Loki: There doesn't seem to be a whole lot left in front of me. The grinding pace of the last six months has worn the Soviet military into a fine paste. There are still some major stacks left like the ones in Vitebsk, near Pskov, the gathering forces in Petrograd, the one at Rostov, and whatever is left along the Volga river (the Green uprising didn't really have any effect probably because of this).
Dylanpt: Yeah, enemies just run out of NM in this game and it ends. However, with a bit of playing ahead, it's become clear to me that I'll need a few more decisive battles/city captures before the war ends.
Turns 20 and 21:Return of the King, Late October-Early November, 1921
Because of the relative inaction of these two turns, I've combined them into one.
First, the News:
The weakened position of the Reds inspires both Ataman Krasnov to return (bringing with him a large number of Don troops locked until Late November) and Anarchist Rebels to rise up on Kronstadt island, leaving the approach of Petrograd relatively undefended.
In the North, the bet pays off:
With Pskov (and it's depot most importantly captured), I now have a substantial toehold in the north, but with lack of any other moves, I decided to not take a screen shot. Virtually nothing has changed except the color of Pskov's banner.
In the center, Orel is captured.
With Orel in hand, the offensive in the center continues unabated:
Armee Group Ungarn moves on Tula whilst an Austrian stack moves to reinforce Armee Gruppe A. On the far right, Armee Gruppe Sud begins it's moves up the railway to cement control.
In the south, near Kursk,
The Ukrainians continue to perform disappointingly in battle with Red forces, but the defeat of the cavarly force sends them retreating into the Ukraine. The oncoming winter will do the rest. A.Wolf's corp moves on top of Starry Oskol, in order to prevent the Red's from recouping.
Around Rostov, minor fighting continues unabated, but the status quo remians roughly the same whilst I await the arrival of the Dneiper River fleet.
In the Transcaucus,
Absurdly low penetration scores hamper the advance, and the Austrians and Transcaucasian's move roughly one more turn away from the capture of Grozny, roughly my only objective for them before winter.
In Western Prussia, Sollogub meets his end:
With his army and all of his officer dead or captured, Sollogub himself flees into the woods of Lithuania. Army Gruppe Nord moves to Vilnius to recoup their losses.
Finally, I've decided to do this:
By bringing Finland into the war, the only Red stack directly in front of me near Pskov is forced to make a hard choice - Attempt to stop the flow of Armee Group B and protect Novgorod (whilst consequently losing Petrograd), or defend Petrograd whilst losing Novgorod. Either way is good for me. Striking at Petrograd will destroy one of the pillars of the Communist platform, but failure to take it (whilst taking Novgorod), won't hurt me too badly in the long run (My NM continues to climb upwards).
Early November, 1921
In the north, the Finnish forces unlock:
What I should say is that literally every Finnish force unlocks. Every garrison and troops inside the Mannerheim line unlock. This collected force will be roughly 2000 pwr worth of men, who I'm now collecting at Viipuri. The large militia force that I accumulate as a result means that various Finnish training officers will spend the winter training some 20,000 odd men into actual fighting men.
However, you can see that snow has arrived in northern Russia (meaning the map will be covered in the stuff next turn). This does not necessarily mean an end to the campaign season. With the Red's basically on their knees and nothing in front of the Germans in various places, I believe it may be possible to continue to put the Reds on the back foot. I've severely damaged them in almost eight months of campaigning, but giving them time is a bad idea.
In the center, the only major battle this turn means the capture of a Red Tankadrome(producer of tanks and WSU), and a level 3 depot:
With Tula secure, all phase line objectives will likely be captured before the snow falls across the map.
In Vitebsk, 120,000 Germans under Sixt Von Armin are ordered to capture the city. Inside the city, the well-entrenched Trotsky and his 40,000 men await the assault. It is likely this next turn will be bloody.
At Rostov, minor fighting continues unabated, but with no elements destroyed on either side, it's not worth putting up a battle report. However, the Dneiper fleet is due to arrive at Mariupol, and will clear the Don of Red River boats (if the river doesn't freeze.)
Further south, in the Trancaucus,
Everybody misses out on their flu shot and the whole army is down for this turn. The only exception is the Transcaucasians. With snow due to arrive in this sector in one turn, I order them to make a desperate attack on Grozy on all-out assault posture, whilst the Austrian Armee Gruppe Donau retreats to Derbent and XV.Armee (the Germans) are ordered inside the structure (winter does no hits so long as you are on/inside a structure, regardless of what the structure is [and if you have supply]).
No decisions this turn. My conscript rate every turn is actually over 100 conscript companies each turn, due to the capture of Red towns.