[MajorDisaster]

Interesting experiment and good points too (wish I had the time to have tried something like it). Scouts seem to be a Must Have item, (saved a lot of pain soemtimes, but I find it tricky keeping them alive, especially in forests etc, when it's just too easy to stumble into an unfriendly unit. etc). Funny how fewer pairs of eyes are better at spotting though :-) On the otherhand I guess they dont crunch around like full infantry sections so dont get detected so easy themselves.
I can see your point about 88's etc.. on Defend/Assault missions cos theyre dugin and in prep'd positions, but on delay/advance type they're not supposed to be, or I got that wrong? Anyhow, as you illustrate, it seems that if your grunts can survive the first few battles and get experience they get much hotter at spotting stuff. It's just a question of surviving that long :-)