A must have for any Cold War military enthusiast and Wargamer. Very well researched, easy to read and well illustrated.
Covers the various types of each vehicle with all the specifications and data. Having owned and read several of his books, Russell Phillips is at the top of the game in military publishing.

This is a very useful item for anyone wishing to do modern wargaming. The maps are good and the scenario OoB's are extensive.

For those of us who are (a) interested in military technology and (b) know little of this period, this is a good introductory book. True, some – more familiar with the subject matter – might think it is rather light on background information, but as I said, neophytes such as I will find it provides more than enough to put these vehicles into some sort of context.

The book describes 8 tanks; 6 IFV’s; 8 APC’s; 12 anti-tank vehicles; 3 Recce vehicles; 13 SP AA mounts; 7 SPG’s, howitzers and mortars; 8 multiple rocket launchers; and 8 tactical ballistic missiles. I have no idea whether this is actually exhaustive (or nearly so) or merely representative, but it does paint quite an image of the wide range available in the Soviet post-WWII vehicle park.

My only disappointments with this book are purely technical:

1) Pages 5 and 6 include a short but very instructive discussion on the value of sloped armour, along with a table indicating the relative increase in armour effectiveness at various angles of deflection. Vehicle entries have brief specifications summaries which include, among other interesting information, such details as this (taken from the entry for the IS-8/T-10):

Hull front upper: 120mm @ 60° Hull front lower: 100mm @ 55° Hull side: 90mm @ 60° Hull rear upper: 60mm @ 30° Hull rear lower: 30mm @ 50°

I would have appreciated it had the author taken a few moments to calculate and provide us with the corresponding increases in armour effectiveness.

2) The book is printer-friendly, in the sense that there are no cumbersome, ink-consuming background images and that the font is large enough to be easily legible, yet small enough to fit a lot of text in a single page. But the “one entry = two pages” approach means that there is a lot of blank space that could have been eliminated through a different formatting.

3) I tend to like to have more rather than less technical information, and I would have liked to see the author include such details as cross-country speed and autonomy, ground pressure (rather important considering the terrain conditions in parts of the former Soviet Union), main-gun depression and elevation (this oversight is strange, as the author made a very valid point regarding Soviet inability to fire back at Afghan insurgents attacking from above), and so on.

4) Finally, while I understand that some will find it useful to have the specs of each vehicle or weapons system placed directly in the corresponding entry, I would have appreciated a table that provided this information for all vehicles and systems, for ease of comparison; at the very least, a table for all those included in each section (all IFV’s, for example, at the end of the corresponding chapter).

Still, all of these are but details. At this price (under four US dollars), you certainly will have a hard time finding a better buy, or (more importantly) a better introduction to the subject matter. I am eagerly looking forward to the next book by this author.

Very disappointed, this product sponges off other peoples work and doesn't even complete the orders of battle; only the changes. Save your money

Very short, but some good pictures and details. Would like more narrative.

This artical was good in its own limited way due to subject matter. Looking at doing a WW! campaign of the adriatic v just the Italian Navy so this has helped get a feel for the thinking of a fleet in being and why that could change to a more agressive approach.

This is a useful little booklet that fills in some of the gaps not covered in standard publications. Highly recommended.

An informative little piece about a less-than-well-known capital ship. Full of facts and not afraid to describe the deficiencies in the design and construction that led to her destruction. The illustrations are nice too and a suitable starting place for a modeler or wargamer.

The title says it all, “An Ineffective System: The M247 Sergeant York.” While the book details the issues with the system, it also gives a comprehensive history. The book focuses on the needs and requirements for the system with details about the system and the problems that the technical team tried to overcome while trying to fill the void for this type of air defense system. This is the most comprehensive book I have ever read on this subject. It is worth downloading. The only thing I would change is to increase the page length by providing additional information and or illustrations/photographs.

An e-Reader such as FBReader http://www.fbreader.org/ is needed to read this book.

I have been a fan of Traveller, Striker and Squad Leader over the years. Traveller (and its miniature rules counterpart, Striker) both have vehicle design systems spanning many decades of technology development.

Hence the actual historical development of armament design is of great interest. This little booklet, nicely laid out in ePub format, traces the need for an anti-aircraft weapon and how it was built on the chassis of existing tanks.

The tension between cost, time and suitability of the weapon to its purpose all play out in this book. I won't "spoil the story" - download and read it if you want to know!

Great backgrounder for a tank / weapons designer. I am thinking of using the specifications for a design for MegaTraveller, and this will provide pictures for the weapon. So it provides for inserting into a role play game.

Even without a design system in your war game or role play game, the detailed specifications given here will make it easy to approximate if needed.