This is the first game with Zipuli's Finnish OOB, so I wanted to try something new and buy most of my forces from Armored Brigade. I usually play with an infantry-heavy OOB, but in Zipuli's new OOB Finland has received good APC's for relatively cheap prize of 100pts. It also has realistic formations for Armored forces so I decided to try this while not fully abandoning my infantry-heavy doctrin.

I have one Tank Co(-) and two PzJaeger Co's with efficient BRM-2 APC's that are capable in destroying enemy APC's and light AFV's. My plan is to use these formations on the southern part of the map. Their mission is to secure the southern hill VL's as well as the hill itself. One of the PzJaeger Co's will take care of the middle-hill. The seven T-72 -tanks I have carry two platoons of "normal" jaegers inside to battle.

The northernmost section of the map is on the responsibility of my marines, who'll secure the lake VL and proceed to the other side of the stream. They'll be supported by 1½ platoons from the Jaeger Co on their right flank. On all the fronts elements of the Recce Pl function as my eyes and ears and are the first to appear. My ATGM-platoon is divided into two. The first two crews are to be situated on the southern hill and the rest sit in good positions on the northern hill.

Reserve Co will guard the rear VL's as well as my Mortar Co and Navy Mortars that are situated in the vicinity of the rear VL's. My AA-abilities come in the form of two Crotale-missile Pasi's that are tactically situated in my rear areas and that should be capable of countering anything Nathan can throw againts my troops.

The key to victory in this battle is landscape. The middle-stream divides the map into two parts and is a dramatic obstacle as it's surrounded by hills. I will shell the two bridges, gain control of the western side of the stream and try to win the upcoming firing contest from one hilltop to another. My AFV's are supported by one AP off-map artillery that will do nasty things among the Norwegian, Swedes and Danish tanks.

My forces consisted of two sections of tanks, several troops of 105mm howitzers, a MLRS battery and some airstikes. My troops were mainly foot sloggers however I had 3 Seahawks and a company of Swedish Paras in C-130s. I did have some mech recon teams in some AFVs too.

Seeing the map I realised that it was going to be very one sided affair. The dominating heights were much closer to Jukka’s deployment area and there was a stream/river between myself and it.

My deployment was as follows:

Rear areas, VLs and Arty postitions: These were well defended by a company of infantry spread between all locations. Air defense missile batteries were also deployed in these rear echelon areas.

Northern sector: Aproximately 2 companies of Infantry were deployed here. With the VLs quite a distance from them my troops here were tasked with halting a Finnish advance on this flank.

Central sector: This was where the majority of my Armour was located, a ridge giving good concealment, although they were some 50 meters lower than the dominant heights I was hoping the Tanks would be able to cover the enemy movements on the heights.

Southern Sector: This was my only viable route to advance with a road and bridge giving me good access into a small town which held 2 VLs and a hill further south with one.

In Summary:

Hold the Northern Flank, establish good fire postitions in the centre and go like hell in the South! ?

Turn I

Business as usual. No weapons fired, just steady advancing towards the VL's. I may have done a small mistake in not buying trucks to carry my marines and jaegers to their objectives but on the other hand Nathan has similarly rough terrain to go through and longer way to the stream so I should be fine, especially as I have two ATGM-teams to cover my advance.

Loading up the choppers I moved men straight into the town, my mech scouts racing behind, another platoon dropped by helos on the southern hill.

Turn II

First blood! I went to scout the hill VL with my motorcycle scout only to see that Nathan had transported three infantry units next to it with his helo. They didn't spot my motorcycle scout eventhough they were in the same hex! I tried to retreat from this situation but ended up losing two men. But now I have a whole company worth of PzJaegers to fire Nathan's forces when they come forward. I just hope he doesn't bring his tanks there first as I only have APC's there and Apilas isn't necessarily enough to kill Leo's.

Nathan was very lucky as my Crotale fired eight times on his helos without hitting them. This is the first time I've seen this happen. That Crotale run out of ammo completely and I had to pull it back from it's positions as it was compromised by smoke. Next turn will see some serious firefights as Nathan undoubtedly tries to catch the two hill VL's. I hope I'll catch some heavy stuff with my AP-bombartment on the bridge.

Occupying the village my men established a tenuous hold and my infantry moved to back them up (this is where my Mech AFV should’ve doubled back to give them a lift).

