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The Arab-Israeli '67 WarTHE mSTORY AS THE GAME

Undoubtedly SINAI's greatest attribute is its1973 historical scenario, but one must notoverlook the fact that the game also allowsthe Player to recreate and examine one of theswiftest and most decisive wars known toman, The Six Day War. In terms of a gamethe 1967 historical scenario is unbalanced infavor of the Israelis. But a decisive or even asubstantive Israeli victory is not a sure bet.The Israeli Player must gain his objectivesbefore twelve Game-Turns expire, that is,duplicate the miraculous six day feat. Byfollowing the action of the Zahal (IsraeliArmy) in the Six Day War we can duplicate italmost exactly in the game, thereby givingone the best strategy for the Israeli Player.I have decided, in order to simplify matters,to discuss the three different fronts of the warseparately. First the operations in the Sinaiagainst Egypt, then Jordan and lastly Syriaand the Golan Heights. Of course in thecontext of the game the movement andcombat of one Player on the different frontsis simultaneous for a given turn.SINAIGeneral Gavish was placed at the head of allIsraeli forces on the Southern Front-Sinaiand at his disposal were three Task Forces.These three Task Forces, or divisions, werecalled Tal, Yoffe and Sharon, named aftertheir respective commanders. They were todestroy the Egyptian Army in the Sinai andreach the Suez Canal. Brigadier-GeneralTal's Division was composed of the elite ofthe Israeli Armored Corps. They were tomake the initial breakthrough into the Sinai.To carry out this important task the TalDivision had two armored brigades, underShmuel and Menahem; one paratroopbrigade, under Raul; one reconnaissanceunit, under Yisrael; and one independentarmored battalion, under Uri.Brigadier-General Yoffe's Division wascomprised entirely of reservists and con-tained only two armored brigades, Isska andElhanan. They were to dash across the Sinaito secure the mountain passes of Mitla andGiddi in order to cut off the Egyptian retreat.The Israelis assumed there would be one.

by Howard Barasch

Brigadier-General Sharon's Division had onearmored brigade, Motke's; two infantrybrigades, Kutti and Uri; and one reconnais-sance unit, Arie. They were to seize the UrnKatef-Abu Ageila fortifications and then thecentral east to west road to the Suez Canal.The northern coast road to the canal waswithin Tal's sector of operation while thesouthern road was allocated to Yoffe's men.By looking at the Sinai map on can see thesethree major byways that lead from Israel tothe Suez Canal.

In addition to the three divisions there weretwo independent brigades operating in theSouthern Front. One was in the Negevopposite Kuntilla, guarding the approachesto Eilat, and the other was opposite the GazaStrip.

The Egyptians in the Sinai were under thecommand of Lt-General Murtaji and at hisdisposal were seven divisions, which com-prised some 100,000 men and nearly athousand tanks. They were deployed in threemain lines. The first line of defense skirtedthe Israeli border stretching from the GazaStrip to Kuntilla. The 7th Division wasdug-in around the Rafah (hex 2220)-El Arish(1821 area and the Urn Katef (2224)-Kus-seima (2326) area was held by the 2ndDivision. The second line of defense was heldby the 3rd Division and two independentarmored brigades. This line was placed atJebel Libni (1726) and Bir Hassna (1827).The 6th Division was located to the southholding the flank. In reserve was the crack4th Armored Division, holding the thirdand last line of defense, the approaches topasses and the Suez Canal. A SpecialArmored Division under Shazali, hero of theYemen war, was stationed in the south nearKuntilla and they were to be used in anoffensive drive into the Negev with a possiblelink up with the Jordanians. In the GazaStrip the Egyptians had organized thePalestinians into the 20th Division and keptthem there to defend that territory. TheEgyptians also placed a reinforced brigade atSharrn-el-Sheikh.

The Egyptians followed closely the Sovietdoctrine of defense. In looking at the Sinaimap one can see the 1967 historicaldispositions of the Egyptian army andobserve their theory of defense. TheEgyptians assumed that if the Israelis invadedthe Sinai they would have to follow the threemain northern roads and it was here that thetoughest defense would be. Looking at thegame map again, one can observe two 3-1infantry brigades deployed along this road.In actuality these brigades-the 11th on thesouthern flank and the 16th near Rata-weredug in south of the main coastal road.Behind these fortified positions was the 49thField Artillery Brigade containing 36-122mmHowitzers and one battalion of 100mm guns.Within the defense positions as well asbetween them were batteries of anti-tankguns and in front of these positions was anextensive minefield. At the outskirts of ElArish, at El Jeradi, was another fortifiedposition held by an infantry brigade andbacked by the 57th Artillery Brigade as wellas some 30 entrenched tanks. At El Arishitself the 19th National Guard Brigade waspresent. Attached to the Division in this areaand interspersed within these brigades weresome one hundred tanks, including JS-3heavy tanks. In the Gaza Strip are locatedthe towns of the Khan Yunis and Rafah.They were held by the Palestinians of theEgyptian Army. Rafah, a fortified position,was held by five battalions of PalestinianNational Guardsmen and a battalion of fieldand anti-tank guns. It was ringed by barbedwire and mines (to recreate the historicalsituation, the Egyptian Player should addanother Palestinian infantry brigade 2-1 andplace it on hex 2220-Rafah).

