H2H-StuGs versus SU's - Combat Mission: Barbarossa to Berlin

History: StuG Sturmgeschütz is a German word for "assault gun", usually abbreviated StuG. The vehicle was a leading weapon of the Sturmartillerie, a branch of the German artillery tasked with close fire support of infantry in infantry, panzer, and panzergrenadier units. StuGs were very successful in their intended support role and destroyed, among others, many bunkers, pillboxes and other defences. Destruction of enemy tanks was its main priority, however, and it is estimated that by 1944 StuG battalions had destroyed 20,000 enemy tanks. The StuG is not generally considered to be a true tank because it lacks a turret. The gun was mounted directly in the hull, in a casemate-style fashion, with as low a profile as was possible to reduce vehicle height, and had a limited lateral traverse of a few degrees in either direction. Thus, the entire vehicle had to be turned in order to acquire targets. Omitting the turret made production much simpler and less costly, enabling greater numbers to be built. The lower vehicle height was meant to give a "StuG" designated vehicle a significantly shorter vertical profile as compared to contemporary tanks, making the StuG more difficult to hit and easier to protect in hull defilade. Most assault guns were mounted on the chassis of a Panzer III (which had become obsolete as a tank) or Panzer IV, with the resultant model being called either a StuG III or StuG IV respectively. The StuG was one of the most effective tracked vehicles of World War II, and over 10,000 of them were eventually produced. History: SU 85 The SU-85 was a Soviet self-propelled gun used during World War II, based on the chassis of the T-34 medium tank. Earlier Soviet self-propelled guns were meant to serve as either assault guns, such as the SU-122, or as mobile anti-tank weapons; the SU-85 fell into the latter category. The designation SU-85 is derived as follows: 'SU' stands for the Russian: Samokhodnaya Ustanovka - self-propelled carriage, while "85" signifies the bore of the vehicle's armament, the 85 mm D-5T gun. Development history Early in World War II, Soviet tanks such as the T-34 and KV-1 had enough firepower to destroy any German tank then available. However, in the fall of 1942, Soviet forces encountered the new German Tiger tank, with armor too thick to be penetrated by the 76.2 mm guns used in the T-34 and KV tanks at a safe range.By spring 1943, the Soviets had also received reports of the new Panther tank, although the Panther was not seen in combat until July 1943, during the battle of Kursk. This new generation of German vehicles meant the Red Army needed a new and more powerful tank destroyer. In May 1943, work was begun on both a new anti-tank gun and a redesign to the armament of the SU-122. Developers of the former put their efforts to adapting an 85 mm gun, one of two types identified as best against the Tiger (the other being the 122 mm A-19). The SU-122, meanwhile, was rearmed with an existing 85 mm gun, the S-18, which was itself improved in the process. The production factory at Uralmash, which received the SU-122 design, attempted to reject the design as too expensive, since the larger gun breech meant that the entire hull would need to be modified, but it was required nevertheless to put the design into production. Of the SU-85, several prototypes were rejected for design flaws, but after several changes, which included changing the gun to a D-5T, one was put into service as the SU-85. At the same time, the 85 mm D-5S, which had proven both effective and reliable, was modified to include a telescopic sight and a new ball mantlet design and retitled the SU-85-II.[1] Description The SU-85 was a modification of the earlier SU-122 self-propelled howitzer, essentially replacing the 122 mm M-30S howitzer of the SU-122 with a D-5T high-velocity 85 mm antitank gun. The 85 mm gun was effective against Panther and Tiger tanks at long range. The vehicle was small, highly mobile and well armored. (History vehicles from WIKIPEDIA) ** In this battle 2 battalion size units meet each other in Central Russia and both are mainly equipped with StuGs and SU's **