Bar Lev at first glance would appear to be a game of simple attrition where the players did nothing more subtle than moving units adjacent and trading bludgeon blows until the last surviving unit moved into Tel Aviv or Damascus. All too often, unfortunately, this is the way the game ends up being played as the players ignore the tactical techniques and subtleties that can make the game more exciting and less a die rolling contest.

Players often ignore the principle of comparative advantage. Although the term 'comparative advantage' is usually associated with economics professors, it is very relevant to the play of Bar Lev as it allows the player to utilize his units in the role that will assure their maximum efficiency.

This principle primarily applies to aircraft that can be used for both ground assault and air superiority missions. Obviously, planes which are more effective at ground assault than at air superiority missions are misused whenever they are assigned air superiority missions, and vice versa. The player who misuses his aircraft in this manner fails to receive the full benefit that their proper use can provide.

The following chart is a useful way to determine the comparative advantage of the multi-purpose aircraft used in the game. All planes are shown as their equivalent in Phantoms as the Phantom is the most effective aircraft used in the game.

Nationality	Type Aircraft	Quantity	Ground Assault	Air Superiority
Syrian	MIG 19	4	3	1
Egyptian	MIG 19	5	4	1
Syrian	MIG 21	8	4	5
Egyptian	MIG 21	12	6	7
Israeli	Phantom	8	8	8
Israeli	Mirage	8	6	7
Israeli	Skyhawk	8	8	5

From this chart it is apparent that the MIG 21, Phantom, and Mirage are better utilized as fighters while the MIG 19 and Skyhawk are more effectively utilized as bombers.

Another comparative advantage that is not so obvious is that of the Arab Allies' units versus the Syrian units. These units are comparatively better because they do not become demoralized during the course of the game.

Therefore, these units are misused if they are thrown into the battle before the Syrian army becomes demoralized thus leaving the Syrian player with no effective force with which to counter-attack or maintain the offensive after demoralization has occurred. By taking advantage of this comparative advantage the Arab player can keep the Syrian front viable for a longer time than if he did not.

Ground Support and Artillery

Another technique that improves play is the proper co-ordination of ground support aircraft and artillery. Although this technique should be very obvious, I will briefly state it. Based on the rule that a unit is destroyed if it is neutralized twice the player should plan his ground support attacks so that any neutralized units can again be attacked by artillery.

In making ground support attacks it is better to have two or three different types of aircraft involved rather than all of the same type. This increases the number of chances for achieving neutralization and thereby increases the probability of destroying units through double neutralizations. Remember, units killed through the co-ordination of ground support and artillery attacks do not have the opportunity to take one of your units with them