At 8: 15 AM on June 5, 1967 units of the TalDivision crossed the border and engagedEgyptian forces. One half-hour before, theIsraeli Air Force was busy neutralizing theair forces of Egypt, Jordan, Syria and evenIraq. Tal, without air support, led his menon. Colonel Shmuel's Armored Brigade (9-8Shml), composed of one battalion of Pattons,one battalion of Centurions and one armored

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The historical starting set-up for the '67 war.

infantry battalion, overran the Palestinian108th at Khan YUnis(2320)and then headedtowards Rafah from the north. In this waythey would go around the encirclingminefield and penetrate the stronghold. Inthe breakthrough at Khan Yunis somethirty-five Israeli tank commanders werecasualties. This was due to the tankcommanders habit of fighting with theirturret hatches open so that they could seeclearly.Colonel Raful's Paratroop Brigade (4-1 Rful)mounted on half tracks with ColonelYisrael's Recon Unit (2-8 Ysrl) andsupported -by a battalion of Patton-tanks.

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under Lt-Col. Uri (2-8 Uri) rolled across thedesert tracks south of the Egyptian line inorder to outflank the 11th Brigade. ColonelMenahem's Armored Brigade (7-8 Mnhm)attacked the southern flank of the Egyptianline in support of the flanking force.Meanwhile, Shmuel fought its way intoRafah from Khan Yunis driving thedefenders from their fortified positions andforcing them to flee toward EI Arish. The11th Brigade finding itself outflanked andsurrounded was eventually totally eliminatedas a fighting force though pockets ofresistance remained as in Rafah and KhanYunis. The Menahem and Raful-urrits moved

in to mop up. By the first Game-Turn theIsraeli Player, following this' operation, caneliminate two Egyptian units and cut off twoothers in the Gaza. EI Arish is the nextobjective!

The Egyptian forces caught off guard andnot knowing how to react, besides havingtheir field communications cut, were under aloss of Command Control. But unlike theCommand Control rules in Sinai theEgyptians did not run. They remainedimmobile. Those few units that did reacttried to reorganize and pull back to thesecond line of defense. In the case of the 7th

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Division in the northern area the survivorstried to make their way back to El Arish.Shmuel's tanks rumbled on, following thecoastal road to El Arish, one battalion oftanks even made its way to the outskirts ofthe town, while the remainder of the brigadedid battle a few miles away. At this timeMenahem's Armored Brigade, composed ofa battalion of Shermans, a battalion ofAMX-13 light tanks and an armored infantrybattalion, travelled south of the coastal roadalong the sand dunes. They were trying toreach El Arish from the southern flank. Theparatroopers after entering Rafah were thenpreparing to aid their comrades who werefighting in the Gaza Strip. Raful knew thathe would need help in the Gaza, since thePalestinians were going to be fully preparedfor an all out battle. So Tal sent Uri'sbattalion of Pattons to give support. The lastremaining unit of the Division, the reconunit, was sent towards El Arish.Colonel Ishahar Shadmi, known to his menas Isska, led his armored brigade (9-8 Iska)across the sand dunes, which were con-sidered impassable by the Egyptians,towards Bir Lahfan (1923). By accomplishingthis feat the Israelis would have successfullycut off El Arish from its southern axis andsource of reinforcements. Historically thebrigade had crossed the necessary 50 km in 9hours, but in terms of the mechanics of thegame this will take a full day-2 Game-Turns. The second brigade of Yoffe'sDivision, Elhanan (9-8 Elhn) with itsCenturions, was held in reserve waiting forUrn Katef to fall.At Urn Katef (2224) the Egyptians hadentrenched the 125th Infantry Brigade,which was made up of four infantrybattalions, six artillery battalions and someeighty tanks. They were all well dug-in andhad their positions ringed with barbed wireand mines. To the east of this position was anumber of company size outposts. TheEgyptians had another fortified position afew miles to the southeast around ElKusseima (2326). This was held by fourinfantry battalions, seven artillery battalionsas well as ninety tanks. El Kusseima was thesouthern most fortified position on theEgyptian first line of defense.Sharon's Division had chosen as its objectivethe Urn Katef position and planned tolaunch a coordinated attack on it. The firstday of the war was spent with the unitsgetting into position for the combinedassault. Natke's Armored Battalion (2-8Ntke), with its Centurions, approached the.fortified position from the north; the ArieRecon Unit (1-9 Arie), with AMX-13s,half-tracks and jeeps moved in blockingposition to the south; Kutti's InfantryBrigade (5-1 Ktti) moved into position fromthe northeast along with Motke's ArmoredBrigade (8-8 Mtke) of Shermans. Later in theday, Uri's Infantry Brigade (4-1 Uri)maneuvered into position and joined thereconnaissance unit in the south securingthat flank. During the night of June 5(Game-Turn 2) Dani's paratroopers were

