From: Juha Metsäkallas Subject: Replay of a historical scenario eight of the game IDF(AH) (long)] Replay of Historical scenario eight Mutzav 111 of the game IDF (AH) Written by Juha "Metsis" Metsäkallas Few years ago I played through all scenarios of the Six days war with a friend of mine, Kari Hintsala. In the first scenarios we didn't use any expansions, later we added the ground expansion rules into our play. This time we decided to try with both ground and air expansions on the chronologically first Jom Kippur scenario, Mutzav 111. Kari chose the Arab, Syrian side and I the Israeli side. Of rules and options not in use worth mentioning are, that we do not check bail out for crews, only for transported units. Bailed out crews increase significantly counter clutter on the map and causes hassle, while not contributing anything to the battle or play. We also initially decided not to employ grade effects on suppression recovery. During the play the situation, however, tensed so much that I insisted that we take this rule into effect. Remember that all the Israelis are of crack grade while the Syrians are either of average or poor grade. So from the game turn nine onwards we used it. Maybe it would have had a greater effect onto play if it had been used from the very begin, now it remainded insignificant. Own set-up ========== Juha (Israel): Once again scenario depicts a situation where a handful of Israelis - across-attached company - is put against a horde of Arabs - across-attached battalion - or about 1:3 in raw strength. Luckily in this war the Arabs carry the burden of attack, and it is here where the openness of terrain comes to my rescue. In open terrain on Golan where long-range shooting is possible, the crack non-moving Israelis have a clear advantage over the approaching, non-crack grade Syrians. Furthermore the Syrians field T-55 tanks which are inferior to my Super Centurions. Arab artillery doctrine stipulates that 2/3 of artillery missions must be either planned or designated. There are three victory point objectives that are obvious targets for planned or designated artilleryfire. They are the Mutzav 111 position (worth 3x85 points), and the hills "7O8" (hexes 7N8, 7O7-8; worth 390 points) and "7W3" (hexes 7W3-4; also worth 390 points). The set-up requires me to put the special forces and a tank platoon on the Mutzav 111 position. I put them in hexes 5E3,5G4 and 5H3 so that one tight or line artillery sheaf can't wipe all them out. Of the same reason, I set up no units within tight artillery sheaf on those latter two hills. At least one Syrian company must start behind the tank ditch - I guess it will probably be a tank company which can provide fire support from there. Destroying the bridge carriers before they could deploy their bridges would significantly slow down the Syrian advance. For that purpose and to block the pass between hills "5V6" and "5CC7" I set up four Centurions to hexes 7E10 and 7K10 to take those hills right away. Besides blocking the pass that leads to the foot of one of those 390 victory points valued hills, those hill positions give some badly needed depth into defence. Those four Centurions on my right together with three + one in improved positions in hex 7CC6 at the foot of the hill "7CC4" and hex 7N9 at the foot of the hill "7O8", respectively, will put advancing Syrians in a cross-fire should they choose to come straight towards those victory point hills of"7W3" and "7O8". I split the Israeli infantry platoon in two and have these groups wait near those hills ready to rush onto them after artillery barrage. This is based on hope that the Syrian artillery missions against these hills are planned and will arrive before the mechanized Syrian infantry has closed too near. Or in case of designated artillery missions I pray that there is no observing capable unit within sighting range with a proper command, when the Israeli infantry must move in order to take those hilltops before the Syrians. An anti-tank SS-11 unit and a Redeye equipped air-defence team are also set-up on both hills "7O8" and "7CC4", while the anti-aircraft gun M-1948 is set-up in hex 7S4 between those hills to cover the airspace over them. I can't think any meaningful use for those five wire and ditch markers I also have, so I set them on the flanks: wires between hexes 7V7-7Z5 and ditches between 7A10-7E9. ---------- Kari (Syria): Understandably the enemy propaganda forgot to mention that we