"Seeking Books on The Drive on Moscow - Tactical Detail" Topic

I am looking for a good book on the Drive on Moscow and subsequent counterattacks by the Russians that deals with the actual fighting and not an armchair account. Details of the battles not just the typical "Well the Germans tried their best but the Russians won" type narrative.

I have my eye on Frank Kurowski's Panzer Aces 3 volume set. I am looking for books that go into battalion detail on how the battles played out. Not "XX Corps attacked but was repulsed" but more on where and how the individual units fought.

Miniature scenario books would work too. They usually show where the battalions and companies were deployed.

Boardgame scenarios also a possibility. (PanzerBlitz, etc)

I would avoid the Panzer Aces series like the plague. IMHO they incorporate a large dose of the author's imagination. For example, where does he get the detailed quotations from? Of course no footnotes or bibliography in the one I was foolish enough to buy.

What about "Tank Warfare on the Eastern Front 1941-1942" by Forczyk?

smile.amazon.com/Tank-Warfare-Eastern-Front-Stackpole/dp/0811717844/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1536771519&sr=1-3

MH

Try "The Defense of Moscow 1941 – The Northern Flank." It's about the German XXXXI Motorized Corp's attack towards Kalinin. Both the authors (Jack Radey & Charles Sharp) are miniatures gamers who have written lots of scenarios, so while this is a serious work there is plenty of fodder for scenario-hungry gamers. In fact I have one written by Mr Radey on one of the battles in the book.

link

Good tip on The Defense of Moscow, thanks!

Thanks guys! Will check out that Tank Warfare book!

BTW, I own a different edition than the Stackpole one, per link below; note it has additional reviews (200 or so) with an average rating of 4.5 stars. I assume it's the same contents as the Stackpole edition, as the title and author are the same.

link

MH

I have recently read the book hindsTMP linked to (the non-Stackpole version of Forzyck's "Tank Warfare on the Eastern Front 1941-42").

I was very impressed by the book. The quality of the research and the readability were very much to my liking. I immediately bought the second book in the sequence (1943-45), which I am quite enjoying too.

These are the kind of books … when I read them I want to note, highlight, memorize so much! There is just so much interesting content that I want it ALL in my head, I want to absorb it all into my knowledge base. It is books that me me feel that way, that I cherish the most.

But I'm not entirely sure this book will satisfy the gamer looking for scenarios. Maybe … if you have the skills to extract what you need for your scenarios out of the slightly bigger picture. But you won't find any blow-by-blow details on Obersturmfuehrer Kriegpappi's fight to hold the crossroads. You might get a sentence or two mentioning that a scratch panzer force of about platoon strength, all that was left from a decimated battalion, was dispatched, and took heavy casualties fighting a delaying action.

Just my thoughts…

-Mark
(aka: Mk 1)