Strategic Mind: Spectre of Communism
Starni Winter Sale begins!
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
The day the Winter War began 83 years ago
It is the last day of November 1939. After months of trying to strongarm Finland into giving up strategically important territories, the Soviet Union finally decides to use force. A casus belli is hastily cooked up, and before any official declarations, the Red Army is already marching on Finland.
The Finnish lines of defense are woefully insufficient, and the nation's army is spread thin.
Soviet strategic bombers are swarming in the skies above Helsinki and other cities and towns.
The Soviet advance is spearheaded by at least 2000 tanks, soon to be reinforced with 4000 more. Finland has 32 at best.
In the West, the expected outcome is the redrawing of the Finnish borders, and that's if Stalin generously allows Finland its continued existence. In the Kremlin, the Red Army is expected to parade through Helsinki in no more than 12 days.
On the night of November 30, the Soviet forces finally cross the border, and for many Finnish soldiers, the shots they are about to take will become the first combat experience of their lives. Some are paralyzed by the colossal military machine they are facing. Some are almost overwhelmed by the stress of firing at another human being.
And a mere few hours later, the Red Army will be bleeding all over the Finnish soil.
Unescorted by infantry, their tanks go up in flames with their crews still inside. Their logistics columns are cut off and decimated by Finnish ambushes. Their soldiers scatter in a panic, getting cut down by small arms fire, or losing their way in the Finnish wilderness, swiftly freezing to death in their autumn equipment.
The Winter War began on this very day 83 years ago. And the young nation of Finland, thought by some to be a fluke of history, was about to forever earn its place among the European equals.
The story of the Winter War, or rather the myth of it, has firmly entered pop culture. The devious Finnish cold, proving that "General Winter" wasn't always on Russia's side, the cunning motti tactics, resulting in endless fields of burned Soviet vehicles. Finally, the greatest sniper in history, the Finnish farmer called Simo Hayha, earned his fame in this very conflict. One can hardly imagine a better example of the David vs Goliath story – as Field Marshal Mannerheim himself said, "I did not think that my men were so good, or that the Russians could be so bad".
There are many more sides to this war, which never quite became mainstream but are fascinating nonetheless. The Finnish ace pilots were some of the best in the world, second only to Germans, and ahead of the Allies. Finnish artillery too was some of the most well-trained and organized in the world at the time, making use of many ingenious tactics and inventions that allowed it to lay down precise and deadly fire. The biggest women's volunteer organization in history, Lotta Svard, earned its fame during this war, aiding in observation, communication, and logistics.
The Finnish defiance during the Winter War took the world by surprise and earned the admiration of the Western states. In Britain, it became a mainstay of 1939-1940 war propaganda: an example that sometimes, the traditional wargame logic of superior numbers was shattered by skill, motivation, and sheer courage.
A few months later, the Soviet Union began to make progress, but by then, the mounting losses had tempered Stalin's appetites. Finland inflicted staggering 168,000 dead and more than 208,000 wounded on the "victorious" Red Army, while losing almost 25,900 dead and 44,000 wounded — one of history's most famous examples of a pyrrhic victory.
While the Finnish delegation in Moscow was forced to cede some territories after all, Finland was able to keep its independence — an outcome that seemed impossible in November 1939. And even that peace treaty only lasted a little over a year, eventually leading to the Continuation War of 1941-1944.
Today, Karelia and some other pre-war Finnish territories remain under Russian control.
In the game
In Strategic Mind: Spirit of Liberty the first 6 operations of the historical campaign cover the events of the Winter War:
1) Border clashes
2) Battle of Taipale (See our review of that scenario)
3) Battle of Tolvajärvi
4) Battle of Suomussalmi
5) The Second Battle of Summa
6) Battle of Viipuri Bay (1940)
The full historical 15-operation-long campaign covers Winter War, Continuation War, and Lapland War.
Gameplay-wise Winter War part is really tough, since you do not have experienced troops yet, and have yet to get the heroes, better equipment, skills, and some Soviet trophies. AT teh same time the Soviets are also not in their best condition. So, it is critical to make the most out of the situation and strengthen your army to repel the Soviets and be ready for future battles.
