Flames and Steel (official thread)
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Some may even argue that the assault black shirts were just the fascists and were not any better than the regular infantry so should not be elite infantry at all. As I said, I'm not knowledgeable enough to give an opinion about this. Alpini is a less controversial pick, one which I think everyone or almost everyone would agree about their superior fighting value.
Asking Google AI "Were the assault black shirts actually elite infantry in the sense of usually performing better in combat than the normal infantry?", the answer is
No—with the exception of a few specialized late-war units, the Italian Blackshirts (Milizia Volontaria per la Sicurezza Nazionale, or MVSN) were generally not elite infantry and frequently performed worse in combat than the regular Royal Italian Army (Regio Esercito).
While their uniforms and rhetoric drew heavily from the Arditi (Italy’s elite World War I shock troops), their actual battlefield record was largely undermined by poor training and political favoritism.Why Standard Blackshirts Underperformed
• Political Origins Over Military Skill: The MVSN began as a fascist street-fighting paramilitary (Squadristi) designed for domestic intimidation and political loyalty rather than conventional warfare.
• Inadequate Training and Equipment: According to historical overviews on Flames of War and Avalanche Press, standard Blackshirt legions lacked the rigorous tactical training, heavy weaponry, and logistical support of regular army divisions.
• Poor Early-War Record: In major campaigns—such as Ethiopia, the Spanish Civil War, and the 1940–1941 North African offensive—full Blackshirt divisions suffered heavy defeats and were routinely outperformed by standard army formations. Following their destruction in North Africa in early 1941, regular CCNN legions were largely pulled from frontline divisional duties.
• Historical Consensus: On r/WarCollege, military history enthusiasts express mixed opinions on the militia's ceiling, noting that while some individual units fought adequately under strong leadership, the consensus is that standard Blackshirts suffered from insufficient training and inferior combat experience compared to regular soldiers.The Exception: The "M" Battalions (1941–1943)
Because standard Blackshirt units performed so poorly, Mussolini overhauled the best remaining troops in 1941 to create the "M" Battalions (Battaglioni M):
• Actual Assault Troops: Named after Mussolini (or Morte, meaning death), these units were purged of underperforming men and built strictly from veterans who had already proven themselves in combat in Greece or Russia.
• Specialized Training: As detailed in historical records on Wikipedia, these battalions received genuine specialist assault training, better equipment, and higher pay.
• Combat Effectiveness: Unlike the regular Blackshirt legions, the "M" Battalions functioned as legitimate shock infantry, fighting fiercely and effectively on the Eastern Front and in Tunisia alongside elite German and Italian army units. -
Some thoughts:
- I don’t think I should use the name Blackshirts, for the reasons you’ve already pointed out.
- I’m already using Bersaglieri as the name of a tech that improves Italian mobile infantry, which fits the roughly half of them that were motorized.
- My understanding of the Blackshirts is that they began as a Fascist political militia, then fought as mostly non-elite infantry. From late 1941, men who had proven themselves in combat were picked for the M battalions. Those were genuine elite infantry, but they were few, the name means little to most players, and some might be uneasy about their Blackshirt origins.
- I agree the Alpini were specialized for mountain combat. But since the map has no terrain, this unit stands for Italy’s best infantry in general, and the Alpini were elite troops as well as mountain troops. They seem the most recognizable and least disputed name for that role.
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With the Blackshirts, it depends a lot on which formations you’re talking about. The actual Blackshirt militia divisions, generally not very good. The “M” battalions that were created as specialized assault units and attached to other divisions, on the other hand, were some of Italy’s best.
But I’d say Bersaglieri or Alpini makes the best name for a better infantry class unit, those were Italy’s best known elite formations. The game’s already abstracting a lot of stuff so I wouldn’t let the absence of a mountain terrain mechanic get in the way if that’s what you feel the best pick is.
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A list of recent modifications:
- Vichy France added.
- Japan's Night Action tech changed. Instead of improving the raw power of Japan's cruisers and Yamato battleships, it now greatly improves Yamato battleships' ability to provide support to destroyers and cruisers. A Yamato provides + 2 support to a max of three other ships.
- Medium tanks can now blitz. Currently light tanks and medium tanks can blitz. Units which cannot blitz: Heavy tanks, mobile infantry, mechanized infantry, M7 Priests, Katyushas.
- Gave America Pacific the ability to research USS Iowa tech. This causes America Pacific's battleships to gain +1 hitpoint. They can support 2 ships instead of 1. While a normal battleship would top out at a firepower of 4 + 4, an Iowa would top out at 5 + 5. A Yamato will top out at 5 + 5 + 4.
- A four tier infantry system added. China: tier 1. Soviets: tier 2, with tier 3 as their elite unit. Japan: tier 2. Can upgrade to tier 3 with tech. Italy: tier 2, with tier 3 as an elite unit. Britain, Germany, USA: tier 3. Germany can build tier 4 as an elite unit.
This game is getting close to being ready to share with other people.
