This review first appeared in IPW, the newsletter for all discount games
club members. Contact colin@allusedgames.demon.co.uk for details.

JERUSALEM - SDC

Board wargame

Jerusalem was the most important city in the 1948 Arab-lsraeli war. The
Israelis held it, whilst the Arabs controlled the surrounding area. A
situation developed whereby Israeli convoys had to fight their way
through to the city with much needed supplies.

The Arabs tried to halt these convoys, sometimes successfully, and
assault the city. This game uses unusual wargame mechanics to simulate
this fascinating campaign.

Each players game turn comprises of just a road movement phase, when
units can use only roads, and an off road movement phase. Each player
may take either phase in their desired order. Some units can move in
both phases whilst some types are limited to road movement only. A
player must consider carefully which phase to take first.

When a moving unit enters an enemy zone of control, it stops and the
enemy unit takes its defensive nre. Assuming your ftiendly units
survive, they return fire and, if the enemy is eliminated, may continue
using the remainder of their movement allowance. Combat is a simple odds
comparison with modifications for terrain, leaders and some unit types.
However, unlike traditional wargames, not all units in a hex need be
attacked.

Imagine an Arab unit with a strength of eight were attacked by four
Israeli units, each with a strenglh of four. In defense it could choose
to fire at one Israeli at 2-1 odds, two at 1-1 or all four at 1-2,
owners choice.

If the situation were reversed and the Arab unit was attacking he could
make two attacks at 1-1 or four at 2-1 and so on. The important things
are that the Arab may be eliminated by defensive fire between each of
his assaults, or thal, if any single assault fails to eliminate an enemy
unit, no further rounds are fought. Artillery may aid assaults, within
range, or attack alone.

This was a colourful campaign with a host of unusual units. Most of the
armour is World War Two vintage Shermans and Matildas, as are the
halftrack units. Within the Israeli Jerusalem garrison is a Turkish
150mm mortar stolen from a war mcmorial which can blow up when used.

Leaders on the Arab side range Irom the eccellent to the eccremental.
Both sides have terrorist units, but the few special rules for them are
kept simple. This game does not delve into guerilla type operations in a
way that puts me off most games on Vietnam and Central America, thank
heavens.

Arab-Israeli games set in later wars demonstrate that Israeli forces
have a clear advantage, but in this game opposing forces are much more
evenly balanced. Indeed, historically, the Arabs won several battles,
though they eventually lost the war.

At game start, Jerusalem is held mainly by Israeli forces with Arabs
holding a couple of hexes (the Arab quarter). The surrounding area is
saturated with Arab units, many of them garrisons unable to move. The
Israeli player has a convoy enter the western map edge each turn that,
with the aid of combat units, tries to make it through to the city. To
do so provides reinforcements and supplies to the Israeli galrison. To
fail sees their garrison forces grow weaker. Arab reinforcements include
regular forces from Syria, Egypt, Iraq and Jordan's Arab Legion. These
were British trained and the Arabs best forces. A typical game covers
guerilla, mobile and set piece type combat as well as city fighting
within Jerusalem, a la Stalingrad.

Jerusalem is not overly complex, but absolute beginners would probably
be better off with games using traditional wargame mechanics. Even
expcrienced players may have some initial difficulty using their forces
to their optimum capacity until familiar with the game system.

Solo play is excellent, with Arab dummy leaders that could be used like
untried units are in Panzergruppe Guderian. This game does an excellent
job of simulating a complex situation in a balanced and enjoyable
manner. One of the few post World War Two games in my collection and one
I'd recommend to anyone.

Alan Sharif