Winter War - Finns vs. Commies - Order of Battle WW2

[Sir Slash]

The AAR is very interesting Airboy. I'm trying hard to be respectful and limit my crass puns out of respect to the Fallen.

[airboy]

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


Turn 3 - The Ski Troops Move In

[airboy]

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.

[airboy]

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.

[airboy]

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


Turn 17 End

[airboy]

Victory Brings a Bitter Peace

[Sir Slash]

So is that a win or a loss?

[airboy]

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.

[Sir Slash]

Hurray then! Buncha Commie  :arr:'s

[Crossroads]

Well fought airboy, the entire nation is proud of you!   :clap:

[airboy]

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!

[airboy]

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


Turn 3 - Linkup

[JasonPratt]

BUT WHAT HAPPENED TO THE FINNS!?

[airboy]

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.

[mirth]

BUT WHAT HAPPENED TO THE FINNS!?

They're Finished