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

[berto]

TURN #12

To the north, I bag the Syrian Btn HQ. I then send the halftracks scurrying about, attempting to find any Syrian strays.

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

[berto]

TURN #13

Oh, my! Still more Syrians come out of hiding.

Syrians and Israelis trade fire back and forth. More or less equal losses on both sides.

Israeli artillery fire doesn't accomplish much.

The situation at the beginning of Turn 13, first Side A (Israeli) phase:



Not unexpectedly, I suppose, I now see TRenches at the near west approaches to Tel Fakhar.

Tel Fakhar is now clearly impossible to overtake, that's for certain! [X(]

[berto]

TURN #13

Time to rack up some VPs.

An Israeli infantry platoon at hex 29,12 (turquoise circle) direct fires at Syrian infantry at hex 30,10 (magenta circle), scoring 1 SP hit and forcing a retreat (out of LOS to the southeast).

Shermans at hex 29,14 (green circle) direct fire at Syrian infantry at hex 26,14 (red circle), scoring 2 SP hits, and eliminating the unit.



The disrupted Shermans down south (yellow circle) withdraw, attempting to distance themselves from the Syrian long-range guns (clue circles).

With these Syrian SP losses, the Victory Dialog now reports up to 226 Israeli Total Points.

[berto]

TURN #13

But it doesn't stay that high for long.

Israeli infantry at BunKer hex 39,16 (turquoise circle) direct fire at the Syrian RCLRs enTRenched at hex 38,15 (magenta circle). Two fires, two misses.

Syrian ATGs at Tel Fakhar (green circle) opfire back at the Israelis (turquoise circle), scoring 1 SP hit, and a disruption.



Total Points fall back down to 220.

This underscores the difficulty I face. Even though those Israeli infantry are relatively "safe" inside a BunKer, the high-powered Syrian guns, even from a distance, can cause significant harm. Much more so the nearby guns (yellow circles). (For the Israelis at that BunKer hex, I have toggled ON the Visibility display (hot key 'v'). As you can see (turquoise hex highlights), all of the Syrian guns in the vicinity have LOS to the BunKered Israelis.)

What is there to do? I can't come out into the open -- for example, west of Tel Fakhar -- because this is sure to draw devastating Syrian firepower. I can't even fire from the "safety" of a BunKer it seems, because this too will invite counterfire, counterfire likely as not to offset any advantage I might gain from my direct fire.

I just have to sit tight, I suppose, if indeed I don't slink away in defeat altogether.

[berto]

TURN #13

Oh, looky there:



A heretofore hidden Syrian Brigade HQ has come into view. Good! I have an excellent opportunity to bag myself a third Syrian HQ!

[berto]

TURN #13

I call up my halftracks. I can only get in a single shot against the Syrian Bgde HQ (yellow circle). It's a miss. Next turn maybe.

The situation at the end of Turn 13, first Side A (Israeli) phase:



In the previous turn, Turn 12, Visibility was up to 7. (I am playing with the optional rule Variable Visibility toggled ON.) Now Visibility has slipped back down to 6 (see the magenta highlight in the Info Box). Good. The otherwise exposed (and disrupted) Sherman tanks at hex 30,18 (turquoise circle) are definitely out of Visibility range of the Syrian ATGs at Tel Fakhar (green circle). Even more out of Visibility of any enemy tank-busters to the east.

Let's see what harm the Syrians might inflict next phase ...

[berto]

TURN #13

Surprise!



Three heretofore hidden Syrian units at enTRenched hex 29,18 (green circle) suddenly reveal themselves and begin firing at the retreating Shermans (magenta circle). I had no idea enemy were there!

Six shots, five misses, and a disruption. No big deal, because the Shermans were already disrupted. I was exceedingly fortunate here. This could have gone much worse!

[berto]

TURN #13

Let's see what harm the Syrians might inflict next phase ...

Lots of harm, as it happens.

Shots ring out, from I know not where, eliminating one of the BunKered Israeli Armoured 61 Bs (red circle).



