About the project:
After the victory in North Africa, Allied planners readied a new campaign. It was aimed at the so called “soft underbelly” of Europe. A bold plan to knock Italy out of the war and drain Axis units from other fronts.
Beginning with the invasion of Sicily in July of 1943, the Allies pressed the enemy, but there was nothing soft about the bloody fight. The drive to Messina in Sicily, the landing at Salerno, the beleaguered beachhead at Anzio, through all the turmoil the Allies pushed on towards Rome. Countless river valleys and fortified lines favored the German defenders and stymied the Allies at every turn. The Volturno River, the Rapid River, the Liri valley, the Gustav Line, the Caesar Line, all of these names proved a deadly challenge to the Allies fighting to control them. The drive up the Italian Peninsula was costly for both sides and dragged on until the end, which occurred May 2, 1945 with the formal surrender of all Axis forces in Italy.
Old School Tactical Volume IV (and the FOR THE EMPIRE add-on) brings the exciting OST system to this challenging theater of WW2. It thrusts British forces into the game to battle stout German and Italian units in difficult terrain. Vickers machine guns, Commandos, Sappers, Bren guns, PIATs and sticky bombs will see action in the game on the side of the British, as well as numerous vehicles including Sherman and Churchill tanks.
The German and Italian forces counter with many panzers including the Marder III, Nashorn, Panzer IVG, the recently-produced Elefant, the less-than-intimidating Renault R-35, and the dreaded Tiger I. Additionally, tough German infantry and their Italian counterparts will be yours to command.
And you’ll command these tanks and men across a large map of beautiful Italian countryside designed for players to contest the many exciting scenarios included in the playbook. If Shayne Logan draws it, you know it’s beautiful to see.
