This push failed to knock out the city, and seal the deal.
Similarly here the luck leave the Axis in the assault on Kishinev, and we retreat.
However the stalwart attacks inside the fortification line towards Kiev go off without a hitch and we close in on the prize.
In the Soviet turn they plan a handful of attacks.
The Axis can offer no air, no arty, and no Reaction move as they are mostly OOS. That said as the supply lines move forward we recover a handful of units in the 14th Turn.
The Soviet player at this point for a variety of reasons resigns. While some lucky rolls might knock a step or two off here and there, the meat of the game is done….
As soon as we bridge the Dnepr Kieve will be isolated and rolling for surrender, we wont make the max VP goal for capture of that town, but we will earn a lot of VP’s there.
As Soviet units surrender and die off we earn extra VPs which will include at least 3 HQ [+6VP].
I’m not sure that our plan was innovative, we became opportunistic in Turn 13 and 14, diverting resources to make the bid encirclement, when a finer reading of the rules would have shown that Vinnistsa for instance just needed to be isolated from the Eastern map edge. This thwarted the 16 VP pt grab for Kiev by redirecting forces south.
Good game, some mistakes and rule errors on both sides might have changed the course of the game. But overall we had a blast.