Minefield defend question

[Freedom205]

I have been reading the manual trying to get myself up to speed for this game, and have a small question on minefields.
Is a defending unit in a friendly minefield (ie. Germans at Normandy) at a disadvantage? I could obviously see where a enemy minefield would be a poor place to defend, but I dont understand why a friendly one would be. (perhaps I am reading the manual wrong)

[JSS]

No issue for friendly... its when you're on an enemy field you have problems (no attack shift from that hex and penalty for defending in enemy hex)

[Gregor_SSG]

ORIGINAL: Mike Hall

I have been reading the manual trying to get myself up to speed for this game, and have a small question on minefields.
Is a defending unit in a friendly minefield (ie. Germans at Normandy) at a disadvantage? I could obviously see where a enemy minefield would be a poor place to defend, but I dont understand why a friendly one would be. (perhaps I am reading the manual wrong)

JSS is right. Your minefields never have any effect on your units, but an enemy unit on one of your minefields loses any possibility of a tactical shift attacking from that hex and suffer a shift penalty if you attack them.

In Battles in Normandy, a good place to place German minefields is in the hexes adjacent to Caen. It makes it harder for the Allies to get good odds on their attacks into the city, and really helps your counter-attacks. It's also an area (you hope) where the front lines will be static for a while, so you get full value for the minefield.

Gregor