In the Finnish initial phase the 0-1-5 Const III Kan at clear terrain Gulf of Finland coast hex 4617 in the Karelian Isthmus begins building a two turn fort there. The resource point at adjacent Viipuri is expended. Also, early in the movement phase the Finns expend the resource point at Helsinki to add 2 ½ REs to their rail net capacity, increasing it to a total of 7 ½ this turn; this is per Optional Rule 44B2-Temporary Rail Capacity Increase.

Starting with the farthest north Finnish unit, the 1-6 Ski III 41 remains at woooded swamp road hex 1013, thirteen road hexes away from the red U-2 Soviet winterized inf XX at Petsamo (0304) and six road hexes from Finnish secondary rail/road junction hex 1516.

The likely unfortunate 1-6 Ski III 1/LR at Salla (1510), on the Kandalaksha-Torino transportation line, prepares for the worst by staying put. It’s probably unrealistic to expect it to stand up to and survive a combined stack attack by the Soviet 1-6 inf III at road hex 1509 & the 4-6 inf XX at 1508 (Allakurtti). Due to the Soviet inf III’s Arctic ZOCs it cannot escape the looming Soviet attack.

Farther south, the now black U-2 *1-6 Ski III 2/LR at woods road hex 2113 on the Loukhi-Kestenga-Kussamo-Oulu transportation line retreats another hex westwards to woods road hex 2114. This puts it six road hexes from rail/road junction Gulf of Bothnia coast hex 2119 (Oulu, a reference city & standard port on the frozen Gulf); hence it should be back in supply in the Jan I 40 Soviet initial phase.

The 1-2-6 Ski III 1/PKR at Soumussalimi (at woods road junction hex 2612) advances one hex eastwards to wooded swamp road border hex 2611, still inside Finland. Three hexes farther south at woods road hex 2913 right on the A weather line, the 1-2-8 Ski X Rv stays put, facing down the adjacent Soviet stack at Kuhmo (2912). This Soviet stack, containing a 2-6 art X and a winterized 1-6 inf III, becomes black U-2 in the initial phase. But also in the Finnish initial phase the “delivered” air dropped Soviet single supply point status marker two hexes away at wooded swamp hex 3010 is designated as a special supply source for the 2-6 art X at Kuhmo. The current defense strength of the Soviet stack at Kuhmo therefore appears to be 2 ½: 2 for the 2-6 art X in special supply and stacked with a 1 RE inf III, and ½ for the winterized 1-6 inf III, currently (black) U-2 for lack of supply. I believe in the historical Winter War campaign the road to Khumo was a frozen Finnish death road for the unsupplied Soviet invaders there. Soviet stack at Kuhmo is perhaps a potential Soviet combat defeat waiting to happen.

There is a flurry of Finnish maneuvering in the entire Ladogan Karelia region from Lieksa (3312) just south of the A weather line all the way down to Sortayala (4211) on the northern shores of Lake Ladoga. In the initial phase the 1-6 Ski X Kymen guerrilla unit is brought in as a Conditional Reinforcement in its initial hidden guerrilla mode at woods hex 3510. This is adjacent to the Soviet 4-8 Mot Inf XX 44 at 3610 and the Finnish guerrilla dummy unit at woods hex 3511, brought in the last Finnish turn. A new Finnish dummy guerrilla unit is placed at woods hex 3809, to the rear of the Soviet mot inf XX. A little later in their initial phase the Finns flip to their revealed side both the new 1-6 Ski X Kymen guerrilla at hex 3510 and the 1-6 Ski X SH hidden guerrilla brought in last turn at nearby forest hex 3611. Now both formerly hidden guerrilla units are operating in combat mode. By the end of the Finnish movement phase the Finnish deployment in the Lake Keitele zone of the Ladogan Karelia is as follows:

