I'm playing Order of Battle: World War 2 - Winter War add on. The Aristocrats distributed by Slitherine/Matrix have done a simulation of the War in the Far North between the Finns and the USSR. The war started when the Commies attacked the Finns after the Nazis and Commies split Poland.
You play the Finns. I like the Finns for several reasons. First, they are not the USSR. Second, I've been there three times and they have a beautiful country with pretty citizens and good beer. Last, I took a beer tram tour last time I was in Helsinki and it was a blast.
Finland broke away from Czarist Russia at the end of WW1 and managed to stay independent. They were one of the few allies of Germany that did not suffer a government overthrow, occupation, and basic destruction after the end of WW2.
I'm playing this on the 2nd level of difficulty.
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Difficulty Level 2
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The Finns have no armor. They start with no air force and no artillery. All the Finns have is infantry and engineers. Later on I buy ski troops which are very fast moving infantry in the far North.
The Russians have a lot more infantry, a lot of heavy artillery, at some minimal armor. The Russian Attack is in two prongs. Both the North and the South attack axis follows a major road. The roads have a lot of forest in close proximity. The Finns need to successfully withdraw two supply trucks simulating evacuated refugees. They have weak forces that start out damaged. But they quickly gain reinforcements. If the Finn's hold the first major Northern bridge for 8 turns they get some pillboxes and victory points. The other victory points are for holding key city hexes.
Attached are photos showing the North and the South Axis of Attack.
North Axis of Attack
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South Axis of Attack
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Initial Commie Attacks are Crushed by the Gallant Finns!
The initial attacks are made with a small number of units that are separated from the Russian Heavy Artillery. The attacks are not coordinated and follow the roads. This is pretty much what happened in WW2 and my Finn defenders shredded the commies.
First we show the attack in the North.
It started badly for the Russians
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And ended worse
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In the South the initial Russian attacks were also by relatively weak forces with no artillery support. In the South the Russians managed to retreat two of the attacking units with only one unit completely destroyed. But the attack was easily repulsed.
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That wraps up the first 25% of the first scenario.
I'm very busy with work for the next week.
Let me know if you are interested in my continuing this AAR.
O0 :smitten:
I'm in Airboy. I've always loved that the Finns kicked the Russians butts so thoroughly in 1940.
Turn 6 & 7
I reinforced in the North and counter-attacked in the South.
Unfortunately, I was unable to destroy the two commie infantry units in the South leaving them with minimal strength. I also got hit by two heavy artillery units in the counter attack. One is spotted and the other is not.
South Turn 6
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In the North I've reinforced all of my units and have successfully evacuated the civilians and supplies represented by the truck units. However, the Russkies have advanced two artillery units. The Russian heavy artillery is a regular pain every time my gallant Finns establish contact with the Red Army.
North Turn 7
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South Turns 7-10
I was able to stymie the Russian Offensive in the South. They did not pull their units back when damaged and the Finns managed to kill off the weakened units. Then the Russki attacked again and got a unit cut off. It was easily destroyed. In the process the Finn's got exposed to multiple turns of Russian Heavy Artillery. This hurt my organization and weakened my units. The Finn's need to pull back to resupply and refit outside of spotting range of the Russian guns.
Without an Airforce or Artillery of their own, the Finns are very susceptible to the heavy Russian guns that have long range.
Turn 7 Southern Front
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Turn 10 Southern Front
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North Turns 8-10
There was a thrust and counter-attack in the North during turns 8-10. The Finn Infantry in the North is in more exposed terrain, but does not face as much long run artillery. In turn 8 the Finn's managed to wipe out the Russian Infantry screen in front of two units of medium artillery.
On turn 9 the Finn's managed to heavily damage one of the medium artillery units but they could not destroy it. Unfortunately, this left two units weakened and in low supply status. Worse, the units are heavily exposed to potential attack.
On Turn 10 the Russians attacked one of the exposed units and almost destroyed it. The Finn's need to tactically retreat to resupply and reinforce the Northern Front. So both in the North and the South the Finn's repelled the Russians but could not sustain a counter-attack against Russian reinforcements. But ten of the 20 turns have been finished and the Finn's win if they can keep the Russians from rolling over them and capturing strategic locations.
North Turn 8
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North Turn 9
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North Turn 10
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Turn 11 - 14 in the South
Turn 11 - 14 decided this scenario. The Russians brought up armor which attacked in the South. I had nothing that could significantly damage a medium tank. I purchased two units. A ski-troop infantry unit and an anti-tank gun. The Finnish Ski-troops are great. They have significant movement advantages in broken terrain. The anti-tank unit is relatively slow and cannot move in broken terrain very well.
What I did after the Russian Armor attacked was this. First, I pulled all of my troops out of the open ground and stuck them in the forest except for a blocking unit in front of my anti-tank gun. In this game, if you attack with armor with an adjacent anti-tank gun it is very bad news for the tank. I exposed a pocket for the armor to move down the road towards the victory objectives.
The Russian Tank moved down the road and smashed one of my infantry units in the woods. The Finn infantry unit went to "red" organization level which would make it very easy to destroy. But I moved the untouched infantry unit behind the tank and cut it off from supply. Next, I moved the anti-tank gun up and hit the tank. I then swung the ski troops around and attacked the surrounded and weakened tank. Last, the infantry unit which cut the tank off from the rest of the Commie army attacked. The three attacks on the isolated tank starting with the anti-tank gun almost destroyed the tank unit. On turn 14 I continued to resupply my two heavily damaged infantry units and finished off the tank.
But notice that my ski unit and one of my infantry units are now out in the open and spotted for the Russian heavy artillery.
As dumb as this Russian attack sounds, this battle went almost exactly like the Russian advance did in the war. The Russians attacked piecemeal. Their tanks would move out from infantry support, get surrounded, and get chopped up. But the Finn's would get shelled badly when they moved into the open and were spotted by Russian heavy artillery.
At this point the Russians cannot win the scenario unless they have some big armor/infantry spearhead that can advance really fast in the South. The South holds the key victory hexes. By the end of these screen shots the Russians have only 6 turns left.
Look at the screen captures to see what I managed to pull off.
Turn 11
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Turn 12
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Turn 13 - Part 1
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Turn 13 Part 2
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Turn 14 - Results of a Successful Finn Counter-Attack in the South
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In the North through Turn 15 I had some give and take battles. I did not have enough troops for a solid line. So the Commies would attack and the Finns would counter attack. If the Finns took too much damage, they would retreat and resupply. The Russians would advance out of artillery range and the Finns would counter-attack and destroy them.
