Finland

Finland is a neutral country located in the north Scandinavian region bordering the Soviet Union. 30 seconds after the game starts the Soviet Union will declare war on Finland beginning the Winter war. It is up to Finland to join the Allies and cede territory to the Soviets or join the Axis who will provide Finland with the sufficient resources and army to fight the Soviets.

Join Axis
While Finland is hard to play against a good Soviet player it is entirely possible to keep the Soviet Union at bay until long past Operation Barabossa begins, provided that Finland joins that axis faction early. It is recommended that Finland spends the first minute capturing the neutral cities north of your starting position, especially the one held by the Soviet Union on your side of the river. Capturing that city would prevent the Soviets from building up and launching an attack from the north. Those cities also provide the necessary boost to your manpower cash income to successfully wage war with the Soviets. That river to the east of the Soviet city is impassable by landing transports so you don't need to leave a force to garrison that city.

Joining the axis will give you a sizeable force that spawns at Helsinki. Build a lot of Machinegunners in the early game to counter the Soviet conscript spam. You can also get flamethrowers if Soviets REALLY go overboard with infantry. Fight near your bunkers and sandbags and time your Travistovas. Get AT guns for the inevitable tanks and vehicles they send your way. They also function as pretty good ship destroyers as well. Soviets can also land a force directly at Helsinki so be on your guard. Be wary of Sweden as well unless they join the Axis. Building a few machinegun bunkers facing Sweden wouldn't hurt.

To defeat the Soviet Union, an advanced strategy is to use the tanks given to you to draw the machine gun bunker's fire at Leningrad in order to destroy it and make way for your troops to capture the city. However a good Soviet player would leave a strong defensive force at Leningrad, to this isn't recommended against good Soviet players. To harass the Soviet player, tech up your anti-tank guns and build 105mm towed artillery in order to break the stalemate at Leningrad. Also make sure to snipe the convoys that are moving through your territory towards Moscow. This would force the Soviet player to spend micro and attention on you rather than on the economy, making it easier for East Germany to break through. Leningrad is a Tier 5 city as well as offering many more avenues to attack from. Capturing it and fortifying it will give a huge boost to your war effort. If all is going well for the axis on the continent East Germany can push up from the south and defeat the Soviets.

Join Allies
If you join the Allies you secede some of your cities to the Soviet Union. However, you are relatively safe and far from any action that may be occurring on the main continent. An Allied Finland should be played similar to Sweden. Building up an airforce or assisting a Soviet Union push into Europe. Keep in mind though there is little room for expansion as an Allied Finland, as well as not receiving a supporting army from the Axis, so your income will be extremely limited.