At Ilomantsi (3711):*3-4-6 Inf XX 12; never moved
Forest hex 3611: *1-6 Ski III 2/PKR; moved in from Lieksa (3312), now vacant
Forest rail hex 3512: 0-6 Lt Arm II 1; railed from 4415 @ 1 RE cost for being mot
Woods hex 3511: guerrilla unit 1-6 Ski X SH in combat mode; moved in from 3611
Woods hex 3510: new dummy guerrilla unit; moved in from 3809
Woods hex 3411: 1-8 Ski III 3-4 J; never moved
Woods hex 3410: dummy guerrilla unit from last turn; moved in from 3511
Forest hex 3311 (on the A weather line): new guerrilla unit 1-6 Ski X Kymen in combat mode; from 3510.

The first unit moved in the Finnish movement phase is the Finnish D.XXI F type air unit based at the dot city of Tampere (3825) to help protect the factory there from an air strike. The Finnish fighter transfers to the 1-cap temporary airfield at Sortayala (4211), where the C.X A type air unit is also based. The Finns are anxious to move it before the Soviets wise up and maybe send their fighters on a CAP mission over the hex, which they could have done in the initial phase. At Sortayala the 0-1-5 Const III Kar spends 5 MPs to up the 1-cap temporary airfield there to a 2-cap, with a net of 2 construction MPs pocketed for further possible airfield build use later. Later, the resource point at Sortayala rails to woods rail junction hex 4314.

The two *2-6 Inf IIIs 2 & 3, beginning at Mannerheim Line fort hex 4614 on the Lake Ladoga coastline, move one hex north out of enemy ZOCs to wooded intermittent lake rail hex 4514 (Kakisalmi) and then rail to Sortayala. At the end of the movement phase they assemble into the new 4-6 Inf XX 1 placed on the Finnish breakdown chart per this turn’s AWW Finnish OB reinforcements. In other games the 4-6 Inf XX 1 would perhaps make an impressive appearance at Lieksa.

The 1-2-6 Inf III 21/60 reinforcement is brought on-map at reference city Kuopio (3417) and is railed to 3912, from where it regular moves to adjacent woods rail hex 4011, behind Lake Janis. The *1-6 Ski III B, a breakdown of the 4-5-6 Inf XX 8 at Mannerheim Line fort & rail hex 4614, rails to 4212 and then moves to woods rail junction hex 4112. At the end of their movement phase the Finnish deployment in the Lake Janis zone is as follows:

East end of Valamo Island hex 4311: *1-6 Ski III 2/KR, never moved
Sortayala (4211): 4-6 Inf XX 1, newly assembled; 0-1-5 Const II Kar, never moved; 1-2-6 Ski III 1/KR moved in from 4210; 2-cap temporary airfield, D.XXI F type & C.X A type air units
Woods rail junction hex 4112: *3-4-6 Inf XX 13, moved in from adjacent hex 4011; *1-6 Ski III B railed from the Mannerheim Line
Woods Janis coast rail hex 4011: 4-5-6 Inf XX 6, moved in from adjacent hex 4112; 1-2-6 Inf III 21/60, reinf railed from Kuopio.
At woods secondary rail hex 4111 the Soviets have a winterized 4-6 inf XX, two 3-2-8 art Xs, the 3-2-8 Art X 8, and the 1-8 Pltcl Pol III 1. At 4010 they have a 4-6 inf XX and the 1-6 Lt AA III 8. At nearby Pikaranta (4310) is the 3-6 Inf XX 139. At woods secondary rail hex 4110 is a 3-6 inf XX & the 3-2-8 Arm X 13.