The net of going through Turn 15 in the North were several more destroyed Russian units and a return to the original positions by the Finns.
I will add one thing. I was very cautious about adding extra units until I saw where the Russian main attack would fall. I did not spend the majority of my reinforcement points until after I saw the main axis of attack. When it fell in the South I bought the anti-tank and ski units which turned the tide. If I had spent my reinforcement points early and guessed wrong, it would be bad news.
Turns 15 - 20
The Russians got pretty desperate. Stalin was threatening to shoot some more officers. The Commies started launching some pretty wild unsupported attacks. They were very easy to repel. I had to hold myself back from wildly counter-attacking. But there were not a lot of turns left and by playing defense I could save my reinforcement points for the upcoming scenarios. I've got a couple of screen shots that show some of the wild, isolated attacks and then the victory screen.
Wild Attacks by Scared (of Stalin) Commie Officers
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What Finns Tell Their Kids They Did in WW2
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Time to Hit the Sauna for Scenario 1
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See, this is why I shouldn't have messed with the Finns during my Barbarossa game against Bart. And that was in summer!
Congrats on the win Airboy. Way to give them the middle Finn-ger. :DD
I've got screen shots of the next two scenarios. Just need to edit with Paint and post them.
Unfortunately, the fires in the South East have made my allergies go nuts. I feel like I have a cold.
Scenario 2 - Suomussalmi
Suomussalmi is in Central Finland. The Finns are counter-attacking to drive the Russians out. This scenario has a very long time span - 40 turns. The only short-term objective is capturing the Soviet HQ which must be done by turn 3.
My strategy is to drive in two prongs. The first is through the central road net after capturing the Russian HQ. The second is to swing through the North to take the secondary objectives. The North lacks a good road net and I've placed my ski troops on that front where broken terrain mobility is key.
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Turn 1
Turn 1 went very well. In the Central attack I eliminated the commie unit and have multiple units close to the Russian HQ. In the North I eliminated a unit and sent out flanker ski units.
Central Front
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North Front
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Great stuff! Keeping them coming Airboy. O0
Central Front - Turn 2
In the Central Front on Turn 2 I captured the Commie HQ. Because I captured the HQ before the end of Turn 3 I got the troop deployments around the last victory hex I need to capture. That hex is heavily defended, but my Finns can probably surround them and chop them up.
Stalin will be very angry that the HQ fell so fast - but my Finns gave them beers and put them in the Sauna for giving up so fast.
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Turn 2 & 3 Northern Front
The Commies did not have many troops in the North. Turn 2 shows my destruction of more Soviets and the heavy damage inflicted on an infantry unit and a heavy artillery unit. By the end of turn 3 I've wiped them out.
I'll be advancing South-East along the road. There are probably a couple of other Russians lurking as I've marked on the map. But the Northern Front fell very fast. My ski troops enabled me to hit units on multiple flanks which gives a combat bonus to the attacker.
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Go get'em :knuppel2:
Gotta love those frozen palm trees though :))
Turn 4
Everything is going quite well. In the North I encountered a Commie unit where I suspected one would be. I ran my first unit up to the border of the city and stopped. That spotted the Commie. First unit attacked. Then moved up two more units which each attacked. The Commie infantry retreated. I'm moving my lowly single Finn artillery unit forward, but it is slow going by horse and mule over ice.
In the Center I've cleared out all of the Commie units except for a heavy infantry unit. When these are dug in they are a bear to remove without artillery. I'm going to attempt to maneuver to attack on multiple sides or perhaps cut it off from supply instead of a head on unsupported attack.
But the Commie Airforce has appeared and is strafing my units. I have enough supply points to purchase a fighter unit - but I will suffer through at least two turns of undefended attacks before my Finn Fighter can be purchased, get airborne, and hit the target.
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The Matrix sale has Winter War on Sale. It also has US Marines and Morning Sun on sale. All three of these have been enjoyable to me. US Marines is the AAR on the enigma of a front page. I did a review of Morning Sun.
Quote from: Crossroads on November 23, 2016, 02:58:50 PM
Gotta love those frozen palm trees though :))
More evidence of a worldwide Flood. 8)
Quote from: JasonPratt on November 24, 2016, 10:59:52 AM
Quote from: Crossroads on November 23, 2016, 02:58:50 PM
Gotta love those frozen palm trees though :))
More evidence of a worldwide Flood. 8)
Ha. I bought the game when it came out, of course I did. Just haven't had the time to play it. I love the map art especially (palms nor not). If only it would have 2D counters...
But not to distract from Airboy's excellent DAR! Go get'em! :knuppel2:
Central Front Turn 5-10
On turn 5-6 I eliminated the Commie heavy infantry unit that was blocking the main road. I did not attack all-out in order to conserve reinforcement points.
Turn 5 Central Front
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By turn 7 I eliminated the Soviet Heavy Infantry Unit and was advancing towards the supply point. I had not spotted that hex yet and I'm guessing it is garrisoned since it is a minor victory hex. At the same time two Soviet Infantry units decided to move West and attack my supply centers. I kept an infantry unit back and I also have a fortification. I plan to largely stop moving East towards the Commie supply point until I am able to isolate and destroy the two Soviet infantry units. Doing this preserves my force concentration while also potentially cutting the two attacking units off from supply. Another reason for doing this is I have 33 turns left in the scenario. No rush on time so no need to be greedy.
Turn 7 Central Front
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Turn 8 - Love it When a Plan Comes Together
There was a garrison on the Soviet supply point which is a minor victory hex. It was an armored car. If I had moved at full speed towards the supply point without stopping within spotting distance it would have been very ugly. By stopping and spotting I know to bring my anti-tank gun up to attack next turn.
Further West both Russian infantry units are getting hammered with one just about surrounded. Fortifications are seldom taken by a single infantry unit, and the Soviet found that atheists "don't have a prayer." It got hit by the fortress (I don't think it spotted it) and then my fortress attacked during my turn. The result, a badly damaged and low organization Soviet infantry unit. The other Soviet unit was hit by a two flank attack from two Finn infantry units.
Turn 8
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Turn 10 Central Front - Immediate Objectives Completed
The screen shot is pulled back as far as I can. All 3 of the Russian units seen on Turn 8 have been destroyed. I stopped short of the small town on the NE of the map to be sure it did not have defenders. None are there so I will take it next turn. The road to the SE leads to the final victory hex and the large concentration of Soviet forces. It will take me two turns or so to reunite my scattered forces. Two Finn infantry units are to the Far West at my supply centers. Also, before attempting the final victory hex and the concentration of Soviet Forces I both want to unite all of my Central Force troops but also give the Northern Forces time to move to the SE. I have 30 turns left and have covered 2/3rds of a very large map. So there is no great hurry. It is best to be deliberate and execute the strategy.
