Today, we have a whole bunch of units to look at, so we split up all Finnish artillery pieces into two time periods - the Winter War (1939-1940) and the Continuation War (1941-1944).
Finnish artillery of the Winter War
Artillery, as they say, is the king of battle. And in the lead-up to the Winter War, Finland was definitely not a kingdom.
Where major powers could boast magnificent rows of identical, factory-produced cannons, Finland simply had to make do with what was on hand. Assorted European surplus, decades out of date and long decommissioned by the manufacturer, made up the vast majority of Finnish artillery. Mint-quality imported pieces were a luxury, and "older" weapons were a baseline; many pieces were simply "old".
The main Finnish Winter War cannon was the French 105 mm Schneider. It was a solid, battle-tested piece, even if most of the battle-testing took place during the Great War. The Finns, as with the rest of their equipment, compensated for it with superior discipline and trained artillery crews, and made attempts at modernization. Several modifications of the cannon's bigger cousin, Canon de 155 C modèle 1917 Schneider, filled up the niche of long-range, division-level artillery. There were pieces bored for 152 mm as well as 155 mm – the Finns knew a time would come when they could not be picky about where their ammo came from.
Finally, the main howitzer was the Russian Empire-produced 122 mm howitzer model 1909/1910 and M1910/30. Once the war broke out, Soviet weapons started filling up the Finnish ranks as trophies. Several dozen Soviet 76 mm M1936 were captured, serving both as divisional artillery and as excellent anti-tank weapons.
Finnish artillery of the Continuation War
Once it was clear that Finland could indeed defend itself, the government took the task of rearmament seriously. The German "partners" contributed to it the most, providing several dozen state-of-the-art 15 cm sFH 18 field howitzers. Over a hundred 155 mm Schneider pieces were provided in 1941, Germany's own trophies from France.
And once the Continuation War began, opened with several successful offensives, the Red Army became Finland's weapons donor once again. Soviet 122 mm M30 howitzers, long-range 122 mm M1931/37 and devastating 152 mm M1937 cannons were all cutting-edge weapons for their time.
The new pieces, coupled with Finland's own revolutionary fire control systems, made Finnish artillery crews some of the most effective in the Second World War. What started with antiquated Great War pieces ended with a world record in fire concentration, set during the Battle of Tali-Ihantala.
In the game
Artillery is a crucial weapon in the Strategic Mind series. Although the scarcity of this vital resource made Finns take extra care in operating these deadly weapons - this resulted in well-trained crews and unique know-how, some of which is represented by the Finnish-only equipment for artillery you will see in the game.
As with many other Finnish units and equipment - the amount of artillery pieces you can get via Prestige is limited, so you have to avoid losses and try your best to get your hands on the Soviet trophies to further bolster your artillery forces.
See our previous unit posts:
Landsverk L-182
Vickers 6-ton tank
Jaeger
Karjalan pelastaja (“The Saviour of Karelia”)
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With Best Regards from Kyiv
Starni Games team