played those four Six days war -scenarios with the same casting as this one. Results: two crushing Egyptian victories, one somehow modest Jordanian victory and one Syrian debacle. So the prospects looked quite promising for the Arab arms generally, if not so particularly for the Syrians. But I thought it was only because of their hopelessly obsolete weaponry of WW II vintage which was to blame for their sad performance in the last war. Enemy's set-up ============== Juha (Israel): A tank company was left behind the ditch as I guessed. There are, however, some surprises: bridging units are behind hill "8T7" and that tank company is deployed right of it. The main force is tightly packed between hex column 8EE and the ditch. While this deployment will allow taking the hills "5V6" and "5CC7" unopposed and catching the Syrians into crossfire as hoped, the Centurions on the Mutzav position will probably be destroyed before the bridging units come into sight. ---------- Kari (Syria): Arab tactics in this game is basicly simple: just hurl all you got againt the Israelis as soon as you can and let the superior numbers tell. I massed all my troops to the right side so I don't have to slow down to cross the ditch (except one tank company which had to be left behind it). Game turn 1 =========== Juha (Israel): The Syrians shoot all their artillery missions right away and onto the Mutzav! They must have put their bet on wiping out the whole position. They fell miserably short of this: only one Centurion is knocked out and another is suppressed, all other units remain intact. ---------- Kari (Syria): Our artillery is one which I have never been able to rely upon. One killed enemy tank is a fairly good achievement, though. Game turns 2 and 3 ================== Juha (Israel): I take the tops of the hills "5V6" and "5CC7" as planned. The Centurions of the "7CC4" force are slightly re-deployed for clearer line of sight because the Syrians turn in their left in front of the Mutzav. Amazed by the waste of all artillery, I start concentrating my forces and load the M-1948 AA gun in a truck for moving it onto the hill "7O8". All Centurions and an SS-11 that have a line of sight into the pack shoot as much as they can. ---------- Kari (Syria): Command: drive like hell towards the enemy! Of course about half a dozen tanks have to stay for a while to wipe out Centurions on the nearby hill. That very same hill was also a victory point hill and I can't remember any more why I didn't try to capture it in the first place. Maybe it had something to do with the Arab doctrine to kill all enemy tanks first and then see what will happen next. Or more probably I didn't understand that it was worth of so many victory points as it really was. Anyhow I decided to pass it by after destroying the Centurions on it and leave two Israeli infantry units to sit in their dugouts. Game turn 4 =========== Juha (Israel): The Syrian MIG-19S flies its first mission and bombs with an iron bomb two Centurions on the hill "5V6". One is brewed up (The rules and the charts contradicts here. It is unclear whether the result of an ironbomb is a knock out or a brew up. We chose the latter one.), while the other manages to suppress the MIG flying in low altitude at low speed.The plane leaves the map without firing its guns. The re-deployment of the AA gun turns out to be badly timed: it can't shoot because it is not unloaded from the truck yet. The two remaining Centurions on the Mutzav are knocked out. One of the bridging units is destroyed, but the other deploys its bridge. ---------- Kari (Syria): Revenge from above! MIG spotted two tanks and released its load. Too bad that only one of the tanks exploded. Ironbomb is a kind of a weapon which usually doesn't leave witnesses go around alive. To get the upper hand I just need to destroy about dozen damn Centurions, why does it have to be so hard to accomplish?! Game turn 5 =========== Juha (Israel): The high velocity BMPs make a run for the hills "5V6" and "5CC7". Most of them don't make it and are shredded to pieces, but the Syrians just keep coming, despite how many is destroyed. ---------- Kari (Syria): (Sigh!) All-too-familiar death race goes on and on. But we will have our hour, too! Game turn 6 =========== Juha (Israel): The return of the MIG is pathetic. Strafing of the 7N9 position accomplishes nothing, while a Centurion of the "7CC4" force has its lucky day and shoots down the plane in flames! A