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That was frustrating. I had finished everything on the previous update except the explanation of Turn 10 and inserting the photo - and my internet connection went down. Fortunately, I had the other three screenshots and explanation already posted.
Quote from: airboy on November 24, 2016, 05:27:05 PM
That was frustrating. I had finished everything on the previous update except the explanation of Turn 10 and inserting the photo - and my internet connection went down. Fortunately, I had the other three screenshots and explanation already posted.
If you don't mind asking, how do you go on about to post in a manner some of the screenshots show up large, and some of them as attachment? That works out very neatly, much better than what I do in posting images linked directly to my dropbox. Too bad the forum does not have spoiler tags to put the images into... Or at least I haven't found out about the correct syntax for them.
Really like the way you go on with your DAR. Great stuff!
Quote from: Crossroads on November 25, 2016, 07:23:42 AM
Quote from: airboy on November 24, 2016, 05:27:05 PM
That was frustrating. I had finished everything on the previous update except the explanation of Turn 10 and inserting the photo - and my internet connection went down. Fortunately, I had the other three screenshots and explanation already posted.
If you don't mind asking, how do you go on about to post in a manner some of the screenshots show up large, and some of them as attachment? That works out very neatly, much better than what I do in posting images linked directly to my dropbox. Too bad the forum does not have spoiler tags to put the images into... Or at least I haven't found out about the correct syntax for them.
Really like the way you go on with your DAR. Great stuff!
When I post there is a button for "attachments" and subsequently "more attachments." I take my MS Paint edited screenshots and attach them to the post. Then I add the description and do a "copy link" on the attachment. Then I use the "insert photo" button and copy the link to the attached photo. By doing this I have the attachments for those who want to click and view and also the enlarged version of the attachment on the post itself. This website has all of the photos instead of importing them from another photo storage area.
The button for this is the first button on the second row.
One of the things I like about the game is the screenshots can be made by pushing one of the F keys. It is much better than running a screenshot capture software in the background and then remembering to take pictures as you are playing.
Thanks airboy, very helpful! And what do you know, the spoiler option was there too O0
North Turns 5-7
I destroyed the Russkie unit at the town and am advancing East along the road. I'm having to pursue a couple of shattered units that are retreating. My lone artillery unit keeps falling further behind. My single fighter unit keeps annoying the Red Air Force. I have 35 turns left, so I'm using a steady pursuit and not advancing further than spotting range.
North Turn 5
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Turn 6 - Slow advance and pursuit
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Turn 7 - Hitting more blocking forces
I eliminated all of the stragglers by Turn 7 but hit another blocking force. I have no idea why I spotted the unit in the South East.
My fighter unit must be withdrawn to reinforce. It is getting close to destruction. I think the Commies have two fighter units they are shuffling in and out.
But overall, this is an largely uneventful advance. I've outrun my artillery support and my air support is getting shot up. But if I don't run into either large numbers of Commie units or worse - units with heavy artillery support I should be able to capture the secondary victory hex by turn 10 or so.
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North Front Turns 9 - 12
I got lucky in this scenario. I thought that the North front was more lightly defended. I knew from looking at the map that it had a long way to go to reach the final victory hex. I put both of my Ski units in the North. But I ended up not taking my anti-tank gun or most of my infantry. I had just enough units in the North to have local superiority - barely. I've seldom split my forces more efficiently than I managed to do in this scenario.
Turn 9 - Boom goes the Commie!
I timed the screen capture just right to capture the "boom" of a dying commie unit and the appearance of the dead bodies. This photo will honor the pages of the school history books of Finnish children for a generation.
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Turn 10
My two ski units are on the flanks. I show where they will move next turn to almost encircle the probable defenders of the target town. The slower infantry unit will move straight up the road. Since I have 30 more turns and this is the last victory hex before turning sharply South, there is no need to attack on Turn 11. Just moving into position properly will work well.
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Turn 12
The defender ended up being a Commie Heavy Infantry Unit. This is bad news. But they are almost surrounded and that means an easy victory - next turn. This is the start of turn 12 so I will have no attacks this turn to enable the encirclement and prevent the heavy infantry from escaping. This also shows that I'm close to the Eastern edge of the map which is across the frozen lake. I'm mostly heading South after I take this victory hex.
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...who else keeps being distracted from Airboy's fine AAR by OBSESSIVELY FINDING THE FROZEN PALM TREES NOW!?
I blame you, Crossroads. :tickedoff:
Wrapping Up the North front Before Linkup with the South - Turns 13 - 18
I got an unexpected gift from taking the far NE secondary victory hex - a nice Commie Tank painted with a beautiful Finnish Flag. The Finnish women gave the troops vodka shots and kisses. The tank is a mixed blessing. First, I can't buy any armor so this is the only tank I'm likely to get. Second, I can only reinforce one point per turn (which prevents me from moving or attacking that turn). But it is a tank which is at least a more mobile anti-tank gun.
I only have two apparent blocking units left from the Northern Communist Forces. It was not that hard to eliminate them. I also FINALLY got air superiority. I don't have any attack value, but my fighters finally removed the commie air attacks.
By Turn 18 you can see the last airfield and the final victory hex in the SE corner of the map.
Tank!!
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Turn 13 - Only 2 Blocking Units Left?
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Turn 18 - Last Screenshot in the North Before the Linkup with the South
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Central Front - Turns 11 - 18
The Northern forces had a lot more ground to cover than the Central Force. My Central Forces also got quite scattered by the Commie counter-attack on my supply base. The early screen shots show the Finn advance units moving very slowly. A couple of reasons for this.
1] I want to concentrate my central forces again.
2] I don't want to be ambushed
3] I would like to have a coordinated attack on the final victory hex and the associated Soviet forces there.
4] My central forces are moving ahead of the Northern Force. There is no hurry since there are 40 turns in the scenario.
Turn 11 - Finn Advance Units Start Crawling Forward on Purpose
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Turn 13 - I encounter a Soviet Blocking Force while my troops are not concentrated.
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Turn 14 - The AI Makes the Dumbest Move of the Scenario. The Commie Tank Does not see the Finn AT Gun - Yet!
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Turn 15 - Surprise! says the AT Gun
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Turn 16 - Last Blocking Unit?
