Munt's Finns v. John's Cossacks
Encounter battle on 8x6 snow table.
Munt won the dice roll and chose the LH side of the table where he thought the better fields of fire would serve him best. He deployed his artillery & 2 infantry at the start with most of his HMGs & mortars attached.
The Russians had heavy tank, SP guns & Cossacks on at the start with 3 small platoons to follow. The armour was on the roads (movement off roads in the snow meant bogging tests each turn) & Cossacks left & centre.
The Finns dug in while the Russians moved their heavy armour up in the centre while moving the Cossacks to their left.
In the early turns things went well for the Finns. Their Stukas got a tank and the Cossacks lost a few when they strayed too close to the Finnish HMGs. Also, all the Finn reserves came on quickly (though all in the far corner).
As the Cossacks continued their sweep to the left, the Finnish Pioneers attacked out of the wood at the Russian armour. Munt didn't get the attack right and it was beaten off. In the centre the Russian armour pounded away trying to take out the Finnish support weapons. They got the Paks, but found the HMGs difficult targets.
The Cosacks lined up on the Finn's flank and waited for the armour to clear the HMGs. With losses steadily mounting, the writing was on the wall for the Finns if they just sat there and took it. So their infantry left their trenches and attacked the Russian armour under the cover of smoke.
It was a brave move, but the Russians fell back losing just one tank. They could afford to lose that and now the Finns were out in the open they were easy targets for the Russian tanks.
The Finns had put up a brave fight, but the Russian commander had kept a cool head, stuck to his plan and eventually prevailed.
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