👉 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
Secreenshot Saturday #19 & Sale ends soon
We are back with the Screenshot Saturday - it is a long while without it, but now we are back with the community-made screenshots you uploaded to the community hub. Check them out and consider sharing your own playthrough with the community. To share great moments from your own playthrough - add them to our community hubs or send them to our Twitter or Discord server. We will post regular news reports with the best ones.
🎖 Today's heroes 🎖
Strategic Mind: Blitzkrieg
_ Pɑӥȥeɼ_Peiper_
Goopasloppababookaba
Strategic Mind: Fight for Freedom
Germania
Strategic Mind: The Pacific
Arkblade
GhostLight
Steam Autumn sale ends in 2 days
Do not forget to get your best deals at Steam Autumn sale, it ends very soon - on October 29th.
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/
With Best Regards from Kyiv
Oleksandr
Units In Spirit of Liberty #3 | Jaeger
"Jaeger" is a German word for hunter, and it isn't a coincidence: for these units, soldiers with hunting backgrounds were perfect. It was a traditional name for light infantry intended for reconnaissance and skirmishing, and while these used to be considered the less "honorable" types of combat, such units were "the special forces" before the concept of "the special forces".
The story of the Finnish Jaeger in particular begins with World War I. It was a German Army unit created for Finnish volunteers, who were forbidden from military training under the Russian Empire. As a risky and illegal affair, this program drew in only the boldest, most adventurous among the Finnish youth — together with former Imperial Russian Army officers they later formed the core of the Finnish Defense Forces.
By late 1930 Finland had its own jaeger units, drawing upon the experience of their predecessors but uniquely specialized for fighting on Finnish soil. These were highly mobile, highly trained forces, using bicycles and skis to quickly cover ground and outmaneuver the enemy. Even their logistics and maintenance companies were given motorization priority, so that they could keep up the pace!
During the Winter War and the Continuation War the Jaeger became known as the best infantry units of the Finnish Army – just like their predecessors, who were now staffing the nation's High Command.
In the game
The Finnish army lacked armour vechicle, but excelled at all types of Infantry troops who were eager to protect their homeland. That is why in Spirit of Liberty we will focus on the Infatry units more than in all previous Strategic Mind titles. Jaegers are Finnish elite troops, but ont the only ones. In the next episodes we will cover more of the unique Finnish Infantry units.
Also, see our previous unit posts:
Landsverk L-182
Vickers 6-ton tank
👉 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
Steam Autumn Sale begins!
We are be joining the annual Steam Autumn Sale (22-29 Nov) with all of the Strategic Mind titles. Great opportunity to finish your Strategic Mind collection and check out other strategy titles out there. 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
Scenario overview #1: The Battle of Taipale
Historical background
Before Colonel Talvela's magnificent counterattack at Tolvajarvi, the disastrous (for the invading side) encirclement at Suomussalmi, and the "miracle of Summa", the Finnish Defense Forces had a single task – to survive the Soviet onslaught. Considering the Red Army's overwhelming numbers and serious technological edge, for most of the world the outcome seemed clear and inevitable: the redrawing of the USSR's Western border.
Taipale was the easternmost sector of the Karelian Isthmus frontline. The brunt of the Soviet attack was focused in the West, on the way to Viipuri, and that's where it made sense for the Finns to make a stand – in the East, the Soviet High Command expected an easy breakthrough. Nonetheless, two whole Rifle Divisions – 49th and 150th – were devoted to the initial crossing of the Taipaleenjoki river, and against such overwhelming numbers, the Finnish pickets retreated with minimal resistance, emboldening the Soviets.
It was a trap. The Finnish artillery was well-camouflaged and already zeroed in at the crossings – the barrage at Taipale decimated the invading force.
A day later, an even more disastrous crossing attempt took place, this time with amphibious tanks: out of the nine pontoons spanning the river only four survived, the soldiers were lit up with searchlights and riddled with bullets, while most of the tanks ended up dragged down by the strong river current. Only 30 Red Army troopers made it across the river – scared and confused, they were all taken prisoner.
