skynetsysadmin

I meant to add that I simply love this map. For me, it brings back a lot of memories of the time, the place, and the mood of that era. Flying around the map in an A-10 makes me appreciate what the real A-10s we used to see zooming around all the time on our exercises near Wildflecken.

I think the premise of the original question is not correct. It wasn't the 'obvious invasion point'. It was considered a likely and suspected invasion point. There simply was no obvious and easy invasion point for the Soviets. They had a pretty large numerical advantage in forces in the region. The theory was that the Soviets would try to overwhelm the smaller, although technologically superior NATO force. Securing Autobahn 7 speeds an attack towards Kassel. Securing the end of Autobahn 66 aids the assault on Frankfurt. A66 didn't go all the way to A7 in the 80's like it does today. This would potentially cut West Germany in two and cause NATO some significant tactical problems. I was an infantryman stationed there from 86 to 89. We trained in the Fulda area on several occasions. NATO did not ignore the northern attack option. It was also suspected as a possible invasion point. It just doesn't get the 'publicity' of the Fulda scenario. The Fulda Gap scenario is a very risky, but potentially very rewarding strategy. Luckily, we never had to deal with an actual invasion. I was part of the Pershing 2 missile brigade. That's a kiloton of nuclear pain that would have devastated Europe. One of the potential strategies at the time was to fall back to France and launch the P2s at the forces attacking through the Fulda Gap. It's a nightmare scenario, but one that stops the Soviets in Germany and potentially saves France, Spain, etc. Very scary times for an 18 year old grunt.

As someone who was stationed in Bayern from 86' to 89', I too would love to see this. However, I think the main reason that it was not included is that it wasn't tactically significant to the likely soviet attack scenarios. The invasion wasn't coming through Austria. You could make the argument about the former Czechoslovakia, I guess. I hope they do expand the map to include this, but I can completely understand why they initially left it out.