

produced: 30

owned: 0

The Semovente da 90/53 was the most powerfully armed tank destroyer of the Italians armed with a 90mm it could easily take out any tank it faced on the battlefield. unlike the previous tank destroyers it was not as armoured as them.

Improved Medium Chassis

• Bogie Suspension
• Riveted Armour
• Diesel Engine
• Improved Heavy Cannon
• Fixed Superstructure
• راديو

Self Propelled Artillery

produced: 103-121

owned: 0

The Semovente da 105/25 was the most powerful self propelled gun used by the Italians during the war armed with a 105mm and had a maximum armour of 75mm.

Improved Medium Chassis

• Bogie Suspension
• Riveted Armour
• Petrol Engine
• Medium Howitzer
• Fixed Superstructure
• راديو
• Additional Machine Gun

produced: 1

owned: 0

The Semovente da 149/40 was a prototype self propelled artillery piece developed by the Italians armed with a 149mm howitzer it did not see service as it did not enter production by the time the Italians had surrendered.

Improved Medium Chassis

• Bogie Suspension
• Riveted Armour
• Diesel Engine
• Heavy Howitzer
• Fixed Superstructure
• راديو

Self Propelled Anti-Air

produced: 1

owned: 0

The Semovente da 20/70 quadruplo was an Italian Self Propelled Anti Air vehicle built upon the M15/42 chassis it was armed with a quad 20mm anti aircraft guns.

Improved Medium Chassis

• Bogie Suspension
• Riveted Armour
• Petrol Engine
• Improved Anti-Air Gun
• Two Man Turret
• راديو