A much more likely war in Grand Europa than the Winter War is a Soviet attack on Finland in the spring or summer of 1940 when Germany is engaged in a campaign in the West. Therefore, I examined how such a war might unfold in the solitaire game I describe here.

I began the campaign with the JUN II 40 turn. The war will last for seven turns. Finland has mobilized on the MAY II turn. I used the Finnish order of battle from my article "Finishing the Finnish OB" in this issue of TEM. This yields the following changes in the Finnish OB:

• Three ski regiments have converted to six ski battalions;
• the 0-6 Lt Ann has converted to a 1-0-8 Arm;
• 0-1-0 artillery battalion has been received in hex 35:4529.

Reinforcements arrived according to the modified OB. I also used the following rules:

• naval rules in TEM 38/39 plus free set up of naval units;
• AEC/ATEC;
• incremental dice.

A few rules modifications were necessary to play a war in the summer, and reflect the somewhat different political situation:

• The Soviets control all territory in Estonia.
• No western intervention is possible.
• Partisans (but not ski units) may try to retreat before combat.
• Rivers and lakes are not frozen.
• Construction takes only half the time.
• Bombing values are not halved.
• No winterization rule is in effect.
• Use the Balkan Front terrain effects chart.
• Use the Balkan Front ground combat results table.
• Use the Balkan Front AEC/ATEC effects summary.
• Use the Balkan Front supply line lengths.

Set Up

Finland deploys first and tries a forward defense on the Karelian front, mostly in the woods in front of the Mannerheim Line along the 4700 row.

Northeast of Lake Ladoga a four-hex broad front covers the two roads into Finland. North of this front only some ski battalions and regiments remain to cover the roads into the country.

The Soviet Union creates four corps on the Karelian Isthmus. The light tank and the motorized MG brigades deploy in Leningrad to prepare for railroad transport to another front.

North of Lake Ladoga forces gather around Suojarvi, Kuhmo, and Suomussalmi as well as around undefended Lieksa and Ilomantsi.

The Finns place their reserves in the North. An infantry regiment northeast of Kuhmo ensures the city will not fall the first turn. The other reserves deploy around Lieksa, Ilomantsi and the airfield in Joensuu. The Finnish fleet deploys in Kotka and Hanko to defend the southern coastline.

JUN II 40

Soviets:

An infantry division takes undefended Petsamo. Soviet forces attack and eliminate troops east of Suomussalmi and south and north of Kuhmo, but neither city falls. South of Lieksa and east of Joensuu Finnish forces must retreat and there is now a big hole in the defense of the rail line between Joensuu and Sortavala.

On the Karelian Isthmus the Soviet offensive is less successful. Three attacks on a broad front with air and navy support result in an AS, HX and DR. It was not what the Red Army had planned.

The VVS tries to bomb Helsinki but scores no hits.

Finns:

Reinforcements at Sortavala partly manage to fill the holes in the line north of Ladoga. The C.X unit flies DAS here.

The cadred division on the Karelian front withdraws to rebuild and a fresh division takes its place in the defense. Finland begins to fortify Viipuri.

JUL I 40

Soviets:

All of the Soviet air and naval resources support attacks on a broad front in Karelia. No other air mission is even flown. The fort in 4717 falls in a bloody exchange. Since the other attacked hexes now are in Soviet ZOCs DR results there mean big Finnish losses including one eliminated and one cadred division.

North of Ladoga, Kuhmo and Pitkaranta fall, and Suomussalmi and Joensuu lie undefended in front of advancing Russian troops. Finland loses 25 defense factors in this combat phase; the situation looks bad.

Finns:

Finland cannot do much more than try to fill the holes in its lines and try to prevent a breakthrough on the Karelian front. Two divisions rebuild and move to the defense line on the isthmus, now along the 4600 row.

The bicycle regiment transfers from the Aland Islands to the Mannerheim Line. The islands are now without garrison.

Since the lakes north of Ladoga are unfrozen you cannot attack across them. The Finns use this to group their forces between them and shorten their line.

A partisan unit shows its combat side and eliminates a defenseless construction unit that was on its way to relieve a motorized division as garrison in Lieksa.

JUL II 40

Soviets:

Seventh Army is upgraded and filled with artillery units. It attacks the fort behind the river in 4613 supported by air, rolling a "6" that results in a DR. The Soviets clear 4615 and 4617 with minor losses.

North of Ladoga, the hole in the line that the reserve motorized troops have been waiting for opens at last. A motorized division and three brigades exploit a two-hex wide gap east of Sortavala, taking the city and the hexes north and west of the city.

Farther north, Ilomantsi, Suomussalmi, and Allakurtti fall. At Kuhmo, two Soviet 4-6 divisions attack a 1-6* regiment and get an HX result. The Soviets must remove a division to fulfill the 1/2 point loss.

