The Stuff of Obsession
By Mike Bennighof, Ph.D.
November 2013

It is an odd occupation, making wargames, but it does definitely beat working for a living. I've had a long-standing interest in Finland's role in the Second World War, and have designed a number of games on the topic (at least five of them). I still like Arctic Front the best, since the Panzer Grenadier system allows you to explore many aspects - ski manuevers, tank battles, close-quarters infantry fights. I managed to get all of those and more into Arctic Front. Here's the final set of scenario previews:

Frozen Tundra
2 August, 1941

On the shores of the Arctic Ocean, German mountain troops tried to capture the vital Soviet port of Murmansk. Finland provided very slight support, but when the German advance stalled Mannerheim dispatched two battalions of middle-aged reservists. These soon became involved in a counterattack against Soviet troops that had landed behind German lines.

Note: This scenario uses a board from Road to Berlin and boards and pieces from Eastern Front.

Conclusion

Separate incidents drove the German and Finnish contingents to insane battle fury, while the Soviet Kommissars also whipped their men into a frenzy. Both sides lost over half their men, and at the end of the confused fight no Soviets were left on the bare hilltop.

Design Note: I've always liked this one because it has berserker special rules, in one of the few historical situations where that sort of mechanic is actually justified. It's the sort of scenario where both players will be constantly tossing eliminated pieces into the box.

Finnish Soil
21 July 1944

The stone bridge over the River Iljanjoki marked the pre-war border between Finland and the Soviet Union. The Soviet summer offensive of 1944 met great success on the Karelian Isthmus, and Red Army officers expected similar results farther north. But when their enemies set foot in pre-war Finland, a new resolve took hold in the Finnish troops. The two companies detailed to hold the bridge took up hidden positions on either side of the river, determined to make the Soviets pay for entering Finland.

Note: This scenario uses a board from Battle of the Bulge and a board and pieces from Road to Berlin.

Conclusion

The Finns disrupted the Soviet advance when their small anti-tank battery, emplaced on the east bank of the river where the Soviets never expected to meet resistance, knocked out several tanks and a hidden ambush set several more alight. When the first Soviet soldier splashed across the river, the Finns became possessed by the fighting rage known as sisu and poured out of their positions to engage the Red Army hand-to-hand. Stunned by the assault, the Soviet 55th Rifle Regiment broke and fled, hotly pursued by a force a fraction of its size. Soviet officers finally got hold of their troops on Vellivaari hill.

Design Note: This is a relatively small infantry fight, something I always like to include in scenario sets. And once again it has berserk Finns, which is always popular with players.

The Legend of Larry Thorne
20 July 1944

In an army noted for individual initiative, few soldiers stood out like Capt. Lauri Torni. Enlisting in 1938, he led an infantry company in the Winter War and long-range probes behind Soviet lines during the Continuation War. When the Soviet 52nd Infantry Regiment made a surprise advance through some woods to attack the village of Hattuvaara, Torni quickly organized a counterattack while one company of the 3rd Jäger Battalion held the enemy in place.

Note: This scenario uses maps from Eastern Front and Battle of the Bulge, and maps and pieces from Road to Berlin.

Conclusion

Lauri Torni would continue fighting the Soviets alongside the Germans, to be branded a war criminal for flouting Finnish authority. He escaped to the United States, enlisted in the U.S. Army under the name Larry Alan Thorne and became one of the first members of the Special Forces. He was killed in a helicopter crash in Vietnam in 1965, providing the inspiration for the Sven character in the book and movie, The Green Berets.

Design Note: I've known about Larry Thorne and wanted to include a scenario with him for many years. Among his many other exploits, he also single-handedly captured one of the Sotkas shown in the Iron Ducklings scenario.

Into the Wilderness
8 July 1941

The Finnish portion of the attack against the Soviet Union took place along a broad front. One of the most important assignments fell to Col. Erkki Raappana's 14th Division, charged with advancing along the narrow road through Repola toward Rukajärvi. This was the first large-scale movement into Soviet territory, designed to screen the northern flank of the troops that would capture Karelia. Because his force was not expected to meet serious resistance, Raappana was not given many of the light infantry forces favored by the Finns. The advance ground forward slowly, and after five days of heavy fighting reached Repola, its first objective.

Note: This scenario uses boards from Eastern Front and Battle of the Bulge, and pieces from Sinister Forces and Road to Berlin.

Conclusion

This represented the Finnish Army's first offensive operation, and they approached it with great caution. The long-service NKVD border guards — many of them Karelians from the region — took advantage of their local knowledge and fought the Finns from a series of prepared positions hidden in the forests. Repola finally fell, days behind schedule, and the Finnish division resumed its slow advance up the road.

Design Note: This one takes place in the deep woods, and involves NKVD troops from Sinister Forces. Pretty much it's a case of the Finns running into someone as adept as they are at forest warfare, making for a tense scenario.

Tribal Warfare
3 October 1941

With winter coming on, the Red Army showed no signs of collapsing. Privately, Finnish leaders agreed that Germany would probably lose the war and Mannerheim suggested that his army had best seize defensive positions with an eye toward a negotiated peace. In the field, Finnish troops held the same opinion and for the first time Finnish soldiers refused attack orders. Mannerheim shifted his veteran II Corps to the front north of Lake Onega and spearheaded its assault with the so-called “Tribal Brigade,” composed of local Karelian volunteers.

