Description

From the publisher's website:

In the spring of 1943, Benito Mussolini ordered the Italian Fascist Milizia Volontaria per la Sicurezza Nazionale (MVSN, better known as the Blackshirts) to form an armored division. The “M” Armored Division would draw its personnel from battle-hardened Blackshirt veterans of the Eastern Front, and be equipped with the very latest German-supplied weapons and vehicles.

The M Division received its weapons and began training, but never actually entered combat despite Mussolini’s desire to show his German allies what motivated Italians could do when armed to the same standard as the German Army. Intended as a politically-reliable palace guard for Mussolini, Il Duce hoped the division could be made ready for combat in Tunisia, and then later pressed for its deployment in Sicily. When Mussolini fell from power in July 1943, the division was still not ready for action.

Blackshirt Division is a supplement for Panzer Grenadier: An Army at Dawn, allowing Mussolini’s boys to fight the Americans and British in North Africa. It is not a complete game: ownership of An Army at Dawn (and only An Army at Dawn) is necessary to play all of the 10 scenarios included. Blackshirt Division also includes 88 laser-cut and mounted playing pieces.