zmoney

Both historically, as well as from a gaming perspective, I'd say the main issue is less of which force is better/easier to use as much as which side has more variability in their options. Let's take a look at how each side stacks up:
Infantry
Although the Germans do have their good machine-guns, almost all Soviet squads have a higher complement of automatic weapons overall, and their mix of light MGs and SMGs will usually overwhelm the typical German infantry unit that still is mostly filled out with soldiers equipped with Kr 98 rifles. If the German unit is equipped with StG 44s (i.e. Begleit, Sturm & Volksgrenadiers) then the balance swings in their favour, but most units do not have StG 44s. Although the German infantry does have a distinct edge in anti-tank weapons (Panzerfausts/Panzerschrecks are far superior to anti-tank rifles), most of the time it is fighting other infantry and not tanks, and so I'd give Soviet infantry the advantage overall. 
Mechanized Infantry
This definitely goes to the Germans, with a catch. The German halftrack units have an excellent array of weapons and vehicles that gives them a considerable degree of flexibility on the battlefield. The Germans also have lots of special vehicles (e.g. AA vehicles) that the Soviets have no equivalent to. However, it should be remembered that both historically and from a gaming perspective, most German infantry (and even mechanized infantry for that matter) did not possess that many halftracks and other specialized vehicles. So this advantage usually doesn't mean all that much.
Armour
This comparison is interesting. From a purely technical standpoint, Panzer IV < T-34/85 < Panther, and Tiger < IS-2 < King Tiger. Thus, again, although the most powerful German armour is technically the "best", the Soviets have standard issue tanks/assault guns that outclass the more frequently encountered German armour (which is already rare enough as is). So I'd give this one to the Soviets as well, although only from mid-1944 onwards. 
In a nutshell, I'd say being the Germans is easier when you have the best they have to offer. A force equipped with Panthers, halftrack equipped infantry (especially Sturmgrenadiers), Sdkfz 251/21 AA vehicles plus armoured cars/scout halftracks represents a very powerful armoured fist that ought to be reckoned with even in the last days of the war. However the bread-and-butter Soviet complement of T-34/85s, IS-2s and SMG equipped infantry will usually be more than enough to deal with your average German infantry/armour. So I'd say that, for the period RT covers, the Soviets are easier to play when averaged across the board, but whenever the Germans can assemble the best mechanized elements they've got then they can absolutely tip the scales in their favour. 

It doesn't require any additional evidence to understand that optics of Soviet tanks in late Cold war period could easily detect targets at 2 km distance during daylight under perfect weather conditions. 
In fact everybody can spot tank at 2 km in the open field using cheapest binoculars, not to mention tank optics that costs dozens or hundreds thousands in USD.
 
 

I am a tanker.
In general id say tanks are spotted far too easily in hulldown positions and when los is broken up like shooting through trees etc.
They are also far too hard to spot in the open or when moving across the field of view.

On a range it doesnt make a difference (and the scenario discussed above is basically a range scenario) but even in open country there is no distincton between thermals and primary sight.
The absolute longest you can take is while shooting under emergency conditions using the backup turret drives (which are very slow), the backup sight and manual ranging and then you have a max of 30s. And do note that isnt shooting at full sizd tanks but targets that only represent the internal volume.
And the looking through a soda straw effect really doesnt matter at 2000m. For the primary daysight with the highest magnification it stopps being a noticable hindrance at 3-400m and lower magnification backup sights or the thermal low magnification push that way down. Yes youre never able to see everything at once but scanning is a thing.

Steel Beasts is a tank simulator that is used in several countries to train military personnel. 
Combat Mission Cold War and Steal Beasts have a lot of things in common, so it would be interesting to compare how two games simulate combat. 
In order to do that and to make as precise experiment as possible I put t72A (m1) tank that is featured in both games against M60 TTS tank that is also present in both of them. 
To keep experiment clean I used default "flat map" and the same weather and time conditions - clean weather, the time is June the 1st, 12:00. 
In CMCW I had to use additional "formation" units of observers, but I put them behind tall walls, so they didn't interfere in the process. In CMCW skill level of both of the tanks was put on "regular". Steel Beasts doesn't have skill level feature. 
Under created conditions t-72A looks directly at M60's side. It is oriented from South to North, M60 - from West to East. The distance between them is 2 km. The conditions are the same in Steel Beasts and Combat Mission Cold War. 
That how it looks like in Steel Beasts: 

How it looks like in CMCW:

What T72 gunner sees from his position from the very start:

As you can easily notice, M60 is immediately and perfectly visible from gunners sight.
The same with T72's Commander's sight:

