Bucha, Ukraine - 27 Feb 2022 - 15mm
Video Replay - Damon v. Oriskany on the West Bank of the Suez Canal, Yom Kippur War 1973
We had a great stream yesterday, where community member Damon and I sat down for a game of Avalon Hill’s The Arab Israeli Wars.
The scenario took place in the closing days of the Yom Kippur War, where Israeli armor and mechanized infantry (paratroopers in halftracks) had counter-crossed over to the west bank of the Suez Canal behind Egyptian positions, and were driving south to Port Suez to cut off the Egyptian Third Army on the east bank.
To prevent this, the Egyptians launched a hasty counterattack with the 3rd Armored Brigade and 113th Mechanized Brigade (4th Armored Division) against the right wing of Bren Adan’s 162nd Armored Division as it drove south toward the Port Suez objective.
I won’t spoil how the game turned out, only to say it was deperately, desperately close … and in fact neither of us knew who had actually won until after the game was over and we pointed up the results.
We hope you like it! Might be a pleasant distraction to put on in the backgrond while painting or building for your hobby.
The full table with both sides' opening moves.
Oriskany loses his first T-55 platoons, but maneuvers the rest in a way that will leverage Damon's 15 "Sho't" Centurions off that norther objective hex by the Suez-Ismailia rail line. Will Damon be able to take it back?
A huge battle kicks off in the south, where Damon has seized an objective hex controlling a key road the divisional commander will need to continue the overall drive down to Port Suez. This one ... will get messy.
A key part of Israeli operations on the west bank of the canal was elimination of Egyptian surface-to-air missile (SAM) sites. These SAM sites had largely checked the Israeli Air Force out of the war, only by eliminating these could the IAF get back to its devastating ground support role.
I really enjoyed this game, it was a real see-saw. The mob handed tactic with the Egyptian tanks was a new twist, have to think of a counter to that.
Countertactics usually include covering expected Arab approach routes and pinning down as many tank platoon as possible with opportunity fire. Not killing a few, pinning many. Arab armies usually have lower morale / cohesion levels so have a harder time coming back from multiple dispersals. Pinned units are t hen picked off at your leisure, assisted by friendly artillery and air strikes.