Winter Kill - The Matrix Games version of East Front II

Lapland, near the pre-war Russo-Finnish border: [Fictional scenario; Best played vs. Human opponent] Except for routine patrols and the occasional commando raid against the Leningrad-Murmansk rail line, the Arctic front has become a low-intensity backwater of the war ever since the spring of '42. Now, Finnish aerial reconnaissance has detected the movement of a sizeable Russian force in the wilderness to the west of the White Sea's northernmost shores. The Soviets are using old logging roads in the dense forests to probe westwards, exploring the thinly-manned boundary between the German and Finnish lines. After swiftly consulting via R/T and courier Storch, a plan is drawn up by the local Axis commanders to deal with the Soviet incursion. The Germans will dispatch a blocking force, led by Captain Ritter, to deny the Russians a key road and trail network in the area. Meanwhile the Finns' Task Force Kuusela is to move NE on skis to link up with Ritter and, if conditions warrant, hit the Reds with a flanking attack. It is problematic whether sufficient forces can reach the area in time, however. Due to abundant tree cover, details about the Russian force's composition and strength are sketchy at best. Unfortunately for the Axis, the Soviet commander - the ambitious NKVD Col. Zorin - is ruthlessly driving his mobile group onward, determined to deny the area to the enemy. Initially sent to "light a fire" under the local Red Army commander, it wasn't long before he'd dispatched a report to Beria about the shocking lack of martial "zeal" displayed by officers at the front... He also decided to "toughen up" the troops by launching a limited offensive. The German fascists and their Finnish allies must never be allowed to grow complacent! (Zorin's not a man to let his present assignment on a forgotten sector of the front keep him from coming to Moscow's attention...)