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Description
A true legend of World War Two with 84,000 known to be built, it's one of the most produced tanks in history. Nations the world over used this machine in their armies, and some Asian and African militaries still have a few in their reserves today. This tank took the sloped armor principle and made it stick, inspired the Panther, and forced tank design to evolve.

With it's combination of speed, armor, and fire power, the T-34 was more than a match of ANY tank in 1940...But, why in July of 1941 when the Germans launched their invasion of Russia, why did the Russians get their bottoms nearly kicked over the Volga?

Well, even though there were about 1,066 T-34s ready to fight, the crews were novice at best and the Soviet command was a bunch of inept yes men fresh after the Stalin cabinet purges. But the biggest flaw (in my opinion) for the early T-34's, was the lack of radios between tanks. Only the command tanks had radios everyone else had signal flags, making coordination difficult if not impossible. It also didn't help that the Germans had air superiority allowing for Stukas to swoop down and blast Russian tanks with impunity.

The Russians had a war winner...once the teething issues were sorted out. Even though a lot of tanks were lost in the opening days of the German attack, the appearance of the T-34 was a shock to the Germans, the Panzer 38 (T), the Panzer 3, and even the Panzer 4 D, were no match to the T-34, and demanded immediate action in the form of heavier tanks.

I have drawn a factory fresh T-34, fresh from the peaceful, not yet at war soviet factories, fresh paint, and ready for the show room. The new kid, not yet the hardened veteran this machine would eventually become.

Description
A true legend of World War Two with 84,000 known to be built, it's one of the most produced tanks in history. Nations the world over used this machine in their armies, and some Asian and African militaries still have a few in their reserves today. This tank took the sloped armor principle and made it stick, inspired the Panther, and forced tank design to evolve.

With it's combination of speed, armor, and fire power, the T-34 was more than a match of ANY tank in 1940...But, why in July of 1941 when the Germans launched their invasion of Russia, why did the Russians get their bottoms nearly kicked over the Volga?

Well, even though there were about 1,066 T-34s ready to fight, the crews were novice at best and the Soviet command was a bunch of inept yes men fresh after the Stalin cabinet purges. But the biggest flaw (in my opinion) for the early T-34's, was the lack of radios between tanks. Only the command tanks had radios everyone else had signal flags, making coordination difficult if not impossible. It also didn't help that the Germans had air superiority allowing for Stukas to swoop down and blast Russian tanks with impunity.

The Russians had a war winner...once the teething issues were sorted out. Even though a lot of tanks were lost in the opening days of the German attack, the appearance of the T-34 was a shock to the Germans, the Panzer 38 (T), the Panzer 3, and even the Panzer 4 D, were no match to the T-34, and demanded immediate action in the form of heavier tanks.

I have drawn a factory fresh T-34, fresh from the peaceful, not yet at war soviet factories, fresh paint, and ready for the show room. The new kid, not yet the hardened veteran this machine would eventually become.