Italy starts the game with noticeably weaker industry than its neighbors — 56 factories in total, well below the other great powers — so fighting on several fronts at once isn't a real option. The thread running through this guide is simple: the order you declare your wars in matters just as much as whether you win them. But beyond that central idea, this guide goes into the detail most others skip: what each branch of the tree does after 
By Blood Alone, why 
Military Industry is a weight you can't ignore, and what you need to prepare on each front to avoid repeating the mistakes Italy made between 1935 and 1943.
Historical Context
The feeling of "Vittoria Mutilata" after World War I fueled Mussolini's rise, who took power in 1922 without ever abolishing the monarchy. The game starts in 1936 with the war in 
Ethiopia already underway and the League of Nations imposing sanctions that push the country toward 
Hitler's Germany.
What Changed with By Blood Alone
In June 2023, the By Blood Alone expansion rewrote Italy's tree from top to bottom and, along the way, overhauled much of air warfare for every nation (Military Industrial Organizations, new air combat missions). For Italy specifically it added a much more developed civil war system — the Italian Social Republic and Italian Liberation War branches, leading to different regimes if Fascism loses control — replacing what used to be a much simpler fork. If you play without the expansion, the tree is noticeably smaller and that civil war system doesn't exist. This guide assumes you have it enabled, which is already the de facto standard.
National Spirits at Start
Italy starts with eight national spirits, more than most great powers, and together they tell the same story: a country with morale and imperial ambition, but with an industrial base that isn't up to the task.
Victor Emmanuel III
+5% stability. Reflects the legitimacy the crown still lends the regime.
Vittoria Mutilata
-5% time to justify war goals. +10 diplomatic acceptance from fascist nations, -10 from communist and democratic ones.
London Naval Treaty Signatory
Design cost caps: 10,250 for carriers, 5,700 for cruisers, 11,500 for capital ships.
Ricostruzione Industriale
-15% designer cost. -35% industrial concern cost. +5% construction speed.
Military Industry
-15% research speed in weapons, armor, artillery, air and naval techs. -10% production efficiency cap.
Regio Esercito
-10% division speed. -10% organization. +10% land doctrine cost. +10% max entrenchment.
Regia Aeronautica
+10% ace generation chance. +5% air superiority bonus in combat. -10% naval mission efficiency.
Regia Marina
-5% fleet coordination. -10% naval detection. +5% screening efficiency.
Military Industry: the Weight Behind Everything
Of the eight spirits above, the one that really explains why this guide keeps insisting on choosing your wars carefully is Military Industry: a -15% to research speed across nearly every military branch, plus a penalty to the production efficiency cap. In practice, Italy can't afford to research on as many technological fronts at once as Germany or the USSR — it has to pick two or three priorities and stick with them instead of trying to compete across the board. Ricostruzione Industriale partly compensates on the civilian side (cheaper designers, faster construction), but it doesn't touch the underlying problem: Italy wins games by matching its goals to what its industry can actually sustain, not by brute force.
The Focus Tree Branches
With By Blood Alone enabled, Italy's tree is organized around six main branches:
Ethiopian War Logistics — develops colonial infrastructure in Ethiopia, Libya, Eritrea and Somaliland; includes focuses like 
strengthening the Ascari Corps and the career of Amedeo Guillet, the 
"Comandante Diavolo."
Italian Highways — expands home industry: steel or power in Terni, synthetic rubber, railways and universities.
Army Primacy — upgrades to the Regio Esercito and its associated national spirit.
Air Innovations — upgrades to the Regia Aeronautica and its associated national spirit.- Naval Power Projection — upgrades to the Regia Marina, aimed at dominating the
Mediterranean ("Mare Nostrum"). 
Towards a Greater Italy — the main political branch, available once the war in Ethiopia is resolved; this is where the historical colonial and imperial expansion hangs off.
On top of that, if the fascist regime loses control of the country at some point, By Blood Alone's civil war branches open up (Italian Social Republic and Italian Liberation War). This guide doesn't cover those alternate paths — they'll be addressed in separate content later — and focuses on the historical route instead.
Terni and the Mezzogiorno: the Economic Fork
Unlike other great powers, Italy's first genuinely important tree decision isn't political — it's industrial, and it shows up in the Italian Highways branch. Two mutually exclusive choices shape the rest of your economic game:
- Northern industry or the Mezzogiorno — reinforce Italy's already strong
northern industry (faster, cheaper buildings where the infrastructure already exists) versus modernizing the underdeveloped 
Mezzogiorno (slower at first, but opens new construction slots where there was almost nothing before). - Steel or power in Terni — invest in Terni's steelworks for more steel output, or its power plants for more general industrial capacity; the choice depends on whether you're short on the resource or on construction capacity.
There's no single right answer: if you're playing a short game focused on the Mediterranean and North Africa, northern industry usually pays off sooner. If you're planning a long campaign and want more construction slots down the line, the Mezzogiorno pays off over time.