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Turn 18 - Southern Forces Close to Link-Up With Northern Forces
If you look at this screenshot carefully you can see the two forces converging. This is the last screen shot of a separate force. The last set of shots are the slug fest with the remaining Communists. One last thing. I'm about to capture the only airfield in the SE. That grounds the Commie Air Force and also allows the Finns to see if there are any remaining Commie units in the area. Unlike my US Marines AAR in the Pacific, in the Artic the Soviets have not learned to conceal their units from being spotted from the air.
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This is probably my last update for a couple of days. I have a bunch of work to do for the end of the semester. I'm also sick from the poor air quality from all of the forest fires in the Southeastern United States. Jason knows what I'm talking about. We are all praying for rain since we are in a profound drought, it will stop the fires, and the air quality will improve. My chest feels like it did prior to heart surgery a lot of the time in the last week.
That's a really great series of AAR's. We're going to have to change your name from 'Airboy' to 'AirMAN'. Incredibly dry here in Fla. too. No rain for almost 2 full months so I can sympathize with you there. We need a choking, hacking emote.
Quote from: JasonPratt on November 28, 2016, 08:28:46 PM
...who else keeps being distracted from Airboy's fine AAR by OBSESSIVELY FINDING THE FROZEN PALM TREES NOW!?
I blame you, Crossroads. :tickedoff:
I
am a Finn after all, I tend to notice frozen palms in the midst of Winter War... :hide:
Quote from: airboy on November 28, 2016, 09:41:29 PM
This is probably my last update for a couple of days. I have a bunch of work to do for the end of the semester. I'm also sick from the poor air quality from all of the forest fires in the Southeastern United States. Jason knows what I'm talking about. We are all praying for rain since we are in a profound drought, it will stop the fires, and the air quality will improve. My chest feels like it did prior to heart surgery a lot of the time in the last week.
Thanks for the stories, was rooting for you! A most happy ending, too :bd:
Let us pray for some rain then, we do suffer from forest fires during the summer as well. Not a nice experience at all...
Quote from: airboy on November 28, 2016, 09:41:29 PM
This is probably my last update for a couple of days. I have a bunch of work to do for the end of the semester. I'm also sick from the poor air quality from all of the forest fires in the Southeastern United States. Jason knows what I'm talking about. We are all praying for rain since we are in a profound drought, it will stop the fires, and the air quality will improve. My chest feels like it did prior to heart surgery a lot of the time in the last week.
I'm all the way on the other side of the state from Gatlinburg -- didn't even know it was happening! Fortunately also waaay upwind. :-\ :'(
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/11/29/worst-possible-conditions-residents-flee-gaitlinburg-tenn-as-flames-lick-roads/?tid=pm_national_pop
Quote from: Crossroads on November 29, 2016, 01:56:31 PM
Quote from: JasonPratt on November 28, 2016, 08:28:46 PM
...who else keeps being distracted from Airboy's fine AAR by OBSESSIVELY FINDING THE FROZEN PALM TREES NOW!?
I blame you, Crossroads. :tickedoff:
I am a Finn after all, I tend to notice frozen palms in the midst of Winter War... :hide:
I've visited Helsinki 3 times. Lovely place.
How are the coconuts? Cold I bet.
We're going to segue into Airboy's remark about kisses and vodka shots now, aren't we? ^-^
Quote from: airboy on November 29, 2016, 05:08:39 PM
Quote from: Crossroads on November 29, 2016, 01:56:31 PM
Quote from: JasonPratt on November 28, 2016, 08:28:46 PM
...who else keeps being distracted from Airboy's fine AAR by OBSESSIVELY FINDING THE FROZEN PALM TREES NOW!?
I blame you, Crossroads. :tickedoff:
I am a Finn after all, I tend to notice frozen palms in the midst of Winter War... :hide:
I've visited Helsinki 3 times. Lovely place.
If there's a fourth to be let me know, beer's on me :)
Quote from: Sir Slash on November 29, 2016, 07:24:48 PM
How are the coconuts? Cold I bet.
Last time I was there the wife and I took the "beer tram" tour. Better than just looking at frozen coconuts without beer.
Scenario 2 - Turns 20 to 23
We got several days of rain in the South East. My smoke related chest pain has gone away. Hopefully we will get some more rain this weekend.
The Northern and Central columns of the Finnish Army have converged on the Soviets around the last victory hex. To win I have to both capture the hex and eliminate all of these Communist Hordes. But the way my columns have converged it will be difficult to keep the two support units (the anti-tank gun and the heavy artillery unit) protected from infantry attack.
Turn 20 - Last Airfield Captured
My two attack columns have converged. The Soviets are almost surrounded. The last airfield has been captured.
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Turn 22 - The Jaws Tighten
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Turn 23 - Russian Armor & Heavy Infantry Counter-Attack
The Russian Armor and Heavy Infantry badly damaged one of my infantry units. It will retreat. But my anti-tank gun can now move up and shoot at the tank. I also have a lot of infantry that can be used in the counter-attack.
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Finns Smash the Russian Counter-Attack
The sequence of the Finn counter-attack is critical. First, I moved up the AT gun and hit the Russian tank. I then moved individual Finn units up in succession and hit the tank and the infantry unit. The first shot by the AT gun is essential to knocking down the tank enough that the infantry can handle it.
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Victory!
The last two screenshots show the final isolated, out-of-supply, and weak Russian units. The last shot is the victory flag.
I nailed this scenario. I lucked into the right force mix on both the Northern and Central attack groups. The two groups had the right mix of troops. I did not blunder into any ambushes. I got a victory with almost half of the turns left. None of my Finnish forces were destroyed and nothing went below stage 3 on a ten stage unit.
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Victory
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I've posted the first two scenarios. I've played and made screenshots of the first 9 scenarios. Depending on what my wife needs me to do this weekend, I may be able to post the first Mannerheim Line scenario this weekend.
The new Monster Hunter Memoirs book by Correia and Ringo is released next week. I will download it on the Baen Monthly Bundle on the release date. Then I'll probably not get any sleep until I finish it.
Scenario 3 - Karelian Isthmus
This is a short, 25 turn scenario where the Finn's defend the Mannerheim Line against the first Soviet Attack. My goal is to keep most of my units alive; keep a good number of the secondary victory hexes; and make sure I don't lose the major city in the far Northeast of the Map. I had another objective to blow the Soviet oil depot. That proved to be impossible unless I bought medium bombers and wasted my air cover defending the bomber on multiple runs. Instead, I chose to only purchase fighters and keep the Soviets from hammering my ground troops.
