War at Sea
Allied Nations
- Australia
- Brazil
- Canada
- France
- Greece
- Netherlands
- New Zealand
- Norway
- Poland
- Soviet Union
- United Kingdom
- United States
- Allies stat table
Axis Nations
Neutral Nations/Installations
Sets
- War At Sea
- Task Force
- Flank Speed
- New Starter
- Condition Zebra
- Set V (Fleet Command)
- Surface action
- First Strike (Forumini Expansion Deck A)
- Infamy (Forumini Expansion Deck B)
- Battle Line (Forumini Expansion Deck C)
- All Hands on Deck (Forumini D)
- Action Stations (Forumini E)
- Dead Reckoning (Forumini F)
Unit Card:
Set - Rarity - Number
Task Force - Uncommon - 46/60
History:
nrnstraswa
The SM 79 was Italy's most produced bomber. It was mainly used as a torpedo bomber by the Italian airforce. It saw service first in the Spanish Civil war, all the way to the Italian Armistace.
Early on, the Sparviero saw quite a bit of success, sinking various merchant ships, and also damaging the the British Heavy Cruiser HMS Kent , placing it out of action for some time.
Later on, SM 79s damaged the Battleship HMS Warspite and several other British vessels.
The Sparviero was also tested as a radio-controlled flying bomb. However, on the test run, the radio controls malfunctioned, ran out of fuel and the plane crashed into a mountain.
After the Italian armistice, Sparvieros served on both the Allied and German sides.
Reviews:
Lobukia
When looking at land-based torpedo attacks, no plane can match the Sparviero. The SM 79 is well protected at 5 armor and 8 vital, gains extra dice when attacking damaged craft, and gets to throw an extra torp or two at all other vessels in a sector.
While some are critical of this unit for its lack of ASW, they need to realize that at 11 points this plane is the samurai of big ship, formation busting, make the other guy nervous all day, patrol bombers.
I recommend using them in threes, with an escort, against battleships and heavy combatants. If you can get just a few hits in early, finishing off even an Iowa or two is very possible for only 36 points of air power.
Imagine the following: Three Sparviero's attacking a Rodney and a Warspite. Lets say the Warspite already has one damage and one of the three Sparviero's is aborted. The first SM 79 attacks the Rodney (3 dice) and gets an extra torp at the Warspite, and a bonus dice against the Warspite (2 dice). The second SM 79 attacks the Warspite (4 dice total) and gets its extra attack on the Rodney (1 dice). Thats a total of 4 dice against the Rodney, and 6 dice against the Warspite… now imagine if all three make it through and if both targets are damaged… thats 8 torpedo dice on one and 10 on the other.
…let it sink in… yeah, I thought you might want the SM 79 next game.
Aran55633
Very nice plane. For 11 points, with 3 torpedo dice, 5/8 armor values, Torpedo Swarm, and Finish Him Off, this is a very powerful unit. Mix with a Folgore, maybe an Aquila/Graf Zeppelin with a BF 109 or two, and you can actually make an Italian air build… So long as you take something for your ASW of course.
Plastic Figure Notes:
