Six-Day War - Fighting Withdrawal

One of my regular gaming buddies, Ron, had been keen to try some FoW gaming for the Six-Day War using the player mod list from Broke Low at http://brokelow.blogspot.com/2013/04/rules-for-fow-six-day-war.html#!/2013/04/rules-for-fow-six-day-war.html . Ron had also just finished up sizable forces for this conflict and I had just acquired a Geo-Hex Desert Gamescape so this seemed like a perfect opportunity to set up a modern desert FoW game! Ron played the Israelis while I and another friend, Charles, played the physically larger Egyptian force. We rolled up “Fighting Withdrawal” as a mission with Charles and I defending with the Egyptians.

Israeli Centurion Tank Company Company HQ (fearless veteran) Company Cmd and 2nd Cmd Centurion Mk2V (105mm) teams - 400 Tank Platoon (fearless veteran) Cmd + 2 Centurion Mk2V (105mm) - 585 Tank Platoon (fearless veteran) Cmd + 2 Centurion Mk2V (105mm) - 585 Reserve Infantry Platoon (confident veteran) Cmd SMG team, Bazooka team, 6 x Rifle/MG teams, LMG team and 60mm mortar team - 180 SP Arillery (Off Board) Artillery Staff team, Cmd SMG team,Observer team, 2 x105mm SPA off board - 160 Total 1910 points

Egyptian Infantry Battalion Battalion HQ (confident trained) Cmd SMG team, 2nd Cmd SMG + 3 HMG stands - 105 Infantry Company (confident trained) Cmd SMG+ 2 Platoons w/ 5 Rifle/MG and 2 RPG-7 teams each - 290 Infantry Company (confident trained) Cmd SMG+ 2 Platoons w/ 5 Rifle/MG and 2 RPG-7 teams each - 290 Infantry Company (confident trained) Cmd SMG+ 2 Platoons w/ 5 Rifle/MG and 2 RPG-7 teams each - 290 Weapons Company (Mortar, confident trained) Cmd SMG, Observer and 6- 81 mm mortar teams – 160 Battalion Support T-54/55 Company (confident trained) 10 T-54/55 - 600 Towed Artillery Battery (confident conscript, off-board) Staff team, Cmd SMG team, observer team, 6 x 122mm obr 39 Howitzers - 170 Total 1905 points

SETUP AND DEPLOYMENT

The terrain was set as a “pass” through a ridge area. There was a road through the pass and one small settlement at one end of the pass. We also added “scrub” as area terrain that provided concealment and was difficult going.

The Egyptians deployed “in depth” with a Infantry Company covering each objective and the mortars centered behind the middle company. The artillery was “Off Board” and the T-55’s in “Ambush.”

The much smaller Israeli force massed on the left edge of their deployment zone.

UNITS IN RESERVE
Israeli Centurion Tank Company	Egyptian Infantry Battalion 10 x T-55s in "Ambush"

DEPLOYMENT SUMMARY

Israeli Centurion Tank Company : The Israeli plan was to mass on their left and focus on the right most Egyptian objective, with some pressure on the middle objective, but totally ignoring the Egyptian far left objective. Egyptian Infantry Battalion: The Egyptian plan was to hold off on rolling out the T-55 “Ambush” as long as possible and to simply used the large Infantry companies to hold fast (star Gone-to-Ground) and delay for as long as possible.

TURN 1

The Israeli force slowly creeps forward taking only short moves in order maximize use of stabilized main gun fire.

Harassing indirect fires from the Egyptians manage to bail one Centurion and pin the Reserve infantry.

COMBAT CASUALTY SUMMARY
Israelis – None	Egyptians – One Rifle/MG team from right Company.

TURN 1 SUMMARY

Ron: The Israelis slowly advance, but cause only limited damage to the dug-in and gone to ground Egyptians. Tom: The Egyptians loses a few infantry teams, but continue to sit tight.

TURN 2

One Centurion platoons starts to “drift” towards the center objective.

The Egyptian infantry steady their nerves for upcoming onslaught.

COMBAT CASUALTY SUMMARY
Israelis – None Egyptians – Two Rifle/MG team from right Company, one from the center company.

TURN 2 SUMMARY

Ron:The advance continues but still at the slower stabilized rate. Tom:Losses from enemy tank fire are low and the Centurions are not close enough to make springing the T-55 Ambush effective. But no need for that now so long as the Israelis are only picking off a team or two per turn.

TURN 3

The Centurions on the Egyptian right close to within assault range.

The Centurion platoon in the center also close to assault range.

The center Centurion platoon loses one KIA and one bail to the ambushing T-55s.

The left Centurion platoon loses only one bail to the ambushing T-55s.

COMBAT CASUALTY SUMMARY
Israelis – One Centurion and one MG team. Egyptians – Two Rifle/MG team and an RPG team from right Company. One Rifle/MG and one RPG team from center company.	CAS B T1

TURN 3 SUMMARY

Ron: Both Centurion platoons get into the assault this turn. Both assault succeed and kill of some Egyptian teams while suffering on a single “bail” in the center platoon. Tom: The Egyptians with must withdraw a platoon and choose to pull off the Mortars which have only had a minimal impact on the Israeli advance. The Tom: Israeli tanks are now close enough to the ridge and scrub areas for the T-55s to pull off an ambush with most T-55s within 16” of their targets. The off board artillery pins the Israeli Reserve infantry platoon and kills a team.