landed by helicopters to the west of thestronghold and moved east to hit theEgyptians from the rear.As dawn of the 6th day of June approached,the Israelis had cleared a path through theminefield and began to launch its combinedarmor and infantry assault. In a few hours offiece fighting the stronghold fell. During theheight of the battle the Elhanan ArmoredBrigade drove through the midst of the battleand headed at full speed towards Jebel Libni(1726).The Egyptians, during the night of the firstday (Game-Turn 2), were able to launch acounterattack against the advancing foe.Most units were still in a loss of CommandControl while others were being harrassed byIsraeli aircraft, which was able now to give itsfull assistance to the ground war. In the Sinaigame Air Strike markers should be used eachGame-Turn against the Egyptians. They aremost valuable. They should be placed, atleast in the first 4 Game-Turns, in such amanner that they will block the flow ofEgyptian reinforcements to the front linetroops. Place Air Strike markers on units,especially in stacks. Remember, in the case ofmechanized units, one marker slows downwhile two markers paralyze.

The units that counterattacked that nightwere an armored brigade (5-5) and amechanized brigade (3-4). They, comingfrom Jabel Libni, were trying to breakthrough to El Arish. The Isska Brigade inblocking position was able to repulse theattack and in the morning the Centurionscounterattacked against these units drivingthem back towards their point of origin.By 1000 hours June 6 (Game-Turn 3) EIArish was in the hands of Tal's Task Force.The remaining troops of the garrison, forthat matter the remnants of the 7th Division,were heading down the coastal road towardsthe Suez Canal. The rest of Tal's Divisionheaded into the Gaza Strip to aid theindependent Yehuda Infantry Brigade (8-1Yhda) in squelching the 20th PalestinianDivision. A long fight began and continueduntil midday on the 7th of June (Game-Turn5) when the town of Gaza surrendered to theIsraelis and all organized resistance ended inthe Strip. But in the Sinai game the IsraeliPlayer need not use any other units againstthe Strip since the Yehuda Brigade couldaccomplish this task alone. All it would do isattack the 107th Palestinian Brigade andforce it to retreat toward the Nahals, i.e.,cutting off its retreat. The same procedure isto be used with the other Arab unit.June 6 saw the breakout of the Israeli armorand the beginning of the dash towards theCanal. As mentioned before, the secondbrigade of Yoffe's Division was drivingthrough Urn Katef towards Jabel Libni inorder to link up with Isska's Brigade. Tal'sDivision had split up again at EI Arish, the.two armored brigades moved south and theRecon Unit (2-8 Ysrl) headed west. TheRecon Unit would be joined shortly by Uri'sTank Battalion and Raful's Paratroopers in

half-tracks from the Gaza battle. Though tt.:Egyptians on the coastal road did not offe:much resistance to the advancing Israelisthey might give the game Player a hard timeThere are two ways of dealing with theseArab units. First, with a little bit of luck theIsraeli Player could drive back the Egyptian;with a frontal attack to hex 1422 and ther;pin them there with Air Strike markers.During the next movement phase the IsraeliPlayer, with any mechanized unit, can followthe road (1623) into clear terrain and theninto the desert and outflank the Egyptianscutting off their retreat. A follow-up by astrong frontal attack will eliminate them. Orif one wishes, the Israeli Player may choose touse the airmobile unit and block the line ofretreat that way. Either way the road to theSuez would then lie open.Meanwhile Tal had sent his tanks south tooutflank Jebel Libni while Isska and Elhananjoined in the attack. The result was thedestruction of the bulk of the Egyptian 3rdDivision. At the same time that Tal andYoffe were littering the desert with Egyptianarmor and men, Sharon was leading his mensouthward. Dispatched from this divisionwas Kutti (5-1 Ktti) and Uri (4-1 Uri). Theywere to take Kusseima (2326). The rest of thedivision was to move toward Nakhl (1733) topossibly trap the Egyptians in that area. Butduring the night of the 6th the Egyptians hadevacuated Kusseima and when the sun cameup the Israeli infantry entered a desertedposition.