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Scenario Objectives
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Turn 4 & 5 - Two Soviet Attacks
The first major attacks landed on turn 4. The Soviets attacked on my far left flank and towards my center. Both attacks initially had local superiority. But for an attack to work you must protect your supply lines. Getting cut off is death.
In the left flank attack the Soviets used an armor unit to bust my line. But the support was an infantry unit left beside a concrete fortification bunker. I chopped up the infantry unit while the Russian tank advanced. I then shifted my infantry to kill the supporting infantry unit and isolate the tank. I then hit the armor with an AT gun that I moved up. If I had attacked the lead tank unit directly it would have been a disaster.
Turn 4 - Russian Tank leads the attack.
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Turn 5 Part 1 - Russian Tank Isolated & Infantry Destroyed - 2nd Attack Develops
The Armor led attack on the left flank collapses. The supporting Commie infantry unit is destroyed. The tank is isolated. The AT gun comes up and smacks it.
In the center of the line a strong Russian infantry unit is supported by an almost destroyed infantry unit. Using the same tactics I attack the weaker unit and surround the strong one.
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Turn 5 Part 2 - Attack on the Center Collapses
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Dead Commies
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Turn 14 - Heavy Tank Attack
This was an attack by a superior Russian tank. The tank hit one of my infantry units but ended up beside a concrete bunker. This was a big mistake. If you look at the screen shot carefully you will see my anti-tank gun is behind the lines where it cannot get directly attacked and would support any attack by armor against the three Finnish infantry units.
Tank Attack
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One, Two, Three Punch to Knock Out the Tank
I used three attacks in the right sequence to almost destroy the Russian Tank while conserving my forces. I first attacked with the concrete bunker. Attack #2 was with the AT gun. Attack #3 was with my only Finn Tank. Russian tank is almost destroyed. An Armored Car moved up, but it will be clobbered by the AT gun the next turn.
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Eventual Victory Without Major Losses
The two sets of screen shots illustrated the entire battle in Scenario 3. Russians attack with a locally superior force. Often they use strategic or tactical bombers with fighter support. My fighter units scramble and hit the Russian planes. Usually the lead attack elements were too strong to attack directly. I would tactically retreat. The Commies would advance too far. I would hit the weaker units protecting the supply line. The lead elements would be hit by Finnish units transferred from other parts of the line. All the commies die or the scattered remnants retreat.
Eventually I got the happy notification that this slug-fest was over.
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Congrats on the win Airboy. I imagine the Russians are shooting Generals right about now. O0
Scenario #4 - Suomussalmi
I'm faced with a lot of tough choices in where to place my troops. The scenario is 30 turns long and the map is very big.
I have to capture the Northern most victory hex within 7 turns. There is a potential group of Russians to the East of the first victory hex which could counter-attack if I don't eliminate them.
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Worse, I must keep the big block of Russians in the South isolated from a relief column for 10 turns. The only way I can stop a relief column cold is to concentrate my troops in the South. But doing that means I won't take the Northern victory hex in 7 turns.
What I decided to do was concentrate my troops in the North and hope to eventually relieve the South.
1] Concentrate almost all of my forces in the North. I hope to destroy the three Northern groups of Commies completely, then hopefully head South and take the last victory hexes before time runs out.
2] I put minimum troops in my blocking forces. My total Southern forces were 2 infantry units and one AT gun to separate the two main groups. I had one token (fast) ski unit to guard my South airbase. If there is anything more than a probing attack in the South in the first 10 turns the Finns will have to quickly retreat.
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Opening Moves Scenario 4
The Finns swept through light Russian resistance to easily take the first victory hex within 3 turns (4 turns before the deadline). At the end of turn 3 they are in place to take the second major victory hex. I should have purchased truck transportation for my sole artillery unit.
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I have two shots of turn 4. At the beginning of Turn 4 there are four defending Commie units - one is heavily damaged. But I have almost the entire Finn army on the position so I can hit the units multiple times.
Start of Turn 4
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By the end of Turn 4 I killed two units and the tank unit is surrounded with only one hit point left. The seven step infantry unit is surrounded, but a major victory hex acts as a supply point. I sent an aircraft to the East to scout for Russians. The news is bad. There are two infantry units and a heavy tank. This poses a major problem. I can send my ski infantry to the East. They move fast. I can send my only tank East. But should I send the slow anti-tank gun east or not? If I send it east and there are a lot of tanks to the South - I'm stuck. If I send it South, can I isolate the Russian tank and then destroy it? If I cannot cut the heavy Russian tank from the supply point, destroying it will be very expensive.
I'm sending my regular (slow) infantry South after reducing and capturing the victory hex. I'm sending most of the ski troops East in turn 5. This was a difficult choice.
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In the far South (no screen shot) the Commies are not even heavily probing to see if they can link up their two major groups of troops.
Turns 5 & 6
I split my forces. All of my ski units excepting one are heading East to take care of the Russian troop concentration. I'm also sending my only tank. On Turn 5 I come close to taking out the Russian artillery unit. It will die next turn. My infantry units, one ski unit, and my artillery are slowly moving down the South road.
Turn 5
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Turn 6
The Russian artillery unit is destroyed in the East. My troops there are moving to engage. In the South I'm still moving into position and reinforcing/resupply my infantry forces. The initial probing attack to the South will start next turn.
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Turn 7 Initial Attacks
On turn 7 I make my initial attacks.
NorthEast Initial Attack
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South Initial Attack
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Turn 8
North East
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South
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Turn 9 Scenario 4
Turn 9 is the last simple turn I have for a while. In the Northeast the Russian Tank is isolated. The last Commie infantry unit is heavily damaged and out of supply.
Northeast Turn 9
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In the South I have heavily damaged three Russian units. I'm not worried about the anti-air unit or the artillery unit. My aircraft are staying away. Armor weakens units but almost never does serious damage. I'm just gradually grinding away the Russians. But the Finns lack the forces to quickly reduce the Russian defenders. Still, every turn progress is being made.
South Turn 9
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Everything hits the fan in turns 10 and 11. These turns are very complex with a lot of things happening on multiple fronts.
That's all for today.
Turn 10
In Turn 10 I mopped up forces in the far Northeast. No screen shots for that. In the Center-North my goal is to take the victory hex. I also have to reinforce an infantry unit. This looks like a strong Russian defense - but it is not. The Anti-Air gun is useless against anything but aircraft. The Artillery unit is great to disorganize enemy units - but has minimal power to defend. The Russian Armor is very powerful. My AT gun is secure behind my line and can counter-attack against the Russian Armor.