In the Karelian Isthmus it is realized that a misunderstanding of Rule 37A4-The Vuoksa River System (NTO Scenario) has led to the Mannerheim Line being too stoutly defended at the beginning of the game. The two appropriate Q&As on the AWW Errata, Sept. 13, ’94 help clarify the situation there. Accordingly, the two *2-6 inf Xs from fort hex 4613 move and then rail to Sortayala. At the start of the movement phase the 4-5-6 Inf XX 8 at fort hex 4614 is broken down to the “B” Inf XX’s supported III components and then dispersed. On the other hand, the “A” Inf XX’s unsupported IIIs & HQ unit components are reassembled at the end of the movement phase and the *3-4-6 Inf XX 9 is placed on-map at fort hex 4616 in order to have there a XX with ZOCs. The 1-6 Inf III 22/64 reinforcement is brought on at Viipuri and moved into the Mannerheim Line. In the naval movement sub-phase of their movement phase the Finns sea transport to Viipuri the 0-1-8 Cycle III VL from Helsinki and the 0-1-6 Inf III HL from Turku (4230). The 0-1-6 inf III remains at Viipuri and the cycle III moves into the Line. The pos flk unit at Line fort hex 4616 is railed to Helsinki. The 0-6 RR Eng III Yhd rails to woods rail junction hex 4415. At the end of the movement phase the Finnish deployment in the five Mannerheim Line hexes is as follows:

G. of Finland coast hex 4717:
4-5-6 Inf XX 5, never moved
1-6 Inf III 40, moved in from 4616
1-6 Inf III 22/64, reinforcement moved in from Viipuri
0-1-6 Inf III MLR, never moved
0-1-8 Cycle III VL, sea transported to Viipuri from Helsinki, then moved in
0-1-6 Inf III UR, moved in from 4616
0-1-0 Art II SHRT, never moved
pos flk unit, never moved

Viipuri-Leningrad woods rail hex 4616:
*3-4-6 Inf XX 9, assembled here
*2-6 Inf X 1, moved in from 4717
*1-6 Inf X 4, moved in from 4717
1-6 Art III 3, never moved

Central fort line wooded intermittent lake hex 4615:
4-5-6 Inf XX 4, never moved
*1-2-6 Inf III B; broke down this turn, moved in from 4614
1-2-6 Inf III 22/65, never moved
2-6 Art III 2, never moved
pos flk unit, never moved

Vuoksa Lake/Causeway woods rail hex 4614:
4-5-6 Inf XX 11, never moved
0-1-6 Inf III RR, moved in from 4615
Ladoga coast hex 4613:

4-5-6 Inf XX 10, never moved
1-8 Ski III 1-2 J, moved in from 4615
*1-2-6 Inf III B; broke down this turn, moved in from 4614
pos flk unit, never moved.
The Soviets have the following defense factor totals in the southwards hexes adjacent to the Finnish Mannerheim Line: 4816-10 defense factors plus one pos flk; 4716-13 defense factors plus 2 AA factors; 4714-12 defense factors plus one pos flk; 4714-12 defense factors plus one pos flk; & 4713-10 defense factors. In both the Karelian Isthmus and the Ladogan Karelia the forward Soviet stacks seem to be strong enough to prevent the Finns from attacking, certainly looking for successful combat die rolls aided by the + die roll modifiers found in Rules 15 I.-Winterization & J.-Woodsmanship.

The 0-1-6 Inf III HaL vacates now empty Hanko (4530) and admin moves to Helsinki (4526), stacking there with two pos flk units (one of them railed from the Line), and the Finnish govt. marker. The 0-1-6 Inf III KL remains at reference city/sea isle Kotka (4521); and the 0-1-6 Inf III HL is at Viipuri (4517). The 0-1-8 Cycle III TL garrison remains at the Aland Islands. The SoS 2-pt TF Ilmar and the Sisa river flotilla (moved in from the Aland Islands), both anchor at Turku. It would have perhaps livened up the game this turn by sending the Ilmar TF, the river flotilla Sisa, and one of the pos flk units at Helsinki to Viipuri, but not this game. At the turn’s end the Finns have 2 ½ inf repl points and 2 ARPs, per the SoS Errata Sheet 18 Jan 1999. On the Jan I 40 turn they will receive a new resource point at Helsinki.