Shad's Note: I'm dumping in a bunch of my old BGG AARs. If you've followed my "work" on BGG then you've read these before...

Deployment

The 6 Soviet SMGs have little choice for setup, however, it's good to have some sort of plan on how the hell you're going to save your ass because the Finns will be on you almost immediately.

I chose to put them on the south side of the starting hex and intended to run them SSE straight into a large forest which I knew I could reach within 2 turns. From there I planned to hold out as long as possible in the hopes that the Soviet reinforcements wouldn't be too late in coming.

As the Finns, I split my forces putting everything I could on the aerosans and having those enter from the center of the south edge. Hopefully they would keep the Soviets from getting out onto the ice while the rest of my infantry skied in from the west edge.

My goal was to encircle the Soviet troops and then quickly grind them down in assaults before the reinforcements could arrive.

Initial Moves

The Soviets quickly reached the relative safety of the forest, and the Finns easily established a loose perimeter around the patrol.

It was here that a wholly unexpected and quite entertaining game of Cat & Mouse developed. The Finns did not have enough men to establish an airtight ring unless they were immediately adjacent to the Soviets...

...and the Soviets were ski-capable, so the Finns had no advantage in movement. This meant that the Soviets were constantly maneuvering within the safety of the forest looking for a chance to break out, while the Finns were slowly creeping closer trying not to over-commit.

The Finns knew that no reinforcement call would be made until the first Soviet soldier lay dead, so they were in no hurry to attack so long as the Soviets remained holed up in their little forest.

As for the Soviets, they patiently waited for the Finns to get juuuuuuuuust close enough and then split and headed in two directions.

The Chase

1/3rd of the Soviets along with one of their two leaders burst NE through a gap in the tightening Finnish noose. They had waited until the Finns were nearly upon them, so when they did finally move they were able to get a good head start. The other 2/3rds of the patrol headed South through the forest.

The Finns now had a tough choice. They could launch an all out pursuit of the smaller force and risk the larger slipping away as well, or they could send a harassing detachment after the escapees and focus on quickly grinding down the remaining bulk of the patrol.

After much consideration, they went with the latter option.

While the fanatical Sisu closed in on the remaining Soviets in the woods, the two escaped SMG platoons skied for their lives east towards the Soviet lines. They could move just as fast as the Sisu, on who they had gotten a good headstart, and the few aerosans the Finns had were weakly armed and unable to stop them.

While they rushed to safety, their comrades back in the forest were systematically cut to pieces by the Finns. To their credit, when only a single brave Soviet Captain remained alive, he too refused to surrender...

The End

The Soviet aerosan reinforcements showed up on schedule, but by then the four SMG platoons that had been left behind were dead to a man and the 2 that had broken free were only 1 turn away from exiting under their own power.

The Finns had suffered only 1 steploss, and led by 7 VPs at this point. Staring across the frozen lake at the Finns reforming their lines on shore, the Soviet aerosans knew that their superior numbers would be no match for the Finns superior firepower in a head-on attack across open ground.

The order was given to retreat, and 2300 the battle ended, a Major Victory for Finland.

Final Thoughts

Given the Soviet strategy used - holing up in favorable terrain and waiting for help - I don't think the outcome will ever be much different. If the aerosan reinforcements don't arrive during the battle they will be of no use, as they lack the punch needed to inflict serious casualties on their own.

This would be worth playing again using a simple "ski for your goddamn life" strategy as the Soviet player.