Turn III

Very interesting turn with lots of Finnish success. Nathan really seem to want to get a hold on the hill with two VL's. During his turn I destroyed one CV9030 with an Apilas and one NM142 ATGM-AFV with kes66 of my motor scouts. Nathan had bit of bad luck as he missed my APC's 5-7 times during his and my turns. I also managed to get four infantry kills for my arty. Nathan seem to race his troops there by foot - bad mistake. Negative thing about my barrage was that I wasn't able to destroy the bridge.

I moved my motor scouts forward and they managed to spot three more CV9030's. It seems that Nathan has bought at least one Norwegian Mech Scout Troops consisting of four CV9030's with Mech Scouts inside. That's bad news for me as those APC's have vision 40 and armor that is unpenetrable by my APC's. This is why I've unmounted all of my PzJeagers and rely on their AT-weaponry in dealing with these beasts. I also moved my AP-arty to fire closer to the hilltop as I did with the mortars. Nathan's troops will get into pretty hot situation.

I haven't spot any enemy troops on the other fronts yet despite my troops have secured basically the whole western side of the stream and are now in position to shoot the enemy on the other bank. I don't complain since I might now be able to secure also the VL's next to the river on Nathan's side before his troops get there. Because of this lack of enemy presence I started moving two more PzJaeger platoons to aid the 2nd Company on the hilltop.

Well, Jukkas also wanted the area and despite a valiant defense by my troops, his weight in numbers proved to be decisive and I was forced out, disappointingly my AFVs did little damage and died horribly.

Turn IV

Another good turn for the Finns. The formation I though was a Mech Scout troop turned out to be a Tank Bn Support Squad. The most dangerous elements of that are now annihilated as my men destroyed two CV9030's and my AP-arty took care of the last one. My mortars kept having some success as well gathering two more kills. Now the Nordic Forces are fleeing on the northern side of the hill and I'll try to get hold on the town during next turn.

My tank Co contacted the enemy as well. Nathan had brought two rifle squads near the VL with his helos. My forces are now right next to the VL and should be able to take it in couple of turns. My only worry is Nathan's heavy Leo's of which at least one is well-positioned on the southern hilltop on his side of the stream. It has direct firing line to the VL so I have to get rid of it asap. I assigned my AP-arty to do this as I have target hex right next to it. Another bloody surprise for Nathan.

I saw another well-positioned Leo on the middle section of the map. It has a good firing position towards the middle hill with a VL. I have to harass it with my arty after the southern threat is taken care of. Nathan has positioned his units well as the tanks are in good firing positions and his ATGM-vehicles are cleverly positioned as well next to the riverbank with broad fire range. This battle is getting more interesting turn by turn as it now seems that it's a battle between two armored forces.

I’d left two tanks in the southern sector to cover and hopefully move to support my now crumbling plan to capture the village. Hopefully they would deter Jukka from forcing a breakthrough as my troops were rapidly moving East!

Turn V

The material superiority of the Nordic countries is beginning to take its toll. Before losing his AFV's Nathan was able to place some infantry to the town next on the hill. Now those bastards are massacring my PzJaegers who are not that good against infantry. I'll try to make co-ordinated attack next turn before Nathan is able to bring reinforcements.

On the southern hillside Nathan destroyed one of my APC's but I paid back by killing some infantry squads. My AP-attack wasn't successful but I assigned one turret to try again with the same target. On the other fronts I lost one motor scout squad and one T-72. The latter was destroyed by Swedish Gripen-fighter that also killed some infantry. It wont attack again as I dealt it some damage with my Crotale.

My troops in the Helos were moving towards the southern hill but were swamped by hordes of Finns. Not good. I was able though to get some Air support, destroying a T-72 before returning to the mess for beer and herrings.

Turn VI

Huge successes for the Finns! My mech infantry finally made it's push to take the hill town and performed very well. I lost one PzJeager squad but rest of the assault was a complete success. I moved my men under arty-fire and suppressing fire from the APC's and run over the defending Norwegian riflemen and mech scouts. I killed two mech infantry squads, one rifle squad and two AT-squads in the process. Now I have the town and will create a defending perimeter around its eastern side with suppressing fire from my mortars.

