was italian forces really inferior?

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[PanzerGeneralRommel]

ive many times seen pepole sayin italys army was inferior

but was theyr \\equipment\\ inferior ore yust tactics and general and men?

[AmPmAllied]

Equipment and officers were poor.

Under German command they accounted well for themselves.

[ThtbTLS]

Italian tanks have 5 gears backwards and 1 forward......

[Walter9731]

At one point during the North Africa campaign the British started referring to Americans as "our Italians" if that's any indication.

[Dalron]

Italian tanks have 5 gears backwards and 1 forward......

I think you might be thinking of the French...

[DasGuntLord01]

Nah then Italians were smart.   When they came under attack they very wisely through their arms up in surrender, and as a result were not needlessly slaughtered for no reason.

[DerangedTLS]

Yep, that's a french tank joke. And yes, Italian equipment sucked balls.

Their fighters, were woefully underarmed, with only 2 7.62 MM Mgs, while Allied fighters they opposed regyularly had 6 or more .30 cals.

Their bombers were outdated pieces of shit.

Their Tank Destroyers were obsolete.

Their tanks were pieces of shit.

In General Guderian's Panzer Leader, he mentions that all the italians were useless with the exception of 1 division. The Ariete armored division. That's it.

And, last but not least, in the tradition of epic fail that was the Italian Army in WW2, half thier fleet was wtfpwned by 21 6-year old BIPLANE torpedo bombers. FOR ONLY 2 LOSSES! (The famous Swordfish Taranto Raid)

[lompocus]

Anything other than US equipment sucks ballz.

'nuff said.

[DerangedTLS]

T-34s and IS-2s were badass. IL2s Sturmoviks were badass, too.

Panther = Badass
Maus = Badass
Me262 = Badass

[PrydainII]

Maus = Badass
Me262 = Badass

Lol.
1942
Porsche: "How much steal is avalable?"
Hitler: "Apparently, enough to put arms into production but not enough to expend"
Porsche: "Ok, well give a load to me and hope that my one tank wins the war"
Hitler: "Awesome"
1944
Porsche: "Now, how about the spare parts and fuel supply?"
Hitler: ....

The Maus was a shit tank, in the same way the Desert Eagle is a shit pistol. E.g: Tempest > Maus.
The Me262 was shit, it was a major supply nightmare, four engines to keep each 262 flying for a week wile running extremely low on the rare materials needed is not "badass", its wtfpwnting yourself in the face!

On the original point, yes the Italians needed constant German intervention, yes the British pwnt them in the Balkans and North Africa (Both making Germany step in when, especially in the case of north Africa, the German army was stretched thin.) The British Swordfish Taranto Raid that Deranged mentioned is perhaps one of the most amazing successes of entire war and locked the Italian fleet out of many actions it could have been committed to.

[DasGuntLord01]

There is pretty good reason to believe that if the Germans focused on production and upgrade of the Pazer IV they would have come a bit closer to winning to war.

All of the German's big tanks where killers in the field, but a nightmare to maintain, especially in 1944 when the German industry was strained to the breaking point trying to keep three fronts maintained, and four if you count their continued Atlantic campaign.

[LionelAxis]

Anything other than US equipment sucks ballz.

'nuff said.

From what I understand, a lot of the US Equipment being lend-leased to the British in North Africa was absolutely awful..the Honey Tanks and whatnot.

[AmPmTLS]

Actually...the British loved the Stuart. They did dislike the Grant though. Again, love of the Sherman as well.

[PrydainII]

There is pretty good reason to believe that if the Germans focused on production and upgrade of the Pazer IV they would have come a bit closer to winning to war.

All of the German's big tanks where killers in the field, but a nightmare to maintain, especially in 1944 when the German industry was strained to the breaking point trying to keep three fronts maintained, and four if you count their continued Atlantic campaign.

You can't forget the bombing campaign too.

Actually...the British loved the Stuart. They did dislike the Grant though. Again, love of the Sherman as well.

They disliked the M3 Lee, the Grant was a bit better and built to MoD spec, Monty wolfed around in an M3 Command Tank, choosing it over both the superior protection of the Matilda and speed of the Crusader command tank.

The reason why we call them Sherman, Grant, Stuart, ect is because of the British nicknaming tanks after US generals. It shows affection ad infinitum to a vehicle you have to rely on in battle.