Before and during the beginning of WW2 many high-ranking Swedish officers, and some politicians, thought that the best place to defend Sweden against Soviet aggressions was along the eastern Finnish border. Therefore plans were made to transfer a big part of the (small) Swedish army to Finland in the case of a conflict between Finland and the Soviet Union.

In 1937 a plan was presented which was to be used in the case that the Swedish government after a petition from the League of Nations decided to intervene in Finland in the case of a war.

The plan called for 1st Army Corps with staff, four divisions (III - VI), the cavalry brigade and the corps artillery regiment A6 to be sent to Finland and be used around the big lakes northwest of the Karelian Isthmus. Most of the corps was to be transported by ship across the Gulf of Bothnia and a minor part. About a division was to be transported by railroad and road. To secure the sea transport a detachment with 2nd Army Corps HQ, two infantry regiments (I-1 and I-14) and an artillery battalion would land on the Aland Islands before the transportation began. The rest of the army was to be left in Sweden to defend the homeland.

Although this plan and other war plans made in 1937 were never officially presented to or approved by the politicians, the military acted as if they were. When the Winter War begun many officers and some politicians, including Foreign Minister Rickard Sandler, wanted to actively help Finland, but a majority of the government and the parliament opposed it. One reason for this was that Sweden hadn't been at war since the Napoleonic Wars and many Swedes didn't want to change as long as Sweden wasn't attacked. Another important reason for the government was that in a war Sweden would be very dependent on imports, like gasoline and rubber tired wheels. These imports could easily have been controlled by Britain and the UK would surely have used this Swedish dependency to pressure Sweden to decrease or stop its export of iron ore to Germany. This would probably in turn have led to German actions against Sweden which Sweden could not withstand with most of its army in Finland. The worst-case for the government in that situation was that Sweden could become a battlefield for the German and Allied armies.

This scenario examines what the military situation in Finland would have been if the Swedish government had decided to intervene in the Winter War. It doesn't deal with the political situation that might have been the result of such an intervention. Due to the time of the year some modifications have to be made to the ordinary plan. Since the Gulf of Bothnia is frozen, sea transportation has to go from ports further south in Sweden and to the ports in Hanko and Turku or Helsinki, depending on which the Finnish player decides to keep open.

Since the meaning of this scenario is to examine the effect of a Swedish intervention I decided to leave the possibility of Western intervention out. Western intervention would have created so many political problems as to require a much larger scenario (including all the maps of Sweden, more German and Allied forces for a possible encounter in Sweden and much more advanced political rules). Maybe I'll try to come up with such a scenario later).

Below I've made some changes in AWW rules that I thought necessary. Here are my reasons for some of these modifications:

(1) The modifications to the combat roll if both Finnish and Swedish units defend in , or attack into, the same hex is due to language and coordination problems which are inevitable. Many Finnish officers did speak Swedish, which is an official language in Finland due to a large Swedish-speaking minority.

(2) The Swedish army, like the Finnish, was well-trained in combat in woods. Many Swedish soldiers came from regions dominated by woods (in fact most of Sweden is dominated by woods, although you wouldn't think so if you look at some of the Europa maps). Therefore I think that it's justified with a Swedish +1 woodsmanship modifier to the combat die roll in the same way that is already the case for Finnish units.

(3) The Swedish government was very fearful that the Aland Islands would fall into the hands of a great power and therefore the troops on Aland should not be allowed to move once they are placed there.

(4) The rail gauges are not the same in Sweden and Finland, therefore the Swedish rail capacity cannot be used in Finland.

Changes In A Winter War Rules

Rule 7A2 (Transportation Lines, Railroads, Capacity) Add: The Swedish rail capacity is 6 RE and can only be used in Sweden.

Rule 12C1 (Supply, Supply Sources, Full Supply Sources) Add: The full supply source for Finnish units is also a full supply source for Swedish units.

Rule 19 (Patrol Attacks) Add: The patrol zone of a Swedish fighter covers every hex within one half the movement rating (round fractions down) of the fighter.

Rule 27A (Weather, Winterization) Add: All Swedish units are winterize

Rule 30C2 (Nations, Neutrals, Sweden) Delete: Rule 30C2.

Rule 30D (Nations, Sweden) New:

1. Swedish Force Pool. When the accompanying variant Order of Battle so demands, place Swedish units in the Swedish Force Pool (SFP). The Finnish player may use these units on that turn and future turns. When the Finnish player wants to use a Swedish unit it is placed on the map during the Finnish movement phase. This can be done in one of the following two ways:
a. The unit is placed in hex 35:2333 or hex 35:1533. From this moment it moves as any other, unit, including that it may move by rail movement. No movement points have been used.

b. The unit is placed in an operative Finnish port. The unit has been transferred to Finland by sea. Note that the port in Hanko is a minor port and has a capacity of only two RE.

Therefore only two REs of units can land here during a Finnish movement phase. A unit that is placed in a Finnish port has used 2 MPs and may continue to move. A unit that has left the SFP can return to it by either:

1. Go to hex 35:2333 or hex 35:1533 and spend I MP to enter the SFP or
2. Go to an operative Finnish port and spend 2 MPs to enter the SFP.

2. Swedish Woodsmanship. Swedish non-motorized units have woodsmanship capabilities in the same way as Finnish nonmotorized units (see rule 30A5).

3. Swedish-Finnish Cooperation. If both Swedish and Finnish units take part in an attack one is subtracted from the combat die roll. If both Swedish and Finnish units defend in a hex that is attacked, one is added to the combat die roll.

Rule 31 (Western Intervention) Delete: Rule 3 1. It is not used.

Rule 32B (Reinforcements and Replacements, Replacements). Add: Source of replacements for Sweden is Boden (35:1624).

Swedish Cadres can be rebuilt in any Finnish city from which it is possible to trace a supply line to Boden (35:1624) and that is not in an enemy ZOC. An eliminated Swedish unit that is replaced is placed in any Finnish city from which it is possible to trace a supply line to Boden (35:1624) and that is not in an enemy ZOC.

Rule 32C (Reinforcements and Replacements, Special Replacements) Add: When special replacements are calculated for Sweden the total Swedish losses are divided by 4.

Changes In The A Winter War OB

Dec I 1939

Place in the Aland Islands Holding box:
1x 2-3-8 Inf III 1
1x 2-6 Inf III 14

Dec II 1939

Place in the Swedish Force Pool:
2x 6-6 Inf XX III, IV
1x 0-8? Lt AA II AA=1 I
1x 4-3-8 Art III 6

Place at any Swedish or Finnish airbase:
1x Ju 86K
1x Hart
1x Glad

The Soviet Strategic Reserve is released.

Jan I 1940

Place in the Swedish Force Pool:
2x 6-6 Inf XX V, VI
1x 2-1-8 Cav III (or X?) Kav
1x 1-6 Eng II 1

Replacements: 4 Infantry RP

Jan II 1940

Delete from the Finnish OoB:
1x 3-8* Ski X RVV/1 (FV)

Feb I 1940
Replacements: 4 Infantry RP

Mar I 1940
Replacements: 4 Infantry RP

Apr I 1940

Delete from the Finnish OoB:
1x 3-8* Lt Inf X RVV/2 (FV)

Editor's note: The only Swedish OOB so far published in Europa was that included in Narvik, published in 1974 and 1980. The unit strengths are my guesses, based on that OOB.