Battle at Suomussalmi

Snippersly · Battle at Suomussalmi

Battle at Suomussalmi
December 29th, 1939

Lt. Lars Konkari led his 21 man ski platoon against the cut off 80 man group of the Red Army's 163rd Rifle Division camped near Suomussalmi. Cut off, hungry and ill equipped to handle the record cold winter, the Soviets huddled around camp fires near the roadway after days of battling in chest deep snow. The light and fast Finnish troops, who were well rested and fed launched a suprise attack on the unsuspecting Russians. This was inspired by the article in Armchair General, March 2009.

7 Turns - Winner determined by points

Maps: 2" Hex Maps -
Baker 2 above Able 2
CZ Logos in bottom right (SE) corner
Town on Baker 2 is the NW corner.

64th Finish Rifle Regiment

Finnish Officer X1
Finnish Infantry X5
Finnish MG X2
Finnish M31 SMG - Use Soviet PPSh-41 SMG for proxy X4

Soviet 163rd Rifle Division

Commisar X1
Soviet Grenadier X3
Mosin Nagant X5
Degtyarev DP27 X3
PTRD-41 X2
Maxim MG X2

Deployment:

Soviets deploy in the Northeast corner in a 4X4 area counting only full hexes from the North and East edges of the map. To the west of the deployment zone was the frozen Lake Kianta.

Finnish Infantry deploys anywhere on Able 2.

Special Rules:

Soviet Troops cannot move during the movement or assault phases until they are attacked.

In the movement phase, Finnish infantry gain the Ski Troops SA. In the movement phase only, they can move up to two hexes over open snow terrain hexes. This does not apply to machine un teams.

In a forest hex, all Finnish infantry get at +1 on cover rolls

Finnish troops (exceot MG teams) gain hand to hand combat of 9. They were experienced hunters and carried thier puukko hunting knives.

Frozen Lakes: The lakes were frozen and are treated like clear terrain.

A simple, light and fun game. Hope you enjoy. I have not play tested this yet...so feedback is welcome until I can play it out with our group.

general Hoth

I believe this is our first scenario involving the Finns! Very Happy

Very good work. I'll try this one next week. Cool

Thanks Snips!

RAEVSKI

armchair general · scenario feedback

Snips:

Sharpe and I gave this one a try on Sunday. I rather enjoyed it; finally had some opportunistic die rolling and managed to beat Sharpe. I can count on 1 hand the number of times I've managed to do that in 3 years or so!

We had some questions that we were hoping you could clear up:

(1) How many turns is the scenario designed to last?

(2) How do you win? Is there an objective or Victory Points?

(3) We both agreed that all water hexes would be treated as clear hexes, representing the fact that they are frozen over in the Finnish winter. What do you think? Is that what you intended?

(4) When you mentioned "Finnish Infantry" getting the Ski Troops SA, +1 on cover rolls in the Forest, and Hand-to-Hand 9, did you mean the infantry AND the Finnish SMGs? (We assumed these special rules did NOT apply to the 2 MGs and the Officer)

(5) We were wondering what purpose the 2 PTRD-41s served. I imagine they're included for historical accuracy. Did/have you considered replacing them with something else (although, being the Finns, I didn't mind them being in the scenario at all!)?

Thanks for answering our questions.....We hope you find them helpful! Keep up the good work!!

Snippersly

1) 7 Turns
2) Just kill the enemy. Who ever has the most points at the end of the 7 turns. It was an amush, not really an attack with an objective for the Finns.
3) The lakes are frozen and can be moved across like open terrain. I will clarify that.
4)Any Finnish infantry, SMG, & officer. No on the MG team. They traveled light and fast and were tough as nails. Their officers were tough too.
5)It was a historical placement piece. The Russians had them for Anti Tank role and the Finns kept frustrating them with better tactic and terrain advantage. It does have an infantry attack value so it is not useless.

Hope that helps.
Snips

armchair general · re

Yep! Thanks!!

general Hoth

I really like this scenario, i'm gonna have a go at it too. Cool

It looks simple and effective.

general Hoth

Hello Snips.

I finaly got a chance to play your scenario tonight and i must say it was great fun even i find it a little one sided!

The soviets were completely overwhelmed by the finns' assault on their camp.
The finns set up their mgs so that they could have a clear view on the soviets in the open. even if the soviets won initiative there was little they could do to save these soldiers. Luckily the finns' mgs rolls werent that great.

The finns then sent their M31s forward followed by regular infantry.

There was a long struggle in and around the woods on the south east corner of baker 2 but the finns helped by their superior ability to fight in woods destroyed most of the soviet force.

A fun scenario and a great way to introduce players to the game. Not to mention to use the finnish troops. Cool

PS: the soviet AT rifles did manage some great shots even killing a finnish infantry in the open.

NeuralDream

My parents visited Suommusalmi last week. Here are some photos they took:

RAEVSKI

NeuralDream

That's my photobucket that is down. I've exceeded the traffic limit this month. I guess it's all these forumers who download the forumini navies cards from my account.

general Hoth

It's a pity as the pics are good. Cool

Sharpe

The third picture is a little blurry.

RAEVSKI

Thuddeus

I played this twice today. I played the Russians against 2 different opponents. Our first match ended with the Finns winning. They had roughly twice as many points as the Russians after turn 7. The total was in the 15 to 30 point range. As the Russian, I felt that the game was a moral victory because the Finns were left with 2 mgs at range while the Russians held sole control of their deployment zone.

In the second game, the Russians completely routed the Finns. After the first turn advantage for the Finns, the Russians gave better than they got. The Granadiers destroyed the Finnish infantry in bloody had to hand combat which negated the cover roll advantage of the Finns.

This battle was fast and fun. I expected to be slaughtered by the Finns, but luck or balance won out and the Reds won the day.

Snippersly

Glad you enjoyed it buddy! Miss seeing you at the shop. Call me sometime and maybe we can set up a Sunday afternoon game at one of our houses.

Snips

Thuddeus

Excellent plan. I will call when soccer ends in this neighborhood.

general Hoth

I've played the scenario not that long ago and it was good fun. Cool

I'm surprised the soviets managed to beat the finns.

Thuddeus

I think the dice gods were with me. It's also possible that we misinterpreted some rule that took the edge away from the Finnish. In both games the Finninsh player started very confident. I had written off my chances by turn 2. But by the end of the fight, the Russians had rallied and the Finns were either routed or stalemated. I don't get it, but I'll take it.

Battle at Suomussalmi

scenario feedback

re