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Blood on the Snow

	Author: Peter Gade Article Type: Board Game Review Publication Date: 3/19/2004 Publisher: Avalanche Press Related Categories: World War II, Turn-based, Operational, Eastern Front

Components

The color counters are unremarkable, yet readable and easy on the eye. The mix features a minimum of administrative counters, which serve to indicate out of supply status or the presence of a fort in a hex. The ruleset is reasonably presented, but what it gains in brevity it lacks in designer's notes. Case in point: why the heck is there a motorized brass band counter? In truth, both a band and mobile print shop made their way into the Finnish sub-arctic interior in a flush of true International bravado as Soviet leaders invariably couched the invasion as a political event. (After all, if one wants to sell workers on the holy writ of Communism, two elements are prerequisites: leaflets and a brass band.)

Given the lack of such elucidating notes, interested gamers should get their fur-lined mittens on the reading materials cited at the end of this article. Knowing the specifics of this battle, and the Winter War as a whole, will rightly flavor the gamer's experience and give a leg up as to some winning strategies. More publishers should include illuminating design notes, as in the old Carrier and Tokyo Express manuals from Victory Games, and treat wargames as the learning experience they are.

Ultimately, if there is one major distraction in the components, it is in the form of the map. Between forest hexes that look like freezer burned spinach and an ill-considered red hex overlay, the map is reminiscent of those 3-D posters for sale at shopping mall kiosks. You stare, and stare, and stare … and nothing comes into focus. The result is dizzying, and the color combination is an outright bugbear for color-blind players. Clean, playable, dare I say attractive, maps are the very foundation of sound wargame components. This one could crack mirrors, or Plexiglas for that matter.

Additional Rules

Despite the lean ruleset, the game does incorporate a fair share of rules that model the psyche of the Finnish soldier and the nature of combat in near-arctic latitudes. One rule plays a significant role in this d6 combat resolution system, and that is "Panssari Panic." When Finnish defenders face two or more armored companies a single die is cast prior to combat resolution. A natural roll of "6" immediately forces a single step loss on each Finnish defender and a one hex retreat. The Finns do not get away so easily, though. Combat as usual is resolved prior to this forced retreat, so it is very likely that additional losses can be inflicted by the Soviets before the defenders duck and cover.

The historical foundation for this rule is that the Finnish forces saw little, if any, training in anti-tank warfare as the weapons and targets to conduct it were virtually non-existent in Finland at the time. There were instances where even the mere rumor of Soviet armor set defenders into an all-out rout. If any rule in this game emulates the trials faced by the Finnish officer corps at the time, this is it.

Additional rules allow for the construction of ice roads, ski units that can melt back into the forest without being attacked, the capture of Soviet AT guns, and a "Fog of War" rule that models the stealth and woodcraft that the Finns ultimately relied upon for victory. Overall, players familiar with the conflict should find the special rules applied to a game of this scope and low complexity this game quite satisfactory.