Adding to Osprey's growing number of books in the Battle Orders series, this one on the first two years of the war against the Soviet Union concentrates on the spearhead of the German army, the Panzer Divisions. This particular event saw greater use of the larger Panzer IV tanks than in any other area of German warfare. It was also the first time they had come up against some real opposition in terms of the Soviet's KV-1 and T-34 tanks, something that altered future German tank development.

In this book we see how the German military realized the blitzkrieg no longer worked as the initial thrust into Russia was hampered by not only the distances involved, but also by the appalling Russian weather. All of this had to be taken into consideration along with altering the tactics involved in tank warfare.

The author covers all the key aspects that are similar in volumes of this series. There is an introduction and a discussion of the combat mission of the time. Then a section on the standard doctrine and on training before going into an extensive section on unit organization and how it changed over the years. This section is superbly illustrated with orders of battle and division makeup diagrams. Then a large section on tactics. In the tactics area, several battles fought during these two years are dissected to show lessons learned. Thanks to the use of quality maps, we are able to see what worked and how the commanders on both sides operated their forces. Following the tactics section is one on weapons and equipment and then one on command, control, communications. This is followed by a lessons learned section

As in all Osprey books, there are excellent period photographs used to illustrate the various sections, some of them in color. It all makes for an excellent read and a great reference for the enthusiast and wargamer. 

January 2009

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