Theatre of War 2: Centauro DLC

You get play as Italians what's not to love

Centauro is a DLC for Theatre of War 2: Africa 1943 which adds a formal Italian Army campaign to the game and the battlefields of Tunisia! From here I'll talk about the good and bad the dlc/game has to offer (spoilers beware! I will not be comparing this to Kursk 1943, it's DLC Battle for Caen, or ToW3 and have separate reviews for them): The Good: Centauro is the longest campaign available compared to every campaign that comes in the base game (8 Missions, twice as long as the UK and US campaigns; even longer than the German campaign) detailing the service and exploits of the eponymous 131st Armoured Division Centauro in Libya, and Tunisia. In addition the campaign has a more historical feel to it with High Command often checking in on unit (rather than officer) progress, emphasis on the relativlely smaller size of Italian Army units at this point, and the need to employ Tanks and SPGs against (almost exclusively) American tanks' flanks rather than the historical realism of Col. Roger Waters, Maj. Richard Stephens, or Col. Erich Gerhard. Fundamental gameplay and tactics feel easier to grasp and learn compared to the base game as this dlc campaign takes some time to teach, then has a steady spike in difficulty rather than an uneven test of what real life tactics to emulate as happens with the allies or a sisyphean trial by fire as with the german campaign; This isn't to say the base game's campaigns are bad but to say that this campaign feels like it had a greater deal of thought put into it by comparison. New units are added: enough Italian Units to (sort of, see The Bad) fully realize it as a faction and not just the M14/40, deadlier, beefier variety of Allied Units (seemingly to address criticisms with the German and UK campaigns) like the M10 Wolverine, M4A1 Sherman, Mk. VI Cusader, M3A1 Stuart (which you can now get in the UK campaign), and Wehrmacht Howitzers (leFH). Missions are fair about giving you reinforcements so even messing up one mission and later winning it isn't as punishing as in the base game, I lost all my SPGs by mission 3 and gained twice as many as I lost by mission 5, it also felt a bit easier to capture allied tanks and vehicles if not encouraged to enjoy greater firepower. In addition because the Italian Army is in a poor state at this point in the war there is a far greater feeling of reward when taking surviving veteran units between missions, there is nothing more satisfying than filling extra slots for units in a mission that just you have and it making a massive difference on the mission outcome; It often made me feel as though there was a reason to be tactical with compelling reward but for that reason be sure to keep your save files or you're better off starting the campaign from the beginning (in El Aghlia) rather than starting it in the midst of a scenario. Together these aspects created a stronger narrative rather than fictional characters and is something that often brings me back to this game/DLC besides the Multiplayer which Centauro adds new maps to and can revitalize; especially with the Balance Mod (see conclusion) The Bad(Starting with least imo to worst imo): The Centauro don't have one single unit to rely on (compared to, say, Gerhard's mythical Tiger I) and each unit type feels critical to succeeding, this into itself is something I enjoy about this particular ToW title(DISCLAIMER: I own the whole series and consider myself a fan) at the same token this can make certain missions feel needlessly tedious especially if you lost the only Anti-Tank units you have in the later missions(7, 8). The Italian Army isn't like the Wehrmacht where they will keep updating their arsenal and unit selection will quickly feel somewhat limited after Mission (5), this issue is only compounded by not having veteran carryovers. The Italian Army has the following: Infantry(Rifleman, SMG, Anti-Tank, Grenadier) Tanks(3, One Anti-Infantry and Two "proper" tanks) SPGs(Really just one, Semovente 75/18) Armored Cars (Two) Therefore, they lack proper transport, howitzer, and anti-air units unless being reinforced by the Germans and you never get to keep such units between missions; infantry will have to walk and this can take a very long time, you will live at the mercy of any Allied aircraft encountered, and there will be no such thing as "softening up" the enemy with indirect fire. No Italian Air Force units are present in the campaign, in a running trend with vanilla ToW2:A1943's most glaring problem of lacking units contemporary to the North Africa Front and a particularly limited roster of units (esp. compared to the original ToW) for a game set in Tunisia or 1943, yet this adds to the grueling nature of later missions where you will never get Air Support as though the Luftwaffe only have enough Stukas for Gerhard's antics. You won't get much in the way of combat support, I understand this is for the sake of realism, but still.. one air superiority or mortar support wouldn't have hurt. In conclusion Centauro is a worthwhile addition to a game that otherwise seems defined at times by what it lacks: the DLC campaign is long, a new faction is added (Italian Army), it rounds out the roster of both Axis and Allied forces, adds new MP maps (mostly focused on Libya and Algeria) and is a great addition for two dollars, it may up your own review by a star or two and is definitely a good DLC in my book and I would definitely suggest to my friends. NOTE ON BALANCE MOD: I mentioned before that the game lacks units and this is to an almost comical degree at times; attempting a kind of asymmetry gameplay that can be unnecessary(especially glaring when playing as the UK) and limiting SPG/Assault Gun use to the US and Italians (with only Americans wielding true Bazookas, the Italians exclusively use Anti-Tank Rifles). If this is a huge problem for you I suggest this DLC with the Balance Mod. The Balance mod adds even more units than this DLC(Panzerfausts, PIATs, StuG III, SPG Bishop, Matilda II tank to name just a few) and rebalances a lot of the units to make the asymmetry more natural.

such lovely models and animation but all spoilled by stupid ai and scripting, this could have been such a gem who fucked this up so bad and why wasnt he sacked? my advise dont buy unless you rip the content for your own games ;P

What can I say this DLC works for me and adds the Italians to the game. And yes the game has its flaws, but overall the level of detail put into this game surpasses those issues. https://youtu.be/i4FQ7VM86Bk