I saw a topic about Italian tech tree some time ago, this one to be specific: Italian Research Tree 🇮🇹. After some discussion there, i decided to make my own version of the tree proposed there, but since it took me a couple of days, I want to post it as a separate thread so that more people see it, so here it is:
Tier I
Tier II
Tier III
Tier IV
Lack of Tier V
Probably the biggest thing to clarify here. I don’t believe that all factions should have five tiers as it is not possible in some cases (Poland or France), and just stupid in others, like Japan. And since the game already can handle that (Japan Tier IV does not meet US Tier V in battles), some factions just shouldn’t be forced into the top tier by getting non-existent equipment.
Old premium squads
I decided to include the pre-merge premium squads, these ones:
- M13/40 (III)
- Beretta Mod. 31
- Breda 88 (P.XI)
- Re.2001 CN
- Lanciafiamme Mod. 35 (renamed to the Mod. 40)
The only pre-merge Tunisia Axis premium squads I did not include are the Pz.III N and the FNAB-43 squads. The former as it’s a German squad, and the latter because the FNAB-43 is already in the tree.
I also think that the FNAB-43 squad would be a nice “collectible squad” - brought back regularly for sale on different occasions like the Enlisted birthday or some anniversaries related to the Tunisia campaign. Especially that it’s a Bersaglieri squad, so they have cool looking uniforms and feathered helmets:)
Flamethrowers
All of the factions in the game have two tech tree flamethrowers, and I decided to do the same thing here. The problem was the pre-merge flametrooper premium squad, equipped with the Lf Mod. 35 which has stats of a Tier IV flamethrower (Flammenwerfer 41, M2 and so on). So to avoid having a weird situation where the chronologically first flamethrower is not the weakest one, I changed the name of the Premium squad’s flamethrower to the Lf Mod. 40 as I noticed that they have essentially identical gun parts and differ mainly by the backpack design. So now we have the Lf Mod. 35 at Tier III and the Lf Mod. 41 and the premium Lf Mod. 40 at Tier IV.
New weapons and vehicles
So, here are the weapon and vehicle choices with some explanations. I will only touch on the less obvious choices, so if I skipped something you want to know, feel free to ask.
Tier I
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Vetterli-Vitali
Because why not? It would be a cool bolt action rifle with a high damage but lower fire rate. -
Fucile Contracarro 35(p)
It’s the Polish wz. 35 Ur anti-tank rifle - it was used by the Italians, so it should be added here. Comparable to the PzB 38 and 39, and if you have the event German AT squad, you know this rifle. -
Brixia Mod. 35
It’s a very interesting design - breech loaded, using separate ammunition (single loaded projectiles and a 10 round magazine of modified 6.5mm Carcano blanks) and rather small caliber, 45mm projectiles. Its lack of explosive power could be compensated by more ammunition carried as well as higher fire rate. Here is a video showing how the Brixia mortar works. -
AS.42
It would serve as the Tier I SPAA for Italy. I know that it provides no protection for the crew, but I don’t think there are other choices here. -
L3 Lanciafiamme
Just so that the Italians can get a flamethrower tank. Since I don’t know if adding a vehicle with a trailer would be a good idea, I think it should be the variant with the smaller fuel tank mounted over the engine compartment.
Tier II
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Mannlicher M1895
From what I know, Italians used that rifle, so I added it as just another bolt action. It would have high fire rate thanks to the straight pull bolt as well as higher damage as it uses an 8mm projectile. -
Beretta M1
I think it should be moved into Tier II - either by getting its recoil slightly nerfed or its magazine being replaced by a 30 round one. -
Solothurn S-18/1000
It was used by Italians, both as an infantry AT rifle and as the armament of some of the L3 tankettes. From the game standpoint it should be similar to the Type 97 AT rifle, but with a 10 round magazine, higher penetration and potentially a scope. -
Lanciabombe Contracarro
It’s a 60mm AT weapon based on the Carcano carbine. It fired HEAT grenades capable of penetrating around 70mm of armor. When it comes to the performance (penetration and trajectory) it should be kinda similar to the PIAT. -
Lancia 3Ro
For an APC squad. The model of this truck is already in War Thunder, so it would be the easiest choice. -
Pz. III N
Italians used it, so why not? It would be different from the other Tier II Italian tanks as it has a 75mm howitzer, so it would be good against infantry. -
Ju 87 R-2
Again, it was used by Italians so I decided to add it. -
Beretta Mod. 31
From the pre-merge radiooperator squad. -
Fiat 655NM Protetto
I was split between this and the Autoprotetto S.37, but the S.37 is too small (driver and 8 passengers). That and the Fiat is literally a battle bus, so the choice was kinda obvious:) -
Scotti Mod. 42
It’s kinda interesting - just 20 rounds in the magazine, but rather powerful ones (9mm Mauser Export). I don’t know its fire rate, but with that magazine capacity, I don’t think it can go anywhere besides Tier II.
