Beginning with the farthest north Soviet forces, the winterized 4-6 Inf XX 104 at remote & frozen rough terrain border hex 0402 moves one hex west, crossing the border into Finland, and enters the minor port of Petsamo at rough terrain Arctic Ocean coast hex 0304. It takes this inf XX four MPs to move across one rough terrain hex side north of the A weather line in winter weather. Both this unit and the Finnish 1-6 Ski III 41 at Ivalo (at woods road junction hex 0610 in Finland) begin the Soviet turn at U-1. Red U-1 supply status markers from FitE (I think) are used to indicate their status. Meanwhile Rule 38H3b-[Soviet Arctic Coast] Garrison is complied with by the Soviet side in keeping “…at least 6 REs of units in coastal hexes adjacent to the Arctic Ocean….” We assume that that Murmansk’s intrinsic defense of 6 strength points, per Rule 38H3a-Murmansk Forces Defenses, does not count towards the RE garrison requirement.

Proceeding south to the first east-west transportation line crossing the Soviet-Finnish border, the 1-6 Inf III 529 moves one hex westwards across the border and occupies ice cold Allakrutti at wooded rough terrain road hex 1508. Two hexes farther west along the same road (at 1510) the Finnish 1-6 Ski III 1/LR blocks the road at Salla.

Farther southwards at the second east-west transportation line crossing the Soviet-Finnish border, the 4-6 Inf XX 163 crosses the border and moves one hex westward along the road to chilly woods road border hex 2109, just inside Finland. The Soviet inf XX ends its movement phase one hex to the east of the supported Finnish 1-6 Ski III 2/LR at Kussamo, located at important woods road junction hex 2010. From nearby Kestenga (2107) the 0-1-8 Bdr III 2 admin moves eight hexes to Murmansk rail line hex 2502, along the frozen White Sea coastline.

Continuing farther southwards (still above the A weather line) to the third east-west transportation line, the 4-6 Inf XX 54 cautiously moves one hex across the border into Finland and stops at wooded swamp road hex 2511, two road hexes away from the 1-2-6 Ski III 1/PKR at Soumussalmi (2612). This Soviet inf XX decides to go no further because I believe it is at the supply line limit north of the A weather line per the EA Answer Guy’s earlier posting here, counting overland (down the road) three hexes, then four road hexes down to the (secondary) rail line terminus at Kestenga (2107). A little ways back (eastwards) from the aforementioned inf XX, at the 1-cap permanent airstrip at woods road junction hex 2508 (Ukhta), the 0-5 Const III 9 spends all 5 MPs to do one airfield hit fix (+1 extra pocketed for the second hit) at the airstrip there. Note that per Rule 41G1-NTO Scenario…Setup, “…when the [SoS/AWW] OBs specify a [1-cap] permanent airstrip, use a 3-capacity permanent airfield marker with 2 hits on it.” Also note that per Rule14A1b-Weather, all const/eng construction ability MP’s are doubled in poor (here, snow) weather, although to be sure it seems that this const/eng ability MP cost is not doubled yet again north of the A weather line, as Rule 37B-The Arctic, says “all units pay double MP costs for terrain when moving in the Arctic, except when moving on roads or railroads.” Late in the movement phase the two T type air units (a TB-3 & G-2) at Leningrad partial city hex 5115 air transport the winterized 1-6 Inf III 8 A (a reinforcement) to the Ukhta airfield, then return to Leningrad.

Farther south at the Rugozero-Kuhmo east-west transportation line, the 2-6 Art X 45 and the winterized 1-6 Inf III 88/273 cross the Finnish border and boldly move 3 hexes westwards along the road to occupy unguarded Kuhmo at woods road hex 2912. The 0-1-8 Bdr III 5 moves just behind it to adjacent woods/forest road hex 3011, hoping to cover its rear. Later in the movement phase the G-1 type T air unit based at Ukhta flies five hexes and air drops two gsp’s (a total of 1/2 REs, the air unit’s transport maximum in poor weather) at wooded swamp hex 3010 and returns to base. However both gsp’s are scattered per the Disruption Table found on Game Play Chart (1): there’s a -1 for dropping into a non-clear terrain hex, -2 if the weather is snow, and -1 for every 5 hexes flown to target by a Soviet transport unit per the SoS Errata Sheet dated 18 Jan 1999. The 3-6 Inf XX 122 moves to forest hex 3311, putting it adjacent to and menacing somewhat the supported 1-6 Ski III 2/PKR guarding Lieksa, a possibly important geographical bottleneck zone just south of the A weather line at woods rail hex 3312. All four of these Soviet Ninth Army ground units will be black U-1 on the Dec I 39 Finnish Turn. Meanwhile, the 0-1-8 Bdr III 3 admin moves from nearby road hex 3208 to Segeza, at Murmansk railway hex 3303, right on the A weather line.