The results:
In Steel Beasts t72's AI spotted M60 almost immediately, which is not surprising, taking into account that it has perfect view on the target. It took t72 about 2 seconds to spot the opponent and about 18 sec to hit and destroy it. 
In CMCW something opposite happened. I ran several tests and t72 couldn't spot m60 once.  Its optics was not enough to spot the tanks directly ahead of it at the distance of 2 km during clean daylight.
In fact, every time M60 spotted t72 first and killed it. It took about 2-3 rounds and from 1,5 min to 5 min to kill t72.  t72 didn't see the opponent despite m60 was firing at him. 
How it ends in Steel Beasts:

How it ends in CMCW:

The CMCW test scenario is attached.
You can make your own conclusions. 
 
 
T72VISION TEST.btt

Yes.....It's superbly done, challenging too if you stick to strict C2, which you should. 
PS - @MOS:96B2P put a lot of thought & effort into this scenario, it's a technical tour de force.....If you play the 'Historical' option, it's a pretty reasonable model of an ad-hoc German 'fire-brigade' type unit rushing to react to yet another Soviet breakthrough attempt.

For me it's a dead heat. I enjoy playing both sides, with all of their inherent strengths and weaknesses.
If forced to choose I'd pick Germans as favorite, mostly down to their machine guns and top-tier armor, which I find more interesting (but not necessarily better) than the Russian tanks. Their advantages in optics, command and control and the aforementioned weaponry swings the vote. Command delay is not a thing in CMx2, which would swing it even more.
In 1944, the two sides are pretty well-matched from an equipment point of view, even if it's dissimilar in some ways. Germans tend to feel like a sharper, more surgical, but more brittle option than the Russians do. So in Combat Mission it comes down to scenario design, and often the real-world advantages one side may have had are less evident in what we play in this game. It's tactical of course. If Combat Mission were operational or even strategical, then things would perhaps look different.
For me, the word 'balance' has a negative connotation when it comes to war gaming. There's a sense that balance is a thing to strive for in scenario design, and while I get it, I think it serves to skew perspectives. Balance in (single player) historical wargaming should not be a priority in my view. It's OK to face difficult odds, or have no chance at all. The lack-of-balance should be a feature too, and if it was more woven in to scenario design I think I might have a different perspective on the subject of Russian vs German in Red Thunder.

Syrian mechanized unit attacks supported by tanks.

I seriously want to hire that guy to be my hype man. Lol

And the theory is, that the bigger the lie, the more readily it becomes accepted as truth, since "no one could make this up". Western powers are as guilty: where were Saddam's WMDs that presented an "imminent" threat to us, back at the start of the Century? Fell for that one, I did, hook, line and sinker: "They daren't lie about that; it's so easy to prove it's a lie once the facts come out on the ground," I thought. I was right that it was readily proved a lie. What I hadn't counted on was the shamelessness of Blair and Bush to press on with using these lies as justification for action in spite of being fully aware of their mendacity and that they would eventually be proven to have misled everyone.
Not saying either way whether Iraq 2 was, in the end, justifiable, just that those facts the leaders chose to use were plain, flat-out lies. Nor am I saying that any of their successors are any better.

He shouldn’t be checking his phone while driving 

He shouldn’t be checking his phone while driving 

He shouldn’t be checking his phone while driving 

Why not have a "Rainbow Division"? Alexander the Great was way ahead of his time.  

Forward we go once again.

 
Through the mists, the mighty objective awaits our greatest efforts.

 

The Thirty-First Minute
KG LINKS
Kein kontact! The second set of buildings seems clear. The probe advances, a little quicker now I am using alternating bounds. The SPWs and StuG are providing overwatch.


KG ZENTRUM
The probe continues here too. Advancing until I can bring up my fire support to rake the tree line and see what falls out.


KG RECHTS
It's MOVING! The armour contact moves up to a bend in the road, I'll have to back off my SPWs next turn as this thing is getting a bit too close for comfort. If he's moving it then I can only assume he has infantry on the move ahead of it.


2nd squad/2nd zug continue to push up the left side of the trees, nothing so far.

1st zug's sniper has been given free reign to advance from the treeline and see what he can see.

Overwatched by the zug's SPWs in the treeline (that's him on the far left of the image).

The scouts in 2nd zug get a spot through the gap in the bridge ahead. It's an infantry squad of some kind. They only spot one guy with a PPsH so it's not clear if it's an infantry squad or a SMG squad, I'll need more information to determine the true nature of it.

