I love this map - but I do have to agree that the arty is very excessive. The last time I played it, it seemed as if the arty fell non-stop for the entire length of the rounds. I'd like to see what would happen if the next version would have about half of the arty strikes to make it imperative for it to be used wisely, instead of just a continuous ongoing barrage.
Regarding maneuvers, you have a massive arty barrage in the middle and attempt to flank to the sides. The Russians know this, so they setup their MG, sniper, and rifles to cover the little space not already shut down by arty.
When comparing this to the original Ponyri, Ponyri was more flexible because it was simply a huge map. There, flanking worked much better since there was more terrain and cover spread out over a larger area. I remember in the BFE matches, we'd have one entire squad to watch the left, another squad to watch the right, and a third in the trenches.
Basovka feels like it's the same length as Ponyri, but chopped down to half or even a third of the width as its predecessor - there's no way to go but straight into the teeth of the enemy. The Russians don't really need to spread out - all the enemy will be coming at them from within a 45 degree arc.