Bar-Lev, Conflict Games' simulation of the 1973 Mid-East War, is without a doubt a truly superior wargame, involving a rather complex, yet detailed and inspired, play system to recreate the first Ultra Modern War.

The game map is printed in two parts, one section being the Sinai front, the other is the Golan Heights. The scales are different on each front. Each hex on the Golan heights front is roughly half the area of a hex on the Sinai front. The Israeli player, in addition, has a "Mobilized Units Box" where newly formed Israeli units are placed, and on the next turn may move to one front or the other.

At first glance the game system and rules of Bar-Lev seem difficult to sort out and learn. Without question, one must pay close attention to the rules, but it is well worth it. The game is carefully broken down into a multi-phase turn, beginning with a very important and in itself detailed Air Operations Phase. In the Air Phase both sides three nations; Israelis, Egyptians, and Syrians, decide on the employment of their air forces for that turn. All air operations are resolved prior to any actual ground movement or combat.

The effect of the deadly SAM systems of all three nations are a vital factor in the Air Phase. Following the resolution of the Air Phase the Arabs move. Each Ground Movement Phase, Arab, or Israeli, is preceded by artillery fire. This artillery fire is extremely important in the game, particularly for the Israelis. After artillery fire is resolved, movement follows.

All units (except SAM's) are considered to have a "Direct Fire" capability. That is, the unit you move next to gets to shoot back during your turn. Terrain plays a crucial role here, as a height advantage allows a unit to "First Fire" on an enemy unit. Villages also give this advantage, therefore, terrain is critical in attack or defense.

The Israeli Army, if it possesses a 50% Air Superiority in a turn on a particular front, may conduct Air Mobile Helicopter operations. This can be extremely effective, as the Hueys are immune to SAM fire. The Arabs must be very careful to protect their SAMs and artillery from sudden Israeli Helicopter assault. Both armies receive replacements from destroyed units, the Israelis much more efficiently as they get one combat factor back for every two "junked". The Arabs, however, replace units by type. In other words to get one 12-4 T-62 regiment back three must be junked, a total loss of four before one comes back.

The aircraft are represented on counters showing the plane's silhouette, and each counter represents roughly 18 aircraft. The Israelis have Phantoms, Skyhawks, and Mirages, all good planes, with Phantoms being the best. Four factors of Phantom on ground-attack have a 33% chance of destroying a unit (providing it isn't lurking under cover in a village) and a 50% chance of "neutralizing" it for a turn. The Israeli starts the game with eight factors of each plane.

The Arab air forces are in a rather difficult position. Their planes are not as good as the Israeli's. Also certain types of Arab planes can only fly either air superiority or groundattack missions, not both. Once again it is generally harder for the Arabs to replace their air losses. However, the Israeli player doesn't have it all his own way. His air force is capable of, in a few turns, doing serious damage to either the Egyptian or Syrian air forces, but not both. If the Israeli tries to split his air force between two fronts he won't accomplish much of anything, except lose planes and possibly the war.

Thus, one Arab or the other, providing he can out guess the Israeli on one turn and commits all his planes to ground attack while the Israeli's air force is on the other front, can do a lot of damage to the Israeli ground forces in the area. This is especially true at the beginning of the game when the Israeli needs every unit he can get to the front. On the other hand, it is possible for the Israeli to catch the entire Egyptian or Syrian air force on ground-attack, fly through the SAMs, if he is lucky, and cut up the Arab air force. One good turn of that can cripple the Egyptians, or wreck the Syrians.

SAMs are very important in the air battle. They have limited range, and they don't shoot down too many planes, but they often cause planes to abort their missions. The Israeli can partly disrupt SAMs with his Shrike anti-radar missiles that he receives two turns after the first Israeli plane has been aborted by Arab SAMs. These cause the Arabs to add two to their die roll when SAMs are firing at Israeli aircraft. However, the Arab air defenses can still be effective.

Air War

The Air War is extremely important, but it is not the critical point of the game. The ground war is where the game will be won or lost. At the beginning of each player's ground segment there is an artillery phase, we will look at that first. The Israelis have a definite advantage here, and, as a matter of fact, artillery is the crucial factor for the Israeli in the ground war, as he cannot risk units needlessly. Israeli artillery is superior for several reasons, first, it uses a separate combat results table.

