"Winter War scenario #10 - patroling the deep woods" Topic

A Nuts! by TwoHourWargames battle report
Details here: link

In this scenario our heroes go in search of a Soviet ski brigade that has slipped behind our lines.

How long did the game take?

I didn't really time it, because it takes extra time to take notes and photos, etc. Actual playing time is probably close to two hours.

That's not bad, especially for how many turns that you played.

Wow, Jeff, pretty intense! At first I thought it was going to be a pretty easy mission, but more and more Soviets kept showing up, and chasing Takala's squad all over the table! ;)

Even more, I was impressed by 1/1's tenacity; it seemed they took horrendous casualties but stayed in the fight for a very long time. Conversely, 4/1 went out in a flash. I assume they were essentially cornered in the building at close range?

Very impressive campaign, looking forward to the next installment.

V/R,
Jack

Thanks Jack – and others
It's been a fun ride to be sure. My squad is a little over-powered, as they have three SMG and should only have one or maybe two. Part of that is my hero has to have one of course; the other two because of the character individuals they are based on carried one.
One SMG is named Korpi (AKA "Kuolematon – the immortal) is based on the protagonist in the two recent "Sisu" movies. In the movie, his name is Aatami Korpi. Aatami is basically the Finnish equivalent of Adam (There is no letter "d" in Finnish). Korpi means "wilderness," which is also the basis for my "handle" here on TMP (and other places): "Korvessa," which means "in the wilderness;" a comment on where I live (Northern California mountains).
My other SMG man is named Pylkäs. He is the real person who was the inspiration for the character Antti Rokka in the book/movie "Tuntematon Sotilas" (The Unknown Soldier. I highly recommend the movie; it's a good movie with no plot armor). Rokka isn't issued a SMG at first, but always manages to acquire one when needed. So that's my justification – Pylkäs just always manages to get one, whether issued or not. 😉
Incidentally, Rokka is also in my army. Two of my squads and the MMG teams are named after characters in that book/movie.
The more experienced soldiers tend to survive longer. When hit, you roll a D6 against their Reputation. DR6 = killed; DR >=Rep = wounded and out of the fight. So my riflemen keep getting killed or wounded where my SMG gunners survive. Although my main character has been saved a couple of times by "Star Power" (special rules that make your character harder to kill) and Korpi once because he has the attribute "Lucky." Pylkäs was a replacement who came in after a couple of battles, when my first SMG man was wounded. So they aren't invulnerable.
By the time my main squad got to the building, I only had five figs left (of nine), but 3 SMG (all with high Rep) and one LMG that had been picked up along the way. Throw in one grenade and it was quick work.
Yeah, Takala and his Sissi had a rough time of it. Which is fine, as I think a lot of rules overrate them. The Osprey book on Finland in WW2 calls them "Second rate" troops. They were just really good at long range patrols and ambushes against rear echelon troops.
As an end note, I really like using the Mission Deck – it adds a lot of variety and unpredictability to reinforcements and PEF resolution.

Great looking battle!

Jeff,

Gotcha, and makes sense, both in terms of game mechanics and real life, where you'd expect the veterans to have a better shot at survival (without being impervious to enemy fire) than newbies.

And that's what I figured regarding 4/1's demise, a bunch of firepower at very close range made short work of them.

The Mission Deck seems to be working well but I'm curious, do you feel like it puts more enemy forces on the table each game then just rolling on the PEF tables?

V/R,
Jack

I was in the mood, so I took an in depth look at the cards for you. But first to answer your questions

Gotcha, and makes sense, both in terms of game mechanics and real life, where you'd expect the veterans to have a better shot at survival (without being impervious to enemy fire) than newbies.

Exactly. One other thing as well; guys with bolt-action rifles get return fire more often because of the outgunned rule. Check this example out of the difference between a SMG v Rifle and Rifle v Rifle.
• SMG fires first; even if missed the rifleman has to Duck Back because of being Outgunned. He will never be able to shoot back.
• Rifle fires first. If he misses, the SMG a will return fire and then same as above.
• Rifle v Rifle. If missed will be able to return fire, regardless as to who shoots first. So rifleman tend to get shot at more often.

… do you feel like it puts more enemy forces on the table each game then just rolling on the PEF tables?

Not for PEF, as I roll 2D6 and compare to investment level as normal before drawing card. Possibly for reinforcements it may. I personally like it that way. However, I suppose you could do similar to PEF and roll 2D6 against the Investment Level (requiring a pass of 1 or 2 dice depending on preference) before you draw the card.

Here's a deep dive into the Mission Deck.
There are 54 cards. Four of them are instructions, leaving 50 for game use.
All of those are double sided, so there are 100 different possibilities.
Non-reinforcement cards:
12 cards: Civilians (4), Loot (4), New PEF (2), Reshuffle Deck (2)
12 Off-board support: Artillery (6), Mortars (2), Air (4)
8 events: Sniper (4), Mines (4)

Reinforcements Cards:
Infantry squads: (13)
Infantry squads w/ support: LMG (6), ATG (7)
Infantry squad + mortar attack (1)
Two Infantry squads w/ ATG (1)
Rest of platoon (4), Rest of platoon + MMG (1)
Medium MG teams (3)
1D3 Fighting Vehicles: Heavy (1), Medium (6), Light (1)
Note: Unlike the others, which are more or less random, these 8 are all on four cards front and back; so no matter how you shuffle, there are always only four vehicle cards in the deck.

Reinforcements in Defensive Position cards:
Infantry squads: 11 (9 in Def Pos, 2 in a building)
Infantry squads + LMG: (2)
Machineguns: LMG(2), MMG (4)
Two squads + ATG (1)
1D3 inf (3); 1D3 inf + ATG (1); 1D3 inf + MMG in bunker (1)

Jeff,

Ahh, gotcha, I wasn't even thinking about the effects of "Out-gunned," very interesting. Makes sense regarding handling of the PEFs, and I appreciate you taking the time to catalog everything in the Mission Deck, pretty cool.

V/R,
Jack

Minä rakastan tätä.

Kiitos!