A Newbie does 1973 Arab-Israeli War

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Turn 8 (10/9/73 PM) IDF Movement
Again, no pictures of the fronts after my turn due to immediate ending of turn.

Golan Sector
In the Golan there was a single attack as the 3rd/109th Mechanized Bn continued its attacks against the depleted Syrian special forces in Qiryat Shermona, driving them out of the city, but not destroying them despite causing heavy loses (25%) to an already out of supply unit. Other movements ensured that the IDF had a strong front.

Sinai Sector
There was more action in then Sinai this turn. The 401st Armor Bgd, 204th Mechanized Bgd, 35th Para Bgd, with strong air support, attacked the Egyptian 3rd/2nd Mechanized and 2nd/2nd Mechanized Bn, 19th Division Recon Bgd, 3rd Army Recon Bdg, and the 130th Amphibious Bgd, which had good Artillery support (3x brigades at half strength) east of Jabal el Giddi. The result was an Arab retreat for the loss of 8 M60A1 tanks and some infantry squads.

Later during the day as fresh, or somewhat fresh, units began to arrive near Bir Gifgafa they launched an attack to clear the area near the airfield/crossroads. The 110th Mechanized Bgd, 8th Infantry Bgd, 202nd Para Bgd, and 111th Mechanized Bgd, with air support and rocket support attacked the 6th Mechanized Bgd which had support from 6 artillery Bgds. The Egyptians were forced to retreat with 15% loses.

Finally as the day turned into night the 11th Armor Bgd, 500th Armor Bgd, with support from artillery and air attacked the Egyptian 4th Anti-tank Bgd, 4th Division Recon Bgd, and the 1st Mechanized Bgd causing their retreat and allowing an advance into their spot in the southern sector.

[incbob]

Turn 8 (10/9/73 PM) Arab Movement Golan
After the events of 10/6’s night turn (Turn 5) I was wondering what would happen.
The night began with a very strong attack in the north trying to dislodge the IDF 5th Infantry Bgd, 70th Mechanized Bgd, and 4th Artillery Bgd. Against them the Syrians sent 4 Bgds and multiple units of Artillery. Under the onslaught the IDF units were forced to retreat, but they really didn’t suffer heavy losses, and they inflicted enough losses to keep the Syrians from advancing.

Other than bombardment’s the only other movement was a shock to me as the Syrian 40th Mechanized, near the Sea of Galilee attacked the depleted units of the 20th Rocket Bgd, 2nd/2nd, 2nd/3rd, and 3rd/3rd Infantry Bn. The already depleted units were forced to retreat allowing the Syrians to advance to the north of the Sea of Galilee.

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Turn 8 (10/9/73 PM) Arab Movement Sinai
There were more attacks from the Egyptians in the Sinai as they attack first in the north. They attacked the 1st and 7th Artillery Bgds, the 1st/14th Armor Bn elements of the Hizayon Bar-Lev garrison, and the 31st Air Defense Bgd that were sitting on the coastal road. The Egyptians sent 3 Div. Recon Bgds, a Mechanized Bgd, and an Armor Bgd, with artillery support, but were forced to retreat as the IDF continued to hold the ground.

Later in the night 4 Egyptian infantry Bgds, and mechanized Bgd, with artillery and armor support attacked the 247th Para Bgd, and the 8th Armor Bgd forcing them to retreat, but in the retreat and Egyptian advance one of the SAM units was destroyed.

The only other attack for the night was in early in the night in the south as 6 Brigades attacked the IDF 204th Mechanized Bgd just east of the crossroads. The IDF lost 17% of its force, many half-tracks, and was forced to retreat allowing the Egyptians to advance.

This night also marked the first battles I have seen listed as “furball.” It is my understanding this is term used to mean an air fight and they all occurred on the Sinai front. A major “furball” occurred near Cairo and it is reported that the Egyptian 3rd and 4th Fighter groups were destroyed. Later in the night a “furball” occurred near an airfield wet of the Great Bitter Lake that saw the Egyptian 2nd Fighter group and their 26th SAM Bgd destroyed.

