Battle of Happonen's Farm. a custom WInter War scenario for Nuts! by Two Hour Wargames.
Description first, photos at the end.
The Battle for Happonen’s farm
Somewhere in Karjala near the Soviet border
December 01, 1939
Scenario design: This
is a home-made scenario in what I hope will be a decent Winter War Campaign. It
is designed to represent the first days in the Karelian (Karjala in Finnish)
Isthmus with a small group of Finns trying to simply delay a much lager force
of Soviets. I ran this thing four times trying to get a result I liked. I had
to experiment with different Soviet Reputations and the reinforcement schedule.
The final version had the Soviets being reinforced in a similar fashion to the
final scenario of “Blood Upon the Risers” as opposed to the normal system.
As for Soviet Reputation, I wanted to use the ratios found
in the Eastern Front book assigned randomly. However, this resulted in having
too many Rep3 leaders, which gets kind of boring. They rarely win an In Sight Test,
route easily and seldom recover, making it far too easy for the Finns. In the
end, I used the ratios on a per squad basis and assigned all the Rep3 to common
riflemen. That worked out better.
Terrain & set-up. Happonen’s farm is situated in a large
open area bordered by heavy woods on both sides. The woods offer both cover and
concealment. There is a small river running across the field. This early in the
war there is only a small dusting of snow on the ground which does not impede
movement. The river is frozen, but not so thick it will support tanks, they can
only cross it by using the bridge. Besides the farm, there is also a burnt
barn, which provides cover and concealment, but only if prone. It does not
otherwise block line of sight. The scenario lasts 12 turns. The Soviet
Investment Level is 4 and the Finnish level is 3.
Scenario Rules note: Normally a combined initiative roll of
seven might result in reinforcements, however the rules are different in this
scenario. The Normal rules apply to the Finnish. As for the Soviets, any time
their initiative roll is <=4, they may receive reinforcements. This was done
to attempt to emulate the endless human wave tactics they used early in the
war,
Forces available.
The Finns have a platoon of three 10-man squads and a heavy
machinegun available. They are designed on the 1939 model. One squad has a
light machinegun, and the other two have 1 or 2 sub-machineguns, the remainder
being riflemen. The SMGs were given to the soldiers with the highest Rep, which
was the practice at the time. This meant the leaders had ordinary rifles, which
isn’t great in these rules. The started with one SMG squad on the table. They
never did get reinforcements.
The Soviets have a reinforced platoon of four rifle squads
available. Two of them have a total of
13 or 14 figs, consisting of one light machinegun and the rest rifles. The
other two have a total of nine men with two light machineguns and the rest
rifles. (The Soviets started the war with the first type and started to
transition to the second type in the middle of the war). They also have a heavy
machinegun section (2 HMGs +7 rifles) as well as two tanks: one T26 and one
T28.
Background: Finnish forces are falling back to the prepared
Mannerheim Line positions, while trying to delay the Soviets as much as
possible. The local troops failed to burn the Happonen farm before the Soviets
approached and have since fled. Field Marshal Mannerheim has ordered Group
Partanen to rectify the situation. Colonel Partanen has ordered his Jaegar
Platoon under Lt. Koskela to stop the approaching Soviets. They are expected to
consist of rifle platoon and possibly some tanks. Sgt. Kantola and second squad
arrive first, just before daylight and take up positions in the tree line near
the farm.
Kantola’s squad consists of 9 men (including Kantola). They
have one light machine gun, one submachine gun and the rest have rifles and
grenades, with a few Molotov Cocktails. They have no other anti-tank weapons.
Headquarters has promised to send a BOYS Anti-tank rifle, should any tanks
appear.
Kantola has split his squad into two sections. His assistant
squad leader, the sub machinegunner, his best marksman and a rifleman are to
the left, while he has kept the light machinegun team and two riflemen with him
on the right.
The Soviets start with tree PEF (possible enemy force) – one
in each section of the tree line on their side of the board. They start the
game out of sight and are numbered 1-3 from the Soviet right to left.
Ans so it Begins….
Turn #1: Initiative 1/1, PEF #4 behind the farmhouse; 6/4
Soviets
No movement by either side. The Soviets cannot move on a DR6
and the Finns are content to remain in place
Turn #2: Initiative 3/3, PEF #5 in the barn ruins; 6/1
Soviets
As before, the Soviets cannot move on a DR6. PEF #5 (In the
ruins) is determined to be nothing but rumors. The Finns take advantage of the
lull and plant land mines on the road near the bridge.
Turn #3: Initiative 6/5 Finns
Again, no movement because of the high rolls. Hopefully
things will pick up soon.