Beginning with the Soviet Eighth Army south of the A weather line, the 3-6 Inf XX 56 moves eastwards on the east-west Medvozhyegorsk-Ilomantsi road to 3710, adjacent to the Finnish 3-4-6 Inf XX 12 at woods road hex 3711, at Ilomantsi. Reinforcing it from the north is the Ninth Army’s primo 4-8 Mot Inf XX 44, ending its movement at adjacent woods hex 3610. The 0-6 Const III 8 at road hex 3706 moves two hexes east to Medvezhyegorsk (3704) on the Murmansk rail line, where it expends its remaining 3 MPs to begin repairs on the 1-cap permanent airstrip there.

A mass of Soviet ground units (6 in all, including 3 inf XXs) form a three hex arc around the beleaguered 3-4-6 Inf XX 13 at woods hex 4010 in front of frozen Lake Janis. In the combat phase they are joined by four SB-2bis B type air units from airfields along the Murmansk railway and attack the Finnish inf XX from 4110, 4009, & 3910 at 5 to 1 -2 (-1 for woods & -1 for winter) and roll a 4, which modifies to a 2: DR. The relieved 3-4-6 Inf XX 13 retreats westwards across the frozen Lake Janis full lake hexside to woods rail hex 4011. Some units advance into the hex after combat.

The 3-6 Inf XX 139 moves into Pitkaranta at woods road/(secondary) rail terminus Ladoga coast hex 4310 and is reinforced in the exploitation phase by the 3-2-8 Arm X 13, which was railed from Leningrad towards this destination and them admin moved onwards in the movement phase. Guarding this stack’s rear is the 0-1-8 Bdr III 1 at wooded swamp border hex 4409.

From Murmansk the winterized 4-6 Inf XX 3 rails south to 3103, then it doglegs west and admin moves along the Rugozero-Kuhmo transportation line to wooded swamp secondary rail hex 3105, intending to eventually arrive as a needed reinforcement farther down this remote Soviet invasion route into Finland. From Leningrad the 3-6 Inf XX 49 rails north to Murmansk railway hex 1804, three hexes south of Kandalaksha, and the 1-6 Inf III 19 is railed from Leningrad to 1904, one hex south of it. The 4-6 Inf XX 60, also from Leningrad, rails and then admin moves to wooded swamp road hex 3707, along the Medvezhyegorsk-Ilomantsi road.

The reinforcement 1-2-6 Para-Inf X 201 at Leningrad first rails up the Murmansk railway and then admin moves down the Petrozavodsk-Soujarvi transportation line to Soujarvi (4008). Next, the 3-2-8 Arm X 20 rails from Leningrad, then admin moves and finally exploits down the same transportation line to woods secondary rail hex 4108. Some fretting is done regarding what to do with, of all units, the 1-8 Cav III 1 at Leningrad, as per the SoS Errata Sheet dated 18 Jan 1999, Soviet cavalry units also exert AGZOCs, along with Soviet Para-Inf, Bdr, & NKVD units. Of course we want to carefully study the SoS guerrilla rules in their Winter War context, as we believe Finnish guerrilla warfare is a special and important feature of this particular & unusual WW II campaign. The cav III is finally railed (doubled for being a cav unit, as were the two arm Xs) to Petrozavodsk, then is admin moved down the transportation line to woods secondary rail terminus border hex 4109. This uses up the Soviet turn 15 RE rail movement capability. The cav III, the arm X, and the para-inf X, strung along the Petrozavodsk-Soujarvi transportation line, create a Soviet ground unit “rat tail” from the Soviet’s 3 hex front line shield at 4110-4010 (facing westwards towards frozen Lake Janis)-3910 back to the Soviet-Finnish border. The 3-2-8 Art X 8 is at wooded intermittent lake hex 4009, as it did not advance to 4010 in the combat phase. Note: Two rail terminal marker counters from the Wavell’s War counter sheet are used to mark the rail break on the Petrozavodsk-Soujarvi secondary rail line at the 4108/4207 Soviet-Finnish border hexside, per the AWW Errata, Q&A-September 13, 1994.