The Soviets terror bomb Helsinki. The Finnish fighter unit tries bravely to prevent it but instead the Finnish fighter unit is aborted. There are no hits scored on Helsinki, however.

Finns:

By using all its replacements (except the emergency replacements) Finland manages to patch together a very thin line around the big lakes in eastern Finland with a little bit better line on the Isthmus. The garrison regiment moves from Hanko to the Karelian front. Engineers finish a fort in Lappeenranta and begin the construction of a fort in Helsinki.

AUG I 40

Soviets:

In a daring assault across the narrow strait from 4617 to 4518 three tank brigades and two artillery regiments eliminate the Finnish division and tank battalion defending 4518.

The defenders of Kakisalmi are still holding the city but are now almost cut off by Soviet attacks and exploitation westward from Sortavala.

Farther north only small forces remain and the collapse of the defenses here can happen any turn.

With the Finnish fighter fleet grounded, Helsinki is now an easy target for terror bombing. Soviet bombers achieve two hits for the price of a TB-3 aborted by AA.

Finns:

A division withdraws from Kakisahni to defend the road north of the city leading into Central Finland. Repairing a cadre in Viipuri and moving it to 4418 prevents the Soviet tank force in 4518 from reaching Kotka or Lappeenranta in the next turn. The situation now looks desperate for Finland.

AUG II 40

Soviets:

The pressure on the Karelian front continues; Viipuri is now the only Finnish-held hex there. The motorized division in Lieksa now has been relieved. It moves toward Kuopio which falls in the exploitation phase. Since the TB-3 was aborted last turn there are not enough air units to supply the division by airdrop; it is now out of supply.

Helsinki takes one terror bombing hit.

Primarily to try the naval system, the Soviet marine brigade attempts an amphibious landing in the Aland Islands, defended only by coast artillery. The marines land from a BB, a CA, and a CL. The coast defense is eliminated without any damage to the attacking force and the point city of Marienhamn falls.

Finns:

Finland uses its five points of emergency replacements. Since Britain is assumed to be engaged on the Western Front, no Gladiators are received from Britain.

Most of the reinforcements surround and attack the motorized division in Kuopio supported by air. Any die results but a "1" (AS) will eliminate the division. Guess the result. One.

Illmarinen moves to Helsinki and performs the coast defense mission but Vainamoinen remains in Kotka to give fire support to the defending troops.

SEP I 40

Soviets:

In the north, Salla falls. Farther south, a political police unit moves around defenders to enter an undefended Kuusamo.

The Russians have not been able to repair their TB-3 transport, so there is no chance to supply the isolated division by air. To have a fair chance to survive, the division abandons Kuopio and moves south to hopefully regain supply and renew its attack against the town.

On the Karelian Isthmus, the Finnish defense totally collapses. The only surviving units are a cadred division in 4419 and the Swedish ski brigade. 15th Army exploits to 4320 and the motorized division south of Kuopio is back in supply.

Bombers inflict a terror hit on Helsinki.

Finns:

A counterattack eliminates the political police in Kuusamo and retakes the city.

The division south of Kuopio is once again surrounded and out of supply.

In the South, Finland groups the few remaining forces to prevent more lost cities in the last turn. Finland is now desperately searching for peace.

SEP II 40

Soviets:

Fifteenth Army creates a hole north of Kotka and exploits to take Porvoo and Mikkeli.

The division at Kuopio moves south and is now once again in supply.

Finns:

Finland uses its replacements to rebuild two eliminated divisions. Four Soviet divisions are isolated.

As the Victory Point Count shows, the Soviets scored many more VPs than needed to achieve a decisive victory in the ordinary game. This is no surprise since in the summer Soviet units can move farther, attack on the ordinary combat results table, use their tanks (AEC), and not halve their air units' bombing strength. The victory may have been even bigger if I had used the Soviet navy more aggressively and made some landings along the Finnish coast in the Gulf of Bothnia. For a balanced scenario, the Soviet Player should probably subtract 50- 75 VPs from his final total.

This replay effectively shows that in Grand Europa there is not much Finland can do if the USSR chooses to attack in the summer. Such an attack is probably the most likely course of events unless a political rule strongly favors an earlier Soviet attack. Whether or not we should have such a rule I leave for others to decide.

Final Victory Point Count

Soviet # VP
Soviet-owned dot cities 120
Soviet-owned reference cities 0 0
Soviet-owned point cities 18 90
Soviet terror bombing hits 4 4
Eliminated Finnish air units 2 2
Total 116

Finnish # VP
Sov. division in replacement pool 2 4
Sov. division at cadre strength 0 0 vSov. division isolated 4 4
Eliminated Soviet air units 0 0
Total 8

Final result: 108 VP