They were WALKing, not HUNTING so I assume he feels safe back there. I do wonder where they are going though, they walked down the river bed and seemed to be turning to their right at the end of the turn. This in conjunction with the armour contact moving makes me think he's either sent them out on patrol, is moving up to counterattack KG RECHTS or perhaps it's in reaction to KG ZENTRUM? He will no doubt know they are pushing up the center. Hmmm. I assume this is a platoon or possibly even a company as the Soviets don't tend to cope well without some leaders around.
Right at the end of the turn 1st squad/2nd zug get a (fleeting) confirmed spot on the armour. It's a T34-85, 1943 model. If there's one there's bound to be at least a platoon knocking around, with a company or more in the AO.


SITMAP

It surprised me to see him moving up on the right flank. I don't know for certain but I think he lost contact with KG RECHTS when I drove that AT rifle team off and this could be a combat patrol but it's a pure guess, everyone is going to stop and we'll see how the situation develops. The T34 is just out of range of the SPWs but I'm pulling them back anyway and the Panthers are being moved up to just behind the treeline so they can interdict if he moves it any further.
I can again update my intelligence requirements: 
What is the enemy OOB? - Unknown but the presence of a sniper suggests it's not JUST a cavalry regiment as they don't have any organic snipers. It might not be a cavalry regiment at all. He has at least 1 T34 in support. Does he have any armour? - YES What other AT assets does he have? Is he defending back or up front? - Looks to be back with OPs out front. Is Obj ROT occupied? - YES Where is his piquet line? - Once NAI1 is investigated then I'll know for sure. Where is his MLR? What types of armour does he have? - Spotted 1 x T34-85 (M1943) Now I know he has armour and have spotted at least one type it's time for a blood board, I'm assuming he has a company of T34s, it's the Soviets afterall.

It does look like AoA4 is well defended, but this may be a screening force, I need more information before I can commit the reserves to a course of action. One thing is clear though: things might get a bit violent soon.
MMM

The Twenty-Eighth Minute
KG LINKS
First set of buildings is clear. On to the next! A SPW has been brought up to a rise in the road that provides a hull down position and 1st squad are still pushing through the trees on the right side of the highway.


Still no contact. Surprising, seems like a perfect position for an OP to me.
KG ZENTRUM
The StuG fires...


And hits!

The AT rifleman is down. His mate doesn't hang around.

The rest of the zug  are retasked. I'm going to send the scouts and one split squad between KT1 and KT2 to see if we can trigger any ambushes and see what's on the left side of KT2. The rest of the zug are mounting back onto the SPWs.
This is a movement to contact, I'm planning to pull them back if they make contact with a sizeable force but we'll see as the situation is still very fluid. Hopefully I'll make enough noise that it might force him to redeploy his forces somewhat. It will also give us a view onto the backside of KT1 to see if he has any OPs positioned there.

The mortar fire is still coming in.
KG RECHTS
1st zug continue to fan out in the treeline.

2nd platoon continue to push through the trees, I'm skirting around the outside as it's a bit quicker than going through the middle and I'm not expecting any contact here anyway given where his AT team came from earlier.


The scouts get a sound contact. Achtung! Panzer! It looks like it's overwatching the bottleneck next to the marsh on AoA4. I'd expect him to have infantry ahead of the armour so this could well be the MLR.

SITMAP

On the left we're continuing to move to contact.
In the center the StuG will keep an eye on the KT1 while the panzergrenadiers reorient and push up the open ground to the south of KT1. 
On the right 2nd zug is going to go to ground and the panthers are going to move up a bit so they are in a better position to counter his armour should it decide to do something rash. The scouts are out of contact with the zugfuhrer so I'm going to bring them into contact so he can share the info with the tanks. 1st zug will continue to fan out along the trees to get more eyes into the area.
I can now update my intelligence requirements: 
What is the enemy OOB? - Unknown but the presence of a sniper suggests it's not JUST a cavalry regiment as they don't have any organic snipers. It might not be a cavalry regiment at all. Does he have any armour? - YES What other AT assets does he have? Is he defending back or up front? - Looks to be back with OPs out front. Is Obj ROT occupied? - YES Where is his piquet line? - Once NAI1 is investigated then I'll know for sure. Where is his MLR? What types of armour does he have? MMM

I had to work it in somehow
MMM

“We also found out through our Dutch intelligence network that the enemy may have armour in the AO, something to keep an eye on.”
Haha hilarious 

“We also found out through our Dutch intelligence network that the enemy may have armour in the AO, something to keep an eye on.”
Haha hilarious 

“We also found out through our Dutch intelligence network that the enemy may have armour in the AO, something to keep an eye on.”
Haha hilarious 

Minutes Twenty Two to Twenty Seven
Not a lot happened in these minutes so I'll report on all of them together.
KG LINKS
Still no contact on the left, 2nd squad is at the farm at the end of the twenty-seventh minute so I'm bringing the StuG up for for fire support along with a couple of the HTs. There are a couple of nice hull down firing positions for them to take up.





