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The Russian Campaign, 1941-45

After spectacular success in the West, Germany and its Axis partners turned East in June 1941 and launched the greatest land invasion in history against the Soviet Union. The goal of Operation Barbarossa was to decisively defeat the Soviet Union in a short lightning campaign before the onset of winter.

During the early stages of the campaign, the Wehrmacht caught the Red Army completely unprepared and had advanced its armored spearheads across the Dnepr in only a few short weeks. By mid-October, the Axis invasion appeared unstoppable and on the verge of ultimate success.

Unfortunately for the Axis, the time for a decisive victory had run out with the arrival of Russia’s notorious muddy season and the worst winter in a century. Despite suffering catastrophic losses over four months, the Soviet military was finally able to regroup and halt the invaders at the gates of Moscow. The Axis would never come so close to victory again and the initiative would slowly fall from its grasp.

As the Axis, can you do better and seize Moscow before the snow falls?