Matrix Games Forums

ORIGINAL: Froonp
What would be the name to add to that spur of railway that extends NW from Stockholm ?

ORIGINAL: Froonp

ORIGINAL: Froonp
Also, what would be the best name to add at the crossroad of railways west of Sundsvall ?

Would it be Ostersund ? Or Ange ?

ORIGINAL: Froonp

ORIGINAL: Froonp
What would be the name to add to that spur of railway that extends NW from Stockholm ?

Would it be Borlange ? Or Falun ?
Not Mora, it seems to be out of reach from the railway, even nowadays.

ORIGINAL: peskpesk

PS the maidens are very fair, and often fall for southern European guys with a charming accent…

ORIGINAL: ahlner

The end of the railway line NW of Stockholm is Mora and the crossroad to the north is located at the city of Östersund. In fact the railway line from Gällivare/Storuman ends at Mora (in Swedish called Inlandsbanan) and it was finished in 1937. There should consequently be a railway line connecting these places for the map to be fully correct.

I am highly hesitant about if it was possible to redirect the Swedish iron ore to another port than Luleå if enemy controlled. I believe the railway line southwards from Gällivare had a low technical standard and was not suitable for heavy transports. In addition there have to be special port facilities to unload/load the iron ore and I think only Luleå was capable of that.

ORIGINAL: Shannon V. OKeets

Just a note to bring to everyone's attention that we are up to 448 posts concerning revisions to the Scandinavian portion of the map.[:'(]

ORIGINAL: Borger Borgersen

At most there was more than 350.000 German soldiers in Norway. A considerable force was fighting from Finnmark (Kirkenes port etc.) against the Russians near Murmansk. When the Russians advanced through Finland and westwards in Finnmark the Germans retreated using the scorched earth policy. Lots of towns in northern Norway were burnt to the ground. So the Germans were particularly unpopular in northern Norway for a long time after the war.

Germany had garrisons spread all over Norway partly to prevent an Allied invasion, but also as support of their air, naval and sub bases along the Norwegian coast and protect the shipment of iron ore from the port of Narvik.

I saw a program on Swedish TV about the Germans bullying the Swedish government into accepting that armed German combat troops were sent from Germany via Sweden to fight in Finland. It created a political crisis in the Swedish government and they had to make it a secret. The official story was that German troops on leave were transported to/from their holidays, but some of the troops were sent fully armed in order to fight. The political crisis was called the "Midsummer crisis" because it happened only days after Barbarossa started. The Swedish government was forced to accept a fully armed German division to be transported on Swedish rail from Norway to Finland to aid the German offensive there.

Here is info in Norwegian:
http://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sverige_un ... erdenskrig

This site also claims that Germany prepared for an invasion of Sweden in 1942 by sending more and more troops to Norway. The reason was that Hitler was not satisfied with the Swedish support and feared that Sweden would't oppose a British invasion if they invaded via Norway. Swedish intelligence had broken the German codes and got information about such plans. So they responded with conducting a large military exercise with more than 300.000 troops showing Germany they were more than capable of stopping Britain, and maybe even Germany.

So one reason the Germans sent so many troops could therefore be that they wanted to have them there in case it became necessary to invade Sweden. Hitler was obscessed with ensuring a steady flow of Swedish iron ore so he feared a British invasion in northern Norway with the goal to capture the Swedish iron mines in Kiruna and Gällivare. We all know that a German invasion didn't happen. Maybe partly because the Swedes showed both Britain and Germany they had a considerable force and were willing to fight back if attacked.

Sweden terminated the transit agreement in August 1943. Then a lot of German troops were stuck in Norway because it was risky and would take time to send many thousand German soldiers back to Germany via sea transports. 365.000 German troops were still in Norway in May 1945 when Germany surrendered. So the termination of the transit agreement definitely helped the Allies capturing Germany a bit sooner. The size of the German forces in Norway was so big so the Allies feared the German leaders would flee to Norway and continue to fight there. It would have been a very costly offensive to liberate Norway. Fortunately the Germans surrendered in Norway after the Germans had surrendered on the continent. So we (the Norwegians) were spared of a very bloody liberation war where many civilians would have been killed or wounded.

ORIGINAL: AdurianJ

The railroad from Oslo to Stockholm should intersect with the Gothenburg Stockholm line in the hex West of it right next to lake Vänern.

The inland railroad in northern Sweden should also connect to one of the resource hexes. The railroad actually goes all the way down to Vänern but that can be laid asside. The importance of the Inlandsbanan is that since it was built as a secure transport route / make work program in the 1930's it was out of sight being in the middle of the dense Swedish forest. This was a major advantage to Stockholm when german troops where allowed to use the Swedish railroad network to get from Trondheim to Narvik, they where transported on Inlandsbanan as to not cause agitation.

Also just to be annoying the port of "Mo i Rana" should be added because that's the target of the Swedish counteroffensive in warplans from 1942 onwards. The plan was to make a counter-attack and establish contact with the western allies to get aid.

ORIGINAL: AdurianJ

The railroad from Oslo to Stockholm should intersect with the Gothenburg Stockholm line in the hex West of it right next to lake Vänern.

The inland railroad in northern Sweden should also connect to one of the resource hexes. The railroad actually goes all the way down to Vänern but that can be laid asside. The importance of the Inlandsbanan is that since it was built as a secure transport route / make work program in the 1930's it was out of sight being in the middle of the dense Swedish forest. This was a major advantage to Stockholm when german troops where allowed to use the Swedish railroad network to get from Trondheim to Narvik, they where transported on Inlandsbanan as to not cause agitation.

Also just to be annoying the port of "Mo i Rana" should be added because that's the target of the Swedish counteroffensive in warplans from 1942 onwards. The plan was to make a counter-attack and establish contact with the western allies to get aid.

ORIGINAL: brian brian

I predict sales will be strong in Scandinavia...

ORIGINAL: AdurianJ

The railroad from Oslo to Stockholm should intersect with the Gothenburg Stockholm line in the hex West of it right next to lake Vänern.

The inland railroad in northern Sweden should also connect to one of the resource hexes. The railroad actually goes all the way down to Vänern but that can be laid asside. The importance of the Inlandsbanan is that since it was built as a secure transport route / make work program in the 1930's it was out of sight being in the middle of the dense Swedish forest. This was a major advantage to Stockholm when german troops where allowed to use the Swedish railroad network to get from Trondheim to Narvik, they where transported on Inlandsbanan as to not cause agitation.

Also just to be annoying the port of "Mo i Rana" should be added because that's the target of the Swedish counteroffensive in warplans from 1942 onwards. The plan was to make a counter-attack and establish contact with the western allies to get aid.

ORIGINAL: Froonp

ORIGINAL: AdurianJ

The railroad from Oslo to Stockholm should intersect with the Gothenburg Stockholm line in the hex West of it right next to lake Vänern.

The inland railroad in northern Sweden should also connect to one of the resource hexes. The railroad actually goes all the way down to Vänern but that can be laid asside. The importance of the Inlandsbanan is that since it was built as a secure transport route / make work program in the 1930's it was out of sight being in the middle of the dense Swedish forest. This was a major advantage to Stockholm when german troops where allowed to use the Swedish railroad network to get from Trondheim to Narvik, they where transported on Inlandsbanan as to not cause agitation.

First, thanks for your input and interest.
But also, what is the source of these suggestions ? Have you got a map ?

Also just to be annoying the port of "Mo i Rana" should be added because that's the target of the Swedish counteroffensive in warplans from 1942 onwards. The plan was to make a counter-attack and establish contact with the western allies to get aid.