Overview
At a glance
Is this game right for my group?
ABG editorial scores on a 1–5 scale.
Harder to teach
High replayability
Highly interactive
Scales well
Deep strategy
How it plays
How does it play?
Covers the 1939-1940 war between Finland and the Soviet Union. Four-page rules folder, map, and 120 die-cut counters.
Core mechanisms
Key systems that shape the decisions players make.
Read the full game description
Covers the 1939-1940 war between Finland and the Soviet Union. Four-page rules folder, map, and 120 die-cut counters. The Soviets have a massive strength advantage but their heaviest units can't be used north of the arctic circle and all Soviet units must be able to trace a supply line back to Leningrad at all times. Finnish units don't need supply in Finland, they have the advantage of prepared defenses south of the arctic circle, and Finnish units have higher mobility than Soviet units. The Russians have to successfully invade Finland and take objective cities to win. The Finns simply have to hold out for ten turns. Playable as a game rather than just as a simulation, unlike many later SPI offerings. Two games in one. The base game favors an experienced Soviet player, who will often break through the Mannerheim line in a fairly historical manner around turns 7-9. The optional special events, depending on which are rolled, tend to favor the Finns, sometimes reducing the number of turns to just 5, placing tremendous time pressure on the Soviets. Play the base game several times before adding the optional "What-if" events.