Armor at Kursk - The Battle of Prochorovka

Armor at Kursk is a two-player operational level simulation game depicting the largest single tank battle in this history of warfare. This battle was fought on July 12, 1943, between the German SS Panzer Korps and the Russian 5th Guards Tank Army, just south of a small Russian town called Prochorovka (occasionally spelled Prokhorovka or Prokchorovka). This battle was the climax of the Kursk campaign.

The SS Panzer Korps began its attack on July 3rd, and spent the next 8 days breaking through the dense Russian defensive positions. During the late afternoon and evening of the 11th, the SS Panzer Korps broke through the defenses. The Russian 32nd Tank Corps was thrown in to counter-attack, but was repulsed with heavy losses. The Germans spent the night of the 11/12th reorganizing, and attacked northward before dawn on the 12th. As dawn broke the lead German elements ran head on into the lead elements of the 5th Guards Tank Army and the battle was on. It was to last all day, in confused and savage fighting at close ranges. In the end, the Russians were driven back to the town of Prochorovka, but the Germans were unable to push them any further. Over 1500 tanks had been involved (700 German and 800 Russian). Losses exceeded three hundred tanks on each side.

But for all that, the battle was inconclusive. The Russians were not destroyed, and the Germans ran out of time. Allied operations in the Mediterranean required the immediate transfer of the 1st and 2nd SS Divisions to Italy. The Germans had staked the war on one battle, and had achieved at best a draw. From that time onward, the Germans would grow consistently weaker, the Russians progressively stronger. A decisive German victory at Prochorovka would have opened the road to Kursk. Capture of that city, and the destruction of the Russian strategic reserves, might have turned the war around for the Germans. Because they never won at Prochorovka, the Germans never had that chance.