Finnish Navy

Initial Forces, Dec I 39

Naval Units.

Place at any ports in the Baltic Sea zone in Finland.
1x BD Ilmar.
1x BD Vaina.
Note: When using the advanced naval rules, the Finnish player may decommission and recommission his coast defense battleships as explained on page 10 of the A Winter War Orders of Battle booklet.

Place in the Aland Islands Holding Box. lx 1 pt RF AA =1 Sisa.

Intrinsic Coast Defenses

Level 1:
Island hexes 35:4331 and 35:4332.
All hexes along Lake Ladoga in Finland (including both hexes of Valamo Island).
All coastal hexes along the Gulf of Finland from 35:4231 eastward to 35:4617, except: Level 2:
Turku (35:4230).
Hanko (35:4530).
Kotka (35:4521).
Hexes 35:4518 and 35:4717. Level 3:
Helsinki (35:4526).
Note: The Coast Defenses Chart show these graphically.

Reinforcements

Dec II 39
Activate Intrinsic Coast Defenses, Level 1:
Aland Islands Holding Box.

Soviet Navy

Initial Forces, Dec I 39

Naval Units.

Place at any Soviet-owned ports along the Gulf of Finland. Note that this includes ports in Estonia.
1x BB Okt. Rev.
1x BB Marat
1x CA Kirov
1x CA Aurora

Place at Murmansk (35:0701).
1x DD-Flot. 

A Winter War Advanced Naval Rules

(Orders of Battle) If using the detailed naval module in this issue, shouldn't the orders of battle be modified to allow a greater flexibility of deployment?

Yes. The final OBs were revised when the naval module was cut from the rules booklet. When using advanced naval rules, use the naval orders of battle on the facing page.

What about units in the Finnish Coastal Defense Command? Shouldn't they now be able to move on the Dec I 39 turn?

Yes.

Using this system, can Soviet ground units enter Estonia?

At the time the advanced naval rules were cut, Rick Gayler and Arthur Goodwin were lobbying to allow the Soviets to introduce ground units into Estonia. They felt this would influence the Finns to position one or both BDs near Turku as they did historically and not move them to Viipun every game, thus making the Mannerheim Line ahistorically strong. It was proposed that the Soviets could move as many ground units as they wanted into Estonia, but at a cost of 2 victory points. John Astell never passed judgment on this proposal.

If Soviet ground units are allowed to enter Estonia, it looks as if the Soviet player could base his fleet in Paldiski (35:4828) and threaten to invade at Hanko (35:4530) throughout the entire game, even after the sea ice forms.

Right you are.

How does Rule 30A2 interact with the advanced naval rules?

The original rule was limited to determining the port status of Turku (i.e., whether it was operative or not). However, John Astell raised this question:

"Shouldn't the path be treated as open water for all game purposes, such as for naval movement in the advanced game? Probably so, but this may be messy to write up."

Indeed! This could lead to a World War II version of the parting of the Red Sea. Picture this: The Finns have, by dint of their icebreaker fleet, managed to keep the port of Turku open. In game terms, this means that the hexes from Turku to the open sea (35:4230, 4331, 4332, 4432) are treated as open water. The Soviet Baltic Fleet sails from Paldiski in the dead of winter and enters this open corridor. The icebreakers steam for port with the Soviet capital ships in hot pursuit, even as the ice begins to close in on all sides. As the Finnish ice-ships reach the safety of port, the Soviets realize to their dismay they are doomed-icy seas freeze them firmly in place. After sufficient hardening of the ice, and softening of the crews, the Finns imprison the misled Soviet sailors and confiscate their vessels.

This loose end was never tied together when the advanced naval rules were dropped, so you're on your own.

Do we need to modify the Victory Chart to recognize the possible elimination of naval units?

Yes, an eliminated naval unit yields the same number of victory points as an eliminated air unit of the owning side.

How will using the naval module affect the Soviet-Finnish play balance in the game?

These rules open the door for the Soviet player to do some pretty nasty things during his first two player turns, and if the Red Banner Fleet and some ground units are based in Paldiski, the Finnish player is forced to guard Hanko the entire game. On balance, however, the rules probably benefit the Finns:

The Finnish player will likely position at least one of his two BDs, and maybe even both, at Viipuri. Assuming they survive until the sea ice forms, these units can serve as an anchor to the right flank of the Mannerheim Line. Victor Hauser used this basing in his playtest game with Rick Gayler to good effect (see TEM #24).

The intrinsic coast defenses add ground strength to the Finnish defense effort. Although this usually amounts to only a half a strength point or so in any given hex, the cumulative effect over the course of the game can prove advantageous.

For example, the cluster of 1-point coast defenses on the north shore of Lake Ladoga can at the very least slow down a Soviet advance without committing a single Finnish ground unit, as the Reds will have to overrun and/or attack their way through them.

By the way, since there is a strong possibility that an intrinsic coast defense ground strength will be less than 1, we need to revise the wording of Rule 14B:

"Artillery units do not defend with their full strength unless the number of non-artillery REs in their hex at least equals the number of artillery REs there. All artillery units in excess of this number defend with a total strength of 1 or their actual strength, whichever is less."

