Combat Mission Fortress Italy brings wargamers to the "soft underbelly of Europe", a place that was anything but. A very often neglected theater of war, Fortress Italy starts with the Sicilian campaign from July through August 1943. Sicily was the first test for the newly reorganized and improved American forces as they battled against grizzled vets of the Wehrmacht and Luftwaffe as well as a wide array of Italian Army forces. The arid terrain offers a unique experience for WW2 Combat Mission fans.Fortress Italy transports wargamers to start of the western Allies' campaign to take the fight directly to the home turf of the Axis powers. The combat forces include the full range of historically available American, Italian, and German forces that fought in Sicily. Some of the highlights are elite formations such as Italian Bersaglieri, American Rangers, and the German Herman Göring Division. In addition to the completely new Italian forces, both the American and German organizations differ significantly from those found in other Combat Mission games. Four challenging campaigns and 17 stand alone battles provide engaging combat for control of Sicily. To fight these battles you have at your disposal 38 vehicles and loads of other weapons, many unique to Fortress Italy.Players are assigned detailed missions to accomplish based on a richly diverse set of Objectives. Missions can be played in either Real Time or our novel WeGo hybrid turn based mode introduced with the first Combat Mission game 20 years ago. WeGo allows each player to plan out 60 seconds of combat and then watch as both sides' commands are carried out simultaneously. The WeGo system also allows for re-watching turn action and playing against another player by email (PBEM) or "hotseat" on a single computer. RealTime and WeGo head to head play can also use TCP/IP on a LAN or over the Internet. Massive replayability comes from a unique Quick Battle system which allows players to purchase their own custom force and fight over the battlefield of their choice from a wide array of different maps. A powerful map and scenario Editor allows you to create battles or campaigns for yourself and others.All units are portrayed one for one in 1:1 scale in high resolution polygon 3D models with articulated suspensions, animated hatches, and other features that make them feel real. Unlike other 3D tactical wargames, Combat Mission combines real world physics with a thoroughly researched portrayal of forces, right down to what the individual soldiers cary into battle. Advanced vehicle damage modeling allows for tracking of each sub-system, including the most realistic ballistics, armor and post-armor effects available in any game. Unlike other games that claim this level of realism, Combat Mission actually delivers it across the whole spectrum of warfare, including the interaction of weather, lighting, and terrain on how units and their weapons function.Perhaps the most important feature of Combat Mission i...