Location: Golan Heights (Southern Sector) October 6, 1973

Situation:

In this short AAR we take a look at the southern sector of the Golan front and the Syrian assault against the thin Israeli line defending it. The Syrian 5th Infantry division, boosted with two tank brigades, has departed from its staging area and moved towards the Purple Line to commence the assault. Since this session is using the historical setup, the Syrian Op Movement Phase has already taken place and the game begins with the Syrian Combat Phase (the Syrian player is always the First Player in FAB: Golan).

Turn 1, Oct 6 pm:

The Syrian 5 th Division commander Brig Gen. Ali Aslan, conducts two crossing assaults, one at Tel Saki and another at Juhader with the 61st and 112th Infantry brigades. He had also ordered the 46th Tank brigade to advance towards the AT ditch as a rapid response to any breakthrough made by the infantry brigades. Col. Ben Shoham, the Israeli commander of the 188th Armored brigade, has deployed his 53rd Armored battalion along the defensive line to support the strongpoints in the sector.

Note: In FAB: Golan, strongpoint units with a tank symbol represents both the companies/platoons from the 53rd and 74th armored battalions and the actual strongpoints spread out along the front. Thus, a strongpoint unit with a rifle symbol is not supported by armor but only represents the bunker and the garrison manning them. Also, strongpoints always fires with one die, the stars surrounding the symbol is just for recording the amount of damage to the strongpoint.

A – The Syrian commander commits the 50th Artillery and the 5 th AT bn’s to the battle in Tel Saki. He also sends the 5th Engineer bn with its bridging equipment to breach the AT-Ditch. The Israelis, taken by surprise, has very few assets available and have to be careful where to use them. However, a flight of A-4 Skyhawks from the IAF is available and called in. The Syrians responds to the airstrike with SAM fire (1) from a battery located nearby and the missiles forces the Skyhawks to abort the attack. The Syrians fires artillery but has no success and fails to do any damage on the enemy position. The Israeli strongpoint fires at the assaulting 61st Infantry brigade but inflicts no hits (despite a SN of 7). Syrian ground fire scores one hit on the enemy strongpoint, which reduces it one level. Since the Syrian engineer bn survived combat it can now be used to bridge the AT ditch. That will allow rear units to cross into the area without to halt adjacent to the AT ditch.

B – Around Juhader, the Syrian 112th Infantry brigade assaults the Israeli positions. The unit is supported by a tank bn, an engineering bn and an air support mission. The Israelis call for the 405th -55th artillery bn in a try to halt the Syrian advance. The Syrian shelling of Israeli positions results in no damage. The Israeli artillery on the other hand is luckier, destroying the Syrian tank bn. But their luck is not for long, the Syrians responds to the Israeli artillery fire with a counterbattery strike (2), hitting the Israeli artillery (the asset is placed on the Turn Track as many turns ahead as the result of the die roll). In the ensuing ground combat the Israelis are successful in their targeting and scores a hit on the Syrian unit. The now reduced Syrian 112th Inf, supported by the air mission, also scores a hit on the Israeli strongpoint, reducing it one step.

Brig Gen. Aslan orders the 132nd Mechanized brigade, which is in reserve, to move across the now bridged AT ditch. He hopes that this unit, together with the 61st Infantry will breach enemy lines and achieve a breakthrough.

During the 2nd Player Turn, the Israeli commander sees the danger in the Juhader area and orders the reserve company from the 53rd Armored bn to move there to support the strongpoint. He also moves the 82nd Armored battalion located in Sindiana (off map), awaiting commitment, southward to reinforce the defense of Tel Saki.

So far, the IDF (Israeli Defense Force) have stopped the enemy, but the Syrians have established a bridgehead on the western side of the Purple Line. The Illustration below shows the situation at the end of Turn 1.

Turn 2, Oct 6 Night:

During the night between Oct 6-7, Syrian forces continue their offensive and putting pressure on the Israeli line of defense. Brig Gen. Aslan orders the 46th Tank brigade to move across the AT ditch to support the 112th Infantry fighting in Juhader. The 47th Tank brigade arrives as reinforcement during this turn, but the Syrian commander holds the 47th in reserve, ready to exploit any hole in the line. Game Turn 2 is very important for the Syrians as their armor benefit from the night-vision equipped tanks (the armor units only, not armor assets), so having success during this turn is the key for the reminder off the offensive.

The first Israeli reinforcements starts to arrive during the night, a reduced armored brigade (179th) and the second unit of the Golani Infantry brigade moves up the escarpment to join the battle. However, these units are committed further north, in the central sector to secure the approaches to the Jordan River and the Israeli Northern Command Headquarters at Nafakh.

During the night battles in Tel Saki and Juhader both sides suffered losses. The Syrian 61st Infantry had one battalion wiped out and in Juhader an entire AT battalion was eliminated. The Israelis had even worse, the reduced 53rd Armored battalion and the strongpoint in Juhader was eliminated due to devastating fire from the 46th Tank and 112th Infantry brigades in conjuction with an Electronic Warfare (EW) event played by the Syrian commander (which disordered the Israeli units in the battle). In Tel Saki, both the 82nd Armored bn and the strongpoint took hits as well.

Due to success, the Syrian 46th Tank brigade achieved an Exploitation Opportunity in Juhader and during the Breakthrough Movement Phase the unit advances north into Einot Peham. The 47th Tank brigade, in reserve mode, moves towards the Purple Line, ready to take advantage of the newly created breakthrough made by the units in Juhader. Now, Brig Gen. Aslan sees the opportunity to use a Special Action to conduct Breakthrough Combat in Tel Saki. The Israeli commander, Col. Ben Shoham decides is best to conduct a fighting withdrawal and uses a Special Action of his own and retreats the 82nd Armor in Tel Saki to the settlement Ramat Magshimim and evacuates the strongpoint there (if a strongpoint is evacuated, the unit is placed in the Evacuated Strongpoints Holding Box and the player receives a Task Force battle asset that is placed in the Selection Cup). This will stall the Syrians and prevent them from having a free passage to the escarpment leading down to the Jordan Valley.

Aftermath – At the end of Game Turn 2, the situation is critical for the Israelis in the southern sector, their only hope now rests on the reserve reinforcements mobilizing in the assembly areas. For the Syrians things looking good and they must continue to push the Israelis before the reserve brigades arrive in large numbers.

Author: Michael Gustavsson