ASL Swedish Volunteers Unboxing

Swedish Volunteers is MMP’s ASL Action Pack #15. It’s a reprint of a third-party pack by Martin Svärd and Erik Leander, brought up to official layout and terminology. Sweden stayed neutral in World War II, but thousands of Swedes went to fight anyway. This pack follows them through Finland, Norway and Russia. MMP shipped it in October 2020. It came out as a trio, along with Roma 2020 and Best of Friends 2.

Getting It

MMP sells it direct for $40. Ritterkrieg had it in stock and on sale for $36 when I checked. As usual, the links are at the bottom of the article.

Contents:

• 16 scenarios, AP144 to AP159
• A half-sheet of new Swedish counters, with 120 1/2″ counters and eight 5/8″ counters
• Chapter Z pages Z85 to Z90, with the scenario special rules, Swedish ordnance and support weapon notes, designer notes and the historical background

It isn’t a complete game. You’ll need the core ASL system, plus the boards and overlays each scenario lists.

The History

Sweden stayed out of World War II, at least officially. When the Soviet Union invaded Finland in November 1939, the Swedish government wouldn’t send its army. Volunteers went instead. The Swedish Volunteer Corps, Svenska frivilligkåren, ended up with 8,260 Swedes, plus 725 Norwegians and 600 Danes. General Ernst Linder commanded it. There was also a volunteer air wing, F 19, with 25 aircraft.

At the end of February 1940, the corps took over the front at Märkäjärvi. That’s in the Salla sector of northern Finland. That freed five veteran Finnish battalions and two batteries. They went south to the Karelian Isthmus, where the war was being decided. The first three scenarios in the pack are fought right there, against the Soviets. The war ended two weeks later with the Moscow Peace. By then, the corps had lost 33 killed, about 50 wounded and more than 130 to frostbite.

A month later, Germany invaded Norway. A few hundred Swedes crossed the border to fight there, many of them Winter War veterans. Gösta Benckert, a Swedish officer who’d led a platoon at Salla, ended up commanding a Norwegian company near Kongsvinger. Four scenarios cover Norway. In them, the Swedes fight the Germans alongside Norwegian and British troops.

When Finland went back to war with the Soviets in 1941, Swedes volunteered again. A Swedish Volunteer Battalion fought at Hanko that year. After it disbanded, the men who stayed on formed the Swedish Volunteer Company. Four scenarios come from its 1942 fighting in Russia. Finally, five come from June 1944 on the Karelian Isthmus, most of them at Tali. At least 412 Swedes served in the company, and 39 were killed.

The Counters

The new counters were my one worry going in. They’re blue, and we already have thousands of blue counters for the Germans and the French. In person, they’re clearly different. I pulled a couple of German counters to compare, and it isn’t close. The Swedish blue has a little purple in it, and I like it. They won’t get mixed up on the board.

The Swedes don’t get any armor, though. It’s infantry, support weapons and a few guns, plus their own concealment counters.

A note on the photos below. The second one is closest to the real color. The lighting in the third and fourth washes it out. In the video, the color is spot on.

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The Scenarios

There are 16 scenarios. Fourteen come from the original pack, updated to official layout and terminology, and some were rebalanced. One was published before by Friendly Fire, and one is brand new. They run from four and a half to eight turns, and most are one or two boards. That makes them great for a quick game or a tournament.

The biggest is easily Through Mud and Blood, since it’s eight turns. It’s played on a half board with a pile of overlays, Finns and Swedes against the Russians. Across the Rio Grande and Mexico and Morocco are funny names for fights in Russia. I blurred the scenario details in the video, so please support MMP and pick up a copy.

Chapter Z

The Chapter Z pages run from Z85 to Z90. They cover the scenario special rules, the Swedish ordnance and support weapons, and the designer’s notes. My favorite part is the historical background. It has inset maps of each area, so you can see where the scenarios happen.

The back page zooms out to a map of Scandinavia, Finland and the Soviet border. It shows where each inset map sits and keys every scenario to it.

Where to Buy

MMP: ASL Action Pack #15, Swedish Volunteers

Ritterkrieg

Debriefing

Swedish Volunteers is a nice little pack. Sixteen small scenarios are easy to get on the table, and the fronts are ones you don’t see often. Most of us never think about Sweden in this war, and that’s what makes it fun.

My worry about another set of blue counters went away the moment I saw them. If you like the Winter War or quick tournament fights, it’s worth the $40.

Academy Out!

GET TO THE CHOPPA…!!!

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