TURN 4

The left Centurion platoon pummels the T-55s destroying all but one in their area. But the lose one tank to defensive fire from the surviving T-55 when assault the Egyptian infantry. The Egyptians manage to counter attack and nearly win the combat, but are driven off by the sole remaining active Centurion in the fight.

In the center the Egyptians fair better. They withstand the Centurion fire for this turn with the loss of only a single tank but totally destroy the Centurion platoon pressing on the center.

COMBAT CASUALTY SUMMARY
Israelis – Four Centurions and one MG team. Egyptians Two Rifle/MG team and an RPG team from right Company. One Rifle/MG and one RPG team from center company. Five T-55s from the Tank Company.

TURN 4 SUMMARY

Ron:Things have gone poorly in the center. A full tank platoon has been lost but the Centurion platoon on the left, backed up by the HQ tanks seems to be tipping the scales there. Tom:The center seems safe. If we can just hold one on our right for two more turns, we might be able to pull this out! Down to four platoons, none has to be withdrawn this turn, but a "withdraw token" is drawn.

TURN 5

The center tank threat neutralized the middle Egyptian Infantry company looks to advance on the pinned Reserve infantry to hopefully force a morale check on the Israelis.

COMBAT CASUALTY SUMMARY
Israelis – Four Centurions and two MG teams. Egyptians: Right Infantry company broken. Two Rifle/MG and Two RPG team from center company. Five T-55s from the Tank Company.

TURN 5 SUMMARY

Ron:On the Egyptian right, the Israelis have temporality sieved and objectives taken an objective and have finally routed off the rightmost Israeli platoon. Artillery support is used in the center to try to assist the pinned down Reserve Infantry platoon. Tom:Because of the loss of the right Infantry Company, the Egyptian are just down to three units on the board and with just one “Withdraw Token” they draw another token rather than pulling a unit. There is only one T-55 close enough to go contest the right objective for one more critical turn. However it is out of command and the Bn Commander has to join the tank company to extend the command range. Due to Hen & Chicks, this affects the fire of all remaining T-55s.

TURN 6

With the right objective now out of play, the Israelis redirect their attention to the center.

COMBAT CASUALTY SUMMARY
Israelis – Four Centurions and two MG teams. Egyptians - Right Infantry company broken. Center Infantry Company Withdrawn. Six T-55s from the Tank Company.

TURN 6 SUMMARY

Ron:With the right Objective out of play, the Israelis must now swing toward the center. The Egyptian are making great use of LOS blocking terrain and the Centurions cannot get clear shots on the few remaining T-55s. Tom:The T-55s hold fire and go to ground, knowing they MUST survive for at least one more turn. There is no requirement to remove a unit this turn and the far left objective is pulled leaving on the center objective.

TURN 7

The two remaining Centurions and one HQ tank press the center.

COMBAT CASUALTY SUMMARY
Israelis – Four Centurions and two MG teams. Egyptians: Right Infantry company broken. Center Infantry Company Withdrawn. Seven T-55s from the Tank Company.

TURN 7 SUMMARY

Ron:With the right Objective out of play, the Israelis must now swing toward the center. The Egyptian are making great use of LOS blocking terrain and the Centurions cannot get clear shots on the few remaining T-55s. But they were able to knock out the Egyptian Bn Commmander. Tom:The T-55s hold fire and go to ground, knowing they MUST survive for at least one more turn. There is no requirement to remove a unit this turn and the far left objective is pulled leaving only the center objective.

TURN 8

The two remaining Centurions and one HQ tank "turn the flank" on the Egyptian center position.

COMBAT CASUALTY SUMMARY
Israelis – Four Centurions and two MG teams. Egyptians - Right Infantry company broken. Center Infantry Company Withdrawn. Seven T-55s from the Tank Company.

TURN 8 SUMMARY

Ron: This is it! There is no chance now to take an objective, but the Egyptians are down a unit and have just two on the board. With the Bn command team already KO'd, the loss of one more unit will mean an auto-fail for the Egyptian force morale. The fresh Egyptian Infantry Company is still too big to take out in one turn, so all effort must go towards eliminating the last T-55s. Tom: Despite being gone-to-ground, the Centurions KO another T-55, with the Egyptian CO already KIA’d, the T-55s MUST pass the following morale check to win the game. They do! The Egyptians barely hold on to the pass and further Israeli advances have been checked!

Like most FoW games, this was a great gaming experience coming right down to a single die roll to decide the battle. Ron really needed some recon to lift Gone-to-ground on the dug in Egyptians and maybe was too slow on the initial push, but then again if the T-55s had failed either of the two morale checks they were forced to take during this game he would have been totally successful. So you can’t fault his tactics as it was only a good bit of Egyptian luck that allowed them to barely hang on. Gaming post-WW2 with FoW was fun, but I kind of felt that with the Six-Day war it was not significantly different than WW2 FoW…just with bigger tanks! I expect I’ll like later periods even more with ATGMs added.

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