The Egyptian 4th Armored Division, afterinitially being unable to move due to a breakdown of communications (if not just hesitantabout moving), began moving toward BirGafgafa (1227) in a move to secure the roadto Ismailia. Some of the Egyptian units hadalready moved forward to the second line ofdefense but they were called back to this finalrallying point. Periodically the terror fromthe skies, the Israeli Air Force, would strikeand force the road bound Egyptian units toabandon their vehicles and scurry for cover.This made road movement quite difficult.Sometime between the 6th and 7th of June,General Shazali led his Special Division,which was comprised of one armored brigadeand one commando mechanized brigade,back through the passes and disappearedtowards the Suez Canal.On June 7 (Game-Turn 5), Isska andElhanan jointly attacked Bir Hassna (1827)while Tal's armor did battle with Arab tankson the road to Ismailia. Heavy losses wereinflicted on the Egyptians in both clashesand the remnants went fleeing towards theCanal. Most never made it there.As in the game, numbers of Egyptian unitsfind themselves coverging on the mountainpasses, Mitla and Giddi, trying to make itthrough them and across the Canal to safety.The Israeli Player, by placing his Air Strikemarkers on the passes, can cause ajam up ofunits (and traffic). Two markers placed onhex 1134 block the southern route while onemarker in either of the Mitla road hexes andGiddi stop that exit. But Bir Gafgafa is

another story. The Israelis must get unitsthere to stop the Arab withdrawal and makethe .destruction of the Egyptian Armycomplete.By the time the sun had set on June 7Menahern's tanks had fought their way intoBir Gafgafa. Shmuel guarded its southernflank, and set itself into position to hold anyand all counterattacks from the south. Butthat would not come so quickly. Yoffe'sCenturions in the form of Isska and ElhananArmored Brigades moved on to Bir Tamada(1430) tightening the noose around theEgyptian Army. By Thursday morning,Yoffe's tanks, unsupplied, had taken bothpasses and held off the Arab counterattacks.That night the Israelis sent its armor throughMitla and on their way through theyencountered Egyptian T-S4 and SSs. A shortfire fight led to the Arabs fleeing towardthe west.

Shortly after midnight on June 8, theEgyptians launched their finest effort of thewar against the Menahem Armored Brigade.The Arabs sent T-SSs against the AMX-13light tanks of the Israelis. The Israelicommander formed a circle with this thinarmored tanks to protect the soft vehiclesand the Howitzer battery. Outgunned andout armored the Israelis took heavy losses,but just when things looked their bleakestthe "cavalry" came to the rescue in the formof Shermans and Centurians from Shmuel todrive off the enemy. That morning Shmuelled his brigade towards the Canal asMenahem's Brigade held Bir Gafgafa, inorder to keep open the supply andcommunications lines as well as holding therear. At this stage of the game Shmuel isunsupplied but nevertheless still advancing.A hint in moving the supply counter is toalways advance along the Ismailia road onehex further west each Game-Turn and neverdeviate from that path.Tal's northern force had just encountered itsfirst real major opposition near the swampsnortheast of the Suez Canal. Here theEgyptians tried to defeat the Israelis,throwing at them a mechanized unit. Thecombined force of tanks, paratroopers andrecoilless rifles mounted on jeeps workedtogether to drive off the attackers. On June 8at 1800 hours (Game-Turn 7) this forceentered Kantara on the Suez Canal.Shmuel, heading cautiously towards theCanal, found (on Thursday afternoon)Egyptian armor waiting in concealment forthe Israelis on both sides of the road. TheEgyptian armor was estimated to be ofbrigade strength. Shmuel decided to split hisbrigade in two, sending one battalion downthe main road while sending the other in aflanking movement to the north behind theenemy. Systematically the Israelis were ableto destroy some seventy enemy tanks whilesustaining no losses. Shmuel again began hiscautious advance towards the Suez Canal. Afew hours after midnight on Friday June 9(Game-Turn 8) Tal had united his division onthe Suez Canal forcing the Egyptians toretreat to the opposite bank.

Returning to Yoffe's Division, both Elhananand Isska were now heading toward theCanal, the time was the afternoon of the 8th.Light resistance was encountered throughoutthe advance and finally by that evening(Game-Turn 8) Yoffe's men were coolingtheir feet in the waters of the Canal. In theSinai game the Israeli Player will find thatthese units will be unsupplied (reduced tohalf their movement allowance and attackstrength). In encountering any Egyptianunits, hopefully one or two only, the IsraeliPlayer should combine these two units in ajoint attack to force the Egyptians to retreat.Make sure that Arab reinforcements are keptat a safe distance using Air Strike markers.While Tal and Yoffe had reached the Suezcanal, Sharon, in what had become a sideshow to the main event, had set about thetask of preparing an ambush around Nakhl.On Thursday afternoon an entire mecha-nized brigade walked into Sharon's trap.Some SOT-S4s were destroyed along with the300 other vehicles. The Israelis also inflictedsome 1000 casualties on the Egyptians. Thiswas the last phase of operations of theSharon Division and as already discussed soended all action in the Sinai. It must bementioned that on June 7 a landing occuredin the southern tip of Sinai. The landing wasmade by Israeli naval and paratroopersagainst Sharm-el-Sheikh but the Egyptiansoffered no resistance since they had fled afew hours before the landing. It was quiteironic since this particular spot had a lot todo with starting the war.The Egyptians had paid dearly in this war.Some 7-8,000 men were killed and 4,500made prisoners, while they lost close to 800/0of all their vehicles either destroyed orabandoned (a good portion of it beingcaptured). The Israelis lost 275 killed and800 wounded.

