Italy

Italy
Following the creation of NATO, the Italian Army was integrated into NATO's Allied Forces Southern Europe and prepared for a feared invasion from the east, possibly via Yugoslavia. Powerful Italian Navy and large Air Force played an important role in the Mediterranean, however this meant less money could be devoted to the modernization of land component in the Armed Forces.

There was also another peculiarity of the Italian land forces: the absurd proliferation of expensive and large police and paramilitary forces. For example Carabinieri, while under nominal Army control but normally tasked with civil control services, possessed entire divisions and integrated tank battalions. Perhaps there is no other nation in the world that has as many as three different police agencies to perform task very similar among them, while each of them being substantially large and well spread over the territory, with plenty of offices, officers, helicopters, fixed wing planes, tanks, and coastal patrol boats. To make things worse, often they were competing against each other, rendering the task of effectively using the military budget rather hard.

Italian Army
Land army, when compared at first glance to it's NATO peers, might seem under equipped, under trained and with lot of the equipment obsolete. However it should be noted that they were supposed to defend a well fortified, rugged mountainous terrain on their border. Moreover a quality of units varied significantly across the Army. Some were better trained, or better equipped, for example selected Alpini or armored/mechanised brigades. Nevertheless, a player will most likely feel being undergunned in certain aspects (lack of helicopter-borne ATGMs, infantry AT weapons, or well armed IFVs) therefore support weapons and tank component should be boosted. Italian Army will rarely shine when played by AI in offence, but it should provide a decent challenge when played by human player, especially those who prefer mobility.

Equipment
Leopard I and M60 Patton are relatively lightly armored, but armed with potent 105mm gun and very maneuverable. This means a great care should be given to mobility, going for flank shots, and emphasizing maximum use of hull-down positions. TOW missiles provide a good long capability.

Mechanised infantry, as well regular infantry, don't have abundance of AT weapons, so they need to be reinforced and strongly supported by other assets when operating near enemy armoured forces. M47 Patton can be a great tool for this, as 90mm gun can still be deadly on close range.