Blunder at Tel Fakhar - 6/5/67 - DAR (solo vs. A/I)

[budd]

Interesting. I went left through Tel Aziziat with my major push and then pushed between Tel Aziziat and Tel Fakhar to cut off the retreaters, just kind of held in the center until the right got going. I never thought to go around to the right, i was afraid of the heights. Curious to see what you'll find on the right. Your time schedule seems OK, the progress in the next few turns will be critical, i would think you'll need to be banging on the door of Tel Fakhar pretty soon.

[berto]

TURN #9

My gamble pays off.

An Israeli halftrack approaches Zaoura, when suddenly a heretofore hidden Syrian Battalion HQ (green circle) opfires at the halftracks (magenta circle), disrupting them.



Aha! I've caught an enemy HQ unit in Zaoura. Better, there seem to be no support troops nearby. Can I bag the HQ?

[berto]

TURN #9

Not this turn. I call up as many halftracks as I can, three in number (green circle), plus the M3 Mk. D mobile 120mm Mortar close behind. All fire at the HQ (right magenta circle), but the best I can achieve is several disruptions.

I expect the HQ to retreat, but since it is disrupted, it can only move a single hex. I anticipate it retiring one hex away, to the heart of Zaoura. Accordingly, I direct what mortars I have in the vicinity (to the south) to target that likely retreat hex.

To the west, mindful of the ATGs and RCLRs ensconced at Tal Fakhar, hence I can't just charge! towards Tel Fakhar, under cover of elevation, instead I move my tanks down the road (to the turquoise circle) to take shots at the defending Syrian infantry in the orchard hex just beyond (left magenta circle). One after another, the tanks move, then fire. All of them miss! By some miracle, the Syrian unit is entirely unscathed, not even a lousy disruption to show for all of my exertions. [:@]

The situation at the end of Turn 9, first Side A (Israeli) phase:



Six tank platoons, 14 tanks, in a single hex (the hot spot hex, turquoise circle). At least they should be safe there. I have toggled ON the Visibility highlight (hot key 'v') for that hex. As you can see, the ATGs & RCLRs at Tel Fakhar can't sight them, neither can any other opposing tank busters, as near as I can determine.

As you can see. But I cannot! Belatedly, I notice a second Syrian Btn HQ to the north at Snir (yellow circle). How could I have missed it? Oh well, a lost opportunity. For now. But now knowing it is there, I will be sure to chase it down and destroy it in future turns.

Question: Where there are HQs, are there vulnerable artillery pieces and truck transports in the neighborhood also?

I'll be sure to seek an answer!

[berto]

TURN #10

Syrians appear from out of nowhere and amass just south of that gaggle of Israeli Shermans. A little opfire here, some artillery fire there, and most of the Syrians are forced right back. Leaving just the one Syrian RCLR (hot spot hex, and magenta circle), which had no opportunity to fire (because short of APs after movement), easy picking this very next Israeli phase.

The situation at the beginning of Turn 10, first Side A (Israeli) phase:



Inexplicably, the enemy HQ at Zaoura (right yellow circle) did not retreat! [X(] I will bag them this turn for sure.

The other enemy HQ remains at Snir (left yellow circle), still clearly in sight. I will hunt it down and kill it (and then?) for sure also.

[berto]

TURN #10

Halftracks at hex 42,12 (turquoise circle, screenshot following) direct fire at the Syrian Btn HQ (magenta circle), scoring 1 SP hit, and forcing a retreat.

Shermans (then at the turquoise circle) move around and enter Zaoura from the northeast, then ... BAM! Syrian ATGs at hex 39,15 (green circle) opfire at the Shermans, reducing them by 1 SP, and disrupting them (red circle). I hate those enemy ATGs, and RCLRs, with a passion! [:@]



Thinking they would be safe there behind the protective walls of Zaoura, I retreat the wounded Shermans back one hex to the northeast (turquoise circle, screenshot following). By toggling ON the Visibility at that hex (hot key 'v'), I can see that, no, they are still within the LOS of those infernal ATGs! The ATGs will kill those Shermans next phase, doubtless.

