Panzer Grenadier Battles on April 27th:
Arctic Front Deluxe #40 - Children's Crusade Broken Axis #14 - Târgu Frumos: The Second Battle Scenario 3: Sledge Hammer of the Proletariat
Army Group South Ukraine #6 - Consternation Road to Berlin #73 - She-Wolves of the SS
PG-HQ Library - Modern War Hall > Scenarios > GJMD002
Errors? Omissions? Report them!
Road to Damascus
Intervention #2
(Attacker) State of Israel vs Soviet Union (Defender)
Syrian Arab Republic (Defender)
Formations Involved
Soviet Union 357th Airborne Regimen
State of Israel 37th “Ream” Armoured Brigade
Syrian Arab Republic 12th Group Brigade
Display
Balance:


Overall balance chart for GJMD002
Total
Side 1 1
Draw 0
Side 2 0
Overall Rating, 1 vote
5
4
3
2
1
4
Scenario Rank: --- of 913
Parent Game Intervention
Historicity Alt-History
Date 1967-06-10
Start Time 10:00
Turn Count 22
Visibility Day
Counters 79
Net Morale 0
Net Initiative 1
Maps 2: 64, 66
Layout Dimensions 56 x 43 cm
22 x 17 in
Play Bounty 182
AAR Bounty 171
Total Plays 1
Total AARs 1
Battle Types
Exit the Battle Area
Inflict Enemy Casualties
Conditions
Off-board Artillery
Scenario Requirements & Playability
Intervention Base Game
Sword of Israel Maps + Counters
Introduction

While speculation in the decades after the war would focus on Soviet desires to destroy the nuclear facility in the Negev, at the time it seemed more likely that if the Soviets intervened at all it would be to stave off a catastrophic defeat of their Syrian clients. The Israeli drive on Damascus alarmed the Soviet leadership, which like much of the Syrian Army was misled by an inaccurate report from Syrian government radio that the key road junction of al-Qunaytarah had fallen to the Israelis. The Syrian Army collapsed on the news, which was not true, and both sides soon accepted a cease-fire agreement.
Conclusion

While speculation in the decades after the war would focus on Soviet desires to destroy the nuclear facility in the Negev, at the time it seemed more likely that if the Soviets intervened at all it would be to stave off a catastrophic defeat of their Syrian clients. The Israeli drive on Damascus alarmed the Soviet leadership, which like much of the Syrian Army was misled by an inaccurate report from Syrian government radio that the key road junction of al-Qunaytarah had fallen to the Israelis. The Syrian Army collapsed on the news, which was not true, and both sides soon accepted a cease-fire agreement
Display Relevant AFV Rules
AFV Rules Pertaining to this Scenario's Order of Battle
  • Vulnerable to results on the Assault Combat Chart (7.25, 7.63, ACC), and may be attacked by Anti-Tank fire (11.2, DFT). Anti-Tank fire only affects the individual unit fired upon (7.62, 11.0).
  • AFV's are activated by tank leaders (3.2, 3.3, 5.42, 6.8). They may also be activated as part of an initial activating stack, but if activated in this way would need a tank leader in order to carry out combat movement.
  • AFV's do not block Direct Fire (10.1).
  • Full-strength AFV's with "armor efficiency" may make two anti-tank (AT) fire attacks per turn (either in their action segment or during opportunity fire) if they have AT fire values of 0 or more (11.2).
  • Each unit with an AT fire value of 2 or more may fire at targets at a distance of between 100% and 150% of its printed AT range. It does so at half its AT fire value. (11.3)
  • Efficient and non-efficient AFV's may conduct two opportunity fires per turn if using direct fire (7.44, 7.64). Units with both Direct and AT Fire values may use either type of fire in the same turn as their opportunity fire, but not both (7.22, 13.0). Units which can take opportunity fire twice per turn do not have to target the same unit both times (13.0).
  • Demoralized AFV's are not required to flee from units that do not have AT fire values (14.3).
  • Place a Wreck marker when an AFV is eliminated in a bridge or town hex (16.3).
  • AFV's do not benefit from Entrenchments (16.42).
  • AFV's may Dig In (16.2).
  • Open-top AFV's: Immune to M, M1 and M2 results on Direct and Bombardment Fire Tables, but DO take step losses from X and #X results (7.25, 7.41, 7.61, BT, DFT). If a "2X" or "3X" result is rolled, at least one of the step losses must be taken by an open-top AFV if present.
  • Closed-top AFV's: Immune to M, M1 and M2 results on Direct and Bombardment Fire Tables. Do not take step losses from Direct or Bombardment Fire. If X or #X result on Fire Table, make M morale check instead (7.25, 7.41, 7.61, BT, DFT).
  • Closed-top AFV's: Provide the +1 modifier on the Assault Table when combined with infantry. (Modifier only applies to Germans in all scenarios; Soviet Guards in scenarios taking place after 1942; Polish, US and Commonwealth in scenarios taking place after 1943.) (ACC)
  • Tank: all are closed-top and provide the +1 Assault bonus, when applicable
  • Assault Gun: if closed-top, provide the +1 Assault bonus, when applicable
  • APC – Armored Personnel Carrier: These are Combat Units, but stack like Transports. They can transport personnel units or towed units. They are not counted as combat units for the +1 stacking modifier on the Direct Fire and Bombardment Tables (4.4). They may be activated by regular leaders and tank leaders (1.2, 3.34, 4.3, 5.43). They do not provide the +1 Assault bonus (ACC).
Display Order of Battle
Soviet Union Order of Battle
Guards
  • Mechanized
  • Towed
State of Israel Order of Battle
Army
Syrian Arab Republic Order of Battle
Army
  • Mechanized
Display AARs (1)
Intervention: scenario #2: Road to Damascus
Author JayTownsend
Method Solo
Victor State of Israel
Play Date 2020-03-15
Language English
Scenario GJMD002

