The fate of the battle hung in the balance. The Southern attack saw much more success initially, as General Hoth`s 4 th Panzer Army broke through the first line of defences and with the II SS Panzer Corps leading the charge, put the best of the German forces against battle-hardened veteran units of the Red Army. Although characterized by intense and desperate fighting, the northern attack never made much progress. North of the salient, the German 9 th Army under Colonel-General Model encountered resistance and conditions more similar to trench warfare than the Blitzkrieg they were used to. While the Germans massed tanks, airplanes, and artillery, the Red Army built impressive fortifications, and was very well prepared when the Panzers finally started rolling on the 5 th of July. Such big preparations against an obvious target did not go unnoticed by the Soviets.
Hitler gambled all resources on this battle and his insistence on having the newest tank models, the Panther and the Tiger, on the battlefield in force delayed the offensive. Germany badly needed a quick success for several reasons: shorten the frontline, free up forces against the inevitable invasion of Western Europe, and to keep her fledging allies in the camp. It chose the most obvious target: the bulge in the front line around the city of Kursk. Operation Citadel was to be the major German offensive on the Eastern Front in 1943. Conflict of Heroes: Storms of Steel is a stand-alone expansion to the critically acclaimed tactical computer wargame Conflict of Heroes: Awakening the Bear, the official adaptation of the award-winning board game from Academy Games. Storms of Steel is set in the Battle of Kursk and brings an impressive new campaign, created in part by legendary wargame designer John Hill, to Conflict of Heroes. Storms of Steel adds rules for airplanes, snipers, and over fifty new units.
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