A Desperate battle for territory and survival is about to be waged across a snowy landscape of forests, swamps, and frozen lakes.

In the winter 1939, when 450,000 Soviet troops swarmed across the border into Finland, the future appeared grim for Finnish independence. Finnish forces were pushed back on all fronts and a decisive battle was brewing north of Lake Ladoga where the Soviet formations threatened to cut off the whole Finnish main line of resistance on the Karelin Isthmus. Finnish Colonel Paavo Tavela was already thoroughly familiar with the terrain north of Lake Ladoga, having extensively wargamed the very situation at hand. He chose the place for his weary and tattered Finns to make a stand: a lake called Tolvajarvi.

Red Winter is a fast playing game that simulates the fighting between Finnish ski troops and the Soviet invaders during the pivotal Winter War battle at Tolvajarvi, Finland. The game is set at the "Grand tactical" scale with company-sized units and 90 minute game turns with both ranged attacks and regular hex-to-hex combat. The simple rules provide layers of depth which will emerge during game play. Streamlined mechanics and a low unit density make it possible for each player to take his turn in about 5 to 10 minutes. The 32 turn campaign game can be completed in a single long sitting. There are sixteen additional scenarios, including a tutorial and many other short ones playable in 20 minutes to an hour. Victory conditions have been carefully crafted to give two opponents of equal skill an equal chance of winning.

Terrain varies from poor roads, vital to Soviet armour and supply, to the never-ending forests and swamps where Finnish ski troops reign. Control of the tourist hotel, a commanding structure which doubles as a miniature fortress, is vital for both sides and likely to see-saw. The map is littered with frozen lakes, the barren no-man's-land which everyone wants to cross, but where no one wants to get caught.

Here players are given control over one of the most famous and decisive battles of the Winter War with both sides having a good chance to win militarily - a rate occasion in wargaming. The game will rarely devolve into a stalemate because the Soviet player can up the stakes by committing tanks and armoured cars, effectively forgoing a win based on Victory Points in a gamble to win via his Automatic Victory condition: control of the entire main road. The Finnish player will receive a favourable morale boost if he can weather the Soviet onslaught until the final two days of the battle. If he can skillfully balance his losses with time and giving ground, he may be able to accumulate enough reinforcements to turn the Red tide.

Game Contents:

• One sheet of 5/8 inch counters
• Getting Started Card including Tutorial Scenario
• Two identical Player Aid Cards
• One 22x34 inch Mapsheet
• Rule book
• Playbook
• Four 6-dided die
• One Turn Track Card
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