The turn went well otherwise as well. I managed to kill one of Nathan's Leo strv 122's with my Spike-team when it's VIRS failed. I also destroyed one ATGM-AFV with a lucky shot of kes 66 on the town hill. On the southern hill Nathan is still harassing my men successfully. I killed my own men in my arty strike and Nathan's infantry had some successes as well. Nathan also managed to kill about ten advancing jaegers with his mortar fire next to the stream on the middle sector of the map. Despite these losses this was one of the best turns in my SP-career.

This turn wasn’t a great deal of fun despite my Mortars and troops catching several Finns in the open: that’ll learn them.

Turn VII

My mech infantry continued mopping the hill killing some Norwegian infantry. Now I don't have any infantry in the town to avoid losses from Nathan's artillery. I spotted two more Leo's next to the one that was destroyed by my Spike-team. Those cats shelled the heroic ATGM-team killing three men. Now I have another one in position seeing the cats. It'll fire next turn when Nathan's pets move. There's also enemy infantry on my side of the stream and I'm dealing those with my mortars.

On north my three recce vehicles with men inside are now deep in the eastern bank of the stream. It seems Nathan hasn't put much effort to the northern front, maybe because there's only three VL's. This is why I'm now drawing my two northern ATGM's to the middle section. At the end of the turn Nathan attacked with one F-16 and one Gripen-fighter. The former got through but wasted it's Maverick to my AAMG-team. The former got shot down by my Crotale.

Jukka was starting to advance in the Northern sector however with my men in strength there I wasn’t overly concerned. An F-16 got through his AA defenses:Yay! And then ignored the T 72 and used its Maverick an troops next to it: Boo!

Turn VIII

A quiet turn. I finally managed to take the southern VL after forcing all the Nordics to go into retreat. I missed to see one AT-team thoigh and that cost me one APC. On the upper levels of the hill my PzJaegers continued their steady progress eastwards losing some men to Nordic stranglers. My aim now is to secura a stable line near the stream and the bridge-VL.

The news of this turn was my northern troops who have now began to cross the stream. Soon I have three platoons of marines securing the eastern VL as well on the northern front. I also have three BRM-2 Recce-teams very deep in enemy territory. I haven't decided yet what to do with them - I might assign them to secure one of the easternmost VL's deep in Nathan's rear. A rear that seems to be inadequadly secured.

Unbeknown to Jukka I was now running a ferry service with my Seahawks to a concealed area south of the southern hill. Generally though I was stabilising my front line and plotting airstrikes….

Turn IX

Another relatively peacefull turn. My advance on north and south is proceding well and Nathan's troops are almost nowhere to be seen. I destroyed one more ATGM-AFV with Spike but on the other hand lost one AO vehicle because of a missclick with mouse. My Recce-units deep inside Nathan's territory saw some infanty but I hope Nathan didn't see my troops.

Ho hum…not a lot this turn, moving men into positions to await the Finns and the Helo ferry service is continuing….

Turn X

Nathan struck hard during this turn. First he destroyed three BRM-2's during his turn and then one more during mine. He also had some successes with his infantry. All but one of the BRM's were shot by Leo's which Nathan has positioned well on the ridges. Nathan seems to be very good user of these beasts as he also has the skill to keep them out of my arty-shelling by moving them constantly. Now they control vast areas of space with their superior firepower. And only weapons I have against them are my Spike's and AP-arty.

Two of the BRM's were destroyed on the hill by Leo that was kilometers away on the southern hill. That same bastard must have about five kills on his sleeve by now. The two others were Recce BRM's. One of them was destroyed by AT-team which was subsequently killed by my motor scouts and the other by Leo. The Recce-team inside was killed as well. Now I have to get my Spikes into good positions in order to hunt down these beasts. I can't advance before they're down.

My plan for the center was working a treat, Jukka’s AFVs came into the range of my Tanks which took great pleasure in blowing three away. Jukka has heaps of Artillery so it may not be good to hang around…My tanks continue to earn their pay, notching up some more kills.

Turn XI

Luck turned in a big way during this turn. First, during Nathans turn, he hit my BRM-2 with his Leo but only damage its MG. Then my AP-arty killed the Leo that was giving me hell on the middle-hill. Then on my turn I got a lucky shot on southern front in which my T-72 destroyed the Leo that had destroyed at least five of my APC's. I also managed to take down F-16 -fighter with my Crotale.

