Barbarossa is a two-player, low-to-intermediate complexity, strategic-level simulation of the entire Russo-German War designed by Ty Bomba. The game was originally designed and published by James F. Dunnigan back in 1969. This new edition is an extensive redesign.

The German player begins on the offensive, attempting to win the game by seizing key areas on map. The Soviet player is at first primarily on the defensive, but the situation requires he halt his opponent's push to the east and then, in turn, launch a series of counter-offensives that will eventually move the Red Army to Berlin and the heart of Europe. The game may end sooner than the historic termination time if the German player is able to do significantly better than his historic counterparts by advancing so quickly he causes the overall political, social, economic and military collapse of the Soviet Union. Likewise, if the Soviet player is able to carry out his strategic comeback more efficiently than did his historic counterparts during the second half of the real war, the game may again terminate earlier than it did historically.

Each hexagon on the map represents 55 miles (90 kilometers) from side to opposite side. The large-hex map covers from Berlin and Yugoslavia in the west, to Leningrad in the north, Maikop in southeast and Gorki in the northeast. Expeditions may be launched into the deep Caucasus through the use of an off-map holding box and special rules.

The primary units of maneuver for the German side are corps, while for the Soviets they're armies. The order of battles have been extensively researched to ensure they're the most historically accurate ever presented for a game of this scale. The counter-mix includes all 25 of the German Korpsgruppen, which were unheralded formations crucial to that side's overall war effort during 1944-45. Beyond that, there are also counters for: Army Detachments Hollidt, Fretter-Pico and Lanz/Kempf; Provisional Panzer Corps Raus, the Kerch Straits Command, and Group Mieth. On the Soviet side there's a full corps-and-army OB for 22 June 1941, along with all the Guards and Guards Tank armies, as well as "Mechanized Group Popov," the single most elite Red Army formation ever to take the field during the entire war. There are, in total, 280 half-inch, NATO-style counters included in the game.