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Linked Campaign: Mission 1: Heading to the Front
All Optional Rules On except Variable Vis

Oct 7th, 1973....The Israeli's initial reaction to the Egyptian crossing of the Suez Canal was to rush forward to support the Bar Lev outposts. With limited intel, and a disdain for their enemies soldiering skills, the 1/500th Ar Bn reinforced with an Inf Co, heads towards the Canal in the vicinity along the main road through Rumani.

Israeli positions end of turn 1

The Israeli Commander orders his Recce to screen and enter Rumani. The remainder of the Bn stays south of the main road heading towards the Wellington Plateau.

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Klink, Oberst

Israeli Turn 2...It wasn't long before contact reports reached the Bn Cp. The Tank Section that was part of the Recce element came under small arms fire from Rumani as it maneuvered south of town. The Mech Plt, hearing the contact report, dismounted their tracks and advanced along the rail line that ran through the town. Both elements opened fire, forcing the enemy to ground. At the same time, the Recce Ldr called for Mortar fire on the enemy position.

To the south, as the Bn's main body advanced to the west, the lead tank company spotted enemy Infantry in the small village SW of Rumani. Mortar fires were also called as the entire company fired into the village, dispersing the enemy.

As the trailing tank company's continued west, they too came under fire from the orchards to their front. Their return fire did little and 2 plt's of Mech Inf dismounted to root out the enemy.

Arab Turn 2/Israeli Turn 3 Start....The enemy Inf Plt in the small village moves north to reinforce its sister unit in Rumani. The enemy Inf Plt in the orchard tries to disengage and is fired upon, taking casualties...

Israeli Turn 3...With heavy contact in and around Rumani, the Bn Cdr dispatches the Hvy Wpns Plt and a Mech Plt to the town. As they are enroute, the Mech Recce Plt destroys a Plt of enemy Infantry (Red Star).

The Recce Tk Section engages the Inf Plt trying to reinforce Rumani, but fails to drive them to ground.

The 3rd Tk Co is ordered to to swing north of the village to guard the Recce Plt's rear and to continue west when ordered.

The 1st Tk Co is ordered west as time is a factor regarding reaching the Canal. They come under fire from AT missiles at a range of 1200m..They return fire and force the enemy to retreat.

2nd Tk Co and the 2 Mech Plt's have an enemy Inf Plt trapped...

The Bn CP jumps forward...

Arab Turn 3.. THe "Trapped" enemy Plt takes out a PC..something the Bn can not afford. The Egyptians are fighting very well...

The Enemy Infantry Plt moves away from the planned Mortar strike and gets into Rumani.

Israeli Turn 4...The Bn Cdr took stock of his current situation. The firefight n Rumani was still ongoing. The enemy Plt on the western side of town continued to hold its position. The arrival of the Hvy Wpns Plt, along with another Mech Plt seemed to stir up a hornets nest. Heavy small arms fires hit the Mech Plt from the north as it entered the town center. With the increased enemy activity in the town, he decided that the forces committed to that fight were to clear the town and the ground 500m north and west. They would also get priority on indirect fires.

His lead Tk Co was ordered to move along the main road and report but bypass any enemy contact. The trailing units, whether Tk or Inf would be the ones to clear out any contacts. As the lead Co cleared the village south of Rumani, it came under withering AT fire from the north, two tanks were hit and destroyed. The Tk Section of the Recce saw the missile launches and attacked causing the Sagger Tm to retreat...but the damage was done.

The lead Tk Co Cdr reported that he was 2.5km's west of Rumani with 8 tanks and no further contact. The 2nd Tk Co is ordered to follow, and the 3rd Tk Co is ordered to stay 1km south of the road.

The Mech Co (-) finally eliminates the enemy Infantry in the brush. With the loss of a PC, the Cmd Grp will have to give it's up in order to keep as much combat power forward...

Arab Turn 4....More missiles fired from the orchards take out another tank. Return fire from the 2nd Tk Co forces the Sagger team to retreat.

Enemy Inf in Rumani is finally forced to retreat, but the Mech Infantry is still taking heavy fire from within the town.

Israeli Turn 5...With his Tank Co's being engaged by missile teams from south of the main road, the Bn Cdr decides to have two missions...1) The forces within Axis S seek and destroy the enemy AT Tms. The forces in Axis N move at best speed to the Canal. The Inf Plt that is without transport is ordered to Rumani to relive a mounted unit. (Because the HQ's PC does not have enough capacity...duh!)

An Enemy Hq's is discovered....

Israeli Turn 7....Rumani

The Tank Section finally eliminates the Sagger Tm and is ordered west.

The Infantry fight in Rumani reaches a crescendo as the Israeli's destroy one Enemy Plt. The RPG Tm takes its revenge its by firing multiple volleys at the Hvy Wpns Plt and destroys it.

(as a side note....I've been playing this scenario ahistorical, trying to recreate the actions of the units that were sent forward along the coast road to relieve the northern Bar Lev forts. Historically, the Israeli's using the road were ambushed time and time again by Sagger, Commando, and RPG teams, as is the case here. These battles were the first indication to the Israeli's that these were not the Egyptian soldiers of the same caliber from 1967. These soldiers were better led, trained, and equipped with modern anti-tank weapons.)

Israeli Turn 7 cont...With his lead tank company reaching the Baluza N/S road, the Bn Cdr meets two of three Tk Co Cdr's to discuss the enemy situation and tactics regarding the new abilities of their enemy in a small village along the coast road. While there, they come under heavy small arms fires from the orchids....

The AT Missile Tm that fired from the ruins is destroyed by massed Tk cannon fire...More massed fires force another missile team to retreat...

Israeli Turn 8...The Bn Cdr had two of three tank company's closed up along the coast road. From here on in, he was going to take each contact report and deal with it.

As the lead Tk Plt of his lead Company approached a small village NE of Baluza, they came under heavy fire, losing a tank.

The Sagger Tm in the ruins was dealt with by massed tank fires.

The Enemy Infantry that attacked the CP retreats or are destroyed under heavy fire.

Great AAR so far!! Thank you!

ORIGINAL: Jason Petho

Great AAR so far!! Thank you!

Excellent opening scenario by you! Truly shows the barriers the Israeli's faced during the early days of the war...

Israeli Turn 9 Opening moves...Masses tank cannon fire eliminates a Sagger Tm

Two Plt's from the 3rd Tk Co, low on ammo, fail to destroy a weakened Sagger Tm

Israeli Turn 9 end...

Tank fires disrupt but fail to dislodge the RPG Tm blocking the advance to Baluza.

3 Plt's of Tk's fire on enemy infantry in buildings north of Baluza disrupting them...

A Mech Inf Plt is brought forward to deal with the enemy RPG Tm..

Israeli Turn 10...Two Plt's break free of the fight in the village NE of Baluza and reach the outskirts of that town.

The Hunter-Killer Tm's south of the main road are ordered to make best speed to wards Baluza.

The Bn is massed for its final push towards the Bar-Lev outposts and the Canal

Israeli Turn 11...For the first time, the Bn's lead elements move forward and do not come into contact with enemy forces.

The Infantry is given the task of clearing the village.

Israeli Turn 12...The Bn's lead elements make contact with the first of the Bar-Lev outposts (exited units)

The enemy is finally disrupted but determined to hold the Village.