Now I have a good advance going on in all fronts. On north my marines are a couple of turns away from reaching another VL. It's risky as they have to advance on open ground. Couple of mortar shells and the cofins are full again. On the middle-sector I finally killed the tank, but there's at least one more. Despite of that I now have six infantry units on the other side of the stream and will fight for the VL with the help of my arty. On the southern hill my PzJaegers are advancing steadily but suffering some losses from Nordic stranglers. On the southern front my jeagers are clearing a little town in which Nathan has some infantry.

Nathan has now lost about 4000pts worth of stuff and that has gotta show in his performance. He has at least two more tanks left but I've seized the momentum now and am quite confident of upcoming victory.

What can I say, my tanks got walloped by some lucky shots, plus a Swedish jet jockey got wasted ? On the plus side my ferried troops in the south were slowly advancing and had ‘eyes on his AA’…

Jukka’s troops attacked a town which proved to be better defended than he initially thought, it would prove to tie down many elements during the rest of the game. Ferried troops still moving… I also kept one Tank tucked away, with numerous T 72s and APCs I figured he would get his turn.

Turn XII

Bit by bit my men are advancing and the battle is moving to east bank of the stream. My northern marines have almost secured the VL taken by my Recce APC this turn and also my northern Jaegers have started to cross the stream. My Recce-infantry and a couple of Jaeger squads are closing the middle-VL and will soon contact Nathans infantry that is walking towards them harassed by my mortar shelling. Things seem very good on north.

On south I killed one Swedish sniper-team and one AT-team. I have a bunch of squads next to the southern hill town now and if Nathan doesn't do anything dramatic, I'll be able to take it during next turn. Some successes for Nathan as well. One crew managed to kill another PzJaeger man before being killed and Nathan's infantry killed three men from my Spike-team. Nathan's arty was leathal as well killing six Navy mortar-men. But all in all the battle is proceeding as planned.

Not a great deal this turn, despite being hammered by arty, my northern sector troops are still strong.

Turn XIII

The luck seems to be changing again as my assault on the southern hill town turn out to be a massacre of a grand scale. I attacked with two Jaeger-units and one T-72 but ended up losing the tank to a AT-team and losing seven men from the two unlucky teams. Now I'll regroup, gather enough infantry and tanks to secure the object and shell the road leading to the town to avoid any reinforcements coming in to assist Nathan.

Other than that the turn was relatively quiet. My advance on the eastern bank is fairing pretty well as my marines have yet to be confronted by an enemy and my Jaegers are faring well with a support from my artillery. I also think that one of Nathan's tanks is immobilized in the stream next to a VL as a tank has fired from that exact position during three turns now. If that's the case I have no horry in dealing with it and can use my heavy arty to fire HE-ammos on Nathan's infantry on the othern bank.

Heheh my boyz in the town gave the Finns a bloody nose for sure…

Turn XIV

The northern front finally saw some action. I found out Nathan had some snipers near the northern VL. Those guys killed three of my men during Nathan's turn and one more during mine before two of them were killed by my Jaegers and marines. Now Nathan knows about my advance and I'm waiting for arty to land on my men as Nathan's turrets were quiet after my turn. On the eastern bank Nathan's infantry is closing my relatively weak forces but I've assigned lots of hvy mortars to pound those guys into oblivion.

I got a confirmation that one of Nathan't tanks is indeed immobilized in the stream. I'll deal with him later. Another tank is helping the infantry on the eastern bank and I assigned my AP-arty to deal with him. As for the southern town I Nathan killed my overeager FO team and I managed to kill one of his infantry sections. Now I wait for Nathan to blink firts and if this doesn't happen I'll overrun the defenders with overwhelming force.

Jep, a tank was immobilised in the river, so much for all terrain mobility! My Northern troops were stalling the Finns and the Township was receiving more troops, about now my ferried troops were ready to storm the hill.

Turn XV

A major setback for the Finns. Nathans F-16 fighter came, saw and destroyed. I moved both of my Crotales because I suspected Nathan had spotted them. This left my army unprotected against airborne targets and the result was destroyed Crotale and ammo truck. This was the biggest achievement for Nathan yet but I believe this F-16 is his last fighter so it doesn't matter that much. Even more so as my other Crotale was able to destroy one of Nathan's helos and other helo was damaged. So now, according to my calculations, all the Nathan's helos are either destroyed or damaged (and fleeing).

