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Four new books coming from Osprey in April which will show us some mountain tactics, tell us about Kharkov and Vietnam, and give us some information on tanks of the German Allies.

Osprey Publishing has four new books due in April, including some interesting looking titles.

Elite 193 - World War II Winter and Mountain Warfare Tactics
Author: Stephen Bull
Illustrator: Steve Noon
The twentieth century saw an unprecedented emphasis on fighting in all terrains, seasons and weather conditions. Such conditions made even basic survival difficult as subzero temperatures caused weapons to jam, engines to seize up and soldiers to suffer frostbite, snow blindness and hypothermia. The conditions often favoured small groups of mobile, lightly armed soldiers, rather than the armoured forces or air power that dominated other combat environments. Some European armies developed small numbers of specialist alpine troops before and during World War I, but these proved to be insufficient as nearly all the major combatants of World War II found themselves fighting for extended periods in extremely hostile cold-weather and/or alpine environments. Drawing upon manuals, memoirs and unit histories and illustrated with period tactical diagrams and specially commissioned full-colour artwork, this study sheds new light on the winter-warfare tactics and techniques of the US, British, German, Soviet and Finnish armies of World War II.

Campaign 254 - Kharkov 1942 - The Wehrmacht strikes back
Author: Robert Forczyk
Illustrator: Howard Gerrard
After failing to finish off the German Army in the 1941/42 Winter Counteroffensive Stalin directed the Red Army to conduct a powerful blow in one sector of the Eastern Front in order to disrupt German plans. The sector chosen was Kharkov. Under Marshal Semyon Timoshenko, the Stavka’s remaining reserves were assembled and prepared to conduct a breakthrough attack intended to encircle the German Sixth Army near Kharkov. However, Stalin was unaware that the Germans were planning their own riposte at Kharkov, known as Operation Fredericus. When Timoshenko began his offensive in May 1942, he did not realize the limitations of his own forces or the agility of the Germans to recover from setbacks, all of which contributed to one of the Red Army greatest defeats of World War II. This volume will pay particular attention to intelligence and logistics issues, as well as how this campaign served as a prelude to the battle of Stalingrad. It will also focus on the nascent development of the Red Army’s tank corps and ‘deep battle’ tactics, as well as the revival of the German Panzertruppen after Barbarossa.

Vietnam: A View from the Front Lines
Author: Andrew Wiest
Based on rich collections housed at the National Archive, the Center of Military History, and at the Vietnam Archive at Texas Tech, Voices from America’s Failed Crusade will trace the American experience of Vietnam from the war’s popular inception to its morale-crushing and bitter conclusion. Being careful to demonstrate that the Vietnam War was actually several different wars both in time and in space, Voices from America’s Failed Crusade will allow the reader a grunt’s-eye view of the conflict – from the steaming rice paddies and swamps of the Mekong Delta, to the triple-canopy rainforest of the Central Highlands, to the forlorn Marine bases that dotted the DMZ. The stories contained within Voices from America’s Failed Crusade will detail everything from heroism to fragging, from helicopters hitting the LZs to rampant drug use. It will be a true and grippingly accurate portrait of the American war in Vietnam through the eyes of the men and women who fought in that far away land.

New Vangaurd 199 - Tanks of Hitler’s Eastern Allies 1941–45
Author: Steven J. Zaloga
Illustrator: Henry Morshead
The titanic armor battles of the Russian Front are widely known, but the role of Germany’s eastern allies is not as well known. Two of these countries, Romania and Hungary, manufactured their own tanks as well as purchasing tanks from Germany. These ranged from older, obsolete types such as the PzKpfw 35(t) all the way up to the latest and best German vehicles including the Tiger I and Hetzer. These tanks played a frequent role in the battles in southern Russia and Ukraine and were especially prominent in the disaster at Stalingrad where the Red Army specifically chose the weaker Romanian and Hungarian salients for their critical envelopment operation. This New Vanguard will provide a broad survey of the various and colorful tanks used. Besides covering the largest of these Axis tank forces, this book will cover the many smaller and lesser known forces including the Italian contingent in Russia, the Finnish armored force, and the small but interesting armored forces of the Russian Vlasov (RONA), Croatian, Bulgarian and Slovakian armies. This subject is seeing increasing interest in the modeling world; for example Tamiya recently announced a PzKpfw 35 (t) (suitable for Romanian, Slovak armies) a Finnish StuG III, and a Finnish BT-42.