Military Model Scene

Title: Soviet Tanks in Barbarossa 1941
Author: Steven J. Zaloga
Publisher: Osprey
ISBN: 978-1-4728-6808-4

Number 342 in the New Vanguard series from Osprey, and another from popular author Steve Zaloga, including artwork by Felipe Rodriguez. A 48-page soft-cover book
What may be a particularly interesting point is made right at the outset of the introduction to this one, in that the size of the tank battles at the outset of Barbarossa were in fact even larger than those of the engagements at Kurk in 1943. The Russian tank fleet at this time amounted to around 24,000 tanks, facing roughly 3,500 panzers used by German forces. The book is split across 4 main sections, with 2 of these being sub-divided into more specific topic headings. Firstly there are details of Soviet Doctrine and Organisation, then Technical Factors, which examine the individual tank types, including light tanks such as theT-26, cavalry tanks such as the BT series, the large multi-turreted tanks of the T-28 and T-35, heavy tanks such as KV-1 and KV-2, and of course the early versions of the famous T-34/76 medium tank. That leaves the next section to deal with the historical stories of the Campaign itself, sub-divided into the Defense of the Baltic, Towards the Smolensk Gate, On the Kiev Axis, and lastly The Great Tank Massacre before rounding everything off with a Battle Analysis.
Excellent text and detail as we have come to expect from Steve Zaloga, a good selection of archive photos, some maps plus some excellent artwork illustrating the various tank types. I am sure that tank enthusiasts and historians, as well as modellers and wargamers will all find something to like in this one.
Thanks to Osprey for the review copy.

Robin