When we one day try to realize our big dream, Grand Europa, we will be face many problems. One of the problems which isn't discussed so frequently is how the OBs will be affected when the game doesn't develop like the war actually did.

If a country that was historically attacked during the first year of the war isn't attacked in the game it will not be realistic if its force structure evolves in the same way as when it was originally attacked. One way to solve this problem is to follow the method used to create the Polish OB for the time after October 1939 -- a combination of studies of prewar plans and educated guesses. However, this method will be useful only for the period immediately after the attack because when the war came all countries had to revise their longtime plans and strengthen their forces as fast as possible.

Studying the development of countries lucky enough to stay out of the war, (for example, Sweden, Spain, and Turkey) could help in developing a whole-war OB for other countries. Using development in these countries as a base and accounting for local factors in the country it should be possible to create a "Neutrality Watch" OB for the whole war. With this as a base, we can create a "Mobilization" OB for use if the country is attacked. It could even be partly dependent on which side attacked.

One of the OBs that does not fulfil the demands of Grand Europa is the Finnish OB in the otherwise excellent game A Winter War. This OB is built around the assumption that Finland will be attacked by the Soviet Union in the autumn or winter of 1939. If Finland survives, Germany will supply reinforcements and that Finland will join Germany in a war against the Soviet Union. If a war is not successfully fought against the Soviet Union the only reinforcement Finland will get is a conversion of its 0-6 lt Arm II to a 1-0-8 Arm II. That is not much in nearly six years, I must say.

Unless we create a very strong political rule encouraging the Soviets to attack Finland before the spring 1940, we can be sure no Soviet player will be interested in attacking Finland in November or December of 1939. Instead, it is much more likely that the attack will come in May or June 1940. If you follow the OB in AWW, the Finnish OB in May 1940 will be the same as in November 1939. This is not very likely. Even more unlikely is an identical OB in May 1941, if the Soviets choose to attack then. The OB needs revision to fit with Grand Europa.

I should say that I have not dug into musty Finnish archives to find information about their long term military plans at the time of the Soviet attack. Instead, I've used the existing OB as a base for the changes. The OB itself tells us a lot about what manpower Finland had available for its army. I've assumed a development much like what happened with the Swedish army. First comes an increase of the numerical strength. When more modem material becomes available the quality increases as well.

I am aware of the fact that the existing OB assumes that much of the new Finnish material is supplied by Germany after Finland had moved politically towards Germany. However, I believe that Finland would have moved toward Germany even if the Winter War had not been fought. This is because after the Soviet Union had begun using bases in the Baltic states and maybe even taken control over the countries (something Soviet surely will do in Grand Europa) Finland will seek help from the only country (Germany) which can protect it from the Soviets. Since Germany, even if the Nazi-Soviet Pact is in force, will feel that it is in its interest if Finland can resist a Soviet attack they will allow an export of war materials to Finland.

Since the Allied governments saw the Soviet Union as a Nazi ally as long as the Nazi-Soviet Pact was in force, I have assumed that the British and French were willing to send Finland some limited help, at least until May 1940.

The speed of the build-up is about half of what actually took place, which seems reasonable to me.

Although this OB is built around a number of assumptions, this is unavoidable when creating a hypothetical OB. These assumptions are less restricting than the ones around which the original AWW OB was built.

War's End + # -- This refers to the #th turn after the end of the first war Finland fights. Choose the appearance date that is earliest. Example: Jun I 40 / WE +1 means that this reinforcement arrives either in the JUN I turn of 1940 or the first turn after Finland has concluded its first war.

If Finland is in a new war (such as another war with the Soviet Union), count each game turn as two when determining the current turns since the war's end. Example: suppose Finland concludes a war with with the Soviet Union after the MAR I turn and enters a new war in the JUL I 41 turn, then APR 140 will be the War's End+ 1 turn, JUN II 41 will be War's End +30, JUL I 41 will be War's End +32, JUL II 41 will be War's End +34.

German Attack + # -- This refers to the #th turn after an attack on Finland by Germany.

Soviet Attack + # - This refers to the #th turn after an attack on Finland by the Soviet Union.

If Finland concludes a second war and is still not conquered it receives no more reinforcements but will get one replacement point on the first turn of each month.

