Fiat Carro Armato M13/40
The Fiat Carro Armato M13/40 was the main battle tank for the Italian Army during the Second World War and was plagued with a number of design flaws and malfunctions that made it one of the least-known vehicles of the war. It's riveted armor made it easy to destroy and its lack of proper anti-tank weaponry quickly made it an outclassed vehicle by the latter half of 1942. However, alongside its better-armed successors -- the Semovente -- and their smaller brethren in the CV33s, the M13/40 worked well in the early part of the North African campaign.
Assembling a M13/40 for Bolt Action
Warlord's kit for the Carro Armato M13/40 was one of the first kits I assembled for Bolt Action. Having come from games such as Warhammer and assembling numerous Leman Russes, I had it in mind that this project would take some time.
Man, was I wrong!
The Italian M13/40 was a whopping seven pieces (As assembled above). One for the main body, one for each tread, a turret, forward-mounted double medium machine gun, the barrel for its light AT gun, and a door hatch (The kit also comes with the option of making the hatch open). It was one of the easiest builds of my life; even the Hetzer took longer and required more attention.
With that being said, he actual model is very well made even as a resin brick. While I don't imagine Warlord has any plans of making plastic kits for Italy, I wouldn't mind putting my hands on one of these kits again some time in the future.
Thoughts on the M13/40 in Bolt Action
The M13/40 shouldn't really be used for anything other than supporting your other Italian forces. It is not effective at engaging enemy vehicles in the least, but it's armament of three medium machine guns (one turret-mounted, and two hull-mounted) make it great at taking out enemy infantry. Also, it's riveted construction makes it fare more vulnerable to anti-armor weapons so -- if you play Italians -- be sure to keep this thing supported in more ways than one. If you're looking for an Italian vehicle that can engage enemy armor, I would suggest the Semovente instead.
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