couple of BMPs manages despite staggering death toll to approach the hills "5V6" and "5CC7". It's time for the Israelis to pull back from there, because even the poor graded BMPs can hit Centurions with their guns in ranges of eight hexes or less. The Syrian main force heads directly for the victory point hills, into my fire and eternity. ---------- Kari (Syria): That reminds me... got to send order to Moscow for some new MIGs... and definitely something must to be done about the pilot training of the Syrian Air Force! Game turns 7 and 8 ================== Juha (Israel): Well, the pull back "almost" turns into rout. Of three Centurions, one loses its turret and heads for exiting the map, while two are lost in duels against the remaining two BMPs. The "7O8" force loses its SS-11 unit when a couple of dismounted leg units - they have already lost their BMPs - with RPG-7s and eight T-55s concentrate their fire on it. The force is left with one Centurion, two leg squads, an air-defence team and the M-1948 AA gun. Kari gives a nickname "The pain in the ass" to the "7CC4" force consisting of three Centurions and an SS-11 anti-tank unit. Indeed the pain has reached a point where the Syrian main force has bled so much that it starts to seek some cover. ---------- Kari (Syria): "...to seek some cover." Hah! The Syrian Armed Forces don't even know such a word like cover (well, it's an English word and most of our troops speak Arabic anyway). But fact remains that anti-tank missile IS a weapon which use against the christians should be strictly forbidden by the pope, I think (yes, yes, we do have some members of the Roman Catholic faction of the Syrian Jacobite Church in our ranks, too!). Game turn 9 =========== Juha (Israel): I have a hunch how this scenario will end. My vehicles will be wiped out or I have to withdraw them to deny the victory points from them. On the other hand, the LAW and bazooka-equipped crack Israeli infantry will hold the valuable victory point hills against the remaining five Syrian infantry squads and about a dozen tanks. I loose two Centurions for nothing! With this pace the tank battle is quicker than sooner over for me. Syrians keeps approaching the hill "7W3" in cover of a burning aeroplane and a lonely grove. I set my half-squad marching to the hill "7O8" to bolster up the defence (at least morally). ---------- Kari (Syria): Centurions drop one by one - but too slowly! Every Israeli shot kills one Arab, but it requires at least 10-15 Arab shot to kill one Israeli. Is this fair?!! Game turns 10 and 11 ==================== Juha (Israel): A couple of T-55s bursts in flames and a Centurion and an SS-11 too. Well, the Syrians are in a position where they will surely knock out my last remaining Centurion in 7CC6 if I move. All right, lets show some Israeli spirit and remain put firing. ---------- Kari (Syria): At last I sent that damn missile unit to hell. Too late to be any help, but let's consider this as a matter of principle, do we? Game turns 12-14 ================ Juha (Israel): Syrians halted for a turn in a duel against my dug-in last Centurion. The improved position halves the possibility for a hit, while the uphill position has the consequence that the Syrians must fire the less accurate HEAT ammunition to score a penetrating hit. And a last save comes from Jahve himself, when one penetrating shell doesn't explode (NO DAM). All this while my tank shows some accurate firing, knocking out and brewing up the Syrians steadily. Meanwhile handgun firing rages over the improved position 7N9. The Syrian infantry manages to kill with fire two Israeli squads in exchange of having one squad killed and two halved: the position is lost. The hilltop remains in my hands in name only as the PT tanks are now committed to support the Syrian infantry. I've deployed the M-1948 anti-air gun behind the hilltop, in hex 7O7 where it for sure has no line of sight to any Syrian unit. Marvellous! ---------- Kari (Syria): That good old Arab infantry! Often looked upon as poor-graded it now demonstrates extremely fine fighting quality and cleans up the victory point hill with it's small arms fire only! That's the spirit, go on, lads! Game turn 15-16 =============== Juha (Israel): The Syrians want to put my last Centurion out of action and are not moving, so the tank duel continues two turns at the foot of the hill "7CC4" until I ran out of luck. The more time the Syrians have been spending with this effort