Time to break out the Jääkärimarssi, the Finnish Jaeger march! Good luck!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-m4tALfqyME
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-m4tALfqyME
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The timer is winding down with SU ready to some uncalled aggression. I'm curious about whether or not there will be Swedish volunteer corps to aid you in the war 
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Winter War
On 5 October 1939, the Soviet Union invited a Finnish delegation to Moscow for negotiations. The Soviets demanded that the border between the USSR and Finland on the Karelian Isthmus be moved westward to a point only 30 km east of Viipuri and that the Finns destroy all existing fortifications on the Karelian Isthmus. They also demanded the cession of islands in the Gulf of Finland as well as the Kalastajansaarento peninsula. Furthermore, the Finns would have to lease the Hanko Peninsula for 30 years and permit the Soviets to establish a military base there. In exchange, the Soviet Union would cede two municipalities with twice the territory demanded from Finland. Accepting Soviet demands would have forced the Finns to dismantle their defences in Finnish Karelia.
The Soviet offer divided the Finnish government, but it was eventually rejected. On 31 October, in the assembly of the Supreme Soviet, Molotov announced Soviet demands in public. The Finns made two counteroffers whereby Finland would cede the Terijoki area to the Soviet Union, which would double the distance between Leningrad and the Finnish border, far less than the Soviets had demanded, as well as the islands in the Gulf of Finland. From the Soviet point of view the negotiations were finished.
Finnish delegation to discuss the Soviet demands
The Finnish government rejects the Soviet demands
On 26 November, a border incident was reported near the village of Mainila. A Soviet border guard post had been shelled by an unknown party resulting, according to Soviet reports, in the deaths of four and injuries of nine border guards. Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov claimed that it was a Finnish artillery attack and demanded that Finland apologise for the incident and move its forces beyond a line 20–25 km away from the border. Finland denied responsibility for the attack, rejected the demands, and called for a joint Finnish–Soviet commission to examine the incident. The Soviet Union then claimed that the Finnish response was hostile, renounced the non-aggression pact and severed diplomatic relations with Finland on 28 November. On November 30th, 1939 the Soviet Union declared war on Finland.
Soviet Union declares war on Finland
After the declaration of war, Finland asked Sweden and Norway for help to stop the Soviets. Sweden send one unexperienced, under equipped brigade while Norway did not answer at all. It was safe to say that Finland was on its own. Mannerheim had two options, a) wait for the Soviets to come and knock on Helsinki’s door (if the Mannerheim line would have been breached), or b) show the Soviets what the Finnish small army is capable of. He choose to do the second option and ordered his troops to move to Leningrad and Murmansk. Also troops north of Lake Ladoga moved into Soviet territory. The area near-, north- and south- Suomussalmi, where the Finnish army was particulary thin, formed an excellent defensive line so the Finnish soldiers dug in, sat and waited for the Soviets to come.
Finnish troops moving towards Leningrad
Finnish troops knocking back the Soviets
After capturing the areas north of Leningrad, west of Murmansk and north-east of Lake Ladoga, the Finnish Government played a game of bluff poker and asked the Soviets to sign a peace treaty which states to cede Vidlica to Finland. On December 24th, 1939, less than 2 months after the winter war started, the Soviet Union signed the peace treaty.
Soviet Union accepted the peace treaty
Interesting film Sebas. Very interesting indeed!
The timer is winding down with SU ready to some uncalled aggression. I'm curious about whether or not there will be Swedish volunteer corps to aid you in the war
Well..... I got a volunteer brigade instead of a division or corps. That's it!
It wasn't what I hoped it would be, but at least I got a province instead of loosing multiple provinces. That combined with playing at hard level for a second time (tried it with Germany once), I'm quite pleased. Now I have to build up for when Germany starts Barbarossa. I want Karelia, Leningrad and Archangalsk..... and whatever is within reach beyond that
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Wow, I hope you're not offended but I've basically lost interest in this. The fact that you tried something like that removed one of the most exciting part of playing Finland. I'm hesitant to keep following this since it seems like a rerun of your other AARs where you just stomp the AI from this point on.