WEST BANKThe Jordanians deployed seven infantrybrigades and two armored brigades on theWest Bank. These units were placed underthe command of General Abdal-MurimRiad, an Egyptian sent from Cairo alongwith two special commando units. The Iraqisalso placed at the disposal of the Egyptiancommander an entire division of 4 brigadesincluding some 150 tanks. At the time thatthe war began only one Iraqi brigade wasnear the West Bank and it was still on theeast side of the River Jordan.The Israelis had planned to hold a defensiveposition around the West Bank. They hadgiven all units explicit orders not to fire orcause any provocations. But at 0830 on June5, 1967 a few minutes after the Israeliscrossed into the Sinai, sporadic firingopened up in and around the divided city ofJerusalem. And by 1130 hours Jordanianheavy artillery was shelling Israeli settle-ments and cities along the frontier. Even TelAviv was hit by Jordanian ISSmm "LongToms". The Israeli· Central Commander,Brig-General Uzzi Narkiss, at this timebegan formulating his plan of attack. His

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main objective would be to capture OldJerusalem and its environs. Narkiss hadunder him one armored brigade (in manytexts it is referred to as a mechanizedbrigade) under Col. Uri Ben Ari (Uri 8-8);two infantry brigades, one under Col. Eliezer(Elsr 6-1) and one under Col. Moshik (Mshk6-1); and a paratroop brigade (infantry)under Col. Mordechai "Motta" Gur (Mota6-1). Motta's Paratroop Brigade was sta-tioned outside Tel Aviv and was awaitingorders to paradrop into the Sinai but its threebattalions received different orders on theevening of the 5th. They were to head by busto Jerusalem (entruck).The Jordanians made the first real offensivemove when they seized the GovernmentHouse, the UN headquarters, south of theOld City, at 1130 hours on the 5th. However,the Israelies did not take any action againstthe Jordanians until the evening of the firstday. In Sinai the Israelis must position itsunits in the opening Game-Turn since allJordanian Zones of Control do not extendacross the border until they enter the war,which would be through the JordanianParticipation Phase. The Jordanians willenter the game during the first Game-Turnand the Israelis will take offensive action ofthe Second Game-Turn (night of the firstday).The Israelis moved into position during theafternoon hours (Game-Turn 1). Motta'sParatroop Brigade (Mota 6-1) arrived atJerusalem at 1900 hours while Ben Ari'sBrigade (Uri 8-8) maneuvered itself close tothe Jordanian border and at 1720 hourslaunched its attack. A little earlier in the daythe Jerusalem Brigade (Elsr 6-1) was able todrive the Jordanians from the GovernmentHouse. The bulk of this brigade remained inJerusalem awaiting the arrival of reinforce-ments. In duplicating these moves in Sinaione would find it a difficult task. But it ispossible to recreate the net result.To recreate the initial moves of the IsraeliCentral forces first entruck Motta's para-troopers in Tel Aviv, then move Uri'sMechanized Brigade into New Jerusalem(3015). This unit can pass through theEgyptian Commandos Zone of Control sinceit does not stretch across the border yet. Thiswill place them in position to launch anattack on hex 3014 which is a fortifiedposition, though there is no Jordanian unitpresent there in the game. Don't forget thatenemy ZOC do not extend into city hexes sothat the armor is free to move from oneadjacent hex to another. The paratrooperswill move into New Jerusalen on the secondGame-Turn under the same rule that appliesto the armor.In the north, the Israeli Northern Com-mander Brig-General David Eleazer haddispatched three units against the Jordaniannorthern frontier. These units were themechanized brigade under Col. MosheBar-Kochva (Mshe 6-8), the armored bri-gades of Col. Uri Rom (Uri 7-8) and theinfantry brigade of Col. Aharon (Ahrn 5-1).These three units, which formerly were in

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defensive positions near the Syrian Borderwere placed in Task Force Peled.

At 1725 hours the entire mechanized brigadecrossed the border of Jordan and soon wasfollowed by Israeli foot soldiers. TheJordanian 25th Brigade, spread thinly alongthe border and around Jenin (3109), could dolittle to halt the concentrated spearheadassault of the Israelis. The forward battal-ion's position was pierced by hard hittingShermans in the vanguard. The tanks racedtoward Jenin itself and when they reachedtheir destination sped through the townfiring at everything that moved. Through thetown they raced and when they reached thesouthern end of Jenin they set up a roadblock to block the flow of reinforcements tothat town. The infantry then came up to mopup the resistance in the town.

In Sinai the Israeli Player can accomplish this'same feat by moving the Aharon InfantryBrigade, on Game-Turn 1, to the hexnorthwest of Jenin (3008) and then movingacross the border to the southwest (3009)cutting off that route. Moshe's unit mayattack from the hex northeast (3208) cuttingoff the main road and placing the Jordaniansout of supply. An attack now (Game-Turn 2)ensures the total elimination of the 25thBrigade.

