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Desert Rats #18 - A Pibroch's Skirl South Africa's War #5 - Irish Eyes
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Umm Katef: The Infantry Fight
Sword of Israel #11
(Attacker) State of Israel vs Arab Republic of Egypt (Defender)
Formations Involved
Display
Balance:



Overall balance chart for SwIs011
Total
Side 1 0
Draw 0
Side 2 2
Overall Rating, 2 votes
5
4
3
2
1
3.5
Scenario Rank: --- of 940
Parent Game Sword of Israel
Historicity Historical
Date 1967-06-05
Start Time 22:30
Turn Count 22
Visibility Night
Counters 118
Net Morale 0
Net Initiative 4
Maps 2: 66, 67
Layout Dimensions 86 x 28 cm
34 x 11 in
Play Bounty 180
AAR Bounty 171
Total Plays 2
Total AARs 1
Battle Types
Inflict Enemy Casualties
Rural Assault
Entrenchment Control
Conditions
Entrenchments
Off-board Artillery
Smoke
Illumination
Scenario Requirements & Playability
Sword of Israel Base Game
Introduction

The hilltop fortresses of Umm Katef and nearby Umm Sheham guarded the critical east-west highway from Nitzana to Abu Agheila and the branch road south to Kusseima. Beginning at 0815 on June 5, the IAF and 96 IDF artillery pieces began pummeling the forward outposts of the Umm Katef position. Later that day, Israeli Super Sherman tanks moved up and began long-range sniping at observation posts and fortified locations along the front. Under the cover of all these attacks, Aluf Mishne Adam's 99th Reserve Infantry Brigade dismounted about 12 kilometers from the Egyptian position and began walking through the sand around the northern flank of the position to move into attack position. At 2230, all hell broke loose.

Conclusion

The Israelis attacked down the artificial ridges between the Egyptian trench lines, and signaled with their colored flashlights to help observers and fire support note the progress of each battalion and adjust artillery fire. It took the better part of the night and some tough fighting, but the trench lines were cleared by 0400. Had the IAF not been called off to help against the Jordanians, the task may have been easier, but the massive artillery park Gen. Ariel Sharon had amassed to support the attack provided adequate support.


Display Order of Battle

Arab Republic of Egypt Order of Battle
El Geish el Masry
State of Israel Order of Battle
Israeli Defense Forces
  • Misc

Display AARs (1)

1967: Sword of Israel, scenario 11: Umm Katef: The Infantry Fight
Author JayTownsend
Method Solo
Victor Arab Republic of Egypt
Play Date 2020-11-26
Language English
Scenario SwIs011

1967: Sword of Israel, scenario 11: Umm Katef: The Infantry Fight

This looked good on paper and all Infantry & some support weapons battle at night in the desert. Two things, first the scenario doesn’t state the visibility so I went with two hexes, second I just assumed the Alouette II helicopter had night vision or all the colored flashlights being used gave it visibility to function at night.

The battle was grueling one, with Israeli Infantry attacking three rows of dug and entrenched Egyptian Infantry at night. The Israelis started kind of slow and even with the mass artillery beginning on turn one, they could have used that for a couple more turns as they lost three steps right off the bat. It took me about half the game to figure out how to best attack these entrenchment and dug-in rows of Egyptians but progress was still slow, assaults worked well when the dice rolled well. With about 5 turns left, I quit the scenario as the Israelis had lost ten steps at this point and were not going to clear all the dug-in and entrenchments in time. Given 10 or 12 more turns and they would have but no way with only the five turns I had left, which still would have only giving them a minor victory but as it stands now, The Egyptians came away with a Major Victory. This one the few Arab/Egyptian victories I have had so far. This scenario is a great solitary scenario but I doubt two players would like it. Anyway, fun stuff!

One more thing, on the first turn I had to adjust my stacks of units, as I forgot you can only stack units of two per hex in PG Modern compared to PG WWII where you can stack three units per hex.

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