murovanka, big forest, spotting

what's the best way to go about that in your opinion? I tried running through it but that got me killed since I ran into an enemy medium frontally.

Stay away form the magic forest, that's the best way, 1/2 lines are much more important.

But if you insist. From the north either a rush with all tanks (works only in TC). Or few tanks stay back, 1 light goes forward and spots passively in the forest.
From the south a light should go on the edge of the forest and passive scout, while other stay behind the small hill.

Active scouting is only useful just before a rush, or when you're sure there's only few tanks in the forest.

If you're playing this on randoms, then perhaps try to rush to the little hill on the bottom right corner of the map...just under the magic forest part. I say this because if you rush there then any enemy who wishes to take it from you will get shot at by your allies/ In addition, It's a nice piece of cover. This is, of course, assuming you start on the base at top of magic forest.

Agreed, the reason why 90% of randoms are lost on this map is because your side lemmings off and camps in the forest, where they are spotted and torn apart by TDs and Arty. This particularly afflicts the team starting in the north (my heart sinks when I see I'm starting in this position)

Saying that, depending on how the game is going, it can be worth going into the forest if you have decent camo skills and a net as the dense foliage provides some cover.

However, it's easy to get flanked in here, so make sure you have a couple of guys (or arties) in support. Not exactly easy to do in a random match!

My advice, stay on lines 1/2 as Vallu says, much more important.

There're some funny routes that could allow you to reach the enemy base but basically it is all about scout characteristic.

Actually, there can be a good reason to go into the forest when starting north, depending on the team setups.
If the opponents have a tank that is likely to scout the forest, and if you are capable of stopping it (detracking, ramming), and if the forest is important but vulnerable (according to your team's distribution), it's not a bad idea to counter their attack by stopping the scout.
You are likely to die early, but it can be worth it. Better you dead than 3 of your allies. Artillery will thank you as well.

This trade is not always a good one, because it's a purely strategical one. If you misjudge the situation, it's about as usefull as a suicide rush. So if you doubt your battle reading skill, stick with the western lines or stay near the middle to intercept opponent delayed rushes that usually come from the village.
As a scout, there are more things you can do than just spotting.

If you're going to defend the forest, leave 1 passive scout and use the western borders of the forest for hull down cover. The middle and east parts of the forest are all open to fire from south, including the destructible houses. There are alot of foliage inside there, but once you fire, you're doomed if enemies have snipers south. Another way to do it in normal battles, is to send a fast tank south with some coverage fire to deny them that little hill, but high chance of dying, and you really need good allies to protect you from cresting tanks that want to take you out.

1-2 line is fairly "standard" but it's completely open to artillery fire, the houses north of the hilly 1-2 can provide cover, but leaves you with no initiative as well. For scouts, one thing that has been fairly ignored for some reason, is to dash alongside the eastern parts of the hills, tanks normally don't look too much on this side, and south arties can easily be spotted this way.

This map requires you to have very heavy turret armor or similar if you want to snipe from south, as its a hull down cover area.
The 1-2 line favors the same config, but is less stingy on the gun depression due to the fairly even sloping.