Sicilian Bases Part 1: The Research

First, Do Your Research


(Click to Enlarge)

"The Allied invasion of Sicily, codenamed Operation Husky, was a major World War II campaign, in which the Allies took Sicily from the Axis (Italy and Nazi Germany). It was a large scale amphibious and airborne operation, followed by six weeks of land combat. It launched the Italian Campaign.

Husky began on the night of 9–10 July 1943, and ended 17 August. Strategically, Husky achieved the goals set out for it by Allied planners. The Allies drove Axis air, land and naval forces from the island; the Mediterranean's sea lanes were opened and Italian dictator Benito Mussolini was toppled from power. It opened the way to the Allied invasion of Italy."
- Wikipedia

Below is a picture of the Sicilian countryside around Caltanissetta, in central Sicily:



Finally, I found a topographical map of Sicily:




From what I can make out by the troop movement map above, is that my model Infantry Division (The 9th ID) entered the south-eastern tip of the island (south-west of Syracuse) with what looks like the 45th Infantry. According to http://bio.sicilian.net/ :


"The Southeast corner comprises a series of high plateaus made up of lava, tuff and above all limestone, and features a number of impressive gorges carved out by water erosion through the centuries.The innermost part of the island is predominantly hilly, consisting mainly of the so called A1topiano Solfifero (literally the sulphur uplands'), with altitudes ranging from 500-700 m. Its summit, however, with the snow, rises to almost 1,OOOm."

Limestone. That was what stuck out to me the most. I could do that! Also, beaches are of a similar color. So, I started my basing project, intending to make a multipurpose Sicilian base theme for my US infantry.

Part Two of this guide will show step-by-step how I went about achieving the desired affect.