The following portions of the Finnish order of battle from A Winter War should still apply:

INITIAL FORCES, SEP I 39: See AWW,
NEUTRALITY WATCH: See AWW.
SEASONAL CONVERSIONS: See AWW.
REPLACEMENTS AND RESOURCE POINTS: See AWW.
REEQUIPMENTS and CONDITIONAL REINFORCEMENTS: See AWW.
MOBILIZATION FORCES TURN 1 to 10: See AWW
ADDITIONAL FOREIGN AID: See AWW.
ADDITIONAL REINFORCEMENTS: (except Additional Regular Reinforcements) See AWW

NEUTRALITY WATCH REINFORCEMENTS

JUN I 40 / War's End + 1
Convert: 1x 0-6 Lt Arm II 1 to: 1x 1-0-8 Arm II 1
Hex 35:4529 1x 0-1-0 Art II 4 RT

AUG I 40 / War's End + 3
Convert: 1x 2-1-8 Cav (or 1-2-8 Ski) X Rv to: 1x 3-8* Cav (or 3-8* Ski) X Rv
Withdraw: 2x 1-8 Ski 1-2 J, 3-4 J

OCT I 40 / War's End + 5
Convert: If received: 1x Blen 1 (3A2 1/14) to: 1x Blen 1 3B3 1-2/16

DEC I 40 / War's End + 11
Convert: 1 pt position AA (4 MPs) to: 1x 0-8 Hv AA II 1
Increase Intrinsic Coast Defenses to: Level 3: Turku (35:4230)
Withdraw: 1 pt position AA (4 MPs)

APR I 41 / War's End +11
Convert: 1 pt position AA (4 MPs) to: 1x 0-8 Hv AA II 3
Increase Intrinsic Coast Defenses to: Level 3: Kotka (35:4521)
Withdraw: 1 pt position AA (4 MPs)

AUG I 41 / War's End + 16
Convert: 1 pt position AA (4 MPs) to: 1x 0-8 Hv AA II 4
Activate Intrinsic Coast Defenses: Level 1:

Pori (35:3631)
Rauma (3 5:3831)

DEC I 41 / War's End + 19
Reequip: 1x any air unit to: 1x I-153 3B3 0/6
Activate Intrinsic Coast Defenses: Level 1: Vaasa (35:2828)

APR I 42 / War's End + 23
Convert: 1 pt position AA (4 MPs) to: 1x 0-8 Hv AA II 5
Withdraw: 1 pt position AA (4 MPs)

JUN I 42 / War's End + 25
Convert: 1x 1-0-8 Arm III to: 1x 1-8 Arm 1

NOV I 43 / War's End + 92
Air Replacement: 1x D.XXI 3F4 0/6

JUN I 44 /War's End + 68
Convert: 1x 1-8 Arm III to: 1x 2-10 Arm X 1

SEP I 44 / War's End + 112
Any Finnish-owned city in Finland. 1 x 1-6 Rifle III 101

JAN I 45 / War's End + 120
Any Finnish-owned city in Finland. 1x 3-6* Rife X 15

MAR I 45 / War's End + 124
Air Replacement: 1x Blen I 3A2 1/14

MAY I 45 / War's End + 128
Convert: 1 x 2-10 Arm X I to: 1x 2-10* Arm X 1/1

War's End + 144
Any Finnish-owned city in Finland 3x 3-6* Rifle X 19,20,21
Withdraw:

1x 3-6* Rifle X 15
1 x 1-6 Rifle III 101

War's End + 172
Convert: 4x 0-1-6 Ski II (Any) to: 1x 2-3-6* Ski X RJ
Convert: If received: 1x MS.406 (4F5 0/8) to: 1x M Moranni 5F5 0/8

War's End +180
Reequip: 1x any air unit to: 1 x Myrsky II 5F5 0/5

MOBILIZATION FORCES REINFORCEMENTS

JUN I 40 / War's End + 1
Convert: 2x 1-2-6 Ski III I/KR, I/PKR to: 4x 0- 1 -6 Ski II 1 Raja, 2 Raja, 3 Raja, 4 Raja
Convert: 1x 1-6 Ski III 1/LR to: 2x 0-1-6 Ski II 5 Raja, 6 Raja

AUG I 40 / War's End + 3
Convert: 2x 0-1-8 VL, TL to: 2x 3-8* Ski X I J, 2 J
Withdraw: If a war has been fought: All partisans, including those operating in combat mode.

