1967 on the Golan Heights(ish)

It's been an age since I last played Cold War Commander, indeed there is not a single battle report on the blog so I am guessing my last game was before November 2011 when I started Scrivsland.

Back in November, Mick and I arranged a game, but due to work commitments it kept getting rescheduled, however yesterday evening we finally managed to settle down to a game. We both have quite extensive collections, but we decided that this time we would play Israelis against Syrians during the 1967 Six Day War.

As we had not played for such a long time we opted for the encounter scenario with 3000pt forces over eight turns/

I chose Syrians and used:

CO (Command Value 8)
2 Recce Unit (BRDM)
Two infantry battalions each HQ (Command Value 7), 9 Infantry Units (Conscripts), 1 Support Unit (HMG) and 1 Support Unit (Mortar, 81/82mm)
Tank battalion of 1 HQ (Command Value 7) and 9 Tank Units (T54)
Tank battalion of 1 HQ (Command Value 7) and 9 Tank Units (T34/85)
Tank company of 1 HQ (Command Value 7) and 9 Tank Units (T10-M)
Anti-tank company of 1 HQ (Command Value 7) and 3 SPAT Units (SU-100)

Artillery support of FAO (Command Value 6) and 3 Artillery Units (122mm)

Mick used the much better led Israelis

CO (Command Value 10)

2 Recce Units

1 Anti-tank Unit (SS11 ATGW)

Two infantry battalions each 9 Infantry Units (Regulars), 1 Support Unit (HMG) and 1 Support Unit (Mortar, 81/82mm), 1 Support Unit (Recoiless) all in half-tracks

Tank battalion of 1 HQ (Command Value 9) and 9 Tank Units (Super Sherman)

Tank battalion of 1 HQ (Command Value 9) and 3 Tank Units (20-pdr Centurion)

Artillery support of FAO (Command Value 7) and 1 Artillery Unit (122mm)

Artillery support of FAO (Command Value 7) and 1 Artillery Unit (152mm)

Mick only had three commanders to my seven, but they were much higher rated.

I set the table up with some large hills under the cloth (they may not show up too well in the pictures) and with a small road network with three villages. We elected for a mobile deployment bringing on our forces from the start. As was proved later this favours the armies with decent command values as their troops can actually get onto the table!

I went first and managed to entice one infantry battalion, the heavy tank company and the T34/85 battalion onto the table, the infantry even 'double-oned' and were raring towards their objective.. The Israelis countered deploying the Centurions on one hill, the infantry in the centre and the Shermans towards the hill on the other flank, however the Shermans 'double-sixed' and retreated towards their start line. This was to continue next turn when they again 'double-sixed' and were back where they started.

My T34/85 battalion roared up the table towards the Centurions, hoping to cover the distance quickly, however although the T54 had by now arrived their advance was sluggish. The Centurions soon despatched three of the T34/85.

The Shermans had by now sorted themselves out and were duelling with my heavy tanks, Mick soon discovered what beasts he was facing though and soon changed targets to concentrate his fire on my T54s. Along with the fire from the Centurions, SS11 and Recoilless Rifles my T54s were soon wiped out, a lot to do with very poor armour save rolls on my part!

It was now turn four and my SU-100 finally made an appearance, moving to plug the gap left by the missing T54 company!

However, this had allowed my remaining T34/85 to close the distance on the Centurions and to take up defensive positions. In a brisk close-range fire-fight, the T34/85 knocked out two of the Centurions, that was quite a result.

The Shermans closed the distance on my T10-M heavy tanks and I had soon lost one, although the remainder proved very stubborn and were able to account for several of the Israeli infantry who were closing the distance on one of my infantry battalions. Although I was well dug into the village and surrounding crops the weight of numbers and superior quality of both the Israeli command and troops soon began to tell and I was taking off infantry bases at an alarming rate.

Seven turns in with the clock running down and snow falling outside we wrapped up the game, both of us had achieved minor objectives and it was not likely we would make a major breakthrough if we kept playing.

After over a three year hiatus I really enjoyed this game of Cold War Commander and I hope to be writing a few more of these reports over the coming months.

The Syrians are all from my collection and the Israelis from Micks. The terrain is all mine. Most of the figures are from Heroics and Ros with quite a few from GHQ.