Strategic Mind: Spirit of Liberty - Prologue 1939 News

Hello!

On December 13th our project Headquarters: World War II was presented at the Slitherine Next event along with a video about Starni Games team. So, if you would like to know more about Headquarters: World War II or the Starni team - we invite you to watch the broadcast recording here:

https://youtu.be/JksoUf2eh1I?t=7373

The Headquarters section of the event had the following structure:

- Intro video
- Strani team presentation
- Single-player operation gameplay video with dev commentary
- 4-players multiplayer match highlights with dev commentary

So, there is really a lot of juicy content there and a quite in-depth discussion of the game. I think that is the first time our team prepared a footage of a multiplayer match by 4 Devs recorded by each person to create the shortened “highlights” version and present the multiplayer to the audience.

Please, let us know what you think about the project and its presentation. Your feedback is really important for our team.

Also, feel free to send your questions for the upcoming Dev Q&A #3 where we will be answering any and all of your questions on all of our projects before the New Year.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfb9kxr6wnSVgDakaybefNIQqVLyxP_v9LlGAKPBs4EMpwGTw/viewform

With Best Regards from Kyiv
Starni Games team

Conventional military wisdom goes that the best defense is offense. Field Marshal Mannerheim, being an academy-trained military officer, definitely knew this.

Through numerous war games conducted in advance Mannerheim had identified several potential weak points in the Finnish defense, if the Soviets had attacked. One of them, near the village of Tolvajarvi, could potentially allow the Soviets to bypass the main Finnish defenses entirely, and strike the Mannerheim Line into the rear.



Complicating matters, when the Winter War did break out, the defenses at Tolvajarvi were being attacked by an entire army. Against 6 rifle divisions with artillery support and a massive armored brigade, an asymmetrical response was the Finns' only hope.

The task was given to the already-legendary Colonel Paavo Talvela, who employed the help of his old friend Lieutenant Colonel Aaro Pajari, also a storied veteran. And legends like them were needed badly – the battle of Tolvajarvi was off to a very shaky start.



Upon arrival Pajari's men came under friendly fire from an allied unit, who confused them for the Soviets. Luckily, the incident produced no casualties, but did a blow to the troops' morale, which later turned into a humiliating route when the Soviet forces indeed attacked. Here Pajari decided to seize the initiative – he took volunteers from his battalion and led them in a devastating raid behind the enemy lines, slowing down the Soviet advance. This time, a deadly friendly fire broke out among the confused and frightened Bolsheviks, who did not expect to see Finns so deep in their midst.

The following day produced another bizarre incident. A Soviet detachment managed to capture a Finnish position, but couldn't capitalize on their success – starved and exhausted, they got too busy devouring the sausage soup from the Finnish field kitchen. This allowed the Finns to launch a deadly counter-attack. Thus, a minor episode of the Battle of Tolvajarvi came to be remembered as the Sausage War.

On the next morning, the assault on the Soviet HQ, the well-fortified "Hotel Tourist", met further complications. Not all of the forces had arrived in position on time, and some had to take a dangerous shortcut to quickly rejoin the rest. This took them over open ice, which made them easy targets for the Soviet artillery. Pajari, however, was able to turn the situation around with clever maneuvering and timely artillery support.



The true test of wills came when the Soviet and the Finnish forces clashed in close combat, sometimes as close as a knife's stabbing distance – and now it was the Soviets' turn to be broken and routed. The Finns quickly encircled the Hotel Tourist – any tanks the Soviets dispatched to assist the defenders were ambushed in the thick surrounding forests.

The fighting inside the hotel took 2 hours, but the results spoke for themselves – the Soviet HQ was wiped out, an entire rifle division ceased to exist, and the Soviet attack at Tolvajarvi had to be abandoned for good. The Finns captured 20 tanks of various kinds and numerous anti-tank weapons and machine guns. Last but not least, this was the first successful Finnish offensive of the war – where Taipale had shown the nation that the Soviets could be stopped, Tolvajarvi proved that they could be beaten back.

The news spread across Finland, then across the globe, and the entire world had something new to look forward to: not the swift Soviet victory (which was definitely off the table by then), but an even worse beating, until Stalin would be forced to abandon his conquest for good.

In the game

This is the third scenario of the historical campaign - you have to take charge and start a Finnish counterattack, and potentially capture a Soviet HQ.



The fighting is happening over the frozen lakes and rivers and it is critical to use terrain to your advantage. You can even try to use ice to sneak into the enemy rear, but if you do that risky move in the wrong place and get spotted - the enemy artillery will wreck your troops. This best be avoided as, unlike the Soviets, you have no extra troops to spare.

Will you be able to win this tough battle and make the Soviets question their overly ambitious conquest plans?

👉 Support us — add the upcoming Strategic Mind: Spirit of Liberty to your wishlist:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1474770/Strategic_Mind_Spirit_of_Liberty/

With Best Regards from Kyiv
Starni Games team

Hello guys!

This post was supposed to happen much earlier, but it is really hard to keep up in terms of workload and communication due to the following events:

Starting in October Russia started targeting the power supply infrastructure across the entire Ukraine, conducting hundreds of missile strikes (as much as 70-100 missiles a day on some days). This led to the deterioration of the power supply in Ukraine, which did not have been the case in Kyiv during the first 7 months of the war. Even when the Russian army was 3 km from the city, and their artillery could target the outskirts, I had both a power and internet connection in my apartment. Now, I often do not.

