An example of my last test of this situation

This is start of Turn 4 on board 2.

Germans have now reached the mine fields. No casualties yet on either side!

Units highlighted in purple have been just "Disrupted" by Russian fire (better than dispersed).

Note that I have magnified the board to allow more units to be placed on an hex. without physically stacking them.

Improved Combat Table

This combat table was the result of my frustration in seeing so many attacks with the same odds against the same target even though the attacker's AF could be quite different (often nearly strong enough for the next up ratio).
So, I thought of inserting "half" ratios.
This really does affect the game positively and increases the attacking value of weaker units, as it must be the case in real battles.

Special rules I suggest to use in this scenario

1. The Panzer Leader Opportunity Fire rule.
   
2. The Panzer Leader Indirect Fire rule. It is more advanced and realistic than the Panzer Blitz rule.
   
3. The Panzer Leader “Artillery field of fire limitation” rule.
   
4. New non-turreted armored or artillery vehicles rule.
   I created a rule to differentiate these tanks from the turreted ones. I was not satisfied with the Panzer Leader “functional mobility for Turreted tanks” rule.For all non-turreted armored or artillery vehicles:They can only fire with their full AF when firing at a target “in front” of them. After a movement phase, the unit must be placed with the canon pointing in the desired direction (towards the expected target in the next round).A target is considered “in front” if it is within a 90 degree angle field of fire with the canon at the centre. If a non-turreted vehicles unit fires at a target outside this field of fire, you must halve the AF.This rule is similar to the “Artillery field of fire limitation” rule.

Notes to link the chosen board configuration with the terrain of the real battle

• Kolkohz town represents the village of Ponyri. The Fortress setup on its most southern hex represents the train station, heavily fortified by the Russians.
  
• The hill “129” west of Kolkohz town represents the hill 257.1. That hill was a tactical target for the Germans nearly as important as the village of Ponyri itself. In the real battle, that hill was East of Ponyri but this fact is not a significant factor for this scenario.
  
• The Bednost hill on board 2 represents hill 240.9 from which the Germans launched their main offensive onto Ponyri on July 7th 1943.

Special rules for German units

1. The 3 special heavy tank battalion (“Elefants” or “Ferdinands”) DF is halved under CAT attack (7 instead of 15). A large hole in the armor at the back made them vulnerable to infantry at close range.
   
2. All German combat units (except trucks, unloaded halftracks, M class, towed H and A class) can spot/direct fire for the 3 self-propelled artillery units and the 120mm Mortar unit.

Special rules for Russian units

1. The single T-34 tank unit supporting the 1019th Rifle Regiment will be dug-in once positioned, so will not be movable during the whole game. It will fire normally but when fired at from a distance of 2 hex or more, add 1 to attacker’s die roll.
   
2. The 22nd Guards Mortar Brigade unit can be used for indirect fire from Turn 1 as soon as German units get into range. It cannot however move as stated by next rule below.
   
3. All the other relief force units cannot be moved or used for an attack until one of the conditions below is met:
   - Start of Turn 10.
   - Germans took control of all hilltops on hill “129” in previous turn.
   -Germans have seized at least one hex of Kolkohz town in previous turn.
   - A German unit entered Board 3 on previous turn.
   - A relief force unit was fired at on previous turn.
   
4. Indirect Fire: The CP unit can spot/direct for all artillery units including the 22nd Guards Mortar Brigade.The 1019th Rifle Regiment’s CO can directly spot/direct for all artillery units except for the 22nd Guards Mortar Brigade. For the latter, it can only relay a spotting to the CP unit.The 1023rd Rifle Regiment’s CO can only start spotting once it is allowed to move (see rule 3 above). It will then be allowed to directly spot/direct for all remaining artillery units (incl. the 22nd Guards Mortar Brigade).
   
5. The two SU-122 units (442nd Self-Propelled Artillery Regiment) are to start movements carrying an infantry unit each (one SMG and one RECON).
   
6. The two OP (Observation Posts) and the CP (Command Post) units are motorized in this battle (a Jeep). They do not count in the stacking/hex limitation. They can spot and move in the same turn, but for the indirect fire to take place, they need to still be in LOS to the target in the turn when the attack takes place. [recent update]

Victory Conditions

At the end of Turn 15, the Germans win:

• Decisively if they control all 3 hex of Kolkohz town and all hilltop hex of Hill “129”.
• Tactically if they control at least 1 hex of Kolkohz town and all hilltop hex of Hill “129”.
• Marginally if they control all hilltop hex of Hill “129”.
  

The Russians win:

• Decisively if they still control all 3 hex of Kolkohz town and all hilltop hex of Hill “129”.
• Tactically if they still control either 2 hex in Kolkohz town (including the Fortress) or all hilltop hex of Hill “129”.
• Marginally if they still control either the Fortress in Kolkohz town or have at least 1 combat unit (not ‘D’) on a hilltop hex of Hill “129”.