The other developments included the destruction of couple of Nathan's infantry teams but nothing very subsrancial. The Nordic forces continue to advance on the eastern bank despite heavy artillery I've assigned there. The northern marines saw an advancing infantry squad and killed some four men making it go into retreat. On the other hand Nathan killed some marines during his arty-barrage. But on the whole the northern part of the map seems pretty good. Now I just wait for my main forces to arrive to the eastern bank and try to hold my positions on every other place. Only bad thing is that I'm running out of mortar-ammo, but so must be Nathan as well.

Yay! The jet jockeys returned and wasted a Crotales and ammo truck. I tried to move a ferried section deep into his rear but it was taken down by AA.

Turn XVI

My AP-arty killed the fourth Leo leaving Nathan with only one immobilized cat. I'll take care of that later, firts I'll assign my art to assist my men on the eastern bank where most of the action is right now. I killed one AT-team there and Nathan managed to slain my crewmen who took one Nordic bastard with them. My jaegers are approaching the battleground and now that the Leo is gone I'll send some AFV's as well. With syncronized advance the VL should be mine as should be the one further down the stream where the immobilized Leo is currently shooting my PzJaegers.

On north Nathan's sniper eliminated one AT-team but I gave some punishment to Nordic infantry that tries to come across the plain. On south I found out that Nathan has made a circeling movement and now has some infantry southwest to my VL. I have to draw some forces to deal with these guys as my rear guard, PzJaeger squad, surrendered to an AT-team. I also found out that Nathan does have one helo left after all. And that is hoovering on my rear lines with infantry inside. I have to deal with that one before it lands its human cargo next to an undefended VL.

My ferried troops were making their presence felt while my Northern forces received some troops from the rear, bolstering their line as a fes sections and snipers held them at bay.

Turn XVII

I dropped yet another Seahawk with my Crotale so now Nathan shouldn't have any left. Other than that it was a quiet turn. Small firefights in many places but nothing bigger. New development was Nathan's new push towards the town hill. Well, at least he sent one infantry squad towards it - it was pinned down by my PzJaegers. The fighting is going well on the eastern bank. Most of Nathan's troops seem to be going to the wrong way, away from his VL. This is fine by me as I soon have strong infantry presence next to it. My mortars are beginning to run out of ammos. I'll move them towards the front in their MT-LB's as soon as this happens. Every man and gun is valuable now on the front as I'm about to begin my push towards the three VL's next to the stream.

Still holding on and consolidating. Moving troops forward….

Turn XVIII

Nathan is consolidating his opposition as more and more infantry-units join the battle on the Nordic side. On north there's a massive small arms fire -contest going on. Unfortunately the Nordic troops have better weapons so they have an advantage. I found out that Nathan has at least three AT-teams lurking near the VL. This is not too important though as Nathan's F-16 destroyed my only remaining APC on north. I hit the fighter with Crotale but not leathally.

The battle is getting tougher on south as well. Nathan is bringing new infantry units to take the VL and I found out that he has at least one more Leo fully functional! This is bad news but fortunately I've got three T-72's there and I assigned my AP-arty to hunt that bastard. Nathan is also trying to push from the western town hill but so far I've been able to keep him checked on that front.

Another Finnish APC is wasted by an airstrike whilst my troops give a good account of themselves in the North. In the south my tank has taken down a few Infantry elements to support my move to the hill. More troops push on to the other town.

Turn XIX

A nasty surprise by Nathan. At the end of my turn he fired the middle hill with MLRS-arty. This is the worst possible place to do it as I had two tanks, three BRM-2's and at least five infantry units at the vicinity. I ended up losing at least two BRM-2's and a couple of infantry units, maybe even a tank, I'm not completely sure. This completely shattered my sense of security as I now have to move my tanks in order to avoid being bombarted by that hellish machine.

Other developments included killing of a couple more AT-teams and me loosing a couple of infantry units in return. I have relatively firm grip to all of my 13 VL's and a realistic chance to acquire 1-3 more. But if Nathan has paras coming, he could rob some VL's from me. If he doesn't send paras next turn, which is the last turn to do it according to rules, I'll send my reserve company to assist the PzJaegers in my last push.

About now I figured Jukka needed a dose of MLRS-arty. Very happy with the result: two tanks, three BRM-2's and at least five infantry units at the vicinity! Time to call in the Paras I think….