I do have to agree, the problem is that you're just too good at this game. It's hard to reconcile the roleplay with the ridiculous stuff you manage to pull off with these nations. This isn't critical of you, more of a matter of fact that HOI3 is an old game, the AI isn't all that great, and it's been out long enough that there's now a 'meta' of finding the easiest/fastest ways to win even if they are unrealistic. Once you know how, it's sort of difficult to play without it being either too easy or you limiting yourself.
I'll keep following your stuff though, although from now on I view it more as a DDR-Jake style 'what can I do with what I have' rather than a story-based AAR. At this point in HOI3's lifespan, the only good AARs are those and multiplayer ones IMO. As well as unconventional playstyle ones, like naval Germany.
Again, more a critique of HOI3 than your work
I'll keep following your stuff though, although from now on I view it more as a DDR-Jake style 'what can I do with what I have' rather than a story-based AAR. At this point in HOI3's lifespan, the only good AARs are those and multiplayer ones IMO. As well as unconventional playstyle ones, like naval Germany.
Again, more a critique of HOI3 than your work
I do not know the conditions needed for peace. Can I find it somewhere?
I''m not offended, can I consider it as a compliment? If so, thanks! I just try to use my troops to their maximum capability.
Same thing, I consider it a compliment if you do not mind. To be honest, I play a lot of strategy games throughout my life, so it is pretty much second nature to work with the things I have. I was hoping for a more unconventional AAR by choosing Finland and play at hard level. By the way, what do you mean with a DDR-Jake style? You are probably right, but just wondering
. I will continue, but if I can leave you the stories and just post screenshots, fine with me .
You know what I find funniest about this? Its better than even odds that the Soviet Union giving up now is better for them in the long run than going the historical route.
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I wouldn't take parts of Russia, just giving them a reason to invade you to protect the Russian minority.Gormytorysh said:
Seriously? Folks are giving up on this AAR because he didn't go historical and lose the Winter War?
If we couldn't play out the war ourselves in this game, there would be NO need for the game. Suck it up and continue following him to see what he does. Finland will not conquer the Soviets all the way to Vladivostok....but its worth seeing what a BETTER player than you can do.
If we couldn't play out the war ourselves in this game, there would be NO need for the game. Suck it up and continue following him to see what he does. Finland will not conquer the Soviets all the way to Vladivostok....but its worth seeing what a BETTER player than you can do.
Hey, I never said I'm giving up on this
I agree though, I think the second finnish-soviet war will be quite interesting. It'll be hard in the early months especially - the SU loves to stack Finland with 5 armour divisions before Germany DoWs. At least every time I've played as Finland it has.
I agree though, I think the second finnish-soviet war will be quite interesting. It'll be hard in the early months especially - the SU loves to stack Finland with 5 armour divisions before Germany DoWs. At least every time I've played as Finland it has.
I think you are right, though because I do not want to turn Finland into a big blob on the map, I am waiting for the Germans to start Barbarossa. Not sure if they will do a 'Call to Arms' and if not, again a-historically, I will DoW the SU myself.
But but.... provocation is my specialty!
I feel pretty safe, because during the Winter War the Germans already wanted to invite me into the Axis which I did not accept yet as I think Germany will take over diplomacy and I'd like to be in control of that for now. After the Winter War I will accept and the SU will think twice (even being an AI) before DoW-ing me again.
Thanks for this massive motivational boost! I think I needed that to continue the AAR as planned
.Hey, I never said I'm giving up on this
I agree though, I think the second finnish-soviet war will be quite interesting. It'll be hard in the early months especially - the SU loves to stack Finland with 5 armour divisions before Germany DoWs. At least every time I've played as Finland it has.
