Yeah I kinda agree with Fuchs about the river. Its the only thing that divides the gameplay and usually cuts the flow of play, people will start sitting in their tanks and wait for someone to make a move across. I think it could be just normal terrain so the initial push is on through the countryside and not through bottlenecks.
BUT I do agree its also sad to remove it because Sorken made the bridge for it. Personally tho, I would lean to no river option, while I still dont mind it being there. But as it is now, many times I am leading a massive canadian tank charge in my cromwell and I have shermans and churchills following me as we storm to factory and then to windmill, but when I start my attack to south through the shallow parts, I always end up being alone because the rest are pansies and are afraid of kittens lurking in the vegetation. If it was no clear "barrier" and bottleneck, I think more people would keep on these attacks and not leave me (or anyone who does this like me) face the dangers by themselfs.