There is a quirk in the game that is useful to understand here. Given Crazygunner's explanation it would seem that in severe winter the Axis should be able to avoid contact with the Russians by retreating a continuous line of units 1 hex per turn. This is because in severe winter no unit has enough movement points (MPs) to advance 2 hexes when the second hex is into the zone of control (ZOC) of two enemy units, thus incurring the +2 MP penalty. However, the "quirk" is that the +2 penalty is only applied when the enemy units are spotted in advance of the unit moving. Therefore, due to the reduced spotting ranges in severe winter if the Russians are careful to avoid spotting the Axis units before moving (keeping air units back a little) they can often advance some units two hexes into the Axis ZOCs. They can't attack the Axis units, but if the Axis wants to avoid being attacked on the next turn they will have to retreat two hexes, not just one.Crazygunner1 wrote: During winter, movement is severely hampered by snow so retreat and advance is even slower. If you time a retreat during winter correctly you will loose little or no troops at all, also give up as little as 10 hexes of frontline wich you easily can take back when summer comes.
To me this kind of seems like a bug (arguably). In any case it is my understanding that it would be difficult to change, so players should just understand it.