But things were not that simple in real life forthe Israelis. The Jordanian 40th ArmoredBrigade stationed near the Damia Bridge onthe Jordan was sending elements towardsJenin. The Israelis had formed a smalldiversionary attack near the main north-south road in the northeast corner of the WestBank. This attack plus the assault on Jeninforced the armor brigade to split its forcessending some units to meet both threats. Onetank battalion of M-48s went to Jenin viaNablus (3111) while the other battalion ofPattons headed due north.

Around Jenin fighting was still going on asthe Jordanians were able to pit a reservebattalion of tanks against the Israeliblocking force outside the northern town.During the night of the first day the Israelishad fought a bitter struggle against thesethirty Jordanian Pattons. Superior trainingand determination paid off and the Israeliscame out victorious. The first day of fightingin the Central sector had also been ferocious.Uri's Armored Brigade (8-8) had attackedRadar Hill as well as Sheikh-Abdul-Aziz(3014), each heavily fortified and manned bya reinforced company. The fighting began at1930 hours and it was fierce. Though theJordanians had no tank support they provedto be a formidable opponent to the combinedstrength of their enemies infantry and armor.The positions were finally overcome by theIsraelis at a price, twenty killed andeighty-one wounded. Though there were notank losses from these actions, those wouldcome shortly. Tanks were not to fall victimimmediately to the Jordanians, insteadthey would fall victim to terrain. Thoughmines caused their fair share of armor losses,the hilly and rough terrain caused manytanks and vehicles to fall along the road side.

Moving at a snail's pace, Col. Ben Arimanaged to cut the northern Jerusalem roadat 0400 hours Tuesday morning (Game-Turn2).

Shortly after the Israelis arrived at this vitalroadway the Jordanians launched a counter-attack with the 60th Armored Brigade fromJericho (3315). A. three hour battle ensuedbut the Jordanians were unsuccessful. Uriwaited for his unit to form up and thenheaded north to Ramallah (3114) and thenJerusalem. Col. Moshik was trying to followUri but his force was engaged in the task ofcleaning out the Egyptian Commandos (1-1)from the Latrun area (2915). By doing thisthey would free the pressure on the one andonly supply road into Jerusalem. Moshik(6-1) was able to quickly dislodge theEgyptians from their positions and sendthem fleeing into the hills.

The fighting in and around Jerusalem was byfar the most ferocious of the war. And chosento bear the brunt of this fighting was theMotta Paratroop Brigade (6-1). At 0200 onTuesday it began in earnest when the orderwas given by Col. Gur to take the highground north of the Old city. It was in thisfighting that the Brigade lost one out of everyfive men, a total of 75 killed and 300wounded. Aiding in the fight for the Old Citywas the Jerusalem Brigade under Col.Eliezar. They were to take the ground to thesouth of the City, which would result in acutting off of reinforcements from that area.

Operating under the auspices of the CentralCommand the Moshik Brigade (6-1) aftereliminating all opposition Tuesday afternoon(Game-Turn 3) was ordered on to Ramallah(3113). The Uri Brigade (8-8) was alsoheading towards that vicinity. Under thelimitations of the game mechanics theIsraelis will not reach that town untilGame-Turn 4 (Tuesday night) and at thattime they can seize it. During this time, whileMoshik and Uri are taking Ramallah, theparatroopers of Gur (Motta) will have seizedMount Scopur and the hills north of the OldCity (3115). This will also result in the cuttingoff of the Jordanians in Ramallah sinceMoshik attacking from the west has ensuredthe cutting off of their retreat to the north.While Uri makes the attack on Ramallahand enters that town Moshik can headtoward Nablus (3111) from the south.

In the North the Jordanians, who haddispatched part of the 40th Armored Brigadeto the northern frontier, found themselvesdanger. The Jordanians deployed 36 M-48sat the entrance to Zababida Valley (3210).Col. Uri Rom (Uri) had reached the valleybefore nightfall Tuesday and then procededto turn the flank of the Jordanian armor. ButUri found that the Jordanians were a matchfor him and that they were well prepared forhis attack. Even with air support Uri couldnot crack the Jordanian line, so with nosuccess he broke off the action. A few hourslater, around midnight, the battle resumed.The Centurions finally defeated the Pattonsand the Israelis crossed the valley.

The other Israeli units is the NorthernCommand, the infantry and the mechanizedbrigade, left Jenin driving toward Nablus.(There is an omitted major road leading fromJenin to Nablus which intersects hex 3110,this is the road they travelled on.) The unitsheading towards Nablus naturally will givesupport to the attack on Zababida Valley(the Jordanian unit there should be the 40thArmored).

