A Scandinavian Adventure

Back in the early 1970’s  Michael Palin wrote these lines for a Monty Python song:

Finland , Finland , Finland
The country where I want to be
Pony trekking or camping or just watching T.V
Finland , Finland , Finland
It's the country for me

You're so near to Russia
So far away from Japan
Quite a long way from Cairo
Lots of miles from Vietnam

Finland , Finland , Finland
The country where I want to be
Eating breakfast or dinner
Or snack lunch in the hall
Finland , Finland , Finland
Finland has it all

In February 1808 someone in the Russian Empire also thought that Finland had it all and decided they wanted to take it for themselves, starting a war with Sweden that ended eighteen months later with a Russian victory and forcing Sweden to cede Finland to them. This conflict has held some interest for me for quite some time although I freely admit that it is the terrain that has attracted me the most…amphibious operations in the Finnish archipelago, dense forests and narrow valleys, winter operations, log cabins…and many more delicious thoughts.

One of those other delicious thoughts was the fact that at the same time as the Swedes defended in Finland, they fought against the Danes in Norway and as a part of their alliance with Britain, Sir John Moore was sent to Malmo with a sizeable British force. Moore’s troops were never engaged and were soon redeployed to the Iberian Peninsula, but what a idea for a scenario Danes and Russians fighting British and Swedish.

When the Perrys released their Swedes a couple of years ago the opportunity to collect armies for the conflict was hard for me to resist. Yet resist I did, never finding space in my orders to start the collection. Then a few weeks ago a friend of mine, who had started a collection, decided he did not want to proceed and gave me enough to create four line battalions, two jäger battalions, four gun sets and two cavalry regiments - a significant and generous start.

This week the first two units of Swedes have been completed, a battalion from the Nylands Regiment and another rather nice Perry gun set. I have decided to focus on the Finnish army, the infantry of which wore uniforms that differed from those of the Swedish home provinces.

The plan is to expand the Swedes to perhaps twelve to fifteen battalions. No more artillery or cavalry will be needed. The opposition, however, requires some thought. The Danes are easy enough because the Perrys make a full range, but the Russians are a bit more difficult because the 1808 Russians have a different uniform to my 1812 figures. While Brigade Games make a very nice range, their pricing (particularly postage to NZ) makes an army of 300 plus figures becomes an expensive exercise. But those are thing to think on in the future. For now, to finish off, here is the silliness that is Monty Python’s Finland song.