Turn #4: Initiative 5/4 Finns
Finns are content to remain in their defensive positions.
The Soviet PEF finally move into sight and are identified and
act follows:
PEF #1 (Soviet right flank) = Soviet squad #3 (2xLMG & 7
rifles)
The Finns win In Sight Test (IST),
but only the sniper and one rifleman have LOS. The sniper takes out the squad leader and the
rifleman forces the LMG to drop back. The rest of squad #3 carries on. Soviet
active fire does no damage
PEF #2 (center) = Squad #1 (2x LMG & 7 rifles) plus
platoon leader (rifle)
Finns win IST. Finns score two
kills (LM gunner & a rifleman), which is enough to cause the Soviets to bug
out (bad time to roll triple box cars).
PEF #3 (left) = squad #4 (1 LMG and 12 rifles) plus platoon
sergeant (rifle)
Finns win IST. Finns knock LMG out
of the fight and cause two others to drop back. The Soviets carry on. Soviet
active fire drives our hero (squad leader) and a rifleman to drop back behind
cover.
PEF #4 (behind building) = rumors
Turn #5: Initiative 3/1 Finns
On the Finnish right, our here
gathers his courage and rallies himself and his rifleman. The Finnish LMG and
the other rifleman wound one and force another to drop back. The Soviets carry
on.
On the Finnish left, the sniper forces
the second LMG to drop back. The Soviets carry on.
Soviet phase: 3rd squad
(Soviet Right). LMG fails to rally. Soviet riflemen kill one Finnish rifleman
and force the SMG and group leader to drop back.
2nd squad (Soviet
center) advance – their LMG is killed, but the rest carry on. They elect just
to move forward, so as not to casue return fire.
4th squad (Soviet left):
Assistant platoon leader rallies those that had dropped back. The remaining
Soviets exchange fire with the Finns, causing the LMG and a rifleman to drop
back.
Turn #6: Initiative 5/4 Finns
Finns rally, but are out of LOS, so
cannot shoot. Medic fails to improve on a wounded soldier.
Looks like I failed to take any
notes on Soviet turn (If I even remembered to take the turn at all – LOL. I
took a beak about this time.)
Turn #7: Initiative 4/2 Finns
Finnish right flank: Finns active
fire into squad #2, causing some casualties. The Soviets carry on. On the
Finnish left, they retake their positions, win the IST and cause sone
casualties and some troops to drop back. Some survivors carry on.
Soviet reinforcements – T26. Soviet
groups advance, some back and forth shooting, very little damage. Three men
from 4th squad (Soviet left) react to fire by making a dash for the
cover of the barn ruins,
Turn #8: Initiative 4/1 Finns
Finns continue to fire on advancing
Soviets, causing several casualties. One small Soviet sub-group has had enough
and leaves the battlefield. On the Finnish right, our fearless hero takes a
hit. (And I totally forgot to see if star power saves him. Just as well, I have
ordered a more heroic figure to be my leader in the future anyway - LOL)
Soviet turn. The T26 stays in place
and fires its main gun at the bunker to its left, forcing all occupants (LMG
team) to drop back. The Soviets continue their advance – very slowly. Squad #3
(Soviet right) has had enough and leaves the battlefield.
Soviet heavy machinegun group
arrives in the center
Turn #9: Initiative 3/1 Finns. The Stalin purges have
done their magic, the Soviets can’t buy an initiative win.
Finns: The squad medic makes his
way over to fearless leader, but still has a way to go. Finns spend the rest of
the turn rallying,
Soviets: The T26 fires at bunker #2
(Finnish left), no casualties but all drop back. With no Finns in sight, the
infantry is free to advance.
Turn #10: Initiative 6/4 Finns
Finns are unable to perform any
actions.
The Soviet 4th squad
(left flank) is the first Russians to make it to the river. The tanks and the HMG
team are also closing on the river.
Turn #11: Initiative 5/1 Finns
Finns rally, but fall back deeper
into the woods in the face of the tanks. A Finnish rifleman has carried our
hero back to the medic.
Soviet 4th squad crosses
the river. The T26 stops in the middle of the bridge (perhaps they spotted the
mines).
Turn #12: Initiative
The medic fails to improve our hero’s
condition as the Finns melt deeper into the woods.
The main part of the battlefield. Finns are in the tree line ot left. The Soviets will enter in the tree line to the right
A Soviet T26 has arrived, shifting balance towards the Reds.
The T26 approaches cautiously, backed up by the HMG squad
4th squad makes it to the river. On the far left of the photo, the Finns can be seen retreating. At top, Soviet tanks begin to advance.
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