All remaining forces in the north of Jordanrallied around Nablus (3111). Col. Zeev'sInfantry Brigade pursued the Jordanianinfantry brigade from the western borderthere also. This important battle for thenorth began Wednesday afternoon when thegathering Israeli forces attacked. The battleraged from 1100 to 1600 hours (Game-Turn5). Joining in the fighting on the outskirts ofthe town were 41 Pattons from the 40thArmored Brigade. This action was foughtmore to the southeast of Nablus (3211) thanaround the town proper.

Leaving the fighting in the north we learn ofthe progress of the Central Command. Theparatroopers gathered together the remnantsof their force and prepared themselves forthe final assault-the last and mostimportant objective-Old Jerusalem. At0950 on Wednesday (Game-Turn 5) theyburst through the St. .Stephen's Gate (Lion'sGate) and dashed into the Old City. Eliezer'smen, at the same time, broke into the OldCity from the Dung Gate to the south. Athours the Israelis were able to raise their flagover the Wailing Wall and two hours laterboth Old and New Jersualem were united.Though sporadic sniping continued through-out the City organized resistance had ended.

Meanwhile Moshik was just south of Nablus(3110) by Wednesday afternoon as Zeev (6-1)moved his infantry brigade from the westernfrontier toward Nablus. While at the sametime Aharori's Infantry Brigade (5-1) wasfighting its way into the town of Nablus fromthe north (3110) and Uri closed in from theeast with tanks. Moshe lead his brigade pastAharon on the northern road and entered thetown and Uri arrived shortly to assist. In thefighting in and around Nablus the Jordan-ians lost 17 tanks while the Israelis lost none.All Jordanian units, after the capture ofNablus were either destroyed or were sentfleeing beyond the Jordan River. The onlything left in the north for the Israelis was toseize the bridges over the River. Uri's tankswere to have this honor.

In the south Uri (8-8) raced into Jericho(3315) on Wednesday evening (Game-Turn 6)after some confusing orders had forced himto delay. After that town was seized the tanksdrove on to the Jordan River bridges andsecured them. Eliezer's Jerusalem Brigadewas also busy in the final hours of operationin the West Bank. They had moved on totake Hebron (3017) from the Jordanians. the26th Jordanian Infantry Brigade which wasoperating that area had already abandonedmost of its equipment including .tanks andwas.trying to make its way back to the East

Bank. Trapped between Hebron and Jericho,many surrendered.

Finally at 0625 Thursday June 8 (Game-Turn6)with the capture of the last bridge over theRiver Jordan the Israelis had completecontrol of the West Bank. It was not an easyvictory in terms of losses. The Israelis hadlost 299 killed and 1,457 wounded. Most ofthe casualties inflicted were from the fightingin and around Jerusalem. The Jordanianshad lost 6,094 killed and missing (probablyonly 600 killed), 762 wounded and 463captured. Over one third of all armordeployed by the Jordanians was eitherdestroyed or captured. The Israelis reportedthat they captured some 60 field guns, 36105mm SP guns, 8 155mm guns and 20tanks.

A footnote must be added for the Iraqi force.Though stationed close to the JordanianRiver they were not able to get into actionduring the entire war since they wereconstantly harried by Israeli aircraft. Thesame procedure can be used in the game tomake them non-effective during the game.

GOLAN HEIGHTSWhen the Israelis compare all the belligerentArab nations around them they universallyconclude that the Syrians are the most hatedof all. For many years the Syrians from theheights had continuously shelled the settle-ments in the valley below. Now that the warhad begun the Israeli soldier was itching fora chance to end the reign of terror on theirland. But they would have to wait, for all thetroops deployed opposite the Golan were in adefensive mode and not geared for theattack.

The Syrians, on the other hand, had waiteduntil Tuesday June 6 before entering the warand their opening move was the shelling ofthe Israeli settlements along the border. TheSyrians felt secure in their fortified positionsalong the heights, which they had built up for19 years. This fortified line consisted ofdefensive positions ten miles deep andcomposed of row after row of trenches,bunkers, tank traps and gun emplacements.Manning these positions were six infantrybrigades, each having its own tank battalionof T-34s and SU-100s. Within thesefortifications were 265 artillery pieces as wellas some 200 anti-aircraft guns. And backingthese troops up were an armored and amechanized brigade.

The Syrians had plans for a major offensiveagainst Israel and on June 6 they began adiversionary ground attack against Tel Danin the northern comer of Israel. When newsof the defeat of the Egyptians had reachedthe Syrians, they immediately called off theiroffensive. The result was that the attack onTel Dan was a half hearted attempt. TheSyrians had committed the 243rd Battalionof the 11th Brigade plus 2 T-34 companies tothe action and giving firing support was the2nd National Guard Battalion. The attack

began in the early morning hours and lastedonly 21/2 hours, after which the Syrians,failing to take their objective, retreated.

Finally, on June 8 the Israelis were able todevote all their attention to the GolanHeights. The Egyptian and Jordanianarmies were thoroughly beaten. To christenthe opening of operations on this front theIsraeli Air Force began to pummel all theemplacements along the heights. They wentfrom AA positions to artillery batteries andthen finished off with the bunkers decimat-ing everything in sight.