In my game I am pretty close now to the second war though as mentioned above, I did wait for Germany to take the first step. Taking the initiative by declaring war myself while Germany is still fighting on the western front is basically signing my own death sentence. I like to take risks, but I am not stupid :blink:
Scandinavian Wars
After the Winter War, Germany invited Finland to join the Axis. Although the Finnish government was a democratic elected one, there were more than enough reasons for joining the Axis instead of the Allied forces. Especially the Winter War made it perfectly clear what the Soviet intentions are and that the Finnish people should not expect any support from the UK and France. Also the fellow Scandinavian countries let Finland down. The mere brigade that was send by Sweden was more an insult than help. A Finnish delegation of highly placed politicians travelled to Sweden and Norway to discuss this matter and to ask for more volunteers to secure the border with the Soviet Union. When both nations refused to help, Finland took matters into their own hands. On February 15th, 1940 Finland declared war on Norway and 1st Corps landed south of Oslo, the capital and centre of basically everything in Norway. About 10 days later 2nd Corps landed south-west of Oslo to ensure the capital would fall, forcing Norway to sign a peace treaty which was signed on March 5th, 1940. Success in Norway was needed for the planned invasion of Sweden which would shorten the campaign considerably.
1st Corps landing
2nd Corps landing
Oslo captured
Norway surrenders
While the battle in Norway was ongoing, Finnish troops positioned themselves along the Finnish – Swedish border. With a powerful ally like Germany there was less of a need to defend the borders with the Soviet Union. Also, there was a non-aggression pact between the two still active, though Finland knew that such a pact meant virtually nothing to the Soviets. After the defeat of Norway, Finland positioned 1st and 2nd Corps along the Swedish border setting their sights towards Göteborg, Malmö and Stockholm. In March 1940 war was declared on Sweden. The majority of the campaign in Sweden was a march through the countryside and only one battle was worth mentioning, which was the battle for Göteborg. Both sides sustained severe losses during this battle which lasted for about a week. After the battle of Göteborg, Swedish morale was broken and on May 2nd 1940 Sweden surrendered to Finland. Apart from the Danish lands (Denmark itself and Iceland), Scandinavia was under Finnish rule.
Finland eventually won the battle of Göteborg
Advance in Sweden
Sweden surrenders
Finland now had more men to fight the wars, a little more industry and intelligent people to prepare itself for the next phase: claiming Karelia. Talks with Germany started about how to deal with the Soviet Union in 1941. Untill that time, Finland needed to upgrade equipment and train troops though lacked the facilities to do so. Therefor the lend lease act was issued after negotiating with Germany, Italy and Japan. Part of the deal with Italy was a license production for light cruisers.
Lend Lease act and production license deal
Huh, I'm surprised you managed to fit that all in one update. To be honest, I'd love to see your updates in just a bit more detail?
Not saying it's bad so far or anything, but I feel some of the details I'm missing. Your Norway section was fine but you could have put a bit more into the Swedish section, imo.
Once again, not saying it's bad, it's not
Just a minor complaint.
Not saying it's bad so far or anything, but I feel some of the details I'm missing. Your Norway section was fine but you could have put a bit more into the Swedish section, imo.
Once again, not saying it's bad, it's not
Just a minor complaint.
Jay, overthrow those Swedes and take revenge for their "occupation"
That should put you in a better position to take on the Soviets in round 2. Which I suppose should begin shortly.
! thing though, why on earth are the Baltic States still alive! The M-R pact seems to have been signed, judging by the border where Poland was.
That should put you in a better position to take on the Soviets in round 2. Which I suppose should begin shortly.
! thing though, why on earth are the Baltic States still alive! The M-R pact seems to have been signed, judging by the border where Poland was.
Jay, overthrow those Swedes and take revenge for their "occupation"
That should put you in a better position to take on the Soviets in round 2. Which I suppose should begin shortly.
! thing though, why on earth are the Baltic States still alive! The M-R pact seems to have been signed, judging by the border where Poland was.
The SU usually takes 4-5 months after the end of the winter war to take the Baltic States. I have no idea why, as it will only benefit them (more LS, MP, IC, rares etc.) :\
It'll happen by Germany's DoW though.