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Turn 9 (10/10/73 AM)

My forces are really starting to need to rest, but there is to much work to be done.

Golan Plan
The northern front is completely cut off so I want to finally finish off the Syrian special forces and hit the Syrian salient to relieve the Northern front. Other than that I plan to just move units around and give units a rest.

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Turn 9 Sinai Plan
I had honestly hoped that the attacks last turn would have gone better so I settle for moving units and consolidating.

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The Historical Israeli (IRL) counterattack

It has been interesting to see how the Egyptians have been handled this game and I am thankful that I am not playing a human player, because I think if they had been, they would be marching into Israel about now. Currently the Egyptians are setup with some of the identical problems they had IRL. On about 10/14/1973 the Israeli counter attacked just north of the Great Bitter Lake and completed and encirclement of the Egyptian 3rd Army. So you can compare the game with history I provide the map below.

[incbob]

Turn 9 (10/10/73 AM) IDF Movement
Golan Front
The morning starts off with the 679th Armor Bgd, the 2nd/7th Armor Bn, and the 3rd/109th Mechanized Bn finally destroying the Syrian special forces that had been wandering around behind the IDF lines, they also did this for very little cost. At the same time the 600th Armor Bgd with support from Artillery, 2 other armor brigades and 2 mechanized brigades attacked the Syrian 85th and 68th Infantry Bgds. The Arabs were forced to retreat, with over 50% losses, while only a single battalion of the 600th was able to advance. As the day was turning into the evening the 205th Armor Bgd and the 1st/2nd Infantry Bn attacked the Syrian 112th Infantry Bgd, which was behind the IDF lines. The IDF inflicted heavy losses (15%) and forced the Syrian infantry to retreat to the Sea of Galilee.

On the Sinai Front the IDF moved units to but made no counterattacks.

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Turn 9 (10/10/73 AM) Arab Golan Front
The morning opened with the usual bombardment by Syria and it appeared to be a quiet morning until east of the Sea of Galilee the Syrian 81st Armor, 88th Armor, and 182nd Para, 61st Infantry brigades, and the newly arrived Iraqi 9th Armor Bgd attacked 20th Armor Bgd, 11th Artillery Bgd, and 3rd/1st Infantry Bn. The attack drove the IDF back as they lost 24% of the already tired force. Later, as the day turned to night the Syrians launched massive attacks all alone the center and of the front driving IDF forces back and causing a general amount of disorganization.

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Turn 9 (10/10/73 AM) Arab Sinai Front
On the Sinai Front the Egyptians conducted their usual bombardments and then attacked north along the coastal road. They sent their 1st Armor Bgd, with a brigade of Recon, and artillery to attack the IDF units stationed on the coast road. Several IDF Artillery Bgds were forced to retreat, but he IDF held the road. The only other attack was when Egyptian units attacked a Bar-Lev garrison far, far to the south. The Bar-Lev garrison was wiped out by the overwhelming Egyptian force.

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Turn 10 (10/10/73 PM)

My army is completely exhausted. They have had 4 straight days of war it has taken a toll on them. At this point a good unit is in the yellow. Most are in the orange, red, and many are disorganized.

My Golan Plan.
It is a night turn, my units are exhausted, but I see real trouble on the southern flank. The new Iraqi armored Brigade has brought a life to the Syrian units and I fear that if they conduct a strong night attack they could cut major units from supply. I don’t want to attack, but feel I need to. I plan on attacking the Moroccan Armor and the Iraqi Amor brigades and bombarding the Syrian mechanized and infantry around the Sea of Galilee.

My Sinai Plan
My Sinai troops are completely exhausted. I will do no attacks just consolidating moves.

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Turn 10 (10/10/73 PM) IDF Movement
Due to the turn ending I again have no pictures of my end of turn fronts.

Golan Sector
The night opened with an attack by 3 infantry battalions from the 440th division, being supported by artillery, against the Syrian 40th Mechanized Bgd. Though the Israeli infantry could not advance it did force the Syrian unit to retreat. Not to long after this attack the 20th Armor Bgd and the 3rd/109th Mechanized Bn attacked the Moroccan Armor and a battalion from the Syrian 112th brigade, but this attack was completely ineffectual.