(Rules 31 and 38B2) When using the advanced naval rules, the units of the Western Intervention Force presumably arrive via naval transport? Okay, so where are the ships?

The presence of such naval units are assumed, but are not actually represented in the game. 

A Winter War Box Text

The following may not quite fit in Rules Court, but for lack of a better place, here it is. While preparing the A Winter War box, Mark Pitcavage volunteered to write the prose for the box back. This he did, and it was excellent. Unfortunately, the final copy was only a pale shadow of Mark's original submission, as there just wasn't enough room for the entire text.

While thumbing through some notes researching the advanced naval rules, Mark's work resurfaced, so we'll share it with you.

[Copy Block 1: Describing the War]

On October 14, 1939, a Finnish delegation in Moscow listened angrily to the demands of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin and his Foreign Minister, Molotov. The Soviets called for Finland to cede strategically important islands, bases, and lands in return for land in the arctic wasteland of Karelia. Finnish leaders, including President Cajander and Field Marshal Mannerheim, offered a compromise a few days later. The Soviets stuck to their original demands. After a month of negotiations, Molotov announced on November 26 that the Finnish Army bad fired on Soviet troops and demanded the Finns retreat 15 miles from the border. The Finns asked that the Soviets also retreat. There was no answer; on November 30, without a declaration of war, the mighty Soviet Union invaded tiny Finland.

Finland had 120,000 troops with which to face the 300,000 hastily mobilized Soviets. The Finns owned relatively few modem weapons, and only around 100 aircraft, few of which were up-to-date. On the other hand, the Finnish Army was welltrained, brave, and versed in cold-weather operations. They were also masters of irregular warfare.

In the "Winter War," during which temperatures repeatedly dropped well below zero, the courageous Finns stopped the Soviet Army cold by the end of December, causing over 27,000 Soviet deaths while suffering only 2,700 casualties themselves. Stalin demanded another effort. This time, the Soviets used dozens of divisions, backed up by hundreds of artillery pieces and tanks, led by Marshal Semyon Timoshenko. Outnumbering the Finns by a 3:1 margin, the Soviets attacked on February 1, 1940. Within ten days, they broke through the vaunted Mannerheim Line and forced the Finns to retreat. Bravery alone could not stop the Soviets; by March 8, the Finns were forced to sue for peace. The Soviet demands were as hard as the arctic weather had been. The Finns lost 16,000 square miles of territory, and had to evacuate 500,000 people. It was a loss the Finns would not forget.

[Copy Block 2: Describing the Game]

A Winter War simulates the intense battles between the Finns and Soviets during the winter of 1939-40. It covers the conflict from the frozen wastes of Karelia to the snow-covered roads to Helsinki. The Soviet player must overcome the harsh weather and fierce resistance to break through the strong Finnish defenses, without suffering undue casualties. The Finnish player must deploy his outnumbered, outgunned forces to stop the Soviet juggernaut. For both sides, the situation is desperate; for both sides, the fight is no-holds-barred.

The game includes one "new-style" Europa map, representing the most advanced cartographic research yet seen in military simulations. All the armed forces of both sides are represented, and more, including armies, air forces, and navies. The Finnish forces include ski troops; foreign volunteers from Sweden, Hungary, Britain, and even the United States; foreign aid from those countries plus Italy and France; and possible British, French, and Canadian intervention forces. Soviet forces include regulars, NKVD political troops, parachute infantry, marines, and expatriate Finnish Communists.

Included are the most up-to-date Europa rules, with many special rules for this particular conflict. Special features include:

• Ski units and Finnish woodsmanship
• Finnish partisans
• Amphibious operations
• The Finnish hydroelectric plant
• Western intervention
• Optional airborne operations

A Winter War is part of the Europa system of interlocking games on World War II, and as such also includes bonus components for Grand Europa , which will link all of the separate Europa games together into the largest simulation of World War II ever.

The game includes the following Grand Europa components: the entire orders of battle for the armed forces of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, and the entire Finnish order of battle for 1939-45 (excluding those counters appearing in Fire in the East and Scorched Earth).

A Winter War is the result of meticulous research, endless hours of playtesting, and painstaking development. It presents a detailed, realistic, and exciting game situation that will challenge players to the utmost of their gaming skills.

[Copy Block 3: Explaining Europa]

Europa is the largest and most ambitious wargame project ever undertaken: the simulation of all of World War II in Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa at battalion, regimental, and divisional level, with semi-monthly turns and a scale of 16 miles per hex. With a common game system, and interlocking maps, each game can be played separately, or as part of Grand Europa .

Europa includes every ship from torpedo boats to aircraft carriers, every airplane from obsolete biplanes to advanced jet fighters, every land unit from bicycle battalions to armored divisions. In its twenty year history, Europa had benefitted from hundreds of playtesters and thousands of gamers. No other system provides such depth of research; no other system has such a devoted following. Europa is the pinnacle of World War II simulations. If you have not yet experienced Europa, take the time now to find out what you've been missing.