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In terms of reliability many of the tanks the Germans are confronting are equally or as unreliable. So in that sense I think the idea of improving reliability is hindsight; put it another way if there was a room full of German tank experts arguing about next steps, I wouldn't expect a...

Next instalment is up... a bit of a look forward for the Italians as they're not doing much and won't be for a while yet, so a snapshot into where they're evolving. As to the evolution of German tanks, I would welcome input and debate as to the form. From the Eastern Front the Germans built...

At the commencement of hostilities in October 1939 Italy fielded a total of 25 divisions across five classes (infantry, mobile infantry, mountain infantry, alpine and armoured). Four more divisions were added in March 1940 and six in August 1940 for a total of 35 divisions. Great improvements...

tallwingedgoat: aye it's a bit of a hill to climb. Thankfully its not open ended. The main impact of the Libyan oil ITTL is for foreign currency as the Italian energy structure is coal based. However, cash being king, the revenues are basically going straight into the army. Shadowknight...

Next instalment is up

Both sides took some important lessons from the battle of Rocroi that would result in far reaching implications for tank design, their employment in battle and the relative performance of the armoured forces within each opposing army. Of all the vehicles involved, two had particularly important...

Post #30 introduces the general case for the German war economy. The key phrase: 'The imperatives of the Four Year Plan and the military were often at odds and initially Hitler did not intervene. What this meant was that gradually a gap between capacity and output began to emerge, although it...

Next installment is up...

The battle of Rocroi was the decisive event of the first phase of the German invasion of France and was the largest tank engagement of the war to date. It developed when von Kleist sought to push west and achieve the panzer breakthrough he had sought since the start of the campaign, and where...

Next installment is up... just a little update.

The invasion of France focused all attention on the line of the Dyle-Meuse. All eyes except those serving in Norway. At the time of the great tank battle at Rocroi the French Chasseurs Alpin were withdrawing from Sweden, with Swedish army units on their trail, and Germans not far behind...

Yay... I'm on a roll again... next installment is up.

Following the loss of Louvain the character and tone of the Battle of France changed. It was not entirely due to the loss of the Belgian city, nor the surrender of a British general, nor the dissolution of his command. It was as a result of a range of factors that had developed so swiftly...

Shadowknight: well, they have a good base of operations, but there are eight British divisions in the region and the defence of Brussels will take on political significance for as long as the Dyle/Meuse line more or less holds. Thande: it's a look at what pressures might have made Churchill...

Thanks all... next installment is up.

Following the German lodgement across the Dyle on the previous day, Lord Gort demonstrated the wisdom of his deployment in depth and moved forward the supporting 4th and 48th divisions, as well as the two divisions in reserve, the 5th and 50th. The 3rd division was still trapped in Louvain and...

Next installment is up... back to the French... kind of.

The Belgian army had commenced its retreat from the Albert Canal on the night of May 11 and only agreed to come under the overall command of the French the following day, at which point the Cavalry divisions of the French Second and Ninth Armies had been driven back to the west bank of the...

The thing I like about this board is it keeps me honest and challenges me to fill out detail I'd otherwise ignore or not pick up... Slovak it shall be. Your observation about the Balkans-Danube is well taken. My take is that it's a mess because its a place where revisionism and...

Next installment is up... and not a Frenchman in sight...