Start of Turn 10 - North
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End Turn 10 North
At the end of this turn the Commies have not had any units destroyed. But they are holding on by their commie fingernails. The four front line units are all the lowest level of supply/organization and are almost all destroyed (3 infantry and one AT gun). The Artillery Unit and the AA unit are at full strength - but they cannot hold the line. The Russian Tank is a real threat - but it cannot attack without being heavily exposed since the Russians lack any strong forces to hold the flanks.
My Finns had an inferior force, but I used it wisely and have almost reduced the Soviet defenders. My strongest units will take a couple of turns to rejoin the main Finnish Army from their success in the Northeast.
The Finnish Women are cooling the vodka and heating up the Saunas in this front for the victory celebration that will be coming soon.
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Turn 10 South
What happened to the Commies in the North is happening to the Finns in the South. My four Finn defenders kept the main Russian force from being reunited with the main Soviet Army for 10 turns which accomplishes a minor victory condition. But on Turn 10 the Russians moved in force. My AT gun hammered the Russian Armor - but did not destroy it. My AT gun is terribly exposed and they are very vulnerable to infantry attack. Two infantry units are damaged. My main blocking force will attempt to retreat before being cut-off and destroyed.
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Turn 11
I have two shots of the North. The first is a close up of the battle situation. I killed several commie units this turn. The Russian Tank counter-attacked, but on turn 12 I can swing my AT gun over and clobber it. The close up also shows the lead element of my strong offensive forces sent to the NE returning to the main body. It will take a couple of turns for my entire force to be reunited and reinforced - but major forces are on the way. Most of my ski troops have not arrived and those units have tremendous mobility and the ability to flank the slower Russian Units.
North Front - Close Up of the Line
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The second screen shot shows my flanker units coming up from the SW. I had those there all along hoping for an envelopment and also providing a potential force to allow some of my troops to the far South to escape via a delaying action. Since the Russian Northern Front is collapsing, it is time to bring those forces up to prevent the Russians from escaping. I don't know if any Russian units are in the woods, but I doubt it. The Russians in the front have poor concealment. Anyway, my troops from the SW can always head due North and link up to the main body - so really no worries.
North Front - Big Picture of Potential Envelopment.
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In the far South one of my gallant Finn Infantry units was destroyed. The remaining infantry unit and AT gun are heavily damaged and lack full organization. I hope I can disengage from the commies and reinforce. But the situation for those units is dire.
South Front - Finnish Forces Hammered and Retreating
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Turn 12 & 13
On Turn 12 the Finns hit the attacking Russian Tank with the AT gun and surrounded it. The Infantry did not attack the tank because it will run out of gas and be much weaker next turn. The only other Russian unit blocking the Finnish advance is an artillery piece which is very weak against direct attack.
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Turn 13 North
The Russian Tank was destroyed. The lead element of the Russian relief force decided to head West and capture a relatively unimportant Finnish town. There are 17 turns left in this scenario. I have enough time to reinforce/reorganize my main force before heading South. As seen on the screenshot, the forces returning from the NE have not rejoined the main force. It will take a few turns for the entire force to reunite. I have enough time to slow my advance.
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Turn 13 - South
My delaying force in the South managed to break contact and reinforce. They plan to wait quietly in the woods until they have the opportunity to rejoin the main Finnish Army moving North to South down the road.
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Turns 14 and 15 - The Cunning Sauna and Vodka Gambit!
Turn 14
The Soviets have an infantry unit in heavy woods blocking the road. They are expecting the Russian Armor unit to move up in support. But the Armor never arrives.
In one of the undocumented heroic actions of the war, the old men and the hot Finnish women evacuated the town but did not destroy the sauna or hide the vodka. Instead, they placed helpful signs pointing to the sauna and had the vodka "conveniently" placed. The Commie tankers rolled into town and found the sauna and vodka. Fearing poison, they had a disliked private drink the vodka and soak in the sauna. Two hours later realizing that everything was "legit" the tankers got completely bombed and enjoyed the warm, moist sauna.
The commie infantry shivering in the woods kept expecting the tanks, which never arrived.
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Turn 15 - The Tankers are drunk and the Infantry are Routed!
Success - the "sauna and hot tub" gambit worked! All hail the plan of the old male Finn's and blonde Finnish women!
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There are 13 scenarios in this expansion. I've almost written up and posted the first 4. This is taking a lot of time.
I have now begun obsessively squinting to find summer palm trees in the terrain snapshot windows, after finding them on a 'plantation' snapshot of a Finnish winter 'farm' hex!
Also, enjoying AB's AAR, but curse you, Crossroads, for my inevitable paranoid compulsion. I KNOW THOSE PALM TREES ARE IN THE OTHER SHOTS NONE OF WHICH HAVE THE SLIGHTEST THING TO DO WITH A FINNISH WINTER! THEY'RE IN THE BACKGROUND OF THE LAKE SHOT, I KNOW THEY ARE! {squinting}
Sauna & Booze Part Deux
The crafty old Finnish men and the comely Finnish women attempt the "Sauna and Vodka Ploy" again. The old men and the lovely ladies made signs pointing to "saunas and vodka at Ojala and the nearby airfield!" They had a sign placed every quarter mile. The lone Finnish ski unit in the area sent a squad out to place the signs so the lovelies would not get harmed. And the Soviet Tanks decided not to relieve the forces in the North but instead to take Ojala and the airfield. The old men, the ski troops, and the lovely Finnish ladies all got on their skis (or were pulled on sleds if they were invalids) and evacuated the towns. The Soviet Tanks rolled forward and took the areas, drank the booze, got in the Saunas, and passed out.
Following the Signs
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Sauna & Vodka Captured
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Stalin's minions found out why the Russian Armor did not arrive on time. The NKVD showed up, shot half of the officers, and dumped their corpses in the saunas. The saunas were set on fire. The dispirited Russian Tankers then headed North towards the Finnish Army
Turn 16 & 17 North
There is a steady advance by the Finn main army group as you can see.
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Quote from: JasonPratt on December 08, 2016, 04:20:41 PM
I have now begun obsessively squinting to find summer palm trees in the terrain snapshot windows, after finding them on a 'plantation' snapshot of a Finnish winter 'farm' hex!
Also, enjoying AB's AAR, but curse you, Crossroads, for my inevitable paranoid compulsion. I KNOW THOSE PALM TREES ARE IN THE OTHER SHOTS NONE OF WHICH HAVE THE SLIGHTEST THING TO DO WITH A FINNISH WINTER! THEY'RE IN THE BACKGROUND OF THE LAKE SHOT, I KNOW THEY ARE! {squinting}
Sorry about that JP, I lied, they are not frozen palm trees as such. Just testing the awareness of the readers of this fine AAR. For
it is a well known fact Cuba supported Finland with a cargo of Palm tree shaped camo nettings, which were quickly taken into use.