OCT I 40 / War's End + 5
Convert: 2x Rifle XX (any) to: 2x 6-6 Rifle XX 1,2

DEC I 40 / War's End + 7
Convert: 2x Rifle XX (any) to: 2x 6-6 Rifle XX 3,4

FEB I 41 / War's End + 9
Convert: 2x Rifle XX (any) to: 2x 6-6 Rifle XX 5,6
Convert: 1x 2-6 Art III 2 to: 1x 3-2-8 Art III 1-3 R

APR I 41 / War's End + 11
Convert: 2x Rifle XX (any) to: 2x 6-6 Rifle XX 7,8

JUN I 40 / War's End + 13
Convert: 2x Rifle XX (any) to: 2x 6-6 Rifle XX 9,10

AUG I 41 / War's End + 15
Convert: 2x Rifle XX (any) to: 2x 6-6 Rifle XX 12,15
Convert: 1x 1-6 Art III 3 to: 1x 3-2-8 Art III 4-6 R

OCT I 41 / War's End + 17
Convert: 1x Rifle XX (any) to: 1x 6-6 Rifle XX 17

DEC I 41 / War's End + 19
Upgrade: 2x Rifle X (any) (1 inf RP) to: 1 x 6-6 Rifle XX 18

FEB I 42 / War's End + 21
Convert: 1x 4-5-6 Rifle XX 14 to: 1x 6-6 Rifle XX 14

Note: If three rifle/ski regiments have not been previously upgraded into the 14th Rifle XX, ignore the preceding conversion and use the following upgrade instead.

Upgrade: 3x Rifle/Ski (any) (1 inf RP) to: 1 x 6-6 Rifle XX 14

APR I 42 / War's End + 23
Upgrade: 3x Rifle/Ski III (any) (1 inf RP) to: 1x 6-6 Rifle XX 19

JUN I 42 / War's End + 25
Convert: 3x 0- 1-6 Rifle III HL, HaL, KL to:

1x 1-6* Rifle III YMV
2x 1-6 Rifle III 14,61

MAY I 46 / War's End + 128
Convert: 1x 3-8* Ski X 1 J to: 1x 3-10* Mech X 1/1 Pi
Convert: 1x 3-8* Ski X 2 J to: 1x 3-10* Mech X 1/2 PJ

Place the following unit in its box on the Unit Breakdown Chart. 1x 8-10 Arm XX 1

ANTI-AXIS ADDITIONAL REINFORCEMENTS

The following reinforcement schedule is implemented following an attack on Finland by the Axis. This schedule is in addition to the AWW "Additional Reinforcement Schedule."

German Attack + 2

Foreign Aid, via Soviet Union (from Soviet Union): 1 pt position AA (4 MPs)

German Attack + 6 Foreign Aid, via Soviet Union: (from Soviet Union) 1x SB-2 2A2 1-1/16

German Attack + 7 Foreign Aid, via Soviet Union (from Soviet Union): 1x I-153 3B3 0/6

ANTI-SOVIET ADDITIONAL REINFORCEMENTS

The following reinforcement schedule is implemented following an attack on Finland by the Soviet Union. This schedule is in addition to the AWW "Additional Reinforcement Schedule."

A condition for all Swedish, British and French help is that Germany isn't at war with the Soviet Union.

Soviet Attack + 2 Foreign Aid, via Sweden (from Sweden, if Sweden isn't at war.): 1 pt position AA (4 MPs)

Soviet Attack + 3 Foreign Aid, via Sweden: (from Sweden, if Sweden isn't at war.) 1x 3-8* Ski X RVV/I (FV)

Soviet Attack + 4 Foreign Aid, via Sweden: (from Britain if no German unit is in Britain) 1x Glad 3F3 0/8

Soviet Attack + 6 Foreign Aid, via Sea (from several countries): 1x 0-1-6 Inf X Sisu (FV)
Foreign Aid, via Sea ((from Britain): 1 pt position AA (4 MPs)
Foreign Aid, via Sweden: (from Britain): 1x Blen I 3A2 1/14
Foreign Aid, via Sweden: (from France): 1 x MS.406 4F5 0/8

Conditions (for all units this turn): If there is no German unit in Britain, France, Belgium or the Netherlands.

Soviet Attack + 7

Foreign Aid, via Sea (from Hungary, if Hungary isn't at war):
1x 2-3-6 Inf X UVV (FV)

Foreign Aid, via Sea (from Britain and USA, if no German unit is in Britain):
1x 1-2-6 Inf X LVV (FV)

Foreign Aid, via Sweden (from Italy): Reinforcement or Reequip:
1x any air unit to: 1x G.50 3F3 0/8

Soviet Attack + 8

Foreign Aid, via Sweden: (from Sweden, if Sweden isn't at war)
1x 3-8* Ski X RVV/2 (FV)

Foreign Aid, via Sea (from Italy):
1 pt position AA (4 MPs)

Reinforcement or Reequip: 1x any air unit to:
1x F2A-1 4F3 0/11

Place the following unit on the Finnish breakdown chart.
1x 7-8 Lt Inf XX RVV (FV)