In 1935 the Italian armed forces invaded and conquered the country of Ethiopia. This was the first of Benito Mussolini's conquests intended to return Italy to the status it once had held some 2,000 years before when the Roman Empire dominated the Mediterranean and North Africa.

Corrected Italian Counters

The next conquest came on April 12, 1939 when Italy occupied the small Adriatic coastal country of Albania.

Italy had been assured by Germany that war with France and Britain would not come until 1943 or 1944. Accordingly, Mussolini planned on a slow build-up of his armed forces. This plan was destroyed on April 3, 1939 when Hitler approved Fall Weiss (Case White), the blueprint for the military attack on Poland.

The Italian General staff met with Mussolini and began formulating a plan for conducting the upcoming war. (Obviously, it is here that our variant begins, since Italy never had a concise war plan during the war!) Deep concern was expressed about the survivability of Italian East Africa (AOI, Africa Orientals Italia). The General staff realized that once at war, Britain would close the Suez Canal. Furthermore, Italy had no available overland route to AOI. Since there would be no way of supplying or reinforcing the Duke of Aosta's army, the East African Empire would have to be written off. Mussolini argued at first that the Duke should hold his ground at all costs. However, the military leaders eventually convinced him to secretly withdraw all Metropolitan units and most of the materiel from AOI, along with the air force units stationed there. These forces would redeploy by air and sea to Libya, where the General staff had determined they could best be put to use in the approaching conflict. Meanwhile, the remaining Colonial troops would defend AOI against any British invasion to the best of their abilities.

By September 1, 1939 all the AOI forces have successfully redeployed and are in place in Libya with the 5th and 10th Armies. Italy is now poised to seize Egypt and then, if necessary, turn south to relieve AOI. Alternately, Italy may consider taking Tunisia before turning its attention to Egypt. This will tremendously ease the logistical strain of any future North African campaign, as the supply run from Sicily to Tunisia is much shorter and safer than the sea routes to Tripoli or Tobruk.

Taken in conjunction with my "No CSIR" variant which appeared in TEM #25, who knows? Mussolini may yet get to ride his white stallion through the streets of Cairo, or perhaps even Jerusalem. Enjoy and have fun.

Additions to the Italian Order of Battle

Add the following units to the Italian forces in Libya. All counters are contained in the game Africa Orientals, contained in issue # 128 of Strategy and Tactics magazine.

Sep I 39
Anywhere in Libya:
1x 5-6 Inf XX (2-6 Cadre) 65 lx 2-6 Inf XX CdA
1x 1-8* Mtn II Sav
1x 1-6 Arm II AOI
2x 1-0-10 Lt Tank II Fiat, Lan
5x 1-6 Inf III 1 CCNN, 2 CCNN, 3 CCNN, 4 CCNN, 11 CCNN
4x 0-6 Cons III Est, Sud, Nord, AOI
3x 2-6 Art III 1, 2, 3
1x 1-6 Art III 121
2x transport counters 2x Ca. 133
1x CR.32
1 x CR.42
1x SM.79
1x SM.81
thirteen steps of supply