Apart from replacing the lost Stummel and refitting some damage to the command halftrack, I leave my roster unchanged.
The map itself only has a few main features. There’s a hill west of center running north to south, which I’ll use for cover. A marshy river with a lone ford separates that feature from a hill to the east (beyond which there’s open ground). That same river forks in the northeast to wrap around a patch of high ground with a Russian-marked VL.
Going to be honest, I have no intention of using my infantry for the bulk of this battle. There’s too much open ground. Little to no cover, with too many vantage points that could be held by the other side. The panthers will have to do most – if not all – of the work.
The basic approach remains the same as last time. A section of tanks occupies our ridgeline, while the other two panthers round the slope (they don’t crest it) and make for that ford in the center of the map.
Grau and Busch make for the crossing. There’s a tense moment when Grau announces he’s mired, but the panther is able to break through the muck and gain purchase on solid ground. By now a hidden ATG on the forward slope of the hill in front of us is banging away, bouncing shells off Busch’s hull. That isn’t a problem …I direct speculative fire from the overwatching panzers at puffs of smoke spotted on that slope ….. so much as a SECOND gun that’s firing from somewhere to the north. It’s this ATG that immobilizes the panther, leaving Grau on his own.
On the plus side, a recon team by the water's edge pops its head up and bleeds for it, the anti-tank gun on the forward slope is revealed, and the overwatching panzers are able to suppress it long enough for my mortars to knock it out of action. Seconds later, a T-34 sporting an 85mm gun crests the ridge.

"You men cheer when the battle is successful. When it isn't, you threaten hari-kari. You're acting like hysterical women."
Vice Admiral Ryunosuke Kusaka