First, the power supply was offered at one schedule, and we adjusted our office hours to fit that. Then the schedule became even worse, and we had to switch to working from home to try and catch the hours with a power supply whenever we can. So, throughout November we were struggling to catch our rhythm and keep our work and communication efficient despite all the problems with power and the internet. We keep working on all our projects, but our team was obviously affected. I would say that November was the most difficult month after March when the war just started, no one knew what to expect and enemy troops were near Kyiv.

There is still hope though. We are working to install the power generator and all the necessary equipment to make our office self-sufficient. We expect that we will be able to return to office work soon. We do hope that it would help us bring the work back up to speed. So we are really looking forward to that, while still doing everything we could under the difficult circumstances.

Now let us move on to other news.

Join Headquarters: World War II Discord server
We invite you to join the dedicated Headquarters: World War II Discord server where you can talk with other players and ask the devs whatever you like. We hope that you will also be able to find players for multiplayer matches there once the game is available.
Click to join

Watch Slitherine NEXT on 13th December
A good opportunity to learn more about Headquarters: World War II. More information is here.

Ukraine War Stories wins Uncut Gems award
We are happy to share with you yet another token of recognition for Ukraine War Stories at the GevGAMM Awards - the Uncut Gems award.

News updates recap: Units In Spirit of Liberty #2 | Landsverk L-182 Armored Car Scenario overview #1: The Battle of Taipale Units In Spirit of Liberty #3 | Jaeger Screenshot Saturday #19 The day the Winter War began 83 years ago Units In Spirit of Liberty #4 | Karjalan pelastaja (“The Saviour of Karelia”)

Starni Winter sale ends soon

Do not forget to grab the missing Strategic Mind titles for your collection - the discount will end soon.
https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/16499/Strategic_Mind_Complete_Collection/

More news coming up.

The whole team is really thankful for your support - that helps us keep our spirits high and continue working hard on the upcoming games.

With Best Regards from Kyiv
Starni Games team

There is a famous adage that Russia's biggest problems are her fools and her roads. The former problem remains very much exclusive, but the latter was omnipresent across the Russian Empire and its holdings, and only somewhat contained by its railway network. When the Empire collapsed in 1917, railroads were the backbone of logistics both in Russia proper and the surrounding states, and Finland was no exception.

In these circumstances, the armored train was an ingenious and efficient way of moving vast firepower across vast distances, and fast. During the Finnish Civil War, the Reds entered the war with Soviet-donated armored trains, and so controlled the railroad. The White Finns didn't have them, and so they needed to either sabotage the railroad (which could backfire dramatically) or quickly get some armored trains of their own. They chose the latter, and gave it their best shot – the Savior of Karelia was the result. Armed with only one 76 mm mountain gun, it had an ironclad locomotive, but the artillery carriage's armor was quite literally a brick wall, reinforced with boards on both sides.



It was surprisingly effective. Used for infantry support, the Savior of Karelia led to numerous victories, to the point where its mere appearance boosted the troops' morale. Often, its incredibly skilled crew and highly precise artillery managed to deter Red formations on their own, routing the enemy even when the train operated on its own.



And in April 1918, the Savior's cannon was finally heard on the Karelian Isthmus, as the last of the Reds were being dealt with. A month later, the Whites won the war, and the Savior of Karelia had completely lived up to its name.



And in Strategic Mind: Spirit of Liberty, the legendary armored train makes a repeat appearance in the Finns' most desperate hour of need.

In the game


Unlike many other Armoured trains, The Saviour of Karelia holds more symbolic power than actual firepower and thus boosts the capabilities of nearby units. It appears at a very critical moment - as Finns utilize whatever they can to stop the Soviet advance, including an old armored train, that served them well back in the Civil War. Of course, its high mobility and artillery support would also come in handy.

Also, see our previous unit posts:
Landsverk L-182 Vickers 6-ton tank Jaeger
👉 Support us — add the upcoming Strategic Mind: Spirit of Liberty to your wishlist:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1474770/Strategic_Mind_Spirit_of_Liberty/

With Best Regards from Kyiv
Starni Games team

Hello!

We happy to start our Starni Winter Sale (05-12 Dec) with all of the Strategic Mind titles. If you do not want to wait for Chistmas, and rather start it a little bit early - it is good time to finish your Strategic Mind collection. Have a great time this weekend! :)

Strategic Mind: The Pacific - 40%
https://store.steampowered.com/app/991810/Strategic_Mind_The_Pacific/

Strategic Mind: Blitzkrieg - 40%
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1200330/Strategic_Mind_Blitzkrieg/

Strategic Mind: Spectre of Communism - 35%
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1341170/Strategic_Mind_Spectre_of_Communism/

Strategic Mind: Fight for Freedom - 30%
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1381850/Strategic_Mind_Fight_for_Freedom/

Save up an additional 20% on top of the discounts above if you get Strategic Mind Complete Collection bundle:
https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/16499/Strategic_Mind_Complete_Collection/

Support us by adding Strategic Mind: Spirit of Liberty to your wishlist
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1474770/Strategic_Mind_Spirit_of_Liberty/

Stay tuned for more news about the Strategic Mind series.

With Best Regards from Kyiv
Oleksandr