Controls

Pitch/Roll: Drive
Yaw: Turret traverse
VTOL: Precise turret traverse
Trim: Turret elevation
FireGuns: Fire co-axial machine gun
AG1: Activate rear turret machine gun
AG2: Activate headlight

Design

Development
After the Spanish civil war the Soviet Union concluded that they needed a replacement for their multi-turreted T-35 tank that would have greater armour. Three designs were requested for limited production, the SMK (including a variant with a single turret), the T-100 and the KV. The KV was named after the Soviet defence commissar, Kliment Voroshilov.
During the Winter War with Finland the KV outperformed its two competitors. Production for more KV's was requested.
During Operation Barbarossa the tanks performed poorly, especially in comparison to the T-34, which was at least equal in every single way and way more flexible and manoeuvrable. It tended to get outflanked due to its poor visibility and flexibility.

Production
After combat reports the KV-1 performed at most on par with the cheaper and easier to produce T-34 tank, which is why production got cancelled in 1943 after over 5000 tanks got built. Of these 5000 over 3000 were KV-1s, the rest being KV-2's, KV-1S' and others.

Table 1: Production numbers

Excellent Armour
One thing that the KV subjectively outperformed the T-34 in is survivability. Specifically the KV-1E or KV-1 Model 1940 s ekranami (literally "with screens") is a modification made in 1940 that added spaced screens to the turret front and sides and the hull sides. This made the already impressive armour of the KV even better. These plates were 30 mm thick spaced armour screens. These screens made the KV tank virtually untouchable by the German 3,7 cm (Panzer 35/38t and early Panzer III) and short 5 (early Panzer III) and 7,5 cm (early Panzer IV) anti tank guns, and also quite resistant against even the German long 5 cm (late Panzer III) and long 7,5 cm (late Panzer IV).

Figure 1: Armour thickness and angles of KV-1 (early)

Figure 2: General overview of KV-1E

Zinoviy Kolobanov

This particular tank, 864, was commanded by a quite infamous and rather genius Russian tank ace, Zinoviy Kolobanov. He is generally known to be the second most successful tank ace, only bested by Dmitry Lavrinenko and his T-34. He is most renowned for a very successful ambush near Krasnogvardeysk during the Battle of Leningrad

Figure 3: Portrait of Zinoviy Kolobanov

Battle of Krasnogvardeysk
Krasnogvardeysk is a village near Leningrad. Kolobanov chose a road near this village to set up an ambush. The road was slim and surrounded by a swampy marsh. He dug in his platoon of 5 KV-1E's into the marsh leaving only the well armoured turret exposed. They also covered the tanks with leaves and bushes. The tanks were loaded with double the regular ammunition of which two thirds Armour Piercing.

On the 20th of August 1941 a German tank column drove down the slim road. This column consisted of Panzer 35t's and Panzer IV's of the vanguards of the 6th Panzer Division. Kolobanov let the tanks drive by, counting them and waiting for them to get to a sharp turn in the road.

Once the first Panzer slowed down for the turn Kolobanov let off his first shot. The Germans at first were oblivious to the fact that they were being attacked, thinking the tank got hit by a landmine. With the next four shots also the second and last tank in the column were destroyed. This left the Germans boxed in. Though they now realized they were under attack they couldn't pin point KV-1E 864's position, and therefore fired blindly in its general direction.

Some German tanks tried to get off the road to get into cover, but they got bogged down in the marsh due to their slim tracks. After some time they finally spotted Kolobanov and they opened fire. The German 3,7 cm and short 7,5 cm guns were unable to penetrate the KV-1E's strong turret armour. They brought forward two 7,5 cm anti tank guns, but before they could engage Kolobanov got rid of them.

At one point the tank's turret got jammed by the shear volume of German rounds. The tank reversed out of the dug in position so it could keep knocking out Panzers turning the entire hull to aim the gun.

After a while Kolobanov's scope got scattered by a German round. The radio operator of Kolobanov got out of the turret to replace the scope's glass, whilst under heavy German fire. After successfully replacing the scope the tank kept functioning.

864 ran out of ammunition after it knocked out 22 Panzers and 2 artillery pieces. It got hit by 153 shells, of which 0 penetrated the armour.

The platoon of 5 KV-1's knocked out a total of 43 Panzers at loss of no Russian tanks. This is one of the most triumphant tank massacres of World War II. This victory was made possible by the genius and extensive preparations of Zinoviy Kolobanov. The location was perfect and the tanks were dug in and hidden very well.

Medals
For his heroic actions Zinoviy Kolobanov received various medals and awards. He received two Orders of the Red Banner medals, one Order of the Patriotic War 1st class medal, an Order of the Red Star medal, a medal for Battle Merit, a medal "For the Defence of Leningrad" and finally a medal "For the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945". He also received numerous jubilee medals.

Legacy
In 1980 a monument dedicated to Kolobanov was built at the spot where his tank was dug in in 1941. Since a KV-1 tank could not be sourced instead a JS-2 tank was used.

Figure 4: Monument dedicated to Zinoviy Kolobanov

Relevant Links

-Teaser #1 "Project Behemoth [TEASER]"
-Teaser #2 " Streets of Stalingrad January 1943 [TEASER]"
-BEHEMOTH (Alternative Decal Variant)
-Modeless version so SP users can take a look (not functional)

Closing Words

So here we are. This is my replica of a legendary KV-1E tank. This project has been in the works for over half a year, but now it's finally done. I hope the whole story about this specific tank was interesting to read. If you have any criticism or other thoughts leave them in the comments.
Currently I'm working on a Panzer III mega project where I make all mass produced main line variations of the Panzer III. I've already completed 3 of the 7 variants. I might make a teaser for this soon.