HOLF Players' Guild Forum

Great Northern War score chart The Great Northern War scenario featured four major theaters of combat: a Western theater (in Germany & Denmark), a Central Theater (in the area of the Baltic States region), an Eastern Theater (around the Finnish/Russian border region), and the naval war. In addition, the Tartars engaged in hostilities in Central Russia with Russia and Poland/Lithuania.

The fight in the Western Theater was a victory for Denmark and (especially) Saxony over the Swedes, who stumbled out of the gate and never recovered against some strong opposition. While Sweden was able to occupy Kobenhavn and score some successes during the conflict, the resources spent and the heavy combat losses sustained in almost continuous fighting far outweighed any benefits derived. And by the end of the game, the Swedes main army was in full retreat with their original possessions occupied or in jeopardy.

The situation in the Central Theater was very different. The Swedes (without the benefit of virtually any reinforcements) methodically wore down and pushed back the Russian army throughout the Summer turns and started to prey on Polish/Lithuanian cities by the last turn. Score chart by turn

Eastern Theater hostilities really took off in the second (Summer) campaign, with the Swedes appearing to get the slight upper hand as the game went on. However, the Russians appeared primed for a pivotal counterattack at Novgorod as the game ended. While not exactly part of this theater, the performance of the Tartars, who bothered the Russians and Poland/Lithuania at various times from positions within the Russian heartland, was very noteworthy as well.

Timeline, etc.

The naval war, expected to be something of a “sure-thing” for Sweden, turned out to be anything but after a series of wild battle results (including an improbable naval win by the Danish fleet at Kobenhavn with less than a 10% chance of victory). Eventually, the Swedes were able to get some revenge at Aarhuus late in the game and Sweden essentially enjoyed freedom of the seas for most of the Summer campaign. But the “easy fight” that some expected turned into a more drawn out affair that the Swedes could ill-afford from a time/resource standpoint.

Saxony (+42%) was the clear victor in the scenario, and would have likely increased their VP total in the coming turns as well. Denmark (+24.5%) edged a hard-charging Sweden (+24.1%) for second place, with Russia (-8.98%) finishing last. The Tartars had the highest score increase in the scenario (+48.5%) but were not eligible to win the game because of their white-cell status.

Great Northern War casualty chart

Swedish-owned cities occupied at end-game: Bremen (Denmark), Wismar (Saxony), Pskov (Russia)
Northern Alliance owned cities occupied at end-game: Kobenhavn (Sweden), Aarhuus (Sweden), Kholm (Sweden), Novgorod (Sweden), Kharkov (Tartars)
Polish/Lithuanian-owned cities occupied at end-game: Nevel (Sweden), Minsk (Tartars), Bobruisk (Tartars)

Western Front map
Central/Eastern Front map