As World War II in Europe reached its end, armour development and doctrine had experienced several years of massively accelerated change, especially within the crucible of the Eastern Front. The German Jagdpanther and Soviet SU-100, both turretless tank-destroyer designs based on a 'traditional' turret-tank chassis, were the culminating examples of how the progression of experience, resources and time constraints produced vehicles that were well suited for roles of defence and offence, respectively. The Jagdpanther represented a well-balanced solution and an excellent use of limited resources, while the SU-100 was a natural progression of the SU-85, where numbers produced compensated for rudimentary construction, poor crew comfort and limited optics.

Author Biography

David R. Higgins attended the Columbus College of Art & Design, and received a BFA from Ohio State University and an MISM from Keller. In addition to The Roer River Battles he has written over twenty articles for magazines such as Strategy & Tactics, Armchair General, and World at War, as well as MCSGroup, a conflict simulation provider for the US Defense Department. He lives in Columbus, Ohio. Richard Chasemore finished a four-year course in technical illustration in 1992. Since then he has worked on a huge variety of projects in publishing and advertising, using both traditional and digital media. He has run an airbrush course in St Louis, Missouri, and also written six educational books on digital art. He has spent 10 years working on the best-selling Star Wars Incredible Cross Sections series, which has taken him to Skywalker Ranch in California to work with the Lucasfilm concept artists. He also enjoys music and is a co-founder of Superglider Records.