thx for the offer Business, i wll restart fresh i guess now that i fully remember how to play, real pain in the butt htere is no option to restart scenarios

Well, well.

I DID say I would update when I had the opportunity.

Five some-odd years later, I apparently do. :)

What a fantastic game, that I can continue to revisit it, and always enjoy it, using new techniques and play styles.

In answer to my own question: The deployment hexes I was looking for are only available during the "initial deployment" phase of this campaign. In contrast to PG1, initial deployment and regular deployment are different--initial deployment typically allows different (and deeper) deployment options. In some scenarios (as in Malta and I believe Novgorod), the scenario is actually largely unplayable without the initial deployment option.

And yes, this sometimes necessitates replaying an earlier scenario. But fear not. You will likely be back in five years to replay the whole campaign, anyway.

:)