Gemigabok presents...
Winter of No Surrender
http://www.saunalahti.fi/~ejuhola/7.62/chainofcommand/WoNS_1-2/index.html
Campaign Eleven – Fangs of the Wolf
Game One – Part I
Winter of No Surrender (WoNS) is a series of Winter War campaigns for Chain of Command and other game systems. This is our playthrough of the eleventh
WoNS campaign –
Fangs of the Wolf. The campaign is currently in playtest and will be released... later.
We're using Chain of Command rules with the At the Sharp End supplement, loads of special campaign rules, and 20mm figures. At the time of writing, we have John as Colonel Sharov and Janne as his assistant commander. We have Jarkko as Lieutenant-Colonel Susitaival, with Mikko as his assistant command.
Previously on Fangs of the Wolf:
Campaign Introduction:
https://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=135724.0
After reaching the Palovaara Crossroads on December 4th, Combat Group Sharov headed north. There they ran into the Finnish 16th Independent Battalion and attempted four times to break through their defences at Lake Piispajärvi. Those battles are to be covered in the planned WoNS Campaign 10 –
The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.
Having failed to achieve a breakthrough at Piispajärvi, Sharov pulled his forces back some distance and waited for reinforcements. But they would never arrive... the Red Army's elite 44th Division would eventually be destroyed many kilometers away, on the Raate Road. Few of those Ukranians would ever see their far-away homeland.
On December 19th, the Finns ambushed a Russian convoy at Palovaara, sealing the encirclement. And this is when our campaign begins.
Date: 19 December 1939, Day Twenty of the Winter War, 1600 hours, night.
Location: Palojoki crossroads, 30 kilometers north of the village of Suomussalmi, in central-eastern Finland. About forty kilometers from the border of the Soviet Union.
Weather Conditions: Clear skies, -13 degrees Celsius (+9 degrees Fahrenheit). There is about 20 cm (8 inches) of snow. Darkness has just fallen. A semblance of dawn will appear around 0730 hours.
At the Palojoki crossroads ambush site, Lieutenant-Colonel Susitaival (Jarkko) looks at the scene of destruction... three bullet-hole riddled trucks and two staff cars are visible, steam billowing from their punctured radiators... about forty to fifty Russian dead are strewn about the area, some still in their vehicles, others faces down in the snow, half hidden beneath the branches of spruce trees. There are no prisoners – the Kuusamo men simply did not take any. Some Russians fled east, further into the woods. Without being ordered to do so, some of the northmen just looked at each other, and went walking after them in small groups. Susitaival, himself from the south, has no doubt that those northern men will return in an hour or two, and he is sure that they still won't have any prisoners.
CAMPAIGN TURN ONE, December 19, 1800-2400 hrsFangs of the Wolf moves in eight-hour campaign turns. There are 17 of them in the campaign. At the start, the Finns are known to occupy Tables A, B, C and T. The Soviet units locations are unknown, but they may place them anywhere on Tables D through R.
To win, the Finnish players must bring the Soviet leader Colonel Sharov's Opinion to -10. This is best done by causing the enemy some major losses. The Soviets will win if that does not happen. They will win a major victory if they are able to break out of the encirclement.
The Finns do not have sufficient forces to beat the Russians in a conventional, frontal attack. Instead, they must find and concentrate their attacks on the enemy's weakest spots. Campaign Turns One and Two take place in the near-total darkness of the frozen north and it is difficult to do proper reconnaissance in the dark. Nevertheless, Susitaival sends out many reconnaissance patrols to seek out the enemy. As this is an on-going double-blind campaign, I cannot give information on the results though.
The Finns advance to the unoccupied Table S Kukkarovaara and take up positions there. A couple of hours later a Russian patrol dressed in whiteovers approaches the Kukkarovaara hill from the north. There is a short exchange of fire and the Russians retreat towards the north, towards Table R Hyövynvaara.
CAMPAIGN TURN TWO, December 20, 0000-0800 hrsIt is a cold night with no clouds. The wind is rising but luckily it is coming from the south. The mercury falls to -17 degrees Celsius (1 degree F).... it is now so cold that any Russian units wading across the still unfrozen Mustajoki River (Table M) will lose men due to hypothermia. Luckily the bridge on Table M is still intact.
The Finns send more units on reconnaissance missions and move their other troops.
