Russia Besieged - how to go through 1942?

Two short games

You’re going to think that i like the Russian front, but between two Tite sessions, I play Russia Besieged, Compass Games version. I had already practiced the previous versions and in a distant memory, the game was rather pro-German.
When this new edition was released, one of my regular partners ( nicknamed PionPion) via Vassal offered me to get back to it. We agreed to a two games in a row, changing side between the games.
He starts on the German side and stumbles at the very start. Dnepopetrovsk held until March 1942 and an attempt on Leningrad fail in-extremis. The following summer does not allow him to break through into Caucasus and the game ends with a failed attack on Rostov.
You’ve got to control 17 major cities to prevent sudden death, and this is difficult to do. With average weather and dice launches of the same sort, it's hard to pass.
The return game follows the same path. Inspired by the experience of my valiant partner, I decide to focus on Ukraine and not try anything on Leningrad. Kiev falls fast and I can take Dnepopetrovsk before winter. Unfortunately, when spring came back, the Soviet got stronger and he sacrificed his forces to slow me down. Stalino, Kharkov fall but a catastrophic weather roll prevents Rostov from changing hands. End of game. It should be noted that I attempted an attack on Voronez, which failed for one step loss ( argh ! ).

In the face of these two results, the question arises: Can we break into Russia and get to the end of the game? We take advice in the comments.

 

Toward a German victory?

In the meantime, here's a brief account of our third game ( we can’t enough of East Front ). I take the Soviet side once again. I am deploying to prevent any breakthroughs in depth, at the cost of heavy losses, considering that in any case the first line is lost.

At the end of his turn, German made little progress. He almost took Odessa. On the other hand, he cleaned up the first Russian line.

At the beginning of the war, i got few reinforcements and throw a garrison in Odessa, trying to hold it one more turn. Riga is protected, as is Kiev. Again, I decide to sacrifice armies to hold ground. The idea is to prevent the capture of Dnepopetrovsk before winter. 

In turn, the Wermacht wipes me again, but without succeeding in encircling Kiev ( my only success for this game turn ). Odessa falls, on a skillful 10 at the dice ( what a talent! ). The same is true of Riga ( 9 rolled ). I let myself go to some dubious comments about little female cats...

We're here. I took advantage of the reinforcements to offer a strong line in front of Leningrad. Kiev is left to its own fate and Dnepopetrovsk should hold. I see that my forces are very weak, which is due to the high attrition rate that I’m willing to take (and suffered because of the insolent luck of my partner ...) 

To be continued: winter 1941