Hearts of Iron IV – Italian tank designs of World War II

Hearts of Iron IV – Italian tank designs of World War II 1 - steamlists.com
Hearts of Iron IV – Italian tank designs of World War II 1 - steamlists.com

This guide will show you all the Italian tank designs from World War II.

Introduction

Like many other Great Powers in the early 20th Century, the Italians experimented extensively with tanks and eventually built their fleet. They mainly based their designs on the Vickers and Renault FT-17 available for export.

Unlike the other major powers, the Italians didn’t emphasize tank development much. They slowly but surely lost touch with the technology and created many weak designs that were difficult to match the outdated tanks of other countries. This led to the adoption of American tanks and German tanks into the Italian Army.

Remember that the Tank Designer in HOI IV does not allow many modifications, so many vehicles will remain with the same gun.

Although the design may indicate basic radio, you can add any radio to any tank with the basic radio modification. You can also choose to upgrade your engine and armour.

Light Tanks

Fiat 3000

produced: 152

owned: 190 (, presumably the interwar light frames are supposed to be)

The Fiat 3000 was the first Italian serial production tank. However, it was essentially an Italian copy of the Renault FT-17 tank. It came in two variants 100, the Fiat 3000 used only machineguns while the 52 Fiat 3000B used a 37mm.

Interwar Light Chassis

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

 

L3/33 and L3/35

produced: 1200 (L3/33 – 1300 (L3/33 –

owned: 180

The L3/33 is an Italian tankette and was used by the Italians as their light tank in the 1930’s and 1940’s. The L3/35 has a dual 8mm machine gun and the L3/33 has a single 6mm machine gun. The L3/35 is slightly more armored with 2mm more armor, but it is so tiny it doesn’t matter. The L3 also had a flamethrower version called the L3 Lf. The L3 cc tank destroyer variant was also available. It was equipped with a 20mm anti-tank rifle that could be used as an automatic cannon in the tank design.

Basic Light Chassis

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

 

L3/38

produced: 12

owned: 0

The L3/38 is a L3/35 with a single machine gun of 13.2mm and torsion bar suspension. Only 12 L3/35 were converted into the L3/38 standard.

Basic Light Chassis

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

 

L6/40

produced: 283

owned: 0

The L6/40 was the last Italian light tank to be produced. It was not as powerful as the Soviet T-60, but it was superior to those designs. It is equipped with a 20mm autocannon, and is 40mm maximum armoured. However, it struggled to fight the American and British tanks fighting in Africa. Also, a flame version was made in small quantities called the L6/40Lf

Improved Light Chassis

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

 

Medium Tanks

M11/39

produced: 100

owned: 0

The M11/39 tank is an excellent example of a tank that was obsolete as soon as it entered production. Based on the Vickers 6 ton design, the M11/39 had 37mm in the shell and an 8mm machine gun in the turret. The tank could only carry 30mm of armour.

Basic Medium Chassis

  • Bogie Suspension
  • Riveted Armour
  • Diesel Engine
  • Smaller, Improved Cannon
  • Fixed Superstructure
  • Heavy Machine Gun

 

M13/40

produced: 740

owned: 0

The M13/40 was a much more successful tank than its predecessor, the M11/39. It had a main gun of 47mm that sat in the top of the hull. It also carried more machine guns up to 4 8mm. However, it’s armour did not improve over the M11/39.

Basic Medium Chassis

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

 

M14/41

produced: 752

owned: 0

Although the M13/41 design was slightly better than the M13/40, it had a higher engine power but it was still inferior to any other European Major countries except for the French, who were unable to build tanks in 1941.

Improved Medium Chassis

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

 

M15/42

produced: 82-287

owned: 0

The M15/42 was the final Italian Medium to be built in a series. Although it was a prototype, it was still inferior to other tanks. It had a maximum armour thickness of 50mm and an improved engine.

Improved Medium Chassis

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

 

M16/43

produced: 1

owned: 0

The British designed the M16/43 on the Crusader designs so it was mobile, but it had little armour. It also featured, like the other medium tanks in the war, a inferior gun to other major nations.

Advanced Medium Chassis

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

 

Heavy Tanks

P26/40

produced: 103

owned: 0

Despite being an Italian tank, the P26/40 would have been considered a medium tank according to 1943 standards. It was equipped with a 75mm gun and had a maximum armour of 60mm.

Improved Heavy Chassis

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

 

P40/43

produced: 0

owned: 0

The P43 was a heavy tank design that would have been built if Italy hadn’t surrendered in 1943. It was more powerful than the P26 with a maximum armour strength of 100 and a 90mm cannon.

Advanced Heavy Chassis

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

 

Tank Destroyers

Semovente da 47/32

produced: 282

owned: 0

The Semovente da 47/32 light tank destroyer was built on the L6/40 chassis. It featured the same 47mm as the M13/40.

Improved Light Chassis

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

 

Semovente da 75/18

produced: 262

owned: 0

The Semovente da 75/18, a medium Tank Destroyer, was built on the M13/40 and M14/41 chassis. It is the weakest medium tank destroyer in Italy.

Improved Medium Chassis

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

 

Semovente da 75/34

produced: 141

owned: 0

The Semovente da 75/34, a medium Tank Destroyer, was built on the M15/42 chassis. It is far more powerful than the previous Semovente.

Improved Medium Chassis

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

 

Semovente da 75/46

produced: 11-13

owned: 0

The Semovente da 75/46 was an Italian tank destroyer that was among the most powerful, but it was so late in the war that only Wehrmacht used it.

Improved Medium Chassis

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

 

Semovente da 90/53

produced: 30

owned: 0

The Semovente da 90/53, an Italian tank destroyer, was the most powerfully equipped. Armed with a 90mm gun, it could easily destroy any tank it encountered on the battlefield. It was not as well-armoured as the other tank destroyers.

Improved Medium Chassis

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

 

Self Propelled Artillery

Semovente da 105/25

produced: 103-121

owned: 0

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

Improved Medium Chassis

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

 

Semovente da 149/40

produced: 1

owned: 0

The prototype self-propelled artillery piece, the Semovente da 149/40, was developed by the Italians. It was equipped with a 149mm howitzer and did not see service because it had not entered production at the time of surrender.

Improved Medium Chassis

  • Bogie Suspension
  • Riveted Armour
  • Diesel Engine
  • Heavy howling
  • Fixed Superstructure
  • Radio

 

Anti-Aircraft Self-Propelled

Semovente da 20/70

produced: 1

owned: 0

The Semovente da 20/70 quadroplo was an Italian Self-Propelled Anti Air Vehicle built on the M15/42 chassis. It was equipped with a quad 20mm anti-air gun.

Improved Medium Chassis

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

 

Additional Info

Please comment if you think I missed any tanks.

Guides for other countries:

Allies:

United Kingdom – [steamcommunity.com]

United States – http://steamcommunity.com

Axis:

Germany – [steamcommunity.com]

Comintern:

Soviet Union – [steamcommunity.com]
 

Written by Alice

I hope you enjoy the Guide we share about Hearts of Iron IV – Italian tank designs of World War II; if you think we forget to add or we should add more information, please let us know via commenting below! See you soon!


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