Doctrine and Division Templates
Italy starts with the 
Fleet in Being naval doctrine already unlocked, confirming what the Regia Marina spirit itself hints at: the Navy is the nation's most reliable asset, and the Mediterranean is its natural theater. On the land doctrine side, though, there's no starting unlock — with Military Industry penalizing research, the sensible move is to skip an expensive armor doctrine and focus on cheap infantry templates with support companies, saving your scarce resources for the fleet and the air force. That's why for the land doctrine tree we recommend 
Grand Battle Plan: it doesn't require investing in armor or heavy artillery, so it doesn't compete for resources with the fleet and air force, and its command power bonus fits a nation that's going to fight on several different fronts (the Alps, Egypt, Greece, the Mediterranean) without being able to specialize in a single style of war.
For the exact breakdown of combat widths and template composition, the combat width guide and the doctrines guide go into the numerical detail this guide only sketches out.
War Campaigns
If you're going to follow the historical script, what really matters isn't the exact dates but what you need to have ready at each stage so you don't repeat the real Regio Esercito's mistakes. Here's what to do at each campaign:
- War in Ethiopia (already underway at start) — you don't need to reinforce it beyond what's already deployed; close it out as soon as possible so you're not tying up divisions and factories while you decide your next move. There's no real balance-of-power question here, so any delay is wasted time.
Spanish Civil War — send volunteers (the Corpo Truppe Volontarie) as soon as you can: it's the cheapest way to generate combat experience and test your infantry doctrine without risking the bulk of your army. A couple of well-trained divisions is enough — don't send so many that you weaken your starting defense.- Before entering World War II — decide in advance which front you're going to fight on, because it shapes how you build your army. If you declare war (or enter it) before
France capitulates, you'll be fighting in the Alps: mountainous terrain that heavily penalizes the attacker, so prioritize fortifications and mountain divisions on that border instead of trying to force the line. And either way you'll end up fighting in Egypt against the 
UK, which calls for solid logistics through Libya (upgrade your supply routes before you attack, not after) and air power capable of contesting the sky — without that, the offensive stalls out just like it did historically. - Annexation of
Albania — doesn't require real military preparation, resistance is minimal, but use it as a staging ground: move divisions there in advance to have a jumping-off point for the Balkans and 
Greece. - The Egyptian and North African front — don't repeat the historical mistake of attacking without a margin. Gather a force with a clear edge in division count and secured air support before crossing into Libya, or the offensive will grind to a halt; don't assume Germany will send reinforcements to Africa like it did historically — the advantage has to come from your own army. If you don't think you can hold the front, it's better to consolidate positions in Libya than to force the attack.
- Greece — if you decide to invade, do it with mountain divisions and air superiority already secured beforehand; Greek terrain punishes a lack of preparation hard, and it's the campaign where it's easiest to get bogged down, just like it happened to Mussolini.
- Protecting the Mediterranean — unless you control the entire Mediterranean, keep garrisons and coastal fortifications on your African holdings and islands: the
Allies can attempt a landing anywhere you leave undefended. The naval warfare guide covers how to position your fleet to intercept those landings before they reach the beach. - Keeping up the naval pace — never stop researching naval technology at any point in the game. The Regia Marina starts strong, but if you neglect it, the Allied fleet — the UK's first, then the
US's — ends up outclassing you in both quality and numbers. Set aside part of your military production for steady shipbuilding, not just in occasional bursts.
Common Mistakes
- Declaring war on France or the UK before you have decent industry and a navy — going up against a major power too early, without having settled Ethiopia or built up your industrial base, tends to get very expensive.
- Ignoring Military Industry and trying to research on as many fronts as Germany or the USSR — with that starting -15%, spreading yourself thin just leaves you with outdated tech everywhere.
- Delaying the Terni and Mezzogiorno fork for too long — the sooner you commit to an industrial route, the sooner it starts paying off.
Italy has room to grow calmly while the Ethiopian war runs its course, and making the most of that room is what separates a campaign that sinks in Greece from one that dominates the whole Mediterranean. Check out the industrial production guide to size your war economy properly before you start.
Italy's Achievements
Eight achievements specific to 
Italy, from the most straightforward to the ones that require a whole game planned around them:
At least they run on time!
As fascist Italy, have max level railways in all your core states.
Pizza Time!
As Italy, occupy New York, Chicago and Hawaii.
Collect all the Romes
Keep hold of the First Rome, and gain the second and third Rome.
Nothing personal, Adolf
As Italy, take Austria before the Anschluss and never enter a faction with a fascist Germany.
Duce Nuked'em
Nuke Los Angeles as fascist Italy.
Holy, Roman, and an Empire
As the Pope, restore Rome.
Not today
As communist Italy, save Gramsci from the brink of death, make him the leader of Italy and form the Italian National Union.
Stalin, how many guns does he have?
As the Pope, capitulate the 
USSR.