Jason Skanderbang Schmidt - May 4, 2008 8:30 pm (#19 Total: 76) Fire! To begin! Whipping dance! Of the dead! Blackened! Is the! End! Israeli Independence AAR A little After Action Report I wrote up after a quick game played as soon as I got home from work today. Also posted in my blog for those who sink that low. ******* War breaks out with Egypt, Jordan (the 'ardboyz of this sandy squabble,) Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon (a bit soft, actually) gunning to crush the Israel in it's infancy. The Jordanians jump first, storming into Jericho as supply line problems prevent the Israelis from mounting an offensive in the West Bank town. The UN responds immediately by brokering a truce, but the short period of peace is broken when Egyptian forces roll into the Gaza. Tensions are further inflamed when Israeli planes shoot down RAF reconnaissance planes. The Syrians take this cue to commit to war, descending from the Golan Heights into Safed as the Jordanians take the West Bank city of Ramallah and Egypt nabs Beersheba in the Negev desert. Israeli troops attack the Jordanian army but are repulsed. Things start to get complicated for the Arab League now, however. Palestinian refugee columns hamper the operation of the Jordanians, who pull back to Jericho to consolidate, The Israelis deal a vicious blow to the Egyptian army and knock them out of the Negev back into Gaza. Even as the Lebanese enter the war at Acre the Israelis open up their supply lines at Jerusalem and mount an offensive against the already-disorganized Jordanians, pushing them back over their border. The Egyptians surprise the Israelis by retaking Beersheba. The Jordanians soon recover and move back into Jericho as their Iraqi allies finally advance to capture the West Bank agricultural center of Jenin. The Arab massacre of Jewish hospital staff and patients at Hadassah spurs the young army of Israel into high gear, however, and a bloody attack on the Egyptians leads to the recapture of Beersheba after a long fight. Another UN-brokered truce fails in the wake of the Stern Gang assassination of UN mediator Count Bernadotte. Syrian forces round the Sea of Galilee and take Tiberias but are just as quickly bounced and then driven all the back into Syria as Isreali troops attack in coordinated offensives, also driving the Egyptians back over their own border. In the wake of the Deir Yassin massacre of Arab civilians by Menachem Begin's Irgun irregulars the offensives soon falter and Egyptian and Syrian forces push back into the West Bank. The Lebanese withstand an Israeli push in Acre, but pressure soon drives Syria back into the Golan yet again. Bloody fighting in Gaza accomplishes little as Egypt holds position. Attacking on the diplomatic front the Zionists declare the official founding of the State of Israel, which is immediately recognized by the US and USSR. Enraged, Jordan, Syria, Iraq, and Egypt attack on four fronts, but the Egyptian gains in the Negev are soon recaptured, while a long and deadly battle in the war-torn city of Ramallah sees an eventual Israeli victory there as well. Emboldened, the Israelis launch Operation Horev, designed to bring a decisive blow down on the Egyptians to force them to terms. During the battle the Arab League draws nearer the young Jewish homeland, with Jordan entering Ramallah and the Lebanese taking Haifa. These gains, however, are overshadowed by Israeli victory in the Gaza, and a battered Egypt accepts an armistice with Israel, withdrawing from the war. The victorious and battle-hardened Israelis return to defend Ramallah, fighting an indecisive battle with Jordanian troops in now-destroyed city. Now the various paramilitary and irregular forces fighting under the Zionist banner merge to form the Israeli Defense Force to protect their new nation as Syrian troops take Tiberias. The newly invigorated troops take the offensive against the Jordanians but are repulsed twice in the ruins of Ramallah. Doom now begins to descend on Israel as Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan all begin to encircle the capital of West Jerusalem. Tel Aviv, Nablus, and the ancient city of East Jerusalem fall in quick succession, and desperate offensives result only in driving the Jordanians from the Holy City back into their Ramallah stronghold. Attempts to recapture Nablus fail, and the Syrians, sensing victory, close in on West J'lem. Iraqi forces, seeing that victory is near, join the Jordanians in Ramallah, but the Israeli capital falls to the Syrians before the Hashemites can move. The dream of Israel dies. ***** This whole action plays out in about 5 minutes. Great game.