One of the keys for the Finns here is pre emption. can we prevent the Soviet player from running the board by inserting scarce resources to block, stop or disrupt his progress. In this battle the focal point for the Soviet was the main land road across the lake.

But we also wanted to make sure our Line of Communication [LOC] was secure so preventing him for flanking was critical as it would force us off the bridge without a fight.

In some ways giving up the Island while still in control of the village is no problem, as the Soviet cannot press past there and be in supply. This forces a garrison and more units away from the main area of battle.

 

The Finns have another trick to pull, which is of course the Night Raid. Plan for it and use it wisely.  Putting even one unit in the Soviet rear can cause all sorts of mayhem and once again draw off attackers to protect LOC. We shall keep all this in mind for our next game.

As we wrap up the scenario we can see a few desperate ploys by my Finns to garner a meager VP or two. All up we did ok for a learning game. The Soviets secure most of the Island most of the two bridges, but suffer heavy losses.

I think the Finns have a rough go of it with the arty firepower overall and they must wait on  attacking until late game. If they give too much ground too early it will not bode well for them. They have unique advantages in the last half of the game and can eventually bring weapons to bear that stop or slow the armoured advantage.

The Soviets win but only just. It was a very close fought game. Now onto the full campaign. After reporting on that and assess this battle we will talk about tactics and strategy between the two games.