The Israelis began marshalling their forcesbelow the heights Thursday night and Fridaymorning (Game-Turn 9) began the attack.Up to this date there were only four brigadesholding the line for Israel. Of this force twobrigades, Col. Albert's Armored Brigade(Slbt 7-8) and Col Elfrat Yona's InfantryBrigade (Yona 5-1), would be combined toconcentrate their strength in an effort tobreach the heights in the northern comer.They would cross the border at Kfar Szoldand Givat Ha'arn (3402) and take the Syrianpositions around Zaoura-Kala-Tel Fahar(3502).

At 1130 hours (Game-Turn) unarmoredbulldozers driven by Israeli engineersproceeded up the steep hills clearing a paththrough the mines, obstacles and debris forthe tanks and half-tracks that followed.Thirty five Shermans followed in a single filebehind the engineers. The Syrians were ableto pour a deadly fusillade of artillery andanti-tank shells at the advancing armor. Theinfantry of the Golani Brigade under Yonapeeled off and fought its way north to TelFahar and other fortified positions. Thearmor tried to force its way to Kala and whenit finally reached that destination only 2Shermans were intact of the original 35.

At Tel Fahar, a key position on the heights,the Syrians were quite determined to hold.Yona's men fought a costly battle therelasting three hours. Fighting tooth and nailin the trenches and bunkers with the Syrians,a terrific battle raged. In the end the Israeliswon. But at a price, 37 killed and 82wounded. The battle ended at 1800 hours(Game-Turn 9). With the fall of Tel Fahar,Guneitra (3602) lay open and with it the roadto Damascus. The Syrians also knew that TelFahar had cost them the war. But the Israeliswere not finished.

Friday Night the Israelis brought upreinforcements from the Jordanian front.These units were Col. Uri Rom's ArmoredBrigade (Uri 7-8) and Col. Moshe BarKochva's Mechanized Brigade (Mshe 6-8).Uri's men went right into action that nightagainst the Syrians in the Rawia area (3603)and successfully breached the heights. In thegame Albert Brigade should combine itsstrength with that of the Uri Brigade so thatthe latter unit can repulse the defenders, andallow Uri's tanks to penetrate the Golan.Moshe sent his force to the north to help the

9

Golani Brigade as Albert advances towardsQuneitra.

Saturday morning (Game-Turn 11) is thefinal day of the war and the Israelis aretrying to beat the ceasefire deadline as theyhurry about to clear the heights. Thatmorning, 8:45 AM Radio Damascus an-nounces the fall of Quneitra. Six hours later'the Israelis take possession of that town. TheSyrians have already given up hope ofvictory. The other infantry along 'the border,5/1 Brigade, attacks across the Jordan northof the Sea of Galilee and gains a bridgehead(3505). The Uri Armor Brigade at the sametime is driving south along the bordersweeping everything clear in its way. Anotherinfantry Brigade, 512 crosses and climbs theheights south of the Sea of Galilee. Soonafter paratroopers land by helicopter nearBoutmia (3705) completely sealing off thesouthern area.

At 1430 hours the Israeli units converged onQuneitra and entered it. The Syrians hadbeen shattered in 27 hours. The onlyundamaged Syrian units around were thosedefending the capital. The ceasefire cameinto effect at 6:00 PM with all sides adheringto it. As for the losses in the GolanOperation, the Israelis lost 115 killed and306 wounded while the Syrians lost 1,000killed and 5,000 wounded with 591 captured.It has been stated that the figure is as low as145 killed and 1,650 wounded. Some 80tanks were destroyed or 1/3rd of the Syrianarmor forces and 40 were captured. One halfof all artillery pieces were destroyed and theother half captured.

RULES MODIFICATIONSAND CHANGESIn studying this scenario I have found thatsome rules should be changed to reflect amore accurate picture of the campaign. Ihave recommended these changes:14.0 ARAB COMMAND CONTROL-In-stead of having all units that are theCommand Control retreat they should beunable to move for that Game-Turn.

The Egyptians, especially, did not run butrather did not move at all. A breakdown incommunications as well as indecision led tothis. All retreating that was done wasdeliberate in either the direction of thesecond or third line of defense or trying toescape to the Canal, which is a move anycommander would make to save his men.

Fortifications-In the Sinai the Egyptianshad prepared an elaborate set of fortifiedpositions one at Kusseima and the other atUrn Katef. These hexes (2224) and (2326)should be fortified and add the same effect asSyrian forts.

ORDER OF BATTLE-The Egyptiansshould add another Palestine InfantryBrigade 2-1 on hex 2220 in the Gaza.

The Israelis should replace the Uri 7-8 onhex 2323 with the Uri 2-8 on hex 3206. The2-8 Battalion is the unit of Pattons with theTal Division and the other is that of Uri BarKochva in the north of Jordan .••