What's a Greenhorn General to do?

[The SNAFU]

I dont know that there is a right or wrong answer. I tend to agree that a brief peek at the situation in zoomed out 2D and/or the jump map gives one a general sense of the enemy positions without giving away too much information. I feel this reasonably (and fairly) represents what one side would normally know about the other. After the first turn is complete most everything in the intial setup is old news at which point you must rely on your air and ground recon for intel.