The impatient side of me is thinking this is taking too long, but given the amount of trees and buildings here and the fact I don't really have that much infantry to start with I'm going to be cautious and take my time. I will move a tiny but quicker (use QUICK instead of HUNT to cover the open spaces while being overwatched by fire support) but I'm not going to be reckless.
Given where his other OPs were situated I am expecting contact around about the third set of buildings in the image above as that would be in line with the other contacts I have had. We'll see!
KG ZENTRUM
The AT rifle team finally spotted 2nd squad moving around the trees on the right and took a few shots. None of them hit and my guys barely noticed such was the range but now he has spotted me it's time for these guys to eat some HE. I don't want him getting intel for free.

To that end I have decided to carry out the switch I was thinking about and swap the StuG that was with KG RECHTS with the Panther that was with KG ZENTRUM so both Panthers are with KG RECHTS. The StuG will then be brought up to fire on the AT rifle team on KEY TERRAIN 1 and either take them out or drive them off, I don't want to use a SPW (changing terminology to be more Germanic) as they've proven already that they can be damaged at range.
I don't know if he's seen any of my armour yet but this will obviously get his attention so if he's going to get a confirmed spot then I'd rather it was on a StuG than a Panther. Hopefully when the Panthers do get involved it will be a nice surprise for him! Then I'll unleash the Tigers (insert maniacal cackling and hand wringing here)!

No other contacts have been reported, I think KEY TERRAIN 3 is clear so once the OP is driven off then I'll retask KG ZENTRUM.
The mortars are still dropping. Poor scrubland, RIP.
KG RECHTS
The AT rifle team that ran away into the trees did not reappear and no other contacts were reported. I am bringing the rest of 3 kompanie up (1st zug, they only have two zugs) to fan out along the treeline and get more eyes on the farm. Investigating/clearing KEY TERRAIN 2 is going to take time and I'll need more than one platoon given the amount of trees. I'm expecting to run into troops in here as that seems to be where the AT rifle team retreated to.



2nd zug are pushing through the trees, scouts out front and have made it pretty far without any contact.

Finally the Panthers are reunited. Here having a cosy chat with 3 kompanie HQ.

SITMAP

On the left and right they'll continue to probe and see what they can uncover. In the center everyone is holding position until I can deal with that OP on KEY TERRAIN 1 (added them back to the graphic for reference).
I realise I didn't share my prioritised intelligence list before now:
What is the enemy OOB? - Unknown but the presence of a sniper suggests it's not JUST a cavalry regiment as they don't have any organic snipers. It might not be a cavalry regiment at all. Does he have any armour? What other AT assets does he have? Is he defending back or up front? - Looks to be back with OPs out front. Is Obj ROT occupied? - YES Where is his piquet line? - Once NAI1 is investigated then I'll know for sure. Where is his MLR? We also found out through our Dutch intelligence network that the enemy may have armour in the AO, something to keep an eye on.
MMM

Thanks Ian, the Black Sea manual says precious little about APS so i've been running tests to figure out exactly how they operated.


So far I've identified that:

Trophy
- Maximum 4 intercepts (360 degrees)
- Intercepts Javelin
- Intercepts TOW-2

Zaslon
- Maximum 4 intercepts (270 degrees from front)
- Maximum 2 intercepts(90 degrees from rear)
- Intercepts Javelin
- Intercepts TOW-2

Zaslon's intercept is unique in that it does have segments


Arena
- Maximum 4 intercepts (360 degree)
- Will not intercept Javelins
- Also seems poor at engaging TOW-2



I doubt we're going to see any patches for Black Sea again, but if we do, it would be nice to increase the Arena cartridge count from 4 to at least 6. Since that would better represent its strengths (more intercepts) compared to Zaslon/Trophy while still maintaining its weakness to Javelins. As an aside I suspect Zaslon/Trophy should not be intercepting Javelins as readily as they do but there isn't a ton of info on it.

 
So the vehicle will correctly intercept projectiles in a 360 degree circle. It just operates closer to Zaslon/Trophy than Arena. Actually its fairly close to the new Arena-M which has 8 charges (4 per side) rather than the old Arena.