Over on Kukkarovaara Hill (Table S) the Finnish unit there has another encounter with a white-clad Russian patrol.
CAMPAIGN TURN THREE, December 20, 0800-1600 hrs It is finally daylight. -16 degrees Celsius (+3 degrees F). The wind, blowing from the south-west, brings with it clouds and a light snowfall... Reconnaissance is now much easier and the Finns take good advantage of this.
At 1500 hrs a Russian ski patrol encounters enemy forces on Table F, Kuohulampi marsh! The skiers use their binoculars and observe the Finns on the other side of the marsh for a while, until they are spotted and the enemy fires their LMG at the patrol, which then withdraws. There is no good info about the number of enemies on F but they are there!
In the south, the Russians again probe Table S.
CAMPAIGN TURN FOUR, December 20, 1600-2400 hrsNight falls again... -20 degrees Celsius (+3 degrees F). There is some wind from south-by-south-west and it is still cloudy and snowing. Visibility is 18” in the dark, and, do to the snowfall, a maximum of 36” with illumination.
Meanwhile in New York, US President Hoover presides over a special event in support of Finland. In Sweden and Denmark, volunteer medical units are equipped and sent to Finland.
At Kollaa front, not far from here, the Finnish army has taken the initiative and is working on surrounding enemy forces. This is hampered by temperatures falling to -25 degrees Celsius.
In the south, at Ägläjärvi, 400 kilometers to the south-east from here, General Pajari's units continue their assault. They've been at this for a week. Pajari himself is so exhausted that he has to be carried away from the fight.
But here at Suomussalmi, Group Susi is about to swing into action! This is good because we've played almost a quarter of the campaign without any combat
They have decided to attack Table N, Konttipuro. Their reconnaissance indicates that the Russians have numerous trucks there, and that there are armored cars which patrol the area.
Table N, Konttipuro
Table N, seen from the east...
In a conventional Chain of Command campaign the attacker has a number of Support Points which are balanced with the defender's by the scenario and the Force Rating. The Support Points are used to buy supporting units and field works. Fangs of the Wolf is different in that the scenarios aren't balanced, in fact the Finn will lose if he fights a fair fight. Both sides get 1d6 support points with which they may purchase some very basic supports such as satchel charges. But any other supports must be allocated by the players from the forces which are available. So if the Finn wants an anti-tank gun in the scenario, he needs to bring his anti-tank gun platoon into the fight.
As both sides have two players, we can have a maximum of two platoons per side. Any additional platoons brought to the fight will furnish their side with one support unit, for example a platoon of two anti-tank guns would give one gun as a support.
The Finns choose to attack with one infantry platoon (3rd company, 1st Platoon - led by Lieutenant Kora, four squads, 2 SMG, 2 LMG) and one machinegun platoon (3rd MMG Platoon, 4 MMG).
The Soviets will field their 22nd and 23rd rifle platoons from the 4th Company. They have 1d6 support points plus three section-sized entrenchments due to their
Dig, Comrade, Dig national characteristic. As
Deployed First units they will also have a teamster section of sixteen men, sixteen wagons and carts and 32 horses. And a radio team with a Junior Leader.
In addition, both sides will also field a number of support units which will become apparent later.
Konttipuro derives its name from the stream which originates in the marsh and leads east, to the great lake some kilometers away. At its origin it flows underneath the road through three culverts, which if destroyed would prevent all wheeled vehicles from traversing the Table.
The road runs up the hill, towards the north.
The marsh is now frozen but no entrenchments can be dug in marshland. The woods offer light cover and blocks line of sight after 4” out and 9” inside. The struggling woods also offers light cover, but does not limit line of sight of the use of indirect weapons.
The trucks on the road are from the Divisional transportation battalion. They've been parked there and are mostly out of fuel, having been siphoned dry in order to provide gasoline to the Battalion's combat vehicles. The trucks may still contain some useful supplies however.
The jump-off points are shown in red (Russian) and blue (Finnish). As this is a Big Chain of Command game, there are five jump-off points per side.
The tables are based on real maps of the area. Two sizes are provided, 6x4 and 8x5 feet, we're using the latter.
A special scenario is included with the campaign, the
Motti.
3.6.5 THE MOTTI SCENARIO
INTRODUCTION
This scenario represents a situation where the Soviet defender - stuck in an encirclement - suspects that Finns may lurk behind any tree but is still unprepared for the actual assault.
