So here is the wrap up for the epic game of The Arab Israeli Wars between myself and @damon .

Golan Heights, Israel v. Syria, October 7, 1973.

As always, I suggest OPEN IN NEW TAB for best resolution

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More Israeli reinforcements have arrived (Damon makes a roll at the beginning of each movement phase, a 1-2 on d6 indicates one of his four Centurion reserve platoons arrives from Yanosh’s brigade HQ back at the Golan Customs House). He’s effectively sealed off my planned northern escape route (I don’t have an image ready for it, but note the burning wrecks along the north, this was the last six of his IAF air strikes blowing the spearhead clean off 81st Armored Brigade / 3rd Armored Division). Therefore, I’m turning south. and going for a new escape path clean over the north shoulder of Tel Hermonit. Believe it or not, some of these guys might actually make it off the west end of the board and behind Israeli lines. There are just so FEW Israeli units left, even knocking out three of them (note the Sagger ATGWsand T-55s of 78th Brigade have picked off another Centurion reinforcement platoon the apex of Tel Hermonit) has had a disastrous effect on Damon’s line.

The first BTR-60s of 85th Mechanized have now escaped through the deserted ruins of El Rom. A battalion+ sized column of T-62s has now mounted Tel Hermonit, ready to follow and secure the breakthrough. Meanwhile, my 82mm mortar battery has been re-positioned after a laborious process, and now lays down smoke to blind some of the Israeli firing positions.

Turn 10, and the game is finally winding down. Most of that column from the 81st Armored has broken clear. Some units were left behind, and now have no real chance of following off the west edge of the table with Damon redeploying three Centurion platoons in and around El Rom to seal the breach. Some of my infantry survivors, meanwhile, have also fortified themselves in Israeli IPs on the north shoulder of Tel Hermonit.

The grim score sheet. Okay, I know this game was announced at the live stream as a Syrian win (a full battalion – 45 AFVs and 50+ infantry broke through Israeli defenses here and are now probably overrunning Brigade HQ), but that’s because the I didn’t count the Israeli points correctly. Monday morning I reached out to Damon and told him he in fact WON this game, although only by one point. Long story short, I forgot Israeli units get TWO points per kill, not ONE. So what’s happened instead here is that yes, a large Syrian battlegroup broke through and is currently driving hell-for-heather for the Jordan River and the Galilee river crossings. But … with this corps-area breakthrough zone basically smashed behind them, and 7th Infantry and 3rd Armored more or less powerless to sustain the breakthrough or send support, the Syrians will eventually be pinned down and forced to surrender by Israeli operational reserves (probably Peled’s Division). In the end, the points tell the story and define the narrative. But DAMN, this was a close one!

The field of battle after the fight … 225 Syrian tanks and AFVs are wrecked on the table, along with 25 Israeli Centurions. (A kill ratio of almost 10:1, exactly what we see at the Golan historically). Also, an Israeli fighter jet burns to the north. Some Syrian bridges have been thrown over the Purple Line’s antitank ditch, along with wrecked armor IN the trench itself. The Israeli line remains more or less intact, but badly weakened, and again, a reinforced Syrian battalion+ DID get through.