Intervention: scenario #2: Road to Damascus

I must have played the first scenario one or two years ago and I have had this one on my must play list for that long. Finally this weekend it has been played!

Kind of an interesting scenario to play, the Syrian defend on the first line of defense on map 64 and the Soviets defend on the second line defense on map 66 and the Israel forces enter on the western edge of map 64 and must blast through these two defensive lines and get points for exiting units off the eastern edge of the of map 66. Both sides get the standard points for eliminating enemy units but the Syrian steps are only worth 1/2 the normal points.

The Israeli forces enter the map and at first the progress is very slow against these dug-in enemy positions and I had forgotten how easily Sherman tanks are destroyed even by Infantry units in PG Modern. Losses started to mount until I realized I needed to start leading with my Infantry units.

The Israeli forces started to clear a large section on their right flank almost to the middle of the map from the Syrian force even into the Soviets second line of defense. At this point I realized I wasn’t winning by points as the Israeli play as the Soviet/Syrians had a clear lead, so I poured all my Israeli forces into the right flank and the very large hole and off the eastern edge of the map, gathering a ton of points. The Soviets and Syrians had too much ground to defend once their lines were broken and even after shifting forces it was too late.

The Israeli side won a Major Victory, 60 to 30 in points. Interesting however, if the Israel side doesn’t break through, they would have lost in the step count 30 to 20 as they received 40 points in exited steps. If the Soviets and Syrian forces could have worked together in their setup, I doubt the Israeli forces could have broken through but with the Syrian morale at 6/5 they needed close Soviet support with a nice 8/8 morale. So I should have setup the Syrian and Soviet defenses closer together. Maybe put the Syrian line on the far eastern side of map 64 and the Soviet line on the far western side of map 66 and then they could have supported each other better and I doubt the Israel side would have won. Something to try next time.

A fun scenario to play, as at first I thought one side had the victory and later in play the other side had the clear victory.
0 Comments
You must be a registered member and logged-in to post a comment.
PG-HQ Library - Modern War Hall > Scenarios > GJMD002
Errors? Omissions? Report them!
Page generated in 0.309 seconds.