The only other battle that occurred was a huge fight. The 205th Armor Bgd, with limited support from the 9th Armor Bgd, but heavy artillery and air support attacked the Iraqi 9th Armor Bgd, the 81st Syrian Armor Bgd, an anti-tank battalion. Though the Syrians had strong artillery support the battalion and Sryian armor was destroyed and the Iraqi armor was forced to retreat.

Sinai Sector
On the Sinai sector I committed a few bombardments, but only did other consolidating movements.

Turn 10 (10/10/73 PM) Arab Movement Golan Front
For the first hours of the night there was little going on other than the standard Syrian bombardment. However, with the night half done the Moroccan 1st Armor, with the support of an anti-tank battalion and artillery, attacked a battalion of IDF infantry. Though the IDF infantry had strong artillery support it was forced to retreat with very heavy loses as the Moroccan armor was able to move closer to the Syrian border and away from the Sea of Galilee.

A few hours later the Syrian 42nd Mechanized Bgd, 33rd Infantry Bgd, and 12th Infantry Bgd with the support of 12 Artillery Bgds and 3 SAM units attacked the IDF 79th Armor and 4th Infantry brigades. The IDF was forced to retreat, but the Arab units were unable to advance.

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Turn 10 (10/10/73 PM) Arab Movement Sinai Front
The Egyptians did their standard bombardments and near dawn made push near Bir Gifgafa. The Egyptians launched their attack with 3 Mechanized brigades, an armor brigade, and a recon brigade to go against the IDF 6th Infantry Bgd, 21st Rocket Bgd, with 5 artillery brigades in support. The attack did cost the IDF 13% of their force, but did not dislodge them.

At the same time the Egyptian 3rd Army made a push on the southern front for the crossroads held by the 204th Mechanized Bgd, 35th Para Bgd, and 401st Armor Bgd. After a loss of nearly 20% of their force the IDF was forced to retreat, but the Egyptian 3rd Army was unable to advance.

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Turn 11 (10/11/73 AM)

The war is now just 5 days old and my emotions have gone up and down up and down. After feeling that I had things in complete control, and nearly won, I now feel that facing defeat. The Israeli army is spent. I do not know any other way to say it. A good operable unit is now sitting at a readiness of near 45% and many are just out right exhausted.

Golan Sector.
I understand now the mistake I have made. I thought that the units behind the IDF lines were not a threat due to be cut off and out of supply. I understand now just how wrong and deadly that view was. In fact, it could cost me the game. The Syrian 40th Mechanized Bgd has moved to a main road and has practically blocked all supplies going to the front. Meanwhile the Moroccan armor and Syrian units that I thought were dead and cutoff are still around and causing problems. Now the Syrians are getting injections of fresh Iraqi armor. This is a make or break it turn so all of the IDF units are going to be set to ignore losses.

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Turn 11 (10/11/73 AM) Sinai Sector Plan

Since I am on the attack in the Golan, I am also going to go on the attack in the Sinai and hope for the best. I want and need some breathing room.

[incbob]

Turn 11 (10/11/73 AM) IDF Movement Golan Front
I conducted a whopping 21 combats and that does not count all the bombardments. And yet again I have no pictures from the end of my turn due to immediately going into the Arab turn. I think I have figured out how to stop that and might have pictures next time.

The Golan front started with attacks in the south. The 20th Armor Bgd with two battalions of the 2nd Infantry Bgd, with artillery and heavy air support, attacked the 2 battalions of the Syrian 112th Infantry southeast of the Sea of Galilee. The two IDF infantry battalions advanced and only one of the Syrian battalions retreated as the other was destroyed. A little farther north the IDF attacked the Syrian front with 1 armor brigade, 2 battalions of armor, a battalion of mechanized, and 2 battalions of infantry. This attack eliminated the Moroccan 1st Armor Bgd and a battalion of anti-tank for the loss of 1 assault squad and one jeep. Yet a little further north, while that attack was going on, the IDF attacked with the 205th Armor Bgd and 2 infantry battalions against the fresh Iraqi 10th Armor Bgd and a Syrian infantry battalion. This attack allowed the IDF to advance at the small cost for heavy Iraqi casualties (34%). At the same time in the far north, just south of Mount Hermon, IDF units attacked Syrian special forces allowing the IDF to advance toward Damascus.

