Zvezda's Art of Tactic games: A way forward for my Eastern Front/Great Patriotic War project?

Over the past few weeks I have been doing a lot of thinking about how best to approach starting work on my Eastern Front/Great Patriotic War project. One possibility that I have been considering is to take a simple quick-start short-cut … and buy a copy of Zveda’s ‘Art of Tactic’ OPERATION BARBAROSSA game.

The game components are compatible with my PORTABLE WARGAME rules. I know this because I previously owned a copy, but in what now strikes me as a fit of madness, I passed it on to another wargamer, along with a stack of unmade models that I had bought to go with it.

In terms of figures and vehicles, the basic game contains:

• 1 x Pzkpfw II tank
• 1 x Pzkpfw III tank
• 1 x Opel Blitz truck
• 3 x Bases of German infantry
• 1 x Base of German assault engineers
• 1 x German machine gun crew
• 1 x Ju87 Stuka dive-bomber
• 1 x 81mm mortar and crew
• 1 x German HQ
• 1 x T-34/76 tank
• 1 x Zis-5 truck
• 3 x Bases of Russian infantry
• 1 x Russian machine gun and crew
• 1 x Russian 82mm mortar and crew
• 1 x 45mm anti-tank gun and crew
• 1 x 37mm anti-aircraft gun and crew
• 1 x Russian HQ

The terrain items in the box include:

• 6 x double-sided six by four hexed terrain boards (they are actually five hexes plus two half hexes by four hexes)
• 30 x double-sided single terrain hexes
• 6 x hill hexes
• 1 x Pillbox
• 2 x Dragon’s teeth anti-tank obstacles
• 4 x Sets of barbed wire
• 1 x Pontoon bridge

In addition, I already have soome models I had bought some years ago during a visit to the Artillery Museum in St Petersburg. These include:

• 1 x T-26 tank
• 2 x T-34/76 (mod.43) tanks
• 2 x 45mm anti-tank guns and crew
• 2 x 76mm infantry guns and crew
• 2 x 122mm M-30 howitzers and crew
• 2 x 85mm anti-aircraft guns and crew

Since the first game came out, Zvezda have added several additional sets to the range including the ‘Art of Tactic’ TANK COMBAT game.

This set comprises:

• 1 x Pzkpfw II tanks
• 1 x Pzkpfw 38(t) tanks
• 1 x Pzkpfw IV tanks
• 1 x BT-5 tanks
• 1 x T-26 tanks
• 1 x T-34/76 (mod.40) tanks
• 1 x double-sided four by three hexed terrain boards (they are actually four hexes by two hexes plus two half hexes)

The other two widely available games are Zveda’s ‘Art of Tactic’ BATTLE FOR MOSCOW ...

and BATTLE OF STALINGRAD ...

... games.

The former contains:

• 1 x Pzkpfw III ausf.G tank
• 1 x Pzkpfw IV ausf.D tank
• 1 x StuG ausf.B assault gun
• 3 x Bases of German infantry in winter uniform
• 1 x German machine gun crew in winter uniform
• 1 x 81mm mortar and crew in winter uniform
• 1 x German motorcycle and sidecar
• 1 x German HQ in winter uniform
• 1 x T-35 tank
• 1 x Base of Russian infantry in winter uniform
• 2 x Bases of Russian militia infantry
• 1 x Base of Russian ski infantry
• 1 x Russian machine gun and crew in winter uniform
• 1 x Russian 82mm mortar and crew in winter uniform
• 1 x 85mm anti-aircraft gun and crew
• 1 x Russian HQ in winter uniform
• 6 x double-sided six by four hexed snowy terrain boards (they are actually five hexes plus two half hexes by four hexes)
• 30 x double-sided single terrain snowy hexes
• 6 x hill hexes
• 1 x Pillbox
• 2 x Dragon’s teeth anti-tank obstacles
• 4 x Sets of barbed wire
• 1 x Pontoon bridge
• 8 x Smoke markers
• 2 x Fire markers

The latter contains:

• 1 x Pzkpfw IV tank
• 1 x Base of German infantry in winter uniform
• 1 x 75mm anti-tank gun and crew
• 1 x 81mm mortar and crew in winter uniform
• 1 x German HQ in winter uniform
• 1 x T-34/76 tank
• 1 x Base of Russian infantry in winter uniform
• 1 x Russian anti-tank team
• 1 x 76mm Zis-3 anti-tank gun and crew
• 1 x Russian HQ in winter uniform
• 3 x double-sided six by four hexed terrain boards, two of which are snowy (they are actually five hexes plus two half hexes by four hexes)
• 1 x Pillbox
• 2 x Dragon’s teeth anti-tank obstacles
• 4 x Sets of barbed wire
• 1 x Pontoon bridge
• 6 x Smoke markers
• 2 x Fire markers

By buying most or all of the above I could quickly 'kick-start' my Eastern Front/Great Patriotic War project into life ... and it is certainly an option I need to think about some more.