On May 12, 1942 Soviet forces under the command of Marshal Timoshenko launched an offensive against the German 6th Army from a salient established during the winter counter-offensive.

This scenario in Panzer Strategy also combines the defense and counter-offensive. Like in 1942 the Soviet offensive is concentrated near Izium and the "Barvenkovo bulge" while he forces to the South near Voroshilovgrad (Lugansk) just hold the line.

In 1942 the Soviet offensive was stopped on 15 May by a massive German campaign of airstrikes. Soviet command failed to accurately estimate the 6th Army's potential and overestimated their own newly raised forces and facilitated a German pincer attack. Hemmed into a narrow area, the 250,000-strong Soviet force was exterminated from all sides by German armored, artillery and machine gun firepower and after six days of encirclement the Soviet troops were either killed or taken prisoner.

In the game scenario the key to success is a proper deployment of core-units. The units available at the start are insufficient to stop the offensive. So the German strategy is completely in your hands.

The battle turned to be an overwhelming German victory, with 280,000 Soviet casualties compared to 20,000 for the Germans and their allies. The German Army Group South pressed its advantage, encircling the Soviet 28th Army and pushing back the 38th and 9th Armies as preliminary operations to Case Blue, – a strategic summer offensive in southern Russia in 1942.