Tier III
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Beretta Mod. 37
It’s the only Italian semi auto rifle I found that doesn’t use the Mannlicher style clip. It has a 9 round magazine and shoots the 7.35×51mm, so I think it’s a very good rifle for Tier III. -
Mod. 28 Tromboncino
A combination of a Carcano carbine and a 38.5mm grenade launcher. -
ZB-26
As Italy lacks machine guns, I have to resort to using captured one. A lot of ZB-26 LMGs were captured by Italy in Yugoslavia, so I think it should be in the tech tree. -
FM 24/29
The French Châtellerault LMG. As above, it was captured by Italy, so it should be in the tech tree. It has a 25 round magazine, fires a bit slow, but thanks to this should be very controllable. It also has a front grip, so it chould be treated as an automatic rifle by the game and have the same 25% sprint speed penalty as the BARs as opposed to the standard 50%. -
OG-44
From the game standpoint it would be the OG-43 with a 40 round magazine and slightly better recoil (wooden stock), so it should be in Tier III as opposed to the OG-43, which should be no higher than Tier II (but the Italian paratrooper squad is at Tier IV for some ungodly reason). -
Lf Mod. 35
Just a standard “1st flamethrower”, the same as the M1 or ROKS-2. I explained the changes in naming above. -
Panzerfaust 60
This is about the PzF 60, PzF 100 and the RPzB 54, so I won’t mention the other two in Tier IV. The thing is that Italy just needs AR weapons that are better than the Lanciabombe, so some copy paste is needed here, especially that Italy used all three of these. -
M42 Contraero
A bit controversial, as it would shred infantry, but it was already there in the original tech tree suggestion so I decided to leave it. -
StuG III G
Again - Italians used it, so why not? -
Terni LMG
From what I can gather about this weapon, it seems to be a “Breda Mod. 30, but better”. So I think it should have better recoil stats than the Breda and be at Tier III. -
90/53 M41M
Its gun is very powerful, sure, but it has only 8 rounds, which is why I believe it shouldn’t be higher than Tier III, nor should it be in the research tree.
Tier IV
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Breda PG
It’s the Italian experimental variant from the event, so the semi auto one chambered for 6.5mm Carcano. -
TZ-45
From what I saw (here), it has a fire rate of around 750 rpm instead of 600, so it would actually fit well in Tier IV. -
MG 42
There are photos of Italian soldiers using the MG 42, so it can be added. It’s kind of a placeholder though, as there are some very rare Italian prototype MGs that could technically fit here, but I don’t know enough about them to include them here. The Scotti Mod. 37 seems to be a good candidate, but I need more photos and sources on it. -
Breda-SAFAT
It’s the version supposedly used by the Folgore paratroopers. From the game perspective it should be kinda similar to the M1919A6, except with higher fire rate (around 800rpm), so to make it Tier IV, I think it should have a 50 round belt instead of 100 round one. -
Lf Mod. 41
Simply as a Tier IV tech tree flamethrower. Do not confuse it with the Lf Mod. 41 d’assalto from the paratrooper squad, the regular Mod. 41 flamethrower is a conventional design with a backpack. -
Pz.IV G
As with the StuG III and Pz III - Italians used these, so they fit here. Plus it’s the only option if we want to avoid paper tanks. -
Villar-Perosa
It would be very interesting to see how this would be implemented as it’s more of a stationary weapon. But it was there in the original suggestion, so I decided to keep it here. -
Lf Mod. 40
It’s meant to be the current Lf Mod. 35 squad, as I explained above.
Battle pass and event weapons:
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FNAB-43
As I’ve said, I think it should be a collectible squad, returning on occasions like Enlisted birthday or some anniversaries regarding the Tunisia campaign. -
Cei-Rigotti
I think it should be implemented in many different versions (magazine capacities, barrel lengths and so on) and in many different ways. And, since from what I know, all variant were reloaded by stripper clips and had a rather low fire rate, they could all be Tier IV despite being full auto. -
“Pavesi SVT”
Could be either a battle pass weapon or for some sort of event squad. From what I researched, not a lot is known about this rifle, so it could be either Tier III or Tier IV weapon. -
Terni M91
Probably another Tier II rifle. I think it should be a battle pass weapon since we don’t seem to get event squads with lower tier weapons. -
SMGs
In general - the Sosso, the Pavesi-Revelli or the PM-470 could be cool additions to the battle pass or as event weapons.
I’d like to hear what you think about this, and if I got anything wrong about the weapons, feel free to correct me:)