Then the Syrians got in over a dozen shots (I lost count), inflicting more harm, more SPs lost, more disruptions. Yes, the Israelis got a bit of revenge in return opfire. But still, they suffered worse.

[berto]

TURN #14

As Turn 14 opened, maybe Israeli artillery got in some licks, I couldn't say (many "Unknown effects vs. unknown units").

The situation at the beginning of Turn 14, first Side A (Israeli) phase:



If I can just stay away from the enemy ATGs & RCLRs, I have the opportunity here to vanquish some Syrians (yellow circles). Not enough to get me a Draw -- my Total Points now stand at 217 -- but enough to get me far away from Major Defeat.

[berto]

The Battle for the BunKers, in 3D:

[berto]

TURN #14

With all hope of taking Tel Fakhar lost, the goal now is to rack up kills, and enemy Point Losses.

The Israelis do just that, eliminating Syrian infantry & RCLR platoons (red circles).

At map's east edge, the Syrian Brigade HQ (yellow circle) evades damage. I discover that my halftracks can't climb the escarpments to get a closer shot, so I have to send one of them around to the north, where the road there will allow them to make the climb.

The situation at the end of Turn 14, first Side A (Israeli) phase:



Total Points are up to 239. Let's see if I can do better than that.

[berto]

TURN #15

Turn 14, final phase, Syrian artillery and direct fire are totally ineffective. They score no kills.

As the final turn opens, Israeli artillery fire does some damage.

To the northeast, the halftracks get close enough to the Syrian Brigade HQ to score 1 SP hit. But the HQ escapes elimination.

The situation at the end of Turn 15, first Side A (Israeli) phase:



Total Points are up to 249. With luck, recent Syrian losses will go unanswered.

[berto]

TURN #15

No luck. In their final phase, Syrians strike left and right (red circles).

The situation at the end of Turn 15, second Side B (Syrian) phase:



Final result: 229 Total Points, a Side A (Israeli) Minor Defeat.

At the scenario-end full map reveal, I am surprised to see so many Syrians to the west of Tel Fakhar (turquoise ellipse) and to the northeast (green circle). I had no idea!

The Strength Dialog at scenario's end:



Even though I have lost this scenario, at least I avoided Major Defeat. I was wise to avoid assaulting Tel Fakhar. It would have been disastrous!

[berto]

POSTMORTEM

For the Israelis, this is one tough scenario. Is it winnable? Yes, I think so.

One winning strategy might entail:

[*]Send a tank company up the slopes to the east, around the Syrian far left. To hunt down and kill the HQs and artillery pieces in the Syrian rear areas.

For the remainder of the Israeli force:

[*]Ignore the center. Steer clear of the Syrian gun emplacements between and to the south of Tel Fakhar and Zaoura.
[*]Attack Tel Aziziat from the south and west. After it falls,
[*]Attack Tel Fakhar from the west and northwest.

In my game, I made a fundamental blunder by, initially, thrusting up the center. Worse, by taking on those BunKers and gun emplacements south of Tel Fakhar and Zaoura. Needless.

At scenario's beginning, I had written:

ORIGINAL: berto

Later this year, as Lead Coder for the Campaign Series, it's on my to-do list to review and revamp the games' A/I. To begin with, I want to select a small-map, mid Complexity scenario where one side is static, and defending, while the attacking side has a good mix of mobile and static combined arms. I then intend to teach (code) the A/I to do better, both sides. Learning from that experience, I will then generalize my discoveries, and code, to apply as widely to other situations and scenarios as best I can.

After all, is this a good A/I testbed? I have my doubts. Given the initial deployments and arrival hexes, it would be difficult to "teach" the Israeli A/I to ignore the center and instead to attack both flanks. This scenario is an advanced study. I need something simpler and more straightforward to begin with. The search for a good initial A/I testbed scenario continues.

Still, even if it didn't suit my needs as a game developer, as a player I had fun. That matters too!

[Phoenix100]

Just read this and really enjoyed. Great detail. Thanks.

Peter

[berto]

You're welcome.

The more you tune into the nuances and details, the greater the game's fun.