Set during the Second World War, the story unfolds across the Italian and North African theaters of the conflict. Players command the Allied forces during their hard-fought invasion of Italy, as well as the Axis forces waging the campaign across North Africa. On the Italian front, the fighting is shaped by a dynamic campaign in which the player's choices and interactions with a cast of military commanders can steer the direction of the war and its eventual outcome. Local Italian partisans lend their aid to the effort, joining the struggle on the map and in the heat of battle. Across sun-scorched deserts and war-torn Mediterranean towns, the campaign captures the sweeping and unpredictable nature of a theater where every decision can tip the balance of the conflict.