The best for the Israeli is 24 artillery factors, giving a five out of six chance of destroying the enemy unit(s) being fired on. It take*s 40 Arab artillery factors to equal this. Also, Israeli artillery may fire and move in the same turn, Arab guns must remain stationary the turn they fire. Like air attack, artillery fire either destroys or neutralizes enemy units. However, if a unit is neutralized by air attack, and then is shelled and neutralized a second time, it is destroyed. This can be very important for both sides.

Another point is that artillery fire, and air attack, is rolled individually for each unit in a stack. Dispersion is critical for both sides. As far as stacking is concerned, the Israeli has an advantage also. In the Sinai the Israeli can stack up to six units, not including artillery or SAMs, and in the Golan Heights he may stack up to three units (all Israeli units are battalions). The Egyptians, on the other hand, may only stack up to two high, and the Syrians not at all, this is due to the fact that all Arab units are regiments. For both sides, artillery and SAM units have no stacking value.

It may seem that the Israeli is an easy winner. Hardly. The Israeli player is in an extremely difficult position. At the beginning of the game he has few units on either front, and he is facing almost the entire Egyptian and Syrian armies. As his army mobilizes he must decide to which front he will commit his units. The tank battalions (6-6'sand 8-6's) are the most important, and the artillery. He also MUST fight hard on both fronts for if at the end of any turn there are no Israeli units left on either of the two fronts, the Arabs instantly win.

As previously mentioned the Israeli air force can, in a few turns, control the air over one front or the other (Syria being definitely easier), but while the Israeli air force is grinding one Arab air force into oblivion, the Israeli ground forces in the other front area will definitely suffer. The real key for the Israeli is his artillery. He has enough to really hurt the advancing Arabs, since their artillery will have a hard time keeping up with the advance. However, the Israeli must be extremely careful in the placement of his artillery, since if lost it can not be replaced. It must also be protected against Arab air attack, HAWK units should be within range of any stack of Israeli guns.

In Syria, the Golan Heights slope up sharply toward the Israeli edge of the board (not exactly realistic, but rather essential in the game to recreate the Syrian's problems in the actual campaignj allowing the Israeli numerous "first fires" against the advancing Syrians. But, the Syrians WILL advance. There is, unfortunately, no command control rule to simulate the actual incredibly inept way the Syrians handled their armor.

It is also easier for the Syrians to advance under the cover of their SAM units, remember, ranges are doubles in the Golan Heights for SAM and artillery units. It is much harder for the Egyptian to keep in range of his SAM cover. In the Golan, the Israeli must carefully fall back, grinding up the Syrian with first fires and artillery. The Israeli shoWd'also set up a defense in depth along the roads, for it is easy for the.Syrian to bomb and/or shell a couple of Israeli units holding a road-block position, and dash up the road to close Israeli reinforcement hexes. The Syrian army doesn't have much staying power, it takes only 120 factors to break Syrian morale. This is a fact for both the Israeli and Syrian to keep in mind. If the Syrian does not win by about the 12th (game begins October 6) he is in real trouble. The Israeli must fall back, hurting the Syrian as he goes, and then, when he has the strength, counter- attack, allowing JUST enough troops to hold off the Egyptian hor horde. The Israeli wins if he can win on one front, and draw on the other, and it is in Syria that the game can be won.

Egypt

In Egypt the Israeli faces problems too, but not as difficult at first. The only real effect of the BAR-LEV line is to keep to a minimum the number of Israeli units that will die on the first turn. However, on the first turn, if the Egyptian has any sense, he will put his entire air force on ground attack and hit the Bar-Lev line under perfect protection from the 7 SAM units on the west bank of the canal. Next he will follow up with strong artillery fire, which will probably kill more units, and finally he will cross the canal with T-62's and T-55's so the Israeli Infantry (that is still alive) in the line (4-4's) can not get a 1-2 and shoot back.

In other words the Egyptian will get across the canal on turn one, the only limiting factor being his ten bridges, and his luck with the die. For the Israeli to win in Sinai, he must eliminate all Egyptians from the East bank, and cross the canal with at least 18 factors of armor. The Egyptians have a big army, and it is much harder to break than the Syrians. In addition the Egyptians have a big air force. Therefore, the Israeli should not worry really too much about beating the Egyptians, but rather, he should concern himself with the problem of preventing the Egyptian from winning. The Israeli should NEVER try and fight it out at the canal, This is the worst decision he could make in the entire game. He might inflict many casualties upon the Egyptians but there are lots of 12-4 T-62's and 14 T-55's that will grind the Israeli's up also. Plus there is the massed artillery fire of the Egyptians from the west bank, and the Egyptian air force would be able to bomb under the cover of all of their SAMs where it is extremely hard for the Israeli air force to get at the Egyptian air force, even with Shrike missiles, due to the number of SAMs involved.