The halftracks at hex 42,12 (green circle) still have some APs remaining. They all fire at the enemy HQ cowering in the orchard over yonder. ZAP! One HQ unit eliminated (red circle)!

[berto]

TURN #10

To the west, without any prep fire, I send forth three M51 Shermans to assault the lone, and disrupted, Syrian RCLR at hex 29,14 (turquoise circle). The defenders are forced to retreat, and lucky me, they retreat not to the southeast, rather to the northwest (magenta circle). I now have them surrounded!



1st Platoon, Gimel Company at hex 28,12 (turquoise circle): They direct fire twice at the Syrian defenders at hex 28,13 (red circle). Despite their being disrupted, two fires, two kills, one of them the RCLRs! The unpredictability of this game. The many surprises. I love it!

[berto]

TURN #10

I order three platoons of halftracks northward to hunt down and kill that other Syrian Btn HQ (yellow circle, screenshot following).

The situation at the end of Turn 10, first Side A (Israeli) phase:



East of Zaoura, that assemblage of armoured vehicles at hex 42,12 (turquoise circle) are safely out of LOS of those Syrian ATGs (right magenta circle). I know, because I have toggled ON (hot key 'v') the Visibility to/from that hex.

Likewise the Shermans between Tel Aziziat and Tel Fakhar. From the toggled Visibility highlights there (not shown), I can see that they too are safely out of LOS from the ATGs & RCLRs at Tel Fakhar.

Summoning as many artillery as I can, I target the long-range guns at Tel Fakhar, and the BunKer hex southwest of Zaoura (magenta circles). With luck, artillery strikes will destroy the buggers!

If you're wondering, my VP total is up to 228:



Out of Major Defeat, but still well within Minor Defeat. My only hope of turning this around is to storm and overtake Tel Fakhar. Think I can do it?

[carll11]

[:-][:'(]

[berto]

Gamesmanship.

Do I go for a Minor Victory, risking Major Defeat? Or go for a Draw?

In the screenshot following:

[*]Syrian ATGs & RCLRs are positioned at Tel Fakhar and the two BunKer hexes in the orchard hexes to the southeast (blue circles).
[*]Units highlighted by turquoise or green circles are smoke firing. But only the green circled units are within range of Tel Fakhar or the two BunKer hexes. (I have selected the 120mm Tampella mortars at the hot spot hex. The ranGe display -- red hex outlines -- is toggled ON.) I need to hit Tel Fakhar etc. with smoke if I am to stand any chance of surviving the approach. I only have four smoke rounds available. [:(]
[*]The yellow highlighted hexes west of Tel Fakhar are elevation 5, two elevations lower than Tel Fakhar's elevation 7. I believe it's the case, though I'm not certain, that the > 1 elevation difference precludes tanks assaulting Tel Fakhar from those hexes. Tel Fakhar can practically only be assaulted from the elevation 6 hexes to the north, south & east.
[*]The magenta highlighted hexes are visibile to both Tel Fakhar and the two bunker hexes, and the ATGs and RCLRs therein.
[*]The white circled hexes should not be visible to Tel Fakhar (because of LOS blocking orchards and forests intervening).



If I go for a win, I need to take Tel Fakhar, no question. See the Victory Dialog in Post #47 above.

The problem is the lost SPs and units in the attempt. So many that I might still fall short of Minor Victory: +250 VPs for taking the Tel Fakhar objective hex, but subtracting VPs for the expected heavy losses. Or worse still, fail to take Tel Fakhar, and fall deeply back into Major Defeat.