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@KurtGodel7 said:
In New World Order, Italy is a very important Axis power. The same is not true in Flames and Steel. In Flames and Steel, Italy will pick a local project, such as defending Gibraltar, or pushing east against the British in North Africa. The value of the area near Cairo is modest, so Italian success in Northeast Africa does not create a seismic shift in favor of the Axis. It's a few extra PUs.Italy has 6 MPs, and those allow it to punch a little above its weight. Research isn't very exciting for Italy. It wants the income-increasing techs, of course, but there's little else in its tech tree that it feels truly excited about.
The City of Reno, NV, describes itself as "the biggest little city in the world." My description of Italy would be similar: "the biggest minor power in the world." In my test games, Italy's local projects had gone well, at least for the early game. That made me feel as though Italy was pulling its weight. Italy's life would become harder once America Atlantic has fully mobilized (on round 10).
I don't think you want any of the playable powers in the game to feel boring in terms in terms of research. Italy should not be on par with the major powers, but it shouldn't feel like it's totally barren when you're playing with them.
When I was designing unique Italian techs for TRO, the themes most of theirs fell under were either getting more out of cheap units, or special operations stuff that's flashy and exciting but not really as practical or versatile as the capabilities that the big powers got.
Here were some of the ideas that either made it into the mod or were left on the drawing board that might be adaptable if you want any of them. I've changed some of the unit names around to match yours where appropriate.
Camicie Nere (Blackshirts) - Militia get +1 attack when supported by a regular Infantry [represents the M battalions]
Autocanoni - Italian Field Guns get +1 move when paired with a Mobile Infantry [https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/category/ww2-italian-autocannoni/]
Bersaglieri - Italian Mobile Infantry get to blitz when paired with a Light Tank or Medium Tank
Carri Veloci - Once per turn, Italy can purchase a pair of Light Tanks as a package for a 2 PU discount [I did a lot of these discount packages for different countries where you get 1-2 PU off per unit but have to buy them as a set]
Maiali - Italian Submarines roll two dice during the first turn of an attack on a sea zone adjacent to an enemy naval base [could simplify to some other attack bonus]
Mare Nostrum - Italian Destroyers defend at +1 when accompanying a Transport in a Mediterranean sea zone. One Transport supports up to two destroyers.
Motobomba - Italian Strategic Bombers get a powerful first round torpedo attack against enemy ships [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motobomba]
Picchiatelli - In mine, it let Germany buy a discounted Tactical Bomber for Italy if Italy doesn't have any in play; in yours it could just be Italy gets a slight discount on the Dive Bomber [The Italian name for their imported Stukas]
Sparviero - Italian Medium Bombers get an attack bonus when attacking naval units
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Maiali - Italian Submarines roll two dice
It was not submarines in general that were called "pigs" (maiali), but rather the Siluro a Lenta Corsa (SLC)—a small underwater assault craft (a torpedo steered by two operators sitting astride it)—used by the Regia Marina (Italian Royal Navy) during the Second World War.
But apart from this fact, maiali means pigs, a bit offensive for italian players like me
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Maiali - Italian Submarines roll two dice
It was not submarines in general that were called "pigs" (maiali), but rather the Siluro a Lenta Corsa (SLC)—a small underwater assault craft (a torpedo steered by two operators sitting astride it)—used by the Regia Marina (Italian Royal Navy) during the Second World War.
But apart from this fact, maiali means pigs, a bit offensive for italian players like me
Good catch on autocannoni. And correct, “‘maiali” was a crew nickname for the manned torpedo vehicles rather than their formal designation.
The bonus is meant to abstractly represent those by giving the sub a second attack on the first round, which you could take to mean the release of the SLC craft. I came up with the caveat that it only works in zones adjacent to enemy naval bases to keep it as a tool for harbor raiding.
TRO also had another “Decima MAS” tech for allowing Marines to launch special raids against enemy ships, but I figured that was too mechanically complex to suggest here, and Kurt doesn’t have a Marine unit in his lineup anyway.
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This conversation has inspired me to give Italy additional nation-specific techs. Below is the current list of techs unique to Italy.
Italy tech category
Mare Nostrum: each Italian transport provides +1 support on defense to one destroyer or cruiser.
Autocannoni: allows Italy to build the autocannoni unit.
Bersaglieri: adds +1 to attack for Italian mobile infantry.Italy's nation-specific Piston Aircraft techs
Sparviero (SM 79): Torpedo bombers' naval bonus is now 2.
Picchiatelli: Dive bombers' land bonus becomes 2. (Same as Germany's Stuka)
Aerosiluranti: torpedo bombers cost 1 PU lessThe autocannoni unit is unique to Italy. Cost: 6 PU. Move 2, attack 2, defense 1, supports one infantry on attack. Also, this unit acts as an aa gun. In an air battle, an aa gun gets one shot only and fires on a 2. An autocannoni gets one shot only and fires on a 1. AA guns and autocannoni are the only two types of land units in the game which get to fire in an air battle. Below is a picture of a mobile infantry, a field gun, and an autocannoni.
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@KurtGodel7 Nice! Were you using Claude for the unit images too?
Autocannoni is the plutral form, a singular unit is an Autocannnone.
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