Did You Know: Many an important asset was saved from Soviet bombers, who fresh from the Black-sea-holiday-resorts-turned-to-aviation-schools could not find anything worth dropping their precious bombs, just fields of frozen palm trees everywhere they considered quite natural...
Quote from: airboy on December 08, 2016, 08:02:12 PMStalin's minions found out why the Russian Armor did not arrive on time. The NKVD showed up, shot half of the officers, and dumped their corpses in the saunas. The saunas were set on fire.
...I'm guessing the inferior Finnish vodka helped with that? <:-)
Hope you don't mind the banter airboy, great stuff!
Also, kudos to the developers regarding the map. The village of "Oltava" did not sound right at all, so I picked up a copy of a 1941 map of the area, and what do you know, there's a farm called Oltava where it's supposed to be! This was a sparse populated region, so to have locations on map they need to do something like that.
Here's the mighty town of Suomussalmi by the way. As you can see, there's the church at the hill where it's supposed to be, then like a dozen buildings there. The people lived in their farms, so the "town" was pretty much something like the local shopkeeper, priest and his staff, the local blacksmith, and so on.
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Turn 19 & 20
The Finn's are rolling South. They capture the airfield, isolate and almost destroy an infantry unit.
Turn 19
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Turn 20
Russian armor almost kills a Finnish infantry unit. It will retreat and reinforce. The "stars" are my two AT guns that will move into range and hit the tanks.
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On to Victory in Scenario 4
On turn 21 my two Anti-Tank guns almost destroyed one of the Russian Armor units. The other unit is very strong, but the flanks are not well protected.
Turn 21
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Turn 22
There are 5 units in this soon to be pocket of dead commies. I have ski troops swarming from the South, West and North-East. The last armor unit has two anti-tank guns facing it. The last victory hex is marked.
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Victory!
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That's some damn fine Commie-Killing there Airboy. Congrats on the win. Looks like a fine little game and takes me back to my Panzer General days. O0
Quote from: Sir Slash on December 15, 2016, 10:51:02 AM
That's some damn fine Commie-Killing there Airboy. Congrats on the win. Looks like a fine little game and takes me back to my Panzer General days. O0
This is better than Panzer General in a couple of ways. First, the terrain & scale are reasonably accurate. Second, experienced troops are not so overpowered that they crush everything in their wake. Third, the Finns are highly limited in equipment they can obtain. The Soviets have better gear throughout the war - especially in Armor, Artillery and scouting. The game is deeper, but not so much that you get bogged down in the details. The series gives individual armies advantages. The Japs are a bitch to spot in heavy terrain. The Finn ski troops are highly mobile. US Marines have amphibious abilities that put everyone else to shame.
Still, this is not close to being an advanced war game. It is labeled "intermediate" which is probably a good label.
Scenario 5 - Raate Road
This is the dream scenario of killing commies in the snow. A Soviet combined arms division is strung out along a long road running East/West. Their supply line is tenuous. Your ski troops are much faster than anything the commies have. You have 5, count them 5 points to set up along the road.
Your objectives are to:
1] Kill hordes of commies
2] Capture some secondary victory point hexes quickly.
3] Blow some trucks.
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If you capture the secondary VP points the Soviet forces are going to have tremendous supply problems immediately.
I put all of my regular infantry and artillery at the head of the Soviet column. They are slow and can roll East.
I have three other groups of ski troops with AT weapons and my only tank. They are set up where they cannot support each other. Everything but the AT guns are super fast and can retreat if the going gets too rough.
If you love killing commies, this is the best scenario in the game.
Setup 1
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Setup 2
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Turn 2 Raate Road
On Turn 2 my gallant Finns have cut the Russian supply line in two places. My attacks at the head of the column have been slow because of the concentration of Russian forces and armor there. But this should change quickly in future turns because the supply line was cut.
Head of Column
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Middle of Column
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East End of the Column
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Turn 3 - Raate Road
The Russians are mostly cut-off from resupply. Each of their units has a yellow circle if they are out of supply. This is bad news for the commies. I've cut the supply line in multiple places.
Column Head
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Column Cut Off Twice in the East
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Turn 5 Raate Road
The Head of the Column has been totally smashed. Only two units are left. The infantry has linked up with the ski troops. This combined force will roll East to eventually link up with the other two groups of ski units.
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In the Center the Russians seem to lack enough troops to link up with their supply sources.
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Raate Road - Turn 6 & 7 - Russian Counter-Attack in the Center
In the Center the Russians sent an unescorted heavy tank unit which captured the victory hex. But unsupported attacks are really dumb in Winter War.
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On Turn 6 the Heavy Russian tank is isolated and out of supply. It will be easy to finish them off.
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Raate Road - Turn 7
The gallant Finns continue to roll down the road heading East. My artillery train is racing to keep up using the main road.
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In the Center the Russian Heavy Tank is Toast.
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Turns 10 -12 Center
On Turn 10 the Finns heavily damaged three units and closed in on the last unit between linking up raider groups 2 and 3.
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On Turn 11 the Finns reduced the heavily damaged units and surrounded the last defender. But the Russians sent a light tank from the East attempting to break the remaining units free. It ran into my AT gun at the victory hex. I pulled back one ski unit to help reduce the tank. Unfortunately, my AT guns and armor can only reinforce one step per turn. So the AT gun going down to two steps means that it is out of the battle for a very long time.
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Turn 12 the Pocket is eliminated. Raider Groups 2 & 3 have united.
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Quote from: airboy on December 24, 2016, 08:12:19 PM
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...SUMMER PALM TREE FARMLAND SPOTTED! :D
Raate Road Turns 10-14
Turn 10
The Finn infantry along with the ski troops of Raider Group 1 are close to linking up with the rest of the raiders. You can see the forward units of the Raider Group 2 & 3 ski troops on the far right hand side of the screenshot. The pocket is closing. The Commies have a poor supply situation as seen by the orange circles on the unit markers.
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Turn 13
The pocket is shrinking, but the Commies are now in supply. Why are they in supply? I originally thought that I had killed enough units that the one village hex was supplying the dwindling Soviet forces. However, it was the supply truck that was supplying enough ammo and food for the Soviet survivors. The truck goes "boom" by the end of this turn.