Or I might give up any thought of taking Tel Fakhar. Instead, carefully staying out of LOS of Tel Fakhar and the two BunKers, attempting to kill as many Syrian units as I can -- the infantry SE of Tel Aziziat, the Btn HQ at Snir, and any other artillery and transports that might be lurking somewhere up north. Go for a Draw.

Go for a Minor Victory, risking Major Defeat? Recall the scenario title: Blunder at Tel Fakhar.

Or go for a Draw?

I'm not sanguine about achieving victory here. Because of blunders made on Turn 7, where I lost an entire platoon of Israeli infantry, my assault forces south of the BunKers are weakened. And delayed. I really should have taken out those ATGs and RCLRs there by now.

On the other hand, if I can strike simultaneously and quickly and hard from three different directions, maybe I can pull off a win here.

In Real Life, or if this were a tournament game against a human opponent, I might play it safe, go for the draw.

But as a learning experience, and for everyone's general amusement, I will go the win. It's only a game, right? [:'(]

Wish me luck!

[berto]

TURN #10

Halftracks are only 3 VPs per SP. I send forward my halftracks as opfire bait (magenta circle). As expected, the HMGs in the near BunKer (green circle) opfire, and lucky for me, they miss:



I send forward my infantry from the SW. The HMGs at hex 39,16 (green circle) opfire, forcing one of the infantry platoons to retreat (to magenta circle).



I send forward my remaining infantry platoons from the south. All three (green circle) direct fire at the HMGs, scoring 1 SP hit, and a disruption (red circle).



Not a bad beginning. I now have three infantry platoons and one halftrack unit, none of them disrupted, directly in front of the BunKer. With luck, I will escape the Syrian counterfire next phase relatively unscathed. With luck, that HMG unit will remain disrupted, and will then fall to close assault.

[berto]

TURN #10



Around Zaoura, I have plenty of thin-skinned halftracks, all with Assault values of 1 only. I have toggled ON the Disrupted highlight (turquoise unit outlines). Two of the halftrack units east of Zaoura are disrupted.

The disrupted tank platoon at hex 41,12 (red circle) is within LOS of the ATGs at hex 39,15 (green circle). Those Shermans will likely be destroyed next phase, else if I'm lucky, will only be forced to retreat. If I'm really, really lucky, the ATGs will fire and miss. But that's most likely too good to be true.

I have one other tank platoon, and one halftrack loaded with a near full-strength infantry platoon. I move them, and any undisrupted halftracks, one hex south (white circle), where a quick toggle of the Visibility highlight (hot key 'v') shows them to be safe.

If I approach the north BunKer by way of the orchards (magenta circle), I am within LOS of both the ATGs (at the green circle), and also the guns at Tel Fakhar. No, better that I approach obliquely, from the east (yellow circles), where I fall within the LOS of the Bunkered ATGs only.

I'd really like to rush all of the enemy guns simultaneously, but I can't, not without exposing my units to unacceptably deadly fire. No, must carefully maneuver into position. Must exercise all due caution!

[berto]

Um, I had said in Post #47 that I was already finished, at the end of Turn 10, first Side A (Israeli) phase. Obviously not. After thinking the matter over, I decided to do the additional moves described in the last couple of posts.

Now, truly finished with the Israeli move, it's on to the Syrian phase ...

[berto]

TURN #11

Syrian direct fire was generally ineffective, but the HMGs at hex 39,16 (turquoise circle), direct firing to the south, did manage to score 1 SP hit, and disrupt one infantry platoon (red circle). Argh, I'm now down to just two undisrupted infantry platoons there to join in this phase's expected close assault.

But there's some good news, too. Israeli artillery fire disrupted the ATGs at hex 39,15 (lower magenta circle). Both the ATGs and the HMGs in those two BunKered hexes are now disrupted. I hope they remain that way!

At Snir, more Israeli artillery fire drove the Syrian Btn HQ out of town (upper magenta circle). Good. All the easier it will be for the halftracks to catch and destroy the enemy HQ out in the open.

