"Cold War Invasion of Sweden? By Whom?" Topic

So, I always figured it'd be the Soviets who invaded Sweden, should they choose to do so.

Probably not a wise move, but in war, opponents don't always make the brightest moves.

Makes sense if/when attacking from the north, to seize Norway, and the upper reaches of Northern Sweden, though here, I imagine Sweden could be bypassed, without too much difficulty, or concern.

However, I see them making a stab across the Baltic, to seize Stockholm through envelopment. Gavle in the north, and Nykoping in the south, or thereabout for both.

Perhaps attacking at/near Harnosand as well, further north, in order to drive through to Ostersund, and over the border into Norway, splitting both countries in half.

Gotland would also be seized by a combined helo and amphibious attack, during the early hours of WWIII.

Additional forces would also attack the southern region of Sweden as well, in order to threaten the naval bases at Malmo and Karlskrona, and to neutralize them.

The Soviets/Warsaw Pact will do the same on the southern side of the Baltic, against West Germany, and Denmark, in order to try to seize control of the straits there to the North Sea. I imagine, without the use to tactical nukes, that taking the areas bordering the straits to be very difficult, if not impossible.

However, due to Reagan's strengthening of NATO, up to and including tactical nukes of their own, it is deemed unlikely that the Soviets/WP will actually use them in this scenario, since nobody wins if that happens.

So, my questions are, if the communists decide to attack, whose forces will they use for the amphibious landings, and helo attacks?

I suspect Soviets from mid-Sweden north, but am less sure about the southern tip of Sweden.

I seem to recall plans that perhaps the Poles would be involved in attacking there, on both sides of the Baltic, after the East Germans lead the way through West Germany, along the northern coast there. I imagine these forces would have to be backed up by the Soviets as well, in order to ensure their "loyalty" and the Soviet leadership's directives.

Not even sure either force would really go on the offensive vs. NATO and the Swedes, unless they were first attacked by NATO, which I find unlikely to occur.

So, any thoughts on which forces might/might not participate in an offensive during WWIII, started by the Soviets?

Of course, I suspect they might use misinformation/propaganda, and blame NATO for attacking them first, so they have to go to war, but still, not sure your average East Germans and Poles would really be game to go on the offensive in other countries, given some of the unrest from back then (especially in Poland).

Then again, perhaps I'm overthinking it, and shouldn't let "little things" like that get in the way of a good game. I suspect the Soviets could be very, very persuasive when needed, in order to get others to comply with their wishes.

Thoughts?

I think the mid-Swedish and northern attacks (only the latter if really needed to shore up the northern attack into Norway) by the Soviet forces are sound, but not sure about the others.

I believe the Poles were thought to be part of the invasion force of Denmark. I don't know why you can't add Sweden to the list.

I think it depends how "realistic" you want to make it. Most "post war" material I read states the Soviet war machine was a paper tiger and they really feared a NATO attack. So realistically they aren't attacking anyone. For "realistic" scenarios I have actually been considering NATO intervention in the Prague spring or some such. While still far fetched not as far fetched as a soviet attack.
That said, western fears of a geared up Warsaw Pact attacking the west make for good gaming and are certainly what I grew up on. Hey, it's all make believe anyway. In that scenario I agree the Polish marines (amphibious forces) would be the most likely forces as they are trained for invasions.
Fun stuff

Joe

I thought I saw on the map for the Poles, that they had pincers that looked like they'd land on both sides of the straits out of the Baltic, to the North Sea, as well as on the islands.

I imagine if so the Soviets wouldn't be far behind, "in support of them" too.

I can also see the West perhaps getting involved in the Polish uprisings, and driving to Warsaw, if things got ugly with the guys in charge there. I recall some very tense times when the Poles were protesting being under the boot of their communist "allies", back in the day. At the time, it didn't seem likely to end as well as things eventually did.

Attacking Northern Sweden would leave Swedes plenty of time to prepare as first the attackers would need to tackle around 500km of mountaneous Norway defended by Norgegians and NATO or 250km of Finland defended by stubborn Finns (such invasion didn't fare all that well in 1939/40 or 1944 when the Russians last tried it…)

Yea, I'm thinking only attacks against forces in Northern Sweden that might threaten the flank(s) of the Soviet forces moving down from the north in Norway.

You know they'll try to intervene and interdict the Soviet advances there, once they're attacked in other regions of the Sweden.

Thresher-
Just before the declaration of martial law in Poland, there was considerable speculation whether the Warsaw Pact would "do a Czechoslovakia" on Poland. The difference being speculation on whether the Polish armed forces would resist such.

A joke was going around that went like this:
"A Polish soldier was in a trench being rushed by a Russian and an East German. He had only one bullet and his bayonet.
Which does he shoot, and which does he stab?
The shoots the East German. Business before pleasure."

Mark H. Walker released a module for it once for his World at War series. He named it after Greta.

grogheads.com/review/5717