Turn XX

Infantry skirmishes continued dealing minor losses for both sides. I lost one recce infantry squad but paid back killing two AT-teams and two infantry squads. Nathan has made a tactical mistake on north by running his men to tactically meaningless locations. This is fine by me as now the defenses of the eastern bank VL seem to be very light. I've got about two platoons worth of infantry approaching and only see one ATGM-AFV defending it.

The southern VL is more problematic as Nathan has his Leo there. Fortunately its 121, so it has lighter armor and my tanks may be able to nail it. But my tanks have to be moved now as Nathan didn't use his MLRS and may be assigning it to south. I also have two Spike-teams approaching the southern VL and should be usefull in countering the Leo. This should be enough and I reassigned my AP-arty to kill the immobilized Leo next to the stream.

I now have nine reserve squads in BTR's coming towards the front in which they'll participate my efforts to take some more VL's. I try to take the northern bridge VL and the middle river VL. I also put one reserve squad into my helo and will try to take one of the rear VL's with that one. A dangerous mission but worth trying - maybe Nathan has forgot the defenses like during the previous battle.

Well, Jukka is doing very well, having managed to bombard most of my force at one stage or another. Jukka’ reserves start to show themselves as my men advance on the south.

Turn XXI

It seems Nathan doesn't have his paras coming as his previous turn was the last one to send them according to the rules. So now I have a relatively powerfull reserve detachment closing approaching the front. My Jaegers are approaching the east bank VL and PzJaegers gained some ground on their way to the northern stream VL. But on the other hand Nathan has managed to suppress my southern forces badly and may have a chance to rob the VL. One interesting development is happening next to the stream where I'll shell the immobilized Leo next turn.

Turn XXII

Nathan had paras after all and, with a minor breach of rules, he landed at least one platoon of them next to the southern hill VL. The things are looking grim on that area as almost all of my troops are in retreat and strong Nordic forces are killing my few PzJeagers. But now I have two Spike-teams to assist, so maybe I still have some hope left. The northern bridge is fiercely battles as well. Nathan killed my last two motor scouts during this turn, another of which was killed scouting the area. Nathan has at least two infantry squads, two AT-teams and one hvy sniper defending the bridge. Well, if that's all, my assault will take the daemn VL.

On north things are looking significantly brighter. I got a bit lucky and killed all the northern enemy troops I saw - four all in all. Nathan is seriously trying to get the northernmost VL as he assigned his MLRS to shoot my infantry there but did little damage. This was not a wise move as MLRS is best in killing either advancing troops or AFV's. I finally took the eastern bank VL and now have so much forces there that it would require close to a miracle for Nathan to retake it. Nathan got a bit lucky this turn as well. On eastern bank my AT-team shoot his ATGM-AFV two times from one hex but missed and my AP-arty failed to take out the immobilized tank.

Paras took their time (another thing to remember) and give me the legs to take that bloody hill, I assumed that a MBT on a VL would be enough but no??

Turn XXIII

Nathan overwhelmed my positions on the vicinity of the southern VL and took it with his strong para-forces. He also brought his last mobile Leo to the battle but that was immobilized by my T-72 which was subsequently destroyed by its nemesis. I lost a large number of men, including two PzJaeger squads. Nathan has one Commando Divers squad that has killed at least 100 points worth of my infantry. I've killed 4/5 of its men but still that bastard keeps killing my poor Finns. I started to withdrew from the area as I've got no chance of retaking the VL with the forces I have in two turns. When I fled I had four shots against the Leo with my tanks - all of them hit, none done any damage.

A little brighter picture on the other fronts. On north and eastern bank Nathan has no chance whatsoever to take the VL's and I'va made good progress in my efforts to take the northern bridge VL and the stream VL. I'll start and attack with my APC's on the former during next turn and try to get the latter using my helo. Other developments in this turn included my BRM-2 killing Nathan's AA-missile battery. My AP-arty also finally managed to destroy the immobilized Leo next to the stream VL.

I overwhelmed Jukka’s positions on the vicinity of the southern VL and my Tank, although immobilised, took out a T72. My troops also killed a mass of Finns in particular one Commando Divers squad had killed at least 100 points worth of his infantry. Jukka’s reserve strength took me by surprise, despite securing the VLs it was clear he would eventually take them.

Turn XXIV

A decisive turn for the Finns! I managed to take two more VL's and destroyed the last one of Nathan's Leos and the last ATGM-AFV he had. The first VL I took was the one next to the northern bridge. I moved my PzJaeger company and some elements from my reserves to take it and succeeded almost without losses. Nathan didn't have that many troops left there as I only encountered about five or six units - most of which are now killed.