THE PATROL PHASE
The defending Soviet starts with six Patrol Markers which must all be placed on a road and no closer than 12" from any edge of the table. These Patrol Markers must be no less than 3" and no more than 10" apart.
The attacking Finn starts with six Patrol Markers. They can be placed on the east and west any table edges as well as on any edge where the Finn occupies the adjacent table. All Patrol Markers on a given table edge must be no more than 12" apart.
The Russian gets the first move. While relying on Russian maps the Russian Patrol Markers must stay within 10" of each other (see special Soviet Patrol Phase rule). He may split his Patrol Markers into two independent groups of three markers.
During the Patrol Phase the Finns may move their Patrol Markers freely. They are not obliged to keep within 12", or any other distance, of other friendly Patrol Markers (see special Finnish Patrol Phase rule).
Once the Patrol Phase ends with one side locked down, the Jump‐Off Points are deployed; the
defender player placing four (all within 18" of a road), the attacker four. In addition, anywhere where a road leads off-table towards a Soviet-occupied Table, the point where the road meets the table edge is considered to be a jump-off point for any vehicles in the Soviet force, which are not Deployed First. This Jump-Off Point may be disabled like any other.
FORCE SUPPORT
Each side gets support according to the units deployed into the battle (see Battle Sequence, above). In addition, the Russian gets one entrenchment (due to Dig, Comrade Dig national characteristic) + 1d6 Support Points. The Finn gets 1d6 Support Points.
OBJECTIVE
To win a victory, the attacker must force the defender to withdraw from the table, either voluntarily or due to a reduction in his Force Morale but keeping his own Force Morale at 3 or more. If he fails, the defender will win.
The attacker will be the active player in the first Phase of the game.
We played the Patrol Phase using IwouldLikeToRage's great Patrol Phase app. In order to confuse you as much as possible, we used blue tokens for Russians and red ones for Finns.
With the jump-off points established, the Russian places his
Deployed First units.
In a normal Chain of Command game all troops are combat troops which are deployed at the player's will when doing so is advantageous to him. But in a Motti situation there is no front line - the Finns can strike anywhere and catch all manner of units by surprise.
Deployed First units are, as their name suggests, rear-echelon units which are deployed before the game begins. They may be deployed anywhere on the table but must be within the (often roughly rectangular) area defined by the defending player's Jump-Off Points. They include artillery, supply and transportation units, as well as headquarters units.
Deployed First units will be busy doing whatever they are doing or sleeping around fires if it is Night. Each unit has two two-man teams of guards, which are taken from the unit. Many Russian rear-echelon units have an LMG for this very purpose. These guard teams may activate on a 1 or a 5, if a 5 is used the Soviet player does not accumulate a pip towards a CoC die. If the Soviet player wishes to withdraw them through the Jump-Off Points, he can do it as soon as Surprise allows (see R4. Surprise), but then they will leave their equipment behind. If the Soviet player wishes to withdraw with their equipment, they must first get their vehicles ready and their equipment packed in them, and then drive off the Table. Each sub-unit (section or so) rolls a d6 on each activation. On a 6 they have advanced their goal. The number of 6s needed before they are ready to move is indicated by the number after their
Deployed First rating. Once that many 6s have been rolled, the sub-unit is ready to start moving.
John puts his supply wagons in the middle of the road, and the 15 teamsters are spending their evening between the trucks and the wagons. Both types of vehicles will provide light cover.
The other
Deployed First unit that the Russians have is a radio team with a Junior Leader.
This is one of the Regiment's 6-PK radios. It has a 0.66 Watt output and a range of up to 8 km.
It is dark. The Russians are resting and warming themselves by the fires when suddenly mortar bombs roar in from the sky... BOOM! BOOM!
This is a Pre-Game Barrage by the Finnish Battalion's mortar platoon of two 81mm mortars. In Fangs of the Wolf both sides may fire as many Pre-Game Barrages as they have ammunition for, but there are serious limitations on the amount of ammunition available.
In WoNS, there are different kinds of pre-game barrages, depending on the available artillery assets. A pre-game barrage by two 81mm mortars is more of a harrasment than an actual threat. The Russian units will be able to deploy during it if they roll anything else than a one.
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