Suomussalmi is probably the best known battle during the 1939-40 ‘Winter War’ between Finland and the USSR. It took place around the village of Suomussalmi and along the road leading to this village from the hamlet of Raate. The battle was fought between the 163rd and 44th divisions of the Red Army, the latter being a motorized division, against a composite Finnish division which was eventually called the 9th and had only a few artillery units and nothing else in support of its infantry battalions. The battle was fought from early December until early January and resulted in the complete destruction of the Soviet divisions.
The map covers the area around Suomussalmi and Haapavaara. It is divided into hexagons (hexes) each approximately 2.6 km across.
The counters for the two armies are slightly different in the information they contain as well as in the color. Soviet units are red and Finnish units grey. The unit size designations and arm-of-service designations are the standard NATO designations with two possible exceptions. Two lines at the top of the unit marks a battalion and three a regiment.