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---
title: Finland
---
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::: {#toc .toc aria-labelledby="mw-toc-heading" role="navigation"}
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## Contents {#mw-toc-heading}

[ ]{.toctogglespan}
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-   [[ 1 ]{.tocnumber} [ Finland - the basics
    ]{.toctext}](#Finland_-_the_basics)
-   [[ 2 ]{.tocnumber} [ War with Sweden ]{.toctext}](#War_with_Sweden)
-   [[ 3 ]{.tocnumber} [ War with Norway ]{.toctext}](#War_with_Norway)
-   [[ 4 ]{.tocnumber} [ War with Denmark
    ]{.toctext}](#War_with_Denmark)
-   [[ 5 ]{.tocnumber} [ Winter War ]{.toctext}](#Winter_War)
-   [[ 6 ]{.tocnumber} [ Operation Barbarossa
    ]{.toctext}](#Operation_Barbarossa)
-   [[ 7 ]{.tocnumber} [ What next? ]{.toctext}](#What_next.3F)
:::

## [ Finland - the basics ]{#Finland_-_the_basics .mw-headline}

Now Finland is a nice country to play. It has some nice tech teams such
as FM Mannerheim and Tikkakoski. The downside is that you only have 1
research slot open with your low IC so you should concentrate on
Industrial techs early on. Note that your starting infantry is already
the 1936 model so your army is in theory already capable to fight. The
only problem is that you\'re a democracy. Elect right in 1936 elections
and then change for ministers that improve your infantry building and
manpower growth since that\'s what you\'re going to need. Do not bother
researching tanks. You don\'t have oil and most of the provinces are
forest. The Finnish navy is also near useless so you may want to scrap
them although they were fine ships in real life.

Research the doctrines that make your infantry cheaper before actually
producing any. If you want to play defensively go ahead and build those
damn fortifications in Sortavala, Joensuu and Kajaani but remember that
you are building a Greater Finland with its borders in Arkangelsk or
whatever.

In 1936 you\'re just 2 leaps from the \"may join alliances\" on
interventionist slider and since you are in a desparate need for
blueprints and such I suggest starting off with this slider. Random
events that move you towards authoritarianism are also nice since what
you want to do in the following strategy is to be able to wage war
before the Winter War :)

You could also move the Democracy slider 2-3 steps, and rule as a
dictator, giving you the right to attack anybody.

Finland has a nice surplus of rares. Consider trading this with Germany
for energy but remember to have a little extra so you can count on
having enough of this after building some factories. You have very good
relations with Sweden which is nice because they have some excess metal
you also need.

Joining the alliance of Latvia and Estonia can be usefull since you get
some blueprints from them and money/resource by trading your tech with
them. They get annexed anyway after Molotov-Ribbentrop so why not suck
up some juice from them before this?

## [ War with Sweden ]{#War_with_Sweden .mw-headline}

If you have had the event that moves your democracy-authoritarian slider
by 2 and have made other changes accordingly you will be able to declare
war in 1939. The USSR, the UK and Germany have however guaranteed the
independence of your neighbours so in order to invade your Scandinavian
neighbours you should join the Axis right after their attack in Poland
(otherwise this has 0% chance). Invade Sweden! After its annexation
you\'ll have enough IC for another tech team. Germany will help you on
this but if you don\'t restrict their advance without assuming their
control they will propably get all the best rare-producing provinces in
Skåne (southern Sweden)

The downside is that before you are through with Sweden the Winter War
triggers. Give them what they want for now so you can build up your army
for the next 1½ years so you\'ll be ready when Barbarossa starts.

## [ War with Norway ]{#War_with_Norway .mw-headline}

Attacking Sweden without an alliance with Germany usually leads to a
highly undesirable war with the axis. Attacking Norway, however, rarely
causes any additional wars. Fighting Norway without taking Sweden first
is a hard task, considering the fact that you have to attack through the
wilderness and mountains of lapland. Norway should be attacked as soon
as possible to get more industry.

## [ War with Denmark ]{#War_with_Denmark .mw-headline}

In versions 1.0 and 1.1, I always took Denmark. In 1.2 Germany will most
of the time declare war if you decide to attack Denmark. If you are
allied with Germany, you won\'t be fast enought to annex Denmark before
the Germans. Denmark should be left for the Germans.

## [ Winter War ]{#Winter_War .mw-headline}

Even if you have taken Sweden and Norway, winning the Winter War is
impossible without Germany. If you decide to fight and play well, you
might push all the way to Archangelsk. Eventually the Soviets will
strike back with 100+ divisions and you will lose. Bulding forts is a
good tactic, but then the Soviets tend to do a amphibious assault on the
western coast of Finland and you are finished. The only advantage you
get for fighting the Soviets is that the AI will send ridiculous amounts
of divisions to guard the border after the war if you managed to hold on
for months, giving the eventual German invasion of Russia an easy task
of pushing deep inside Russia. If you accept the Soviet Unions demands,
you will have more time to equip your army for the next war and you will
not lose manpower.

## [ Operation Barbarossa ]{#Operation_Barbarossa .mw-headline}

When Germany declares war on Russia, the fun begins. If you fought well
in the Winter War, the border will be swarming with Soviet divisions and
you should just defend and wait until the germans are somewhere around
Estonia. If you did not fight the Winter War, you should try attacking
as soon as the war starts.

Start taking all the provinces you can. You should be extra careful when
taking over Murmansk and Kola, as the AI usually strategically redeploys
troops to Kola and attacks you from behind. The trip from Murmansk to
Kola takes a long time, and probably needs more than one division just
in case if a soviet division is redeployed on their way.

You should also try to take Leningrad fast and prevent the enemy from
hiding in their forts. You will also need very few divisions to defend
Leningrad and you can attack with more power in the east.

You can either try taking the areas of Estonia, or push towards Moscow.
Taking Moscow is possible, but getting there before the Germans is hard
due to poor infrastructure. Estonia will be easy to get, but Moscow is
extremely useful for a small country like Finland. If you managed to
take either, start taking all the provinces you can grab. The Germans
will eventually pass your troops and you can\'t take any soviet
provinces anymore.

## [ ]{#What_next?} [ What next? ]{#What_next.3F .mw-headline}

After the Soviet Union and the neighbouring countries have fallen,
Finland has very little left to do. It is possible to invade the UK, if
you first build giant stacks of subs and get a little lucky. The AI
defends the UK very badly, and about 20 divisions will be enought to
take Britain. You could also send some divisions to take minor european
countries for Germany just to pass time.
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