Note: This scenario uses boards from Battle of the Bulge and Road to Berlin, and a board and pieces from Eastern Front.

Conclusion

The "tribal" troops — most of them former prisoners of war — pushed forward with an enthusiasm lacking in their Finnish comrades. They captured the village of Porajärvi and sent the Soviets reeling backwards. Some of the tribal volunteers had been carrying on partisan warfare in the Soviet zone since the end of the Winter War, and used their knowledge of forest paths to speed the advance.

Design Note: It's another chance to give players a taste of light infantry warfare, something very different from armored warfare or most infantry battles.

Into Karelia
4 September 1941

The Finnish Aunus Army waited until its flanks had been secured at Repola and the Karelian Isthmus before resuming its advance into East Karelia. The Finns assembled a large artillery park and their lone tank battalion for the operation, designed to roll the Red Army back behind the Svir River.

Note: This scenario uses maps from Road to Berlin and pieces from Eastern Front.

Conclusion

After heavy fighting along the river line, the Finns opened the way for their tanks and began to drive southward. The tanks dealt with the strongpoints the Soviets had built during the month-long pause, helping the offensive to gain quick momentum, but experienced officers noted that the battalion advanced very tentatively compared to the daring thrusts of the infantrymen.

Design Notes: A Finnish armored assault against prepared positions — what could be better? The Finns have their elite light infantry and lots of artillery, too.

Panssari Salama
25 June 1944

The well-prepared assault of the Soviet XXX Guards Rifle Corps shredded the Finnish 18th Division's fortified positions. Finnish battalions reeled back many kilometers from the front as Soviet tanks and infantry came after them. At the Portinhoikka crossroads a small force of engineers and assault guns met the advancing Soviets and stopped their penetration, but could not regain the vital crossroads.

Note: This scenario uses a map from Battle of the Bulge, maps and pieces from Road to Berlin, and pieces from Red Warriors, Airborne and Sinister Forces.

Conclusion

The initial attacks wrecked two battalions of the Finnish 48th Infantry Regiment, the 18th Division's front-line force in this sector. A group of engineers and assault guns stemmed the advance long enough for counterattacks to come down both roads as the Armored Division tried to stem the Soviet tide. By 7 p.m. the crossroads was back in Finnish hands along with a number of Soviet tanks, but at a frightful cost in casualties.

Design Note: This scenario's another one of those made possible by Patrik Pössi. It's a tank battle between the Finns with their German-made assault guns and captured Soviet tanks against far more capable Red Army armor.

Battle Group Björkmann
26 June 1944

With the Finnish lines disordered and panic breaking out both in the ranks and among the generals, Marshal Mannerheim relieved Maj. Gen. Paavo Paalu of 18th Division and placed the division's remnants under command of the Armored Division. The Armored Division's commander, Maj. Gen. Ruben Lagus, protested that he knew nothing of either the infantry division or local conditions and urged the Marshal to restore Paalu. Eighteenth Division got its commander back with orders to cooperate closely with Lagus, but the damage to morale and confidence had been done. When Col. Sven Björkmann's tank-supported jägers went forward shortly after midnight, they did so without the infantry division's assistance.

Note: This scenario uses a map from Battle of the Bulge, maps and pieces from Road to Berlin and a piece from Sinister Forces.

Conclusion

Despite the confused situation, the elite Finnish light infantry made the difference and pushed the Guards back at a heavy cost in casualties. Finnish artillery gave excellent support, and by daylight the original line of resistance had been restored. But this was only a temporary reprieve.

Design Note: Another scenario from the Tali-Inhantala battles, a subject I'm really tempted to explore further at a different scale. The Finns are on the attack, under the eerie effects of a white night, against Soviet Guards with better tanks than theirs. But the Finns have Sisu and artillery.

Rear Guard Defense
20 October 1944

The Soviet Petsamo-Kirkenes offensive complicated Finnish efforts to drive the Germans out of their country. South of Ivalo, a rear guard dug in at the so-called "Schutzwallstellung" to protect the flank of their retreating XIX Mountain Corps to the north. The Germans had had years to prepare fall-back positions, and as the Finns advanced into the German zone they quickly discovered an extensive network of German fortifications all over Lapland.

Note: This scenario uses a board from Battle of the Bulge, pieces from Road to Berlin and the strongpoint pieces from Airborne.

Conclusion

The Germans fought off the Finnish assault, which does not seem to have been pressed with their usual vigor: no one wanted to be the last man to die in Finland's last war. After two days of fighting, the Germans pulled back from their fortified bunkers, leaving behind their weapons, ammunition and equipment — much of which is still present over 60 years later.

Design Note: Players like one-board scenarios, and I've tried to include a few with every supplement. Despite the low density of troops in some of the Winter-Continuation-Lapland scenarios, they often take place over a larger area than might have been the case elsewhere. So I wanted to include this one to give another small scenario, and to get the German mountain troops into action again.

Don't be left out in the cold — order Arctic Front now!