The Borders are Burning ETO (id:#56088)
Multi-Man Publishing (ASL 1 - Beyond Valor (3rd Edition) ID: 123)   [next]   [previous]
Prior Publication: SL 22, AH: ASL Annual `89 A10
See Also: The Borders are Burning by Avalon Hill
Designer: Unknown
Starter kit scenario?:    Deluxe scenario?:
 
Balance:
RussianFinnish
38.461538461538%

Overview:

Along the Karelian Front, as the Soviets crossed the borders, the Finnish forces executed a planned withdrawal to the Mannerheim Line. In the north, however, the Finns were ordered to oppose the Russian advance at every opportunity. At Kuhmo, the 54th Russian Rifle Division advanced along the Repola-Hukkajarvi road. The 13th Finnish Reinforced Battalion, numbering some 1200 reservists, sought to block its advance. At 1030 hours, a mere nine hours after the Soviets renounced their non-aggression pact with Finland, the lead Russian elements encountered the Finns in prepared positions.
Attacker: Russian (81st Rifle Regiment)
Defender: Finnish (13th Reinforced Battalion)  
14 turns
    Players: 2     OBA: Russian     Night: No
Unit Counts:
Squads: A:26.0 D:12.0
AFVs: A:5
T-26S M37 x 2
T-26S M37 x 2
T-26S M37
GAZ-MM x 6

AFVs: D:0
Guns: A:0 D:0
Lahti m39 20L x 2

Victory Conditions:

Exit VP: Building Control VC: Area Control VC:
Unit Based VC: LOS Style VC: CVP Cap:
Misc Rules: FS (E3.71), DS (E3.73) No roads, D: WC (E3.712)
Overlays: NONE
Errata (source)
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Scenario info

Last Played:
DateReporterOpponentBal.ResultTimeComments
2026-01-27(A) Tripp Killin vs Mark Thompson Finnish winWow, what a different scenario, and we had lots of fun. As the Russians, I had a short way to go but a long time to get there. Sadly, the terrain, deep snow, low Russian ELR, impressive Finnish units, a 7 Finnish SAN, and a wilderness of wire made it very challenging.

I broke the scenario into thirds: break the first line of resistance and get past the initial fortifications; clear the road and get everyone down it in good order; exit for the win. 5 turns, 5 turns, 4 turns.

My main push was on the Board 5 woods road. I sent about a third of my force to sweep the Board 2 hill. Things were going pretty well most of the game. However, my 10-2 kill stack (shooting from Board 5) failed to clear the Board 2 heights, but my troops there managed to trudge up snowy slopes and take them under fire (I even created two fanatic squads and two heroes). The 10-2 died to a casualty 1MC and his two squads conscripted in despair.
My attack on Board 5 made slow but steady progress, and I focused on keeping my tanks as safe as possible. When we finally made close contact at the roadblock, dice went my way, in both advancing fire and close combat, and the Finns were forced to retreat.

In the second phase, it was a bit of picking up stragglers and trying to press the Fins back, clearing road hexes. This was very tedious, but it's a 14 turn game. There were a bunch of tiny scenarios taking place across the boards, with 1-2 Finns vs. 3-6 Russians of diminishing quality. An ill-fated local Finnish counter-attack cost them two precious squads, and now we started to move with some purpose.

The last part was setting up for the final dash. The victorious heroes from Board 2 managed to keep the Finns from occupying the exit hexes, or the back row, so I had a good shot. At the start of Turn 14 I had the forces to exit within range, and was only facing two Finnish half-squads. But a DM Finnish full squad self-rallied and now I'd have some proper RFP to run through.
The tanks and all the trucks got off the board ok (the last ATR shot missed a truck) but a squad-and-a-half of conscript passengers broke in their trucks, as they exited. The 9-1, hero, conscript squad, and fanatic 4-5-8 with a stack of prisoners (having cleared all of Board 2 and then fallen on the Finnish flank around Tun 11) then tried to move off. Only the hero made it past the 1MC, for no EVP. The broken and pinned remnants meant my last two units would have to pay overstacking penalties in the exit hex and thus didn't have MF to exit. Stupid deep snow.

I exited 42 VP, 3 shy. Less than the 9-1 + Fanatic, or even less than the 1.5 conscript squads that broke as their truck exited. It couldn't have been any closer.

Great game, and well-designed scenario.
2023-10-05(A) Shane Pask vs Russian winThe Finns could get nothing working and it was all over by turn 8 with only 1 Finn HS and ATR left and the road clear (2 wire, roadblock and minefield removed). I sent everything through the forest and the Finns struggled to get their board 2 troops over the hill and into contact.
2022-08-05(D) David Garvin vs Bill Sosnicki Russian win
2021-07-09(D) Dwayne Duval vs Kevin Duval Finnish winUsed German balance.The Russians chose the woods road approach resulting in the infantry getting ahead of his vehicles. Many Russian double sixes helped the Finnish cause.
2021-07-09(A) Kevin Duval vs Dwayne Duval Finnish winMade early mistake of splitting my forces into two parts before realizing VC exit was any 'single' road hex. The Deep Snow prevented northern group from linking backup with other group making it's way to the west edge of board 5.
View all or balance report
ActionDate
ubertripp Added a playing2026-01-28 13:18:35
A15.4er Added a playing2025-09-15 15:13:31
Andruz61 Added a playing2025-07-24 20:17:56
Hutch Modified the Attacker's AFVs2024-10-17 19:15:53
Hutch Modified the unit counts2024-10-17 19:15:18
FileDescriptionUserViews
VASL Scenario Setup (ASL 123 The Borders Are Burning v667.vsav)VASL SetupTuruk962
(russ-fin.png)Imagehoxson11577
(finnish winter troops.png)Imagehoxson11629
(asl123.gif)Map ImageTwirling1780
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Statistics:
Avg Rating: 5.78Votes: 18
Views: 10886
To-Play list count: 0
Estimated Play time: 15.7 hours
Recorded Games: 13
Archive recorded plays:
Russian5
Finnish8
Drawn:0

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