Had a lot of fun running this little scenario at Broadsword 9 over the weekend, so I thought I'd share it here! We played the Battle for Honkaniemi (Feb. 26, 1940), also known as the only (and therefore "largest"!) tank battle of the Winter War.

As you may know, while the Soviets had thousands of tanks at their command, the Finns had very few indeed. They threw them into a desperate attack late in the war that they hoped would throw back the Soviet forces that were closing on Viipuri (only 15km away at this point in the conflict) and spearhead a larger Finnish offensive operation.

Well, it turned out to be a terrible day for the Finns, from losing more than half of their thirteen operational tanks to mechanical trouble, to friendly artillery falling on the heads of the supporting infantry, to a complete lack of reconnaissance that could have revealed the Soviets were planning their own attack operation at the very same place and the very same time!

While a conventional victory was probably out of the question, we decided to judge the results of this scenario against what the plucky and hopeless Finnish tankers achieved historically. And for all that, the Finns did very well during the game! Have a look and see what you think…

Introduction

Here is an historical map of the scenario. The village of Honkaniemi is shown north of Lake Näykkijärvi. The Soviets were deployed to the southwest and the Finns would attack from the northeast. The railway in the middle of the map runs from Leningrad to Viipuri (some 15km northeast).

View fullsize

The Karelian Isthmus front in February, 1940. Lake Näykkijärvi can be seen at the point of the advancing Soviet 50th Corps (50th RC), some 15km southeast of Viipuri (Vyborg). Image courtesy of Talvisota.fi.

View fullsize

The Game

Soviet Deployment

Another look at Soviet deployment. The Soviet players sit on northern table edge (top of picture) while the Finns are on the southern table edge (bottom right). Everyone seemed to prefer the Finnish hats!

The Finnish forces deployed on the Western end of the table.

Initial spotting showed the closest Soviet Blind to be a dummy.

The next closest Soviet Blind was also a decoy.

The Finns successfully spotted the first Soviet position—a dug-in platoon with a Maxim MMG along the furthest road.

The Soviets in turn identified the first Finnish troops—an MMG platoon.

Finns move into the forest along the southern table edge.

The 4th Panssari's commander, Lt. Mikkola, suffers a breakdown due to the extreme cold. He falls off the Blind from the rest of his platoon and will remain at the crossroads for much of the battle.

The Finnish infantry begin to appear in the woods near their starting position.

The Soviet motor rifle platoon at the road starts to take heavy fire from the Finnish MMGs.

The Finnish MMGs take some fire in return as the Finns advance into the woods on the right and down the road on the left. The leftmost Blind are three Vickers 6-ton tanks while the Blinds on the right are all Jaeger infantry platoons.

The Vickers platoon is finally spotted and deployed as the Finnish infantry in the woods get closer to the first farmhouse.

The only remaining Soviet Blind moves into the furthest farm and is subsequently spotted. Another motor rifle platoon (two more infantry sections are in the building to the rear) as well as another Maxim MMG and a 45mm M1932 anti-tank gun!

The Soviet anti-tank gun roars and causes Corporal Seppälä's tank to have an engine fire. Meanwhile, Lt. Mikkola's tank is still stuck at the crossroads. This is bad news for the Finns as these are their two Big Men tanks! The other two Finish tanks advance forward making good use of the Blitzkrieg card in the deck, while the Finnish Jaegers advance into the farm (despite some being held back by the Hesitant Troops card). They are starting to take fire from the Soviet motor rifle infantry.

The Finnish infantry advance into the nearest farm in the woods. Meanwhile, the Soviet MMG at the road begins a shooting match... with a Finnish tank! Amazingly, some lucky rolls force one of the nearest Vickers tanks to retire away (backing up several inches). Since the winner of the scenario will be the side that has their tanks closest to the enemy table edge, this is not a bad strategy!

The Jaegers are taking fire during the advance and Captain Kunnas does everything he can to keep his men moving. The Finnish infantry historically lagged behind in this battle, leaving the tanks unsupported. Luckily for them, the Hesitant Troops card has only come up a few times so far!

The Soviet forces are starting to be battered by the combined power of the Finnish MMGs and tanks. Worse still, a lucky boxcars roll by a Vickers gunner sees the 45mm anti-tank gun damaged! The Soviets need their reinforcements!

Reinforcements begin to arrive. On the Eastern end of the table, Kapitan Arkhipov arrives in his T-26 and drives off the road to support the Motor Infantry platoon at the furthest farmhouse. He is on a recon mission to discover the nature of this attack. Meanwhile, the Finnish reinforcements also arrive. The Finns are a little crestfallen to discover that the company of infantry and two tanks that were supposed to cross the Leningrad-Viipuri railway line has been reduced to a single tank!

A closer look at the Soviet forces. The combined fire of the Finnish MMGs and tanks has finally destroyed the Soviet Maxim MMG that was holding back the tanks. Very soon, the Soviet infantry on the flank of the dug-in platoon would join it.

The dug-in soviets have lost a rifle section and their MMG. It is not looking good for the defenders. Kapitan Arkhipov's own vehicle has also taken some damage, being caught in the flank by the Finnish Vickers tanks. As a result, Arkhipov has been immobilized and lost his main gun. Suddenly, two more T26 M1933 tanks arrive to bolster the Soviet line.

As the Soviet tanks move up, a Finnish platoon is still stuck on its Blind. The Finnish Blinds card has not come up for several turns and the platoon has lagged behind as a result.

The positions around mid-game. The Finnish infantry in the woods have entered the buildings and are using these positions to pour fire on the remaining Soviets in the trenches. Lt. Mikkola's tank is still stuck by the crossroads and Cpl. Seppälä's tank is very close to burning out entirely.

The Soviets hold the line, despite severe casualties and pinning fire.

The Finns seize the moment, advancing from the safety of the farmhouse to storm the Soviet trenches.

Cpl. Seppälä's tank finally burns out, forcing him to hop out. The Finnish players plan to have him jump in the nearest Finnish tank (something which actually happened during the historical battle). Meanwhile, the Finnish tanks manage to knock out one of the T-26's, while the other Soviet tank makes good use of the Recon Force card to move into the defensive positions that had been occupied by the Soviet infantry.

A Finnish Vickers tank makes a daring move to outflank the nearest T-26, while the Finnish infantry advance on the trench line. Unfortunately, more Soviet reinforcements arrive—two T-28 medium tanks.

Lt. Mikkola's tank finally gets on the move again, while Cpl. Seppälä rejoins the nearest tank just in time for that tank to be destroyed by T-28 fire! Meanwhile, the lagging Finnish Jaeger platoon finally comes off their Blind and rushes to rejoin the Jaegers that are closing in on the Russian defensive line.

The Soviet defenders are still taking mounting casualties and wounds.

The T-28s were a welcome sight for the Soviet players.

The Finnish infantry closing in on the Soviet trenches, having sustained very few casualties of their own.

Another image of the Finnish infantry advancing past the farmhouse.

We ended the game here, having run out of time. I would consider this a minor Finnish victory. Historically, the Finns were able to get one of their tanks off the Soviet table edge, although all Finnish tanks were eventually knocked out in the fighting. Good playing on all sides!

Dave Lister