the less time they have for taking the hill "7W3". One of my special-forces units in the Mutzav have run behind the Syrian tanks and shoots off a turret of one T-55 with its bazooka. Battle is definitely over for the hill "7O8". It's pointless to waste the remnants of my force there for nothing. The M-1948 anti-air gun is pivoted to knock out one PT before being shot down, the truck heads for my rear to deny the victory points and the two leg units, the half-squad and the anti-air team run for the hill "7W3". ---------- Kari (Syria): Miss after miss when firing at last Centurion! Napoleon once asked, concerning one of his generals, if he was lucky or not. Perhaps I should put this very same question on the application form of the Armour school of Damascus! To do at least something I changed my red die for a green one (other one is black). After all I have never been too convinced about this whole "Arab Socialism" thing when comparing to the old Islamic values... Game turns 17-18 ================ Juha (Israel): The anti-air team on hill "7W3" is only for showing the flag while the hasty entrenched full squad fights with never-before-seen vigour. Firing with its bazooka and LAW it knocks out or scores compartment hits on three T-55 in just two turns! The remaining half-squad blows a PT to pieces before being itself shreded by Syrian GP fire. ---------- Kari (Syria): Attack to the hill 7W3 is only a formality. All Israeli tanks are destroyed by now but the time runs out and the enemy will keep two of the victory point hills. Game turns 19-20 ================ Juha (Israel): My hunch ten turns earlier has turned to be false. In the beginning of the scenario so magnificent and self-esteemed Syrian battalion ends up as a shadow of its passed-by greatness: - three T-55s of which two are without a turret - one BTR - two PTs of which one is without tracks on mapboard 8 - one T-10M is without tracks on mapboard 8 - four squads which are too far to reach the hill "7W3" before the end of the scenario The Israelis have remaining: - the two special-forces units heading for finishing the Syrian tanks - a full squad firmly defending the hill "7W3" - the two anti-air teams (they are worthless in ground combat) - a truck lurking on mapboard 6 (I didn't exit it in anticipation of a sudden need for transportation should rise.) This is a clear Israeli victory. Should the Syrians insist continuing beyond the given scenario length, they would be completely wiped out for sure, therefore Kari throws in the towel. ---------- Kari (Syria): Usual loud-mouthing Israeli boasting again. Speaking about throwing the towel is absolutely absurd when it comes to the Syrian Armed Forces (To begin with, they don't even know such a word like towel, because it's English and...). Victory points ============== Juha (Israel): - Mutzav: 3 x 85 - the hill "7W3": 390 - Syrian casualties: 2141 Totalling 2786 Kari (Syria): - the hill "7O8": 390 - Israeli casualties: 680 Totalling 1070 Victory point difference is 1716 in favour of the Israel, when to win,one side must have at least 190 points more than the other side. Aftermath ========= Juha (Israel): Whoever is responsible for the Syrian artillery deserves an Israeli medal of honour. So wasted were those artillery missions! My 7th Composite AA Section accomplished nothing, but I anyway shot down Kari's MiG before it caused any havoc to my infantry. The idea to take the hills "5V6" and "5CC7" and to get the Syrians into cross-fire wasn't bad as such, but it could have been carried out in a better way. Pulling back from there should have taken place one turn earlier. This would have left the Syrians BMPs against the "7O8" position, but the position could have lasted out longer, maybe even into the end with just one more Centurion. Anyway, I shouldn't complain: I won and won with good marginal. Our next scenario will be the cronologically following in this same front, namely "Golan heights: Valley of tears". It is similar to the played scenario: a horde of Syrians rush headlong into Israeli fire. ---------- Kari (Syria): In the last war the Israelis usually died to the last man when trying to attack Arab positions, no matter how cleverly they tried to approach the defenders. Numerical superiority of the Arab forces was big enough factor to settle the things on those happy days. It looks no bright any more when it's our turn to attack. Obviously Arab offensive doctrine needs some minor improvements.