Vince Lewonski & I selected this one using random selection; we looked at the record (3-0 Russian), but Vince wanted to play it anyway and would take the Germans. Ok by me.
There are two obvious attacks for the Germans: tanks up the road on board 19 or tanks up the board 40 road, with Infantry in both cases through the woods on the board 40/19 edge. Only the third of these options works.
The Germans face a number of problems. First: General Mud. No SMOKE (A24.6), Bog checks, and really, really slow, really slow movement. Second, Russian fortifications. Mines, AT-ditches, roadblocks will make the road net, by SSR not converted to Open Ground from the Mud, nearly unusable. Third, it's early in the year (March 1945), so both orchards and grain are out of season. This means that positions on the hill 40J7 have really good LOS's. But the German's greatest problem is time. They have eight turns--ordinarily more than enough, but mud & Russians will conspire to mire the most motivated attack.
You have to figure that one of the ATGs is covering the board 19 road and one covering the board 40 road. Unfortunately the Germans don't have enough time to figure out where the Guns are before they open fire. There is probably a third ATG on the 40J7 hill. My ATGs had a field day. One 57 ATG killed two King Tigers, a Panther and a 251 ht from his ambush position across the river (40T1). Heros of the Soviet Union all around. The 85L killed two Pz IVs, and the last 57 ATG killed two 251 hts. All this because the German doesn't have time to be cautious. My SU 100s killed nothing, but that was because they were behind the Infantry position, and nothing got through.
The German Infantry was all but unstoppable (although the OBA can force some detours), but without vehicles the Germans can't meet the stiff exit conditions.
Possible idea for the Germans: A large portion of the Russian assets are likely to be on the 40J7 hill, including at least one ATG and the field phone. Staying out of LOS of this position or at least at long range from it may give the Germans some chance of success. This suggests two routes: along the west side of board 19, along the woods edge, or on the east edge of board 19 (creeping boardedge-wise). I prefer the former: halftracks first to scout, then Tigers, which might have some chance of surviving an ATG shot from the side. Some of the Infantry will enter as Passengers/Riders at first to move them forward quickly. Bog DRs will have to be risked, and some tanks will certainly be delayed/lost in the mud.
I can't say whether going for the hill to reduce the exit VP requirements is a good idea, but if the Germans can push forward to the 19O3 area (on the flank of the hill), they have greatly enhanced their chances of taking the hill if they decide to do so.
Will this give the Germans a chance in this game? It might, but it will test the Russian defense in a way that charging straight up the roads into the Guns won't.
My final comment is that you should probably skip this one, but if you are motivated to experiment, you might try my suggestion above. I would be interested to know whether it will work, and better you than me ;-)
JR