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Turn 14
The pocket is closing fast. The Soviets are out of supply. The truck must have contained the last elements of commie rations.
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Raate Road - Turn 15 to Victory!
The pictures tell the story of the victory. :)
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Merry Christmas my Groggy Friends throughout the world!
Scenario 5 is complete.
Nothing says "Christmas" like Commies Roasting on an Open Fire! >:D
I felt sure this had been posted before, but since I couldn't find it upthread:
That was very interesting. The Finn's lack of heavy weapons has been a real pain. My air power is limited to keeping the Russian's from clobbering my units too much. No tanks (cannot buy any). My artillery is light. Can't buy decent anti-tank guns. When the Russians concentrate their forces, they are very hard to stop.
Scenario 6 - Summa
For the 2nd time the Commies are trying to smash through the Mannerheim Line. This is a slug fest. The Finns have a very long line to defend and not enough troops. The Ski troops are more mobile than anything else on the board. The Finns have one tank unit and a couple of anti-tank guns with limited mobility. The scenario also promises to have a huge Soviet air onslaught. I bought another fighter unit and used my entire air allowance on fighters. The Finns are going to take some air hits until the Finn Airforce can (hopefully) get control of the skies.
Scenario Goals
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Upgrading Infantry
I've not been using elite replacements except on my fighter units and the two units with ground commanders. I've saved up because I have the opportunity to upgrade to 1940 Finn Infantry. Upgrading all of those units took a lot of replacement points!
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Very Long Line to Defend
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I get a lot of hits on the AAR, but very few people comment. I've been posting about a scenario a week. There are 13 total and I'm working on #6. So this is going to take quite a while to finish. Is the AAR so boring that nobody comments? Or is my description so "wonderful" that everything is explained?
I have finished the game and made all of the screenshots. I then played through the entire war one more time to see if I could do significantly better and to gain a better handle on how the AI reacts for a potential review of the game. I only had one scenario that I had to restart because I blew my setup.
The AAR is very interesting Airboy. I'm trying hard to be respectful and limit my crass puns out of respect to the Fallen.
Turn 2 - How the Scenario Went
The Finns lack enough troops to hold the line. There are enough bunkers that the Russkies cannot push through without combat. But those bunkers can be taken out in one or two turns of attack. The ski troops are very mobile, but limited in numbers. The screen shots from turn 2 show what happened throughout this scenario. The commies concentrate some forces and make an attack. On turn 2 they attacked two points in the line that were separated by considerable distance. The Finns bring in ski troops and counter-attack, while the regular troop unit retreats and reinforces.
The Russians never attacked all out across the line. As a result the Finns were (barely) able to hold on by moving their mobile ski troops from place to place. Russian armor attacks were even harder to repulse since the Finns had only one armor unit and the AT guns are not very mobile in the snow. The Commie Armor attacks were usually defeated either because:
1] The armor got surrounded because the flanks were not secured
or
2] The Finns got pounded until the AT guns arrived and shot up the tanks.
The AI, like most AIs does much better on defense than on attack. I think that a human opponent could take the same troops and break the Finn's line wide open. At minimum, I think a moderately competent human opponent would concentrate and coordinate their attacks better.
Turn 2 - Commie Attacks
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Turn 3 - The Ski Troops Move In
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Turn 7 - Unsupported Attacks, Dead Commies & Leadership
This screenshot shows a couple of things. First, there is an unsupported attack (in commie red) which is an example of the AI throwing away their troops. Second, there are piles of dead commies from failed attacks. Third, I have earned two leaders. Both of those units have a radius where their influence helps nearby units. The screenshot shows that leadership range. My two leader units are the only units (other than my solo tank unit) which are getting elite replacements at this time. I'm hording my other replacement points to pay for future troop upgrades as they become available.
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Turn 11 - Commies Capture a Victory Hex for about 3 Hours
The screen shots of the beginning and the end of turn 11 tell the tale.
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Turn 17 - Throwing Away your Armor
The AI made numerous attacks during this scenario with unsupported armor. If they had coordinated with their infantry attacks, the Finns would have been in deep trouble. The two screenshots show the start and the end of turn 17. The Soviet Tank breaks through and captures an airfield. But their flank is guarded by a single, damaged infantry unit. The Finn ski units counter-attack, destroy the commie infantry, and isolate the Russian armor.
Turn 17 Start
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Turn 17 End
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Victory Brings a Bitter Peace
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So is that a win or a loss?
Quote from: Sir Slash on January 03, 2017, 01:00:39 PM
So is that a win or a loss?
A win. But historically the Finn's made territorial concessions to end the war after stopping the commies from swallowing the entire country.
Hurray then! Buncha Commie :arr:'s
Well fought airboy, the entire nation is proud of you! :clap:
The War Resumes
Scenario 7 - Artic Fox
Finland has the misfortune to be located beside Imperial Russia/Soviet Union. Only Poland which is between Russia and Germany has suffered with worse European neighbors.
When the Nazis invaded the Commies they persuaded Finland to enter the War. Finland's motivation was to retake territory lost to the Commies in 1939-1940. They probably hoped the Nazis would knock the USSR out of Europe. Finland faced bad choices. Despite fighting well (as the continuing AAR will show), Finland ultimately lost even more territory to the Communists. Even today Sweden, Poland and the Baltics are rapidly rearming seeing what Russia did to the Crimea, Georgia, and the Ukraine.
Between the Wars the Finn's equipped their airforce with the mighty Brewster Buffalo!
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Artic Fox: Turn 1 to Turn 3
A handful of German units joined the Finns. Two infantry units, one armor unit, and a tactical bomber. The attack is in two prongs which move quickly to link up in turn 3. So far the attack is on schedule.
Turn 1 - Two Prong Attack
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Turn 3 - Linkup
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BUT WHAT HAPPENED TO THE FINNS!?
Well, they managed to fight very well, but the Nazis lost the war. The Finn's ended up losing even more territory to buy peace with the Commies. But the Finn's retained their independence. Resuming the war against the Commies as allies with the Nazis ended up being a bad decision.
But at least the commies did not think it was worthwhile to continue fighting the Finns to swallow the entire country.
"FINISH THEM!"
Quote from: airboy on January 13, 2017, 05:12:16 PM
The War Resumes
Scenario 7 - Artic Fox
Finland has the misfortune to be located beside Imperial Russia/Soviet Union. Only Poland which is between Russia and Germany has suffered with worse European neighbors.
Don't forget the Norwegians! When a Norwegian and a Finn get together for a drink, we often share thoughts on what a horrible eastern neighbour each of us has <:-)