Arctic Front: Enforcing The Line (REQUIRES FB v2.0)

[Crossroads]

Now available in the Scenario Database: https://www.theblitz.club/scenarios/Camp...3&ladder=2

THIS SCENARIO INCLUDES BRITISH AND FRENCH UNITS IN EF - EF: FORGOTTEN BATTLES 2.01 REQUIRED

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A LWM v1.1 version of D.Bevard's 'Cracking The Line' Winter War stock scenario. And it needed to begin with "E"!

** Enforcing the Line LWM 1.1



[February 11, 1940, Lahde, Finland.] [H2H WIF GD] [ALL: N VV OPT: AF EA]

In this Historical What-If scenario, the Anglo-French Expeditionary Force arrives to Karelian Isthmus to enforce the Mannerheim line at the height of a Red Army offensive.

Changes include combat engineers, more tanks and improved moreale for Russian player. It was required to migrate the Russians to Axis side, to allow for Allied French, UK to join the now Allied Finnish forces. Swedish fighter pilot volunteers from Lapland with their Gloster Gladiators are here to make a couple of sorties as well as the new Fokker D.21s, MS.406s and Blenheim Mk I:s. Finns also receive a few of the new Molotov cocktail units now available in LWM 1.1 to have something other than rocks to throw at the Sovier armour, aimed at Cracking The Line.

[Requires players to install the Lapland War Mod version 1.1 or newer.]

Alternative History / What-if, based on the D.Bevard stock scenario 'Cracking The Line':

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Background info, quoted from Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franco-Brit...Winter_War
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_War#...tion_plans

France had been one of the earliest supporters of Finland during the Winter War. The French saw an opportunity to weaken Germany's major ally if the Finns were to attack the Soviet Union. France had other motives as well, because it preferred to have a major war in a remote part of Europe over one on French soil. France planned to re-arm the Polish exile units and transport them to the Finnish Arctic port of Petsamo. Another scheme was to execute a massive air strike with Turkish co-operation against the Caucasus oil fields.[148]

The British, for their part, wanted to block the flow of iron ore from Swedish mines to Germany because the Swedes supplied up to 40% of Germany's need.[148] The matter was raised by the British Admiral Reginald Plunkett on 18 September 1939, and the next day Winston Churchill brought the subject in the Cabinet.[149] On 11 December, Churchill opined that the British should gain a foothold in Scandinavia with the objective of helping the Finns but without a war on the Soviet Union.[150] Because of the heavy German reliance on Swedish iron, Hitler had made it clear to the Swedish government in December that any Allied troops on Swedish soil would immediately provoke a German invasion.[151]

On 19 December, French Prime Minister Édouard Daladier introduced his plan to the General Staff and the British War Cabinet. In his plan, Daladier created linkage between the war in Finland and the iron ore in Sweden.[150] There was a danger of Finland's collapse under Soviet hegemony. In turn, Nazi Germany could occupy both Norway and Sweden. These two dictatorships could divide Scandinavia between them, as they had already done with Poland. The main motivation of France was to export the European battle front to Scandinavia in order to protect French soil, whereas the British were concerned with reducing the German war-making ability.[152]

The Military Coordination Committee met the next day in London, and two days later the French plan was put forward.[152] The Supreme War Council elected to send notes to Norway and Sweden on 27 December in which they urged the Norwegians and Swedes to help Finland and offer the Allies their support. Norway and Sweden rejected the offer on 5 January 1940.[151] The Allies then came up with a new plan, in which they would demand that Norway and Sweden give them right of passage by citing the League of Nations resolution as justification. The expedition troops would disembark at the Norwegian port of Narvik and proceed by rail toward Finland, passing through the Swedish ore fields on the way. This demand was sent to Norway and Sweden on 6 January, but it too was rejected six days later.[153]

Stymied but not yet dissuaded from the possibility of action, the Allies formulated a new plan on 29 January. First, the Finns would make a formal request for assistance. Then the Allies would ask Norway and Sweden for permission to move the "volunteers" across their territory. Finally, in order to protect the supply line from German actions, the Allies would send additional units ashore at Namsos, Bergen, and Trondheim. The operation would require 100,000 British and 35,000 French soldiers with naval and air support. The supply convoys would sail on 12 March and the landings would begin on 20 March.[154]

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Should be fun!

Requires the LWM 1.1 version or newer, with UK and France transferred succesfully to JTCS EF2...

Some changes made to stock scenario
- Building the scenario from scratch, with Axis Soviet Union vs Allied Finland, England, and France.
- Soviet morale to 6 from 5. Nothing wrong with the late Winter War Soviet troop morale. Well trained troops, well led, especially those tasked with cracking the Mannerheim line.
- Less Finnish artillery, mortars to begin with, but with supply to 65% from 50%
- More Soviet tanks, with Assault engineers to accompany T-28 "Mailtrain" tanks
- A couple of I-16, i-153 sorties for Soviets, Gloster Gladiator sorties for Finns.
- A couple of new Anti-tank squads (scatchel charges and molotov cocktails for Finns)
- An Anglo-French Expeditionary force Bn coming to rescue towards the end.
Otherwise, tried to follow the spirit of the original scenario as much as possible.