I also took the stream VL with my helo-squad. Nathan didn't have any men defending it so this was an easy task. I destroyed the last Leo on south with my AT-team after suppressing fire from BRM-2. Six Leo's killed, that's quite good with a force like mine. I also destroyed Nathan's last ATGM-AFV on the eastern bank. Now I estimate that I've destroyed at least 33% of Nathan's forces. I have 15 VL's and Nathan doesn't have much chances of gaining any so if nothing really dramatic happens next turn, the Finns will win with a wide margin!

A decisive turn for the Finns… My men tried to hold them off but not to be.

Turn XXV

The last turn didn't provide anything dramatic, at least not during my turn. I killed three more units on the bridge front, including one HMG that had bothered me for a long time. On south I withdrew all the forces I could as they didn't stand a chance against Nathan's strong para forces. I had my own little "Saving Private Ryan" -mission during which my UAZ saved two PzJaeger-stranglers while under fire by Nordic troops. The game ended on a high note as I dropped F-16 that was aiming for my bridge troops. The MLRS smoke barrage that would've blinded my Crotale came only after the unfortunate attack. I expect to hold all the 15 VLs during Nathan's last turn and prevail.

The last fighter strike was taken down so it looks like Jukka won!

The Results




VL: Thexder 15 vs. Splintex 6


Medium Victory



After Action Report

An interesting battle in which luck changed many times and both players had their good and bad turns. My initial plan proved succesful as I secured good positions rapidly on south and carried overwhelming force to the town hill and beat the relatively weak Nordic forces for the town. I also manageg to take the northern VL's easily as Nathan didn't bring any forces there before it was too late.

The battle had many phases. The first phase was the battle for the town hill. I won that battle easily inflicting serious casualities on Nathan's Armored Support Company. I was too afraid of Nathan's Leo's so I didn't even try to go further in force but sent little recon elements down the hill towards the stream and dig my main forces to the hill forest to wait further instructions.

After the battle on the town hill was over, the action moved to the southern side of that same hill. There my Tank Company clashed with strong infantry presence and was unable to make a decisive move as the Nordic Leo's controlled the hill from their fire positions on the other side of the stream. I advanced with my infantry and took the VL and drove the Nordic infantry to a nearby little village where the battle stagnated as I didn't have enough troops to smoke them out.

The third phase moved the battle from south to north. There my advancing marines and Recon elements finally made a contact with advancing Nordic infantry. My troops had advanced too far from Nathan's point of view as his attempts to gain the VL's where in vain and I took one of his on the eastern bank of the stream. The last phase of the battle included the last rushed from both sides. Nathan took the southern VL with overwhelming force aided by para landing and good tactical maneuvres. I managed to take two VL's next to the stream by rushing with my forces during the last three turns.

The decisive factor of this battle was strategy. Nathan had a good combination of troops and used them well but they were constantly at the wrong place at a wrong time. This was particularly true on the northern front where my men advanced on foot and still managed to take the VL that was closer to Nathan's lines. During every phase of the battle bigger percentage of my troops were engaged than were Nathan's. Had Nathan started his inafntry assault earlier, my troops would've been in serious trouble.

Another important factor that contributed to my victory was my efficiency in dealing with the big guns of Nathan's. I managed to take out all of his six tanks and dropped half of his six fighters while damaging the other three as well. My AP-arty was effective killing three Leo's, as was my Crotales that took care of the fighters. Nathan had some good ideas regarding his fighters, though - he tried to blind my vision 30 Crotales with smoke but this didn't succeed.

My losses were relatively heavy. Especially the detachments assigned to the town hill took heavy casualities Tank company losing 3/4 and 2nd PzJager company 1/2 of its strenght. But the losses for Nathan were horrible. He lost almost every significant warmachine he had. This was a great battle in which both sides showed some clever tactics. But ultimately my strategy proved better winning the battle.

A good game considering the way the terrain really favoured the Finns, despite this I was able to extract more than my pound of flesh ? My tanks proved very effective and their ‘fear’ factor’ will be kept in mind in the future.

Paras were good, but I must remember to call them up sooner. Jukka loves his arty, something to remember to prepare for next time.

Still, a fun game played fairly quickly. This was my second Game so I am learning more all the time.