Finnished?

Martin here and back in 2021 I wrote this in my article series “To The Finnish”.

“So what’s next, yes, I know I started by saying I was finished with this project but, I really want to get at least one more Lahti anti-tank rifle team and I want to do a unit of Panzer IV’s. ” Finally Fnnished, Dec 2021.

Well I did make some Panzer IVs sadly not J’s but the regular H models and they worked rather well, sadly I still haven’t got the extra Lahti team, come on Battlefront release FSO07. I also played a few games with them in MW where they were roundly flattened by the Soviets – you just cant stop those KV-1 and Churchill hordes. So basically sitting out WW2 during the Battlefront MW period was a really good idea for the Finns. So now what’s happened to make me returnto the Finns? Battlefront have released the Finns into early war and its time to revist my collection to get ready to refight the Winter War.

One big bonus this time is the EW release is accompanied by an excellent starter box (see Marks article) which will provide a fairly useful 100 point force, the plus is its full of winter equipped models and mine are in summer uniforms. So rather than produce another basic list review article this is focussed on Force building but will hopefully give you some early insight into how potent the Finns could be.

I started to look at what I needed for recreating a Winter War themed Force besides just build what’s in the starter box. I already have T-26’s, T-28’s and T-34’s, so I may give the box a miss but for a new player this is definately a must buy as it has everythinng you need for a standard game.

Rather than just stuffing my Finns with loads of captured Soviet equipment acquirred during the winter war I am sticking to what the Finns had at the outbreak of the conflict (you can read about the Soviet kit in other reviews). So my Force will be a bit more limited.

As most Finnish armour is captured during the Winter War itself I am going to limit this to essentially an infantry force, but the army box set is still a good place to start from a cost perspective. I am going with a Light Infantry Company for my EW project. The reason for this Formation choice is the force diagram offers more in-Formation options than the regular Infantry Company or Ski Guerrilla Company.

The army box provides the HQ, 2x 7 team Light Infantry platoons with the optional Lahti AT rifle team, plus 4x HMG teams and an 81mm Mortar Platoon. I am going with mine as Rifle/MG Light Infantry which are the same build as the standard infantry platoon but with a Motivation and Tactics boost, which is well worth the extra 1 point per platoon.

To this I intend to add a Scout Platoon (which is not an option in the Infantry Company). The scouts have a worse last stand and lack the Tactics bonus but gain Scout and Spearhead Rules, a decent compromise. These are as good as basic rifle armed infantry in the Finnish Infantry Company.

Rather than take a third in-formation Light Infantry platoon I am going to add a Ski Guerrilla SMG platoon taken as Formation Support.

The SMG Ski Guerrilla’s are a bit pricey compared to the Light Infantry starting out as Fearless Veteran but the Assault 2+ could prove decisive in a close up fight against the more numerous Soviets. Plus they give me an excuse to add some skiing models available from Direct Order. They also come with the useful Motti Ambush rule when you have Reserves.

I will also equip all my infantry platoons with the Close Defence Command Card making them AT3 for Assault which will compensate for a lack of AT guns. I will also add an HMG to the Light Infantry platoons to boost their firepower. I intend to bring all my platoons up to full strength of 9 teams so will need some extra models above what comes in the starter army box.

My remaining HMG teams will get converted to HMG Nests to make them more durable and harder to avoid. As he comes in the box I will start by including Simo Häyhä, this super sniper is another way to pin enemy guns and infantry, allowing you to lay smoke with your artillery and use your sniper to pin your target platoon increasing your chances of a successful assault.

This brings me to 56 points with 4 counting Formation platoons. I will obviously add an anti-tank platoon as well from the Formation to bring me up to 5 Formation platoons which should be more than enough and a total of just 60 points taking the 3.7cm option to represent the Finns 40mm swedish guns.

With the remaining points I will turn to the Support section of the Force diagram. My first choice here comes in the form of a platoon of Vickers 6-Ton tanks, the Finns only armoured force at the time of the Winter War’s start, these will principally be kept as a mobile reserves along with my ski troops. Being fairly mobile by the time they are committed I should have reduced the enemies anti-tank strength. My only downside here is they are an older metal and resin model so will be a bit costly.

Finally I have just enough points left over for some artillery support I am going with the duel purpose 76mm guns not the most powerful bombardment but I like multi role guns, with RoF2/1 and AT8 they will do decent service in defence against Soviet armoured hordes even if it is at close range only. My last unit choice will be an infantry observer so I can improve my lines of sight bringing me to 99pts so just enough for a Lucky Command Card.

My Finnish Winter War Light Infantry Company

• HQ Platoon with Close Assault Command Card, 4pts
• Light infantry Platoon, 9 teams with Lahti AT Rifle and HMG with Close Assault Command Card, 14pts
• Light infantry Platoon, 9 teams with Lahti AT Rifle and HMG with Close Assault Command Card, 14pts
• Scout Platoon, 9 teams with Close Assault Command Card, 11pts
• HMG Platoon, 2 teams with Machine Gun Nests Command Card, 6pts
• 3.7cm Anti-tank platoon, 4pts
• Ski Guerrilla SMG platoon, 9 teams with Close Defence Command Card, 13pts
• Vickers 6-Ton Armoured platoon, 15pts
• 76mm Artillery Battery, 12pts
• Infantry Observer, 1pt
• Simo Häyhä – Warrior Command Card, 5pts
• Lucky Command Card, 1pt

So I have a highly agressive force with lots of options, with a solid defensive capability against nearly everything in Early War, well motivated, skillful infantry with potent assault options in good sized platoons, a spread of anti-tank options, some supporting artillery and a spearhead capability. So, thats just abvout anything I could need for gaming. There are a few things that will be challenging like T-35’s and KV-1’s but those will be few in number so I should be able to make my numbers count and out smart them.

Purchasing wise here’s my inital shopping list

• Finnish limited edition Starter Army (FIAB01) @£100
• 1x Winter SMG platoon (FI732) @ £18
• 1x Winter Infantry Platoon (FI731) @£23
• Ski models (2x FSO115 ) @ £5
• 4x 76mm guns (FK/02 special order FSO501) @£6
• Winter Artillery crew (FI122) @£10
• Winter Anti-tank crew (FI123) @£5
• 5x Vickers 6-tonner (FI002) @£10
• Command Cards (FW282FC) @£8
• Unit Cards (FW282FU) @£8
• Barbarossa Book @45
• Total spend: £301 (but less via FLGS)

I’ll keep you updated on how I am getting on over the winter, now to go get shopping, Martin.