I did some digging into Italian armour, as I think it might be worthwhile for Rubicon to consider an Italian vehicle or two in due course. Here's my list of Italian armoured vehicles that saw service in the North African campaign. One nice aspect of many Italian vehicles is that they also saw service with the Germans, and some were used on the Eastern Front. So there are some cool modelling opportunities.
Italian vehicles have very prosaic designations; the prefix "L" means light, "M" means medium, the first number is the weight in tons, and the second number is the year of introduction into service. For the Semovente, the number afterwards is the designation of the gun it mounts.
I edited this to include a few photos in the hope of generating some interest in the poor neglected Italians!
Carro Veloce L3/33 and L3/35 - a tankette which was largely useless in combat, but which was quite numerous in the early stages of the campaign. An important variant (especially for wargamers) was the L3 Lf (lancia fiamme), which was armed with a flamethrower.
Carro Armato L6/40 - a light tank which was basically the Italian equivalent of the Panzer II.
Carro Armato M11/39 - Italy's first 'modern' medium tank, armed with a 37mm gun. It was obsolete in 1941, but some captured examples were used by the Australians.
Carro Armato M13/40 - the most common Italian tank for most of the North African campaign. Armed with a 47mm gun and fragile riveted armour, it was intended for combat in mountainous terrain, and proved to be underpowered and unreliable in the desert. It's the most obvious choice of subject for an Italian tank kit (especially if it could also be built as a Semovente).
Carro Armato M14/41 medium tank - basically an upgraded M13/40, with slightly better armour and a more powerful engine (and potentially another obvious option for an M13/40 kit, as there aren't a lot of differences in external detail)
Semovente da 47/32 - an open-topped SP-gun based on the L6/40 chassis and armed with a 47mm gun. It doesn't seem to have been used in North Africa, just on the Eastern Front and in Sicily (can anyone confirm this?). Many of them were seized by the Germans after Italy collapsed, and put into service as the Sturmgeschütz L6 mit 47/32 630(i). Some were also given to Germany's Eastern European allies, so it was quite a well-travelled little vehicle.
Semovente da 75/18 - an Italian copy of the StuG III, with a short-barrelled 75mm mounted on the M13/40 or M14/41 chassis. Used by the Germans as the Sturmgeschütz M42 mit 75/18 850(i). A later version, the 75/34, had a long-barrelled 75mm, but this saw service after the North African campaign. This was also used by the Germans as the Sturmgeschütz M43 mit 75/34 851(i). That version would also would make a nice option (aside from the longer gun, it had only some minor differences from the 75/18).
Semovente da 90/53 - an SP-gun with a powerful 90mm gun (actually a modified AA gun). It almost looks like a proper tank hunter, despite having almost no armour protection for the crew and only 6 rounds of ammunition. However it doesn't seem to have seen service before the Sicily campaign (can anyone confirm this?).
Autoblinda 41 Armoured Car - perhaps appropriately, the Italians built much better armoured cars than tanks. This one was both good looking and effective. It was also used by the Germans as the Panzerspähwagen AB41 20(i).
The Italians also used some rather interesting soft-skins, including the SPA-Viberti AS.42 Sahariana reconnaissance vehicle (based on the Autoblinda chassis but unarmored).