Later in the night a large battle was fought to the east of the Sea of Galilee when the 20th Armor Bgd, the 205th Armor Bgd, and 3 infantry battalions attack the Syrian 10th Armor, 61st Infantry brigades, and the Egyptian 182nd Para’s. This was another IDF victor forcing their retreat with a loss of nearly 30%. This attack was followed up with the 20th Armor attacking the Egyptian 182nd Paras and forcing them to retreat further with 40% losses.

Turn 11 (10/11/73 AM) IDF Movement Sinai Front

The North.
The 8th Armor attacked the Egyptian 117th Mech which retreated. A little later a general attack by 4 artillery brigades, and the 217th Armor with support defeated 51st Anti-tank and 1st Armor causing 29% loss

Center
The entire center was summed up by the 17th Armor brigades attack on the Egyptian 6th Mechanized. Though they inflicted heavy losses they could not break through and the 6th Mech held. Just about the entire center force was active the entire morning inflicting heavy losses but gaining little ground.

South
In the south it went a little better. Again, it was a general all unit attack. The 11th Armor, 500th Armor, and 55th Para fought the 7th Infantry, 113th Mech, 6th Armor and 4th Recon, but took about the same amount of losses as the defenders and again little ground was made.

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Turn 11 (10/11/73 AM) Arab Movement Golan Front
In the Golan the Syrian army conducted several weak attacks before sending their 71st Armor, 88th Armor, and 103rd Armor with 9 Artillery brigades in support against the against the IDF 20th Armor. The 20th was able to hold for a while, but further attacks from even more armor divisions destroyed them as a unit.

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Turn 11 (10/11/73 AM) Arab Movement Sinai Front
After a few turns of weak attacks and bombardments the Egyptians resumed their attacks in force.

The Coastal Road
The north was quiet, except for the normal bombardment, until late in the day when several Arab units attacked the 217th Armor which held with artillery support. More serious was the attack in t 8th Amor which was able to hold, but at 14% losses. Yet even more serious events took place without a fight as the Egyptian 136th Mechanized moved and took the coastal road there by encircling the entire northern force.

Center near Bir Gifgafa
The area around Bir Gifgafa came under serious multiple attacks as the IDF units were forced to retreat.

South near Jabal el Giddi
Just as the area around Bir Gifgafa so it was in the south. Multiple serious attack all along the front caused IDF units to retreat.

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This actually completely catches thing up as I am about ready to start Turn 12.

[incbob]

Turn 12 (10/11/1973 PM) IDF Movement

Out of supply and in a desperate situation the IDF conducted night attacks all alone the Golan front. Almost all of the attacks were successful with the IDF units advancing. Of significance was the destruction of the Egyptian 182nd Para brigade, the destruction of the Syrian 2nd/112th Infantry Bn., a large battle that saw the IDF 9th Armor and 2 battalions of the 188th Armor destroy the Syrian 88th Armor, brigade, the Iraqi 9th Armor, and a battalion of he Iraqi 10th Armor. Overall there was an advance all along the front.

On the Sinai front there were few attacks, but a few bombardments. Of significance was the movement on the coastal road to regain supply and retreat some distance.

Turn 12 (10/11/1973 PM) Arab Movement Golan Front
On the Golan front there were only two weak Arab attacks and a few bombardments that resulted in no change to the front and just a few casualties.

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Turn 12 (10/11/1973 PM) Arab Movement Sinai Front
In the Sinai the Egyptians kept up their pressure with bombardments and several attacks. Most of the action occurred around Bir Gifgaffa, in the center, and on the southern area of operations. Of note was a large attack against the 202nd Para and 4th Mechanized brigades that eliminated them as functioning units