By then, the Soviet troops at Taipale were completely demoralized, believing (rightly so) that their supposed punitive expedition against hapless Finns had become a suicide mission.
It would take almost two weeks for the Soviet High Command to even consider advancing at Taipale again, this time with 30,000 personnel and more than a hundred tanks, including flamethrower ones.
And once again, it was a miserable failure. Expertly concealed positions helped the Finns survive a devastating but practically blind-firing artillery barrage. Then, accurate anti-tank gun fire disabled most of the Soviet armored fist, allowing the great and terrible Red Army only a few hundred meters of progress. Several similar assaults followed, met with similar resistance, and similarly disastrous results.
The incredible success of the Taipale defense earned high praise from Mannerheim. In his own words, "I did not think that my men were so good, or that the Russians could be so bad".
Gameplay
In Strategic Mind: Spirit of Liberty, the Battle of Taipale is the second operation of the historical campaign. In this scenario, your task is to hold the line against the Red Army attack. Then you are to counterattack and recapture some of the previously lost positions.
There is also a number of side objectives, build around eliminating the enemy commanders and capturing some extra trophies.
This battle happens early in the campaign, so naturally, your army is not very strong and experienced yet. That is why it is critical to use the terrain advantage of being behind a river and exploit the Red Army’s reckless attacks to overcome the enemy and maybe even strengthen your troops with extra trophies and combat experience. You will definitely need all of that in your next battle.
It is also critical to use your very limited air force wisely to avoid unnecessary losses and keep your planes going for later battles in the face of a numerically superior foe.
Please, let us know: would you like to see more scenario overviews from the upcoming Strategic Mind: Spirit of Liberty in future dev updates?
Support us by adding 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
Units In Spirit of Liberty #2 | Landsverk L-182 Armored Car
Landsverk L-182 was a unique Swedish reconnaissance vehicle. Quite literally, since only one of its type was ever produced and sold.
The lucky buyer was Finland, who acquired the vehicle in 1936 as part of the attempted motorization of its army. Based on Landsverk's dependable L-180 design and armed with Finnish-produced weaponry, it was a modern enough vehicle for its time. Several more were supposedly on the way, when suddenly the looming threat of the Soviet Union became a clear and present danger, and the young republic had to mobilize everything it had.
Miraculously, this one-of-a-kind vehicle operating in a theater notoriously hostile towards vehicles managed to survive the entire Winter War, and into the Continuation War a year later. Still, like most Finnish equipment at the time, despite its incredibly skilled operators it quickly became morally and factually obsolete. In late 1941, as more and more Soviet armored cars were being taken as trophies, Landsverk L-182 was finally allowed to retire.
In the game
In Strategic Mind: Spirit of Liberty we highlight the scarcity of the Finnish military equipment. So, you will get only one core Landsverk L-182 unit at the start of campaign and would not be able to acquire more. However, there will be Soviet recon cars BA-10 and BA-10M that you have probably already seen in the previous Strategic Mind titles. These are arguably one of the best early recon cars in the series, since they have a powerful 45 mm gun as well, and could attack early tank models successfully. So, instead of getting more Landsverks, you could try and get your hands on some pretty good Soviet models to fill the needs of your Arny with good reconnaissance cars. The Landsverk, though, is really helpful and plays important role early in the war, when your equipment is the most scrace. It could also remain at your side later in the campaign if you keep the unit alive, level it up, or even assign a hero on it, making it quite powerful instead of being obsolete.
Let us know if you are looking forward to using this unique vehicle in your campaign.
Also, see our previous unit posts:
Vickers 6-ton tank
👉 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
War in Ukraine - despatch 11 | Lots of news about our projects
The last few weeks were extremely action-packed: we released Ukraine War Stories, Slitherine posted the first Dev log about Headquarters: World War II, we have some news about Spirit of Liberty coming up - and the last 2 weeks were hell in terms of power shortages and internet connection problems, but we keep fighting!
