Battle for Moscow: Almost but not quite

The Germans almost won this one, took Moscow on the last turn, but were unable to retake Ryazan. Here’s what it looked like at the end:

Had the Germans been able to hold Ryazan, that probably would have won it.

Update April 25, 2015: This is a German win by dint of holding Moscow on the last turn. It’ the Russians which have to hold other cities. That said, variant victory conditions could put this as a “minor win” where controlling all the cities would be a “major win.”

The key to this win was controlling Russian entry by occupying the red-bordered hexes north and east of Moscow. This forced the Russians to enter the map from the south and southeast, very inconvenient.