More things I've begun to notice:
-As far as smoke is concerned, you're right, it is a double edged sword. While it does give cover for advancing Russians to move up, it also blinds armour! I was playing for a while last night and had the chance to use the MG42. Smoke would be thrown, and I would notice that I'd have free reign to setup my machine gun and fire away at silouettes emerging from the smoke; all the while safe from an HE round from a looming T34.
So it really boils down to how well the teams use it. Everything in this map that I've noticed calls for dedicated teamwork and coordination on both sides. The Russians can't advance unless the infantry and armour are coordinating together. The Germans can't defend if they intend on ramboing it. This also applies to the usage of smoke.
***Peronsal experience alert***
-Could just be when I play, but I've never seen the Germans lose on this map, and because of that, I've never seen the later parts of the map except on my own explore time. Given enough time though, they eventually would, but 41 minutes just never seems to be enough time for the Russians to eventually win. Last night when I played, the Russians had *just* made it beyond the first major bridgehead when the round finally ended.
***/End personal experience alert***
-Panzerfausts:
I have mixed feelings about this myself, but have you ever thought of making the Panzerfausts part of an AT class rather than spread around for any class to pick up? The way you have it now is a fair bit more realistic (with the exception of panzerfausts respawning out of thin air of course, hehe), but for the sake of gameplay, sometimes I get the feeling that Panzerfausts are too effect in this map, and it's not that Panzerfausts themselves are too powerful, but even with the PF changes, it's still easy to have a fair amount of them spread out across half the German team. We all know that 3 Panzerfausts in the hands of 3 players (as in 1 PF each) is far more effective than 3 Panzerfausts in the hands of 1. I've played tank before on this map and it's scary! From everywhere Panzerfausts can reign down, and with all the rubble in the way, it's not uncommon, because of the arc of its fire, to have PFs blindly launched over top of rubble and hit you when they can't even see you.
So because of that, I suggest instead of having Panzerfausts spread out across the map grounds, to create AT classes to limit the amount of Panzerfausts that each player has access to. I played as German last night, and I didn't fear their armour. None of us did. Even when their armour began to coordinate a little better with the advancing Russian infantry, I still didn't fear it, because I knew somewhere near me, there would be a German player with a PF on hand. Having AT classes would also force some team reliance, which for the sake of gameplay, isn't such a bad thing.
Side note - having one or two laying around here and there isn't a bad thing in case the tanks get stuck (or disabled). I haven't see it yet, but it can happen. Good for Russians tankers to use in case their tanks get stuck.
Other notes:
-The MG34 probably wasn't as common by this stage in the war, but they were still around and available for usage in infantry ranks, as production of the MG34 was never stopped. Most players find the MG34 to be a little easier to use than the MG42, or just prefer it in general (I prefer the MG42 personally). Having the option to use it would be nice.
-The STG44 and MG42 are, by far, the bread and butter of the German defenses in this map.
-Please please please add the MN91/30 to the Russian loadout for this map! Rifle nuts like me would really appreciate this.