Italy as a whole hearted member of the PACT, with its forces attacking NATO as a united front, has always been one of the weakest parts of the canon. Italy has been a very fractious nation ever since Mussolini and there has been no leader of his type since WWII, one that could actually unite Italians behind him.
And the canon has no event that could make the left surge in Italy - at least not the V1 or V2.2 canon - possibly the MERC canon where the world's economy is in many ways collapsing and nation states are beginning to come apart.
There would be significant opposition to any war with NATO, especially a NATO that has shown it will use nuclear weapons (which Italy doesnt have). Thus the idea of a fractured Italy, where rightist elements break away and fight the left ones, with units either joining NATO against their fellow countrymen or marching home, much as the Folgore is by Going Home time, is one that is not only a much more realistic one but could also explain how Italy fades away by 1999 and its troops are leaving Yugoslavia to come home - i.e. they are too busy fighting each other to be fighting NATO anymore.
And the addition of one or two Italian brigades to NATO's OOB would not significantly change the balance of power.
By the way one thing that was overlooked by the writers was the Hungarian forces - you never hear much about them.
So how would you counterbalance the Italians joining NATO in the war against the Russians, which is the far more likely event, without junking canon?
One very possible answer - the Italian left carries out strikes and slowdowns and sabotage that hamstring the Italian war effort, destroying supplies and munitions before they can get to the troops, leaving the Italian forces that join NATO on the war fronts very badly supplied. Some units, infiltrated by leftists, turn on the govt and either cause a civil war or fight openly against NATO, possibly while stationed in Austria and southern Germany, forcing NATO to commit scarce resources against them. And you counterbalance any added Italian units to NATO's OOB by adding in the missing Hungarian units, who now invade Austria as well.
So you get exactly what the canon had, but with a twist that makes for a more believeable Italian model for the war. And adds even more fun for characters with the addition of Italian weapons and men to possibly character parties since there would be NATO participation by Italy.
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