Yom Kippur - Egyptian Turn I (Part 2)

Combat Phase

Very successful barrages at 15.17 and the Chinese Farm left the Egyptian forces without their planned targets on those areas which is good since no combat takes place but it is also somehow bad since no Advance After Combat is possible.

Fig 1 - Empty Target Hexes After Barrage

The first real combat happened at 29.24 where 134th and 135th Infantry Brigades assaulted the Purkan Bar Lev fort with split results (6 @ 3:1 = A1 Dr1 which becomes A1 D1 since forts can't retreat).

Fig 2 - Combat @ 29.24

Next we moved into the key assault of the Egyptian turn: 4th, 16th,112th and 120th Infantry Brigades along with 150th and160th Commando Brigades attacked the Nozel Bar Lev fort at 32.23 destroying it (8 @ 9:1 = D3r2).

Fig 3 - Combat @ 32.23

The Egyptian forces did not advance into 32.23 to avoid possible stacking bottlenecks during the Exploitation Phase because as many armor and mech units should then cross the Canal at that point.

Supply Phase

Since most Egyptian units where on the West side of the Canal or adjacent to it there were no supply issues; the only exception where the two Airmobile Brigades at 33.23 and the two Commando Brigades @ 25.22.

Bridging Phase

The Engineering units at 15.18, 32.24 and 34.24 flip to their bridge side; 3-9 Engineering Battalion keeps its combat formation.

Exploitation Phase

Now is the time for Egyptian heavy units to roar across the newly laid bridges and secure the crossing points.

On the South the situation requires some caution; most terrain is clear and there are plenty of attacking avenues available for the IDF forces so Egypt went for a defense line close to the bridgehead.


Fig 4 - Exploitation on the South Front

The two Amphibious Battalions were sent to hold the only rough terrain near the crossing point to avoid the enemy building a strong position there.

Fig 5 - Exploitation by Amphibious Battalions

On the North front the previous destruction of the Chinese Farm defenders during the Barrage Phase allowed Egypt units to secure the Israeli VP Hex; it is important to notice that these moves were only possible because the Bar Lev forts and the Static Unit adjacent to the Chinese Farm don't project any Zone of Control; otherwise the +2 MP penalty would have prevented the Egypt units from reaching the Farm.

Fig 6 - Capture of the Chinese Farm

Finally the rest of the North units capable of exploitation were sent to pin enemy forces in their current positions on rough terrain close to the crossing points.

Fig 7 - Exploitation on the North Front

Tank Step Replacement Phase

There were no Armor casualties this turn so no need to use any of the available Tank Replacement Steps.

Clean Up Phase

After the initial moves Egypt has achieved most of what it was expecting; the bridgeheads seem to be solid and it has denied Israel one of its previously earning VPs by capturing the Chinese Farm.

At this point the game is a Draw with Israel having +1 VP due to control of Zrakor and Egypt +1 VP due to Supplied Armor/Mech Unit East of Canal (+ 1 - 1 = 0 = Draw)

Yom Kippur - Egyptian Turn I (Part 1)

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Movement Phase

During this first turn Egyptian movement is basically restricted to Infantry crossing the Canal and Airmobile movement since the bridges are not laid yet and Mech and Armor units can not cross to the other side without them.

Fig 1 - Initial Infantry Crossings

In order to clean up the selected crossing sites Egypt moves Infantry adjacent to 15.17 - 2 brigades - and 32.23 - 4 brigades. Two other crossing at 30.23 and 13.17 are intended to ease establishing eventual supply lines.

Fig 2 - Airmobile Movement

Then Egypt took advantage of its - somehow limited - airmobile capability and transported two brigades close to the Chinese Farm and two Brigades close to 32.23; this last location became critical since the Bar Lev fort there suffered no damage during the Pre-Game Barrage and it blocks the planned crossing point.

The Movement Phase ended with the Egyptian amphibious battalions crossing the Canal close to the Bar Lev fort at 15.17.

Fig 3 - Amphibious Movement

Barrage Phase

Artillery kept softening the Bar Lev forts around the crossing points but it also attacked - support by Air units - the Chinese Farm in preparation for an early advance during the Exploitation Phase.

Fig 4 - South Barrage

The fort at 15.17 - already damaged by the Pre-Game Barrage - got destroyed (10 @ 18 = 1) leaving the South crossing clear of enemy units.

Fig 5 - North Barrages

On the North Egypt got mixed results: the combined barrage of 4 arty brigades only manage to DG 32.23 (4 @ 24) which was disappointing since that particular place was the main crossing point; another barrage at 29.24 got a DG result (5 @ 18) but since the target was already DGed nothing was gained; and finally the truly unexpected... 4 Air Units plus Frog battery completely obliterated the Israeli Static unit defending the Chinese Farm (10 @ 24 = 2)

Even if highly successful this last barrage left a couple of teachings: on one hand Egypt used its four available Air units (20 strength) plus the 12 strength Frog battery for a grand total of 32 but the maximum barrage column is 24 so at least one Air unit could have been used elsewhere; on the other hand the two Commando brigades transported close to the Chinese Farm early during the Movement Phase played a key role by avoiding the 2 column shift penalty for barraging targets with no spotter... without them the result would have been 1 (10 @ 13-17) instead of 2.

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Yom Kippur - Egyptian Set Up

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The Egyptian plan is quite simple at start: Cross the Canal in force, secure the Israeli VP hexes at the Chinese Farm and Zrakor then wait until the Exploitation Reserve is released before pushing down South.

The initial rush across the Canal is mostly restricted to infantry units since armor and mech require a bridge to reach the West shore and bridges are laid after the Movement and Combat phases; that leaves armor and mech with only the Exploitation phase of the first turn to move across the obstacle.

Another important - and more general - consideration is Egyptian HQ restriction to stay on the East side of the Canal; this could have a significant impact on supply mainly when trying to reach the farthest VP hexes like 23.01 or 50.01

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The main attack will take place around 32.23 with the primary goal of securing an assembly area West of the Canal and then seize the Chinese Farm and Zrakor; the Nozel Bar Lev (32.23) must be destroyed at all costs to enable the crossing while the Purkan Bar Lev (29.24) should be seized in order to ease the supply of forces going after the Chinese Farm.

Fig 1 - North Set Up

On the South front we have a smaller force basically meant to establish a secondary crossing point and to harass the IDF forces coming through the Gidi and Mitla Passes.


Fig 2 - South Set Up

Next figure shows the Egyptian SAM coverage with is pretty good but not so effective due to Israel SAM Suppression rules that allow some Air points to operate within it.

Fig 3 - Egyptian SAM Coverage

Finally a few dispersed units have been located around Israeli VP hexes across the Canal like Suez, Fayid and Port Said but truth is if Egypt is ever forced to defend such places then it has to be already a quite desperate situation.

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