DVG - T-34 Leader

You are the commander of a Soviet army combat group in World War Two. You will take command in the hardest fought campaigns from Operation Barbarossa (1941) to the Battle of Berlin (1945).

Each of your Campaigns involve both operational and tactical decisions. At the start of a Campaign, you select the Units and Commanders to make up your force. During each Week of the Campaign, you decide which Enemy Battalions to attack, which of your forces to allocate, and then resolve each Battle using the Tactical Battlefield.

Your Commanders gain Experience with every Battle, but they also suffer Stress. Each Week you must decide how hard to push your men to achieve Victory.

T-34 Leader is a great game for both experienced strategy gamers, as well as new players.

Each Campaign takes around 30 minutes to set-up, and each Battle can be resolved in 15 to 30 minutes.

T-34 Leader has been designed from the ground up as a Solitaire wargame. It is not an adaptation of a 2-player wargame and the rules have been specifically designed for the solo player. As a Solitaire wargame, you can play whenever you have time, at your own pace.

T-34 Leader is the latest Tank Leader game from DVG, following Tiger Leader and Sherman Leader.

Your Campaign begins with the selection of both a Campaign and an Objective. Unlike other Tank Leader games, T-34 Leader introduces Difficulty Levels at this point to allow the Player access to more, or fewer, Special Operation (SO) Points, which are used to buy Units and other Effects, such as Smoke and Heavy Barrage tokens.

The control to select and match different Campaigns with different Objectives and Difficulty Levels gives the game endless variety and challenges both new and veteran players alike.

T-34 Leader includes a wide variety of Soviet Units from 1941 to 1945. From the T-70 to the massive SU-152, and, of course, several versions of the iconic T-34!

With each Unit you attach a Commander. Each Commander has unique strengths and weaknesses and can progress through six different Experience Levels, becoming more competent with each advance made.

The six levels are: Recruit, Green, Average, Skilled, Veteran and Ace. Commanders that survive Battles accrue Experience Points but also suffer Stress. Higher levels increase abilities, but prolonged exposure to battle increases Stress, which impacts abilities negatively.

Making careful choices of when to assign Units and Commanders to Battle, and when to let them rest and recover, is critical to ensuring victory.

We have worked hard to improve the quality of the art work and the variety available to the Player. Terrain tiles flip between Rural (Summer) and Urban. Here’s what the Tactical Battlefield Display looks like:

An Expansion pack for Mud and Snow Terrain tiles (and Special Rules) is also available.

In each Battle your selected Soviet Units will fight against German Units.

Enemy Battalions are trying to breakthrough your defensive line at the Front to reach the Friendly Transit and Friendly Staging Areas.

 Each Week of the Campaign you will determine which Enemy Battalion to attack, assign Units and Commanders and resolve that Battle on the Tactical Display.

Each Battle usually lasts 5 Battle Turns.

During each Battle Turn, you roll to determine how the Enemy Units will Move and Attack.

Each Battle Turn comprises four steps:

1. Resolve Opportunity Attacks for hidden Anti-Tank Guns and Snipers.

2. Resolve Move and Attack actions for Fast Player Commanders and Units first.

3. Resolve Enemy Move and Attack actions.

4. Finally, you resolve Move and Attack actions for Slow Player Commanders and Units.

Move actions are resolved according to the Speed of a Unit. Building and Fortifications have a Speed of 0 and cannot Move. Artillery, Infantry and Tanks have a Speed of 1. Armored Cars have a Speed of 2. This determines the number of hexes a Unit can move into.

After resolving a Move, a Unit can Attack. Units have an Attack Range of 0 to 3 hexes.

If a Unit is within range of an opposing Unit, and Line of Sight is not blocked by Terrain or Smoke, that Unit can resolve an Attack.

To resolve an Attack, two 1d10 dice (so each Unit, in effect, makes two Attacks per Battle Turn against the same Target).

Each Unit has an Attack Value. To score a Threat, a 1d10 roll must equal or exceed that Unit’s Attack Value.

There are modifiers for Range, Urban Terrain and Commander.

For each Threat, the target Unit makes a Defense roll. Each Unit has a Defense Value which is further modified by Terrain (both Rural and Urban). Roll 1d10 again for each Threat. If the result is equal to or lower than the Defense Value of the target Unit, that Unit is not affected. If the result is higher than the Defense Value of the target Unit, that Unit is Hit.

If an Enemy Unit is Hit, it is immediately Destroyed.

If a Player Unit is Hit, you draw a Damage counter.  

There are two types of Damage counters: Damage from Units that inflict Armor Piercing (AP) Attacks and damage from Units that inflict High Explosive (HE) Attacks. AP Attacks target ‘hard’ Units such as Tanks, Half-Tracks and other Armored Units. HE Attacks target ‘soft’ Units such as Infantry.

Here are a few examples of Damage counters.

Damage counters affect Commanders or Units.

Once all Battles have been resolved, the Player will have the option to spend Special Option points to buy new Units, rest Commanders suffering from high levels of Stress, or Repair damaged Units.  

That concludes a Week of fighting. Enemy Battalions will advance on the Operational section of the Tactical Display and a new round of Battles will be fought!  

Lead Design: Vincent Cooper

Design Team: Dave Makin and Glenn Saunders.

Play Testing, Proof Reading & Historical Research: Ilya Sadchikov, Gleb G. Irisov, Dan Coonen and Reg Coppicus.

Armor, Light Armor & Artillery Art: Yannis Kadari

Infantry Art: Gordon Napier

Graphic Design and Additional Art: Vladimir Dudas

Khalkhin Gol Battle Pack: Dave Makin

Commander Abilities: Glenn Saunders

EU, UK, AUSTRALIA, AND CANADA FRIENDLY

We are US, EU, UK, Australia, and Canada-Friendly! DVG prepays taxes and VAT fees for games shipping to the US, EU, UK, Australia, and Canada!

PLEASE NOTE: Due to the volatile US Tariff situation, DVG may need to pass on tariff fees when the games arrive in the US. In the past, DVG has been able to absorb these fees, but it is an on-going situation. The tariff tax has varied from 20% to 150% in 2025.

We will charge actual shipping costs for US and International destinations in the post-Kickstarter Pledge Manager. The below estimates are shipping costs for one core game.

Giving exact shipping prices in the Kickstarter is not possible due to each country having its own shipping weight ranges and package size adjustments to shipping costs. Please keep in mind these are estimates, and the actual shipping costs may change based on the number of Stretch Goals we Unlock and Add-Ons you choose.