Best of all, the Shermans at hex 41,12 (blue circle) survived the phase (the Syrian guns did not fire at them AFAIK; maybe they were Concealed?), and are now undisrupted. They can join in the coming attacks!

The situation at the beginning of Turn 11, first Side A (Israeli) phase:



Oh, another Syrian HMG unit appeared from out of nowhere SE of Tel Aziziat (green circle). I must be sure to neutralize them!

[berto]

TURN #11

SE of Zaoura, I successfully advanced halftracks without drawing opfire (turquoise circle).

A second unit of M3 Mk. A's wasn't so lucky. The ATGs at hex 39,15 (green circle) direct fired on the halftracks at hex 42,14, obliterating them (red circle):



Attempting to force more opfire, I moved up a unit of Heavy Trucks from the south. As hoped for, this drew a second opfire from the ATGs (green circle). Alas, they opfired not at the trucks, rather at the halftracks already there, reducing them by 1 SP and disrupting them (red circle):



But at least the ATGs have expended their opfire for this phase. It should be safe now to call up the tanks.

But first, I assault the HMGs at the lower BunKer to the south:



No hits, just another disruption (the HMGs were already disrupted). Drat!

I call up more infantry. They direct fire at the HMGs, scoring 1 SP hit, and disrupting them (again):



All in all, it could have been better, but not so bad, as you will subsequently see.

[berto]

TURN #11

To the west ...

I move an infantry platoon to confront the HMGs southeast of Tel Aziziat. They fire, forcing a retreat. They advance again, fire again, and again force another retreat:



Although it's a pity I didn't score any SP hits or disruptions, at least by forcing back the HMGs, I cleared the way for the Shermans to advance, one hex to the southeast, and one hex closer to Tel Fakhar (turquoise circle, below). As they advance, the Shermans fire at the opposing Syrian infantry. Retreats, but no SP hits or disruptions.

I'm aiming to fire smoke at Tel Fakhar. So that the smoke shot doesn't scatter, I need a spotter. I send an Israeli infantry platoon upslope, to the hot spot hex 30,12 (green box). Opposing Syrians opfire back, then opfire again, scoring 1 SP hit, and forcing the Israelis to retreat back down the slope.



That hurt. I lost 1 SP, suffered a disruption, and still I don't have my spotting.

[berto]

TURN #11

With the threat of opposing opfire past, I move up more forces -- in particular, the M51 Shermans -- to the orchards a kilometer south of Zaoura (turquoise circle, and hot spot hex). They are safe there, not Visible to the enemy, as the Visibility highlights (turquoise hex outlines) show.

Likewise, that stack of Shermans southwest of Tel Fakhar -- they are safe there too, out of Visibility of any Syrian long-range guns (orange Visibility hex highlights from that hex, in this composite screenshot).

To the north, I did not manage to kill the Btn HQ, but it is disrupted, and surrounded.

The situation at the end of Turn 11, first Side A (Israeli) phase:



I'm poised to assault those BunKers southwest of Zaoura. If I can just take them out, I can attack Tel Fakhar from both east and west. A big "if", that.

[berto]

TURN #12

ATGs at hex 39,15 (green circle, screenshot following) direct fire at the Heavy Trucks in hex 40,15, destroying them (red circle). With that, I lost my spotting for that top BunKer.

HMGs at hex 39,16 (turquoise circle) direct fire twice at hex 40,16 (magenta circle), first shot a miss, second shot scoring 1 SP loss, and forcing the halftracks there to retreat. The HMGs have undisrupted. [:@]

Out west, the HMGs at hex 29,17 (blue circle) direct fire at the opposing Israeli infantry, first a miss, then a "Reduced Disrupted" result (red circle). The Syrian HMGs subsequently withdrew.

To the north, around Snir (not shown), no change.

