Since 1872, the Ludovica Military Academy had been turning out competent and efficient officers and graduated the majority of officers for the Hungarian Army. A core of competent and educated officers struggled to handle the large expansion of the Hungarian Army to meet the needs of the Eastern Front. The Hungarians enjoyed a professional and experienced core of staff officers.
Although the majority of infantry forces fielded by the Royal Hungarian Army in 1944–45 were not combat hardened, there were some experienced units after 3 years of fighting on the Eastern Front. Infantry Divisions of the Hungarian First Army had recently fought in the defence of Galicia in early 1944, and would put their experience to good use, like the 25th Division at the Battle of Tordá and the 10th Division inside the Budapest pocket.
Mussolini famously boasted that the Italian army had eight million bayonets standing at the ready. In actuality, the standing Italian army was far smaller than that, with huge numbers of troops conscripted into a war they neither believed in nor understood. The fighting ability of units of the Italian army varied greatly, with much of the rank and file lacking proper equipment, transport and even motivation. Still, there were several key battles in North Africa and the Eastern Front where they performed well.
Produced by Fiat Ansaldo, the M13/40 was the main battle tank of the Italian army in World War II and served throughout the war following its introduction in 1940. Although designated as a medium tank it was more in line with the light tanks of other nations at the time.
This remarkable laser-cut replica of Pegasus Bridge, along with scenery representing other key features of the battle site such as the Café Gondrée, gun emplacement, machine gun posts and bunker are all included in this superb battle-set, allowing you to recreate the battle on the tabletop. Can your valiant glider troops take the bridge or will the Germans see you off before reinforcements arrive?
This entire war has led to this monumental moment in world history, this is the Allies chance to end it all, this is Battle for Berlin…
To go alongside the fantastic new Stalingrad campaign book, we’ve got an amazing battle set to complete your collection – this set is crammed with miniatures and exclusive MDF terrain produced by our friends at Sarissa Precision.
Years of planning culminate in The Longest Day, the long-awaited invasion begins with the assault on the beaches of Normandy; D-Day 6th June 1944…