At the important Karelian Isthmus zone to the north of Leningrad, the large Soviet Northwest Front lumbers across the border and invades Finland. Large Soviet ground unit stacks end their movement or exploitation at Finnish hexes 4714, 4715, 4815, & 4816. In this congested zone care needs to be taken by the Soviet side to comply with Rule 38H2a-Soviet Ineptitude…Reduced Stacking. The 4-6 Inf XX 90 guards Soviet woods Ladoga coast hex 4713, adjacent to the Mannerheim Line. The supported 1-2-8 Mot MG X 50 occupies Finnish clear terrain seacoast rail hex 4815. A mixed bag of other Soviet ground units are at hexes 4813 & 4814, and also at north Leningrad partial city hexes 4914 & 4915. Five F type air units are based at Leningrad city hexes along with the other air units mentioned elsewhere in the post.

In the combat phase at the Karelian Isthmus the Soviets attack (w/ no GS needed) the Finnish forward defense blocking stack (2 ½ defense factors) at woods rail hex 4716. The Finnish 1-8 Ski III 3-4 J & the 1-2-8 Ski X Rv attempt to retreat per Rule 14F-Ski Units. The 1-8 Ski III succeeds and retreats to Mannerheim Line woods rail fort hex 4616, but the other ski X’s attempt fails and must take its stand with the supported 1-6 Inf III 4. The Soviets roll a 4 on a 9 to 1 -2: DE. The two Finnish units are eliminated and the Soviets enter the hex after combat.

In the initial phase the Soviet const X & eng III at Kronshtadt begin to quick construct a 3-cap permanent airfield using the Dec I Soviet turn’s single resource point reinforcement appearing at Leningrad.

From the Leningrad SW partial city hex 5115 the reinforcement 3-6 Inf XX 150 admin moves to woods coast hex 5018 on the shores of the Gulf of Finland. It plans to eventually begin island hopping across the Gulf towards Finnish island/reference city/standard port hex 4521 (Kotka) on the Jan I 40 turn, when the Gulf of Finland freezes, starting from mainland USSR woods coast hex 4919. For details on the island hopping see AWW Rule 27B-Sea Ice. This will likely pin down at least one Finnish ground unit at the Kotka hex and will thus hopefully weaken the Karelian Isthmus and Lake Janis/Ladogan Karelia zones, where the decisive battles of the Russo-Finnish War are expected to be fought.

To let the Finns know for sure what they’ve got themselves into by not agreeing to the Soviet Union’s border adjustment demands, the Soviets send a large terror bombing mission (aka “Molotov bread baskets” in the contemporary British press, I believe) against Helsinki late in the exploitation phase with four SB-2bis A type air units and the DB-3b & DB-3t B type air units, all based at or staged to Leningrad. They are escorted by the I-16/t10 & I-153 fighters based at Tallinn. The Finnish D.XXI fighter intercepts, but there are no aborts or kills. Helsinki’s two pos flk factors fire, but miss. The six Soviet A & B types combine (their strat factors halved due to poor weather) into pairs to do three 2 point bombing strength die rolls and score one terror bombing hit.

Finally, two perhaps Spanish civil war vintage SB-2s, the R-10, and the R-55h A type air units based in the Leningrad/Kronshtadt hexes fly to Finnish woods rail junction hex 4321 (Kouvola) and attempt to bomb the rail line, but fail to roll a 5 or 6 for a hit.

At the end of the Dec I 39 Soviet turn the Soviets have scored 9 VPs, I believe: 5 tentative for the capture of five Finnish point cities, 1 tentative for the capture of a Finnish minor port, 1 for the terror bombing hit at Helsinki, and 2 for two Finnish non-c/m REs eliminated. The Finns have no VPs yet. For SoS NTO scenario VPs, see the back page of the SoS Rules booklet (p. 70).