The situation at the beginning of Turn 12, first Side A (Israeli) phase:



The Victory Dialog (also not shown) is not encouraging. I am receiving as much as I am dishing out. No improvement in the Total Points (now at 209). This is not going well. [:(]

[berto]

TURN #12

I tried sending halftracks back and forth across the upslope as a diversionary tactic, attempting to elicit enemy opfire. No dice. The Syrian guns didn't take the bait, they remained silent.

Not wanting to risk failure, I committed all four infantry battalions, plus two platoons of Shermans, in the assault on the near BunKer. Success!



Success, in that I took the BunKer. But the HMGs retreated to the other BunKer, one hex to the north. Drat! I really needed a destroy result.

HMGs? What happened to the RCLRs? In the next screenshot, from hex 38,15 (green circle), they revealed themselves, opening fire on the Israelis (magenta circle), scoring 1 SP hit in the attack:



Note where, after the earlier assault, I had withdrawn the Shermans (turquoise circle) to safety. They wouldn't benefit from the BunKer in the overrun hex 39,16. Must keep them away from the enemy guns if possible!

I don't see any more the ATGs. But I do see RCLRs (green circle, middle yellow circle). And what about Tal Fakhar (left yellow circle)? Presumably there are still ATGs & RCLRs there also.

[berto]

TURN #12

In another attempt to position spotters (so that I can fire smoke rounds at Tel Fakhar, yellow circle), I again move an Israeli infantry platoon upslope.

The one RCLR unit (green circle) then comes out of hiding and opfires, sending the Armoured 61 B back down the slopes again (magenta circle). Frustrating!



I really must take out those RCLRs!

So I send a platoon of Shermans south, to hex 30,16 (green circle below), where they blast away, eliminating the RCLRs (red circle):



Whereupon ATGs at Tel Fakhar (green circle below) come out of hiding, and opfire at the Shermans, forcing them to retreat (magenta circle):



Those ATGs (and also?) at Tel Fakhar are in excellent position next phase to direct fire at the Shermans, who by now have exhausted all of their APs, can no longer retreat out of Visibility/LOS to safety.

This is a pretty grim picture. Consider:

There are enTRenched/BunKered RCLRs, ATGs & HMGs (green circle, yellow circles) covering the approaches to Tel Fakhar from almost every angle. For reasons stated earlier (see Post #49), I really can't assault Tel Fakhar from the west; it must be from the north, south, or east -- all of which put me easily in the range of the upslope, and entrenched, Syrian guns.

I don't at all see how I can get anywhere near Tel Fakhar, much less successfully overcome it, without committing suicide in the process.

Look at the current Victory Dialog:



Even as I inflict Syrian SP losses here or there, my units are losing SPs too. I am making no progress on piling up Total Points. It's easy to see where, in a headlong rush at Tel Fakhar, I get slaughtered. And it would have to be a headlong, frantic rush forward, because time is running out.

What about the strategy to give up on taking Tel Fakhar, to roam around the map and attempt to kill as many stray Syrian units as possible? It's now a little too late for that. And besides, see the Syrian mortars just north of Tel Fakhar? I had thought that maybe the Syrian artillery was up and away, to the north. But no, they too are maybe all concentrated around the Tel Fakhar stronghold. Attempting to get at them puts me directly in harm's way also.

Blunder at Tel Fakhar. I have made my share of blunders. Doggedly pursuing the attack on Tel Fakhar might be the biggest of blunder of all. It's effectively game over now, methinks. Time to call off the attack, and settle for a Minor Defeat?

[&:]

[berto]

TURN #12

As if to underscore the precarious position I am now in, I move an Israeli infantry platoon west to get a shot at the Syrians lurking nearby and ... BAM! Syrian ATGs at Tel Fakhar (green circle) blast the Israelis (magenta circle). Lucky for me, they miss.

The very next thing I do is to return the Israelis to the safety of the orchard hex just to the east whence they came.



Must stay out of LOS of those d@mned Syrian long-range guns!