Russia: The Great War in the East 1941-1945 is a turn & hex-based wargame. The player takes the role of either German Oberkommando des Heeres or Soviet Stavka, conducting the full Eastern Front campaign of the Second World War (4 years lasting 47 turns) - three smaller scenarios are also available (portions of the main campaign focusing exclusively on either Army Group North, Centre or South).

The menu-driven interface is similar to earlier titles from the Battlefront Game System series, however it was modified for strategical level of command (army group/army), with corps-sized units moving under computer control, as you assign objectives (and stance) only to armies - particular corps may be later ordered to attack, defend, rest or retreat. The amount of ground and air support (in points) may be also assigned.