First of all, about the current situation in Kyiv.
Starting last week, there were a number of Russian missile strikes on the power supply system across entire Ukraine. That resulted in scheduled power outages, sometimes disrupting our working process. We decided that this week we would adjust our working schedule to come to work when there are no outages, but there was a new wave of missile and drone attacks and more damage to the power supply. As a result, the schedule was changed - and it is now not suitable for office work - you get only 5 hours in a row. So, we adapted and decided to work from home with flexible hours, until the situation improves, or until we upgrade the power infrastructure at our office. Right now, we have 5 hours of power supply, then 4 hours without power, then again 5 hours of power supply, and so on. The schedule is different for different parts of the city though.
Despite all these troubles we are resolved to overcome them and keep working passionately on our projects.
Headquarters: World War II - Dev log 1
We invite you to have a look at the first Dev log on our upcoming title, published by Slitherine Software. Exploring some core game mechanics in this one:
https://www.slitherine.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=983611
Ukraine War Stories release
We are really proud that despite the ongoing war in Ukraine we managed to make a free project that covers the first month of the war from civilians' point of view. The release on October 18th was quite successful, especially in Japan which became the top 1 country by the number of players.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1985510/Ukraine_War_Stories/
Strategic Mind: Spirit of Liberty is back in the spotlight
We will be posting much more updates on our development progress for Strategic Mind: Spirit of Liberty, starting this week. If you want to support the project - please add it to your wishlist:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1474770/Strategic_Mind_Spirit_of_Liberty/
Starni Autumn sale
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
Starni Games receives Epic MegaGrant
Since day one of the war, our top priority was to keep paying salaries on time, even if people could not work for some time due to various circumstances. Our team remains in Kyiv and recently we returned to work from the office despite the wartime situation. We have adapted and fully restored our operations.
When we learned that our team was selected as Epic MegaGrants recipients, it was truly inspiring and a rare piece of good news among the endless horrors of the ongoing war.
Our whole team is very grateful to Epic Games for this timely and substantial support in these difficult times!
Starni Games plans to utilize its Epic MegaGrant to:
- ensure the financial stability of the whole team throughout the turbulent times
- develop a free-to-play charity project (Visual novel) aimed at raising awareness about the war in Ukraine. We already have a playable demo and plan to announce this project soon.
We hope that as many people as possible will survive this senseless and horrible war, and call upon the international community to unite its efforts to support all those affected.
Stay safe everyone!
Starni Games team
War in Ukraine - despatch 3 | Company news
Ukraine keeps on fighting, and Starni Games keeps on working hard.
Back to office
We returned to our Kyiv office (from remote work) at the end of May, and are now back to our regular setup. It is great to be back in office as it brings a bit of “normality” amidst the craziness of the ongoing war in Ukraine. In the next despatch, I will post some photos of damaged houses that we see as we walk from the subway station to the office.
Our communication needs reinforcements
Our team is mostly intact, but we had to part ways with our community manager - Kate Globa. She did a great job over the last two years, and we wish her all the best in her future endeavors. Right now she is in Ireland and will probably stay there for the foreseeable future. This is also one of the reasons we are less frequent with our community posts at the moment, but we are already starting to look for a new specialist to fill in the gap and will restore our communication with the community to its former level as soon as we can.
Strategic Mind: The Pacific XBOX release - June 23
We are extremely happy to announce that on June 23 our partners from Klabater successfully released Strategic Mind: The Pacific on XBOX. It is now available in the Microsoft store.
There are plans to gradually bring the whole Strategic Mind series on both PS and XBOX.
So, stay tuned.
Steam Summer Sale
We have cut our promotional activity to an absolute minimum and are now fully focused on the development. Yet, we could not miss the Steam Summer Sale, and we run decent discounts on all Strategic Mind titles, so make sure to check it out, if you miss any of them in your collection.
We will keep you updated on how our work progresses and the situation in Ukraine in the next despatches.
With best regards from Kyiv
Oleksandr and the Starni Games team