Well, we can see them on the website now.

I was surprised as heck by the ratings given to the Italian tanks. The M14/41 is 6-3-0-4, 12 points. That gives it better initiative than the Panzer III short! However, they got it right with a 0 for armor.
Interestingly, this tank is only one point more than the Panzer. What it suggests to me, is that with early war stat lines, all the ratings are worth around a point each..although that has not been the case with attack ratings before... e.g. the Panzer 3 Long costs 3 more points than the Panzer 3 short.. So the M14/41 has 2 more initiative than a Panzer III, but one less armor....net +1, so cost is a point higher at 12 pts.

The Semovente is 5-4-0-4. Using the M14/41 for comparison and the expected point difference based on that for the Panzer III long and short....we would expect this tank to be +3 points for the gun - 1 point for initiative....so 14 points, but the official card has it at 13 points. Also, if most early war ratings are worth a point each, except for attack dice ratings, the Panzer III Long and the Semovente should be equal in points, but the German costs a point more. Perhaps the German Blitzkrieg national trait is worth more?

The Italian national trait is Avanti. This give an Italian tank +1 armor if they are within an arrow of 2 friendly tanks. That is a nice bonus, but it will mean Italian tanks will want to cluster in groups of 3. Commander Luigi Pascuci gives friendly tanks within an arrow a +2 initiative boost. So add him in to a group of 3 M14/41’s and they all become 8-3-1-4....Avanti indeed! Add him to a trio of Semoventes and they all are 7-4-1-4...better ratings than an early Sherman tank, minus Gung Ho however. You can buy 8 M14/41 tanks for 96 points, but if you want Luigi, you would be a point short. You can only fit 7 Semoventes into a 100 point force, but you will have 9 points for crew and upgrades. If you take 7 M14/41 tanks you will have 16 points for upgrades. I can see creating two wedges, adding Pascuci and giving one wedge bloodthirsty gunners and a couple loaders with +1 shooting initiative. That wedge, with Pascuci attached is 8-4-1-4 or 9-4-1-4 when shooting at range 1....pretty awesome if they can survive the charge.

I can see it now....wedges of three Italian tanks flying around the table. Pizza slices of death!

That is some incredible analysis! Always love reading your ideas on how to build a force.

And again