A far better idea is for the Israelis to fall back from the canal, into the high ground in the south, and the desert in northern Sinai. Here he can hold off the Egyptians with his artillery, and the Egyptians, if they advance, will be under the threat of air attack. Of course, the Egyptian could advance, covering his army with his air force, but this means there would be far fewer planes bombing the Israeli ground forces in the area. If the Egyptian tries to move up artillery to shell the Israelis from the hills, remember, his artillery can not fire the turn he moves it range, so you can shell it during your artillery phase.

It is better to fall back into the hills, hold up and shoot at the Egyptians, and then, near the end of the game, launch an attack to grab some of the Bar-Lev line and prevent the Egyptians from winning. Meanwhile, you should have a victory in Syria.

Arabs

As the Arabs, you must be extremely aggressive, and yet careful in the use of your army. At the outset of the game you have a tremendous advantage on both fronts. Use it. You must kill as many Israeli units as possible while gaining ground. Also, you must be careful, your armies lack protracted fighting power. If you say, what's a mere minus one from the die roll, wait, you will see how irksome that minus one can be.

It is also very hard for you to replace losses. You must be careful in the use of your artillery, as it must either move or fire; it can move right into Israeli artillery range, and get killed before you can use it. Your air forces can do a lot of damage to the Israeli, especially early in the game, when the Israeli does not have much to work with. Both the Syrian and Egyptian must try and kill Israeli artillery, as it will hurt you the most of all. It is worth moving adjacent to Israeli artillery and firing at it, even if you loose the unit you attack with, to get the Israeli guns.

On the Syrian front there is the possibility of Arab allies helping in the war. However, the Saudi Arabian and Iraqi combined forces amount to but 14 combat factors. The Jordanians are far better, as they can stack like the Israelis, but there is only a one-sixth chance per turn that they will be committed. And once they are committed, the amount is highly variable, ranging from 12 to 72 factors of troops.

Therefore, they can't be counted upon, they should be looked upon as a wonderful luxury, a gift from Allah, or something like that, the message being, do not count on them to turn the tide. The Syrian should try to block Israeli entrance hexes (there are only three) to channel the approach of the Israeli reinforcements. Worry about the Jordanians when, and if, they ever come.

Both the Egyptians and the Syrians must take chances. Their victory conditions are relatiovely easy to fulfill. All the Syrians have to do is take and hold three Israeli villages, while loosing none of their own. Seize and hold! Easier said than done.

If the Syrians take their three villages and stop, all the Israeli will do is hold up where he is and blast you off the face of the earth with his artillery and planes. You MUST keep up the pressure.

Taking the Israeli entrances hexes is very important. If you take either flanking hex, you can try and roll up the Israeli line. If you take the center hex, you just split the Israeli line down the middle. Channel the Israeli approach, and you can mass artillery against it. You must be judicious in the employment of your army, and be careful for Israeli artillery.

The Egyptian, once he crosses the canal must drive into the southern hills at once, if you don't, in a few turns, it will become a vertual fortress. Here the limited Egyptian air borne capacity can be useful, blocking key hexes to the Israeli, allowing the push to be made in the south.

Bar-Lev is an extremely well done game. It points out, either by accident or design, some of thekey tactical and strategic factors of the actual campaign. It also makes players get the most out of their armies. The weaknesses and the strength of Arab and Israeli arms are shown. The game places a premium upon the ability of both players. Neither side can waste anything, every attack should be important, not a turn can be left unexploited. Both sides must take risks if they are to win. The Arabs must hit hard and early, or hang it up. In the first few turns the, Arabs should be killing at least 3 to 1. The Israelis must fall back, but in doing so they must try to kill as many Arab units as possible, while holding key positions (ridges, towns, etc.). If the Israelis try to stand and fight too early too close to the Arab guns, they will lose the game. Both sides must fight well, and get the utmost from their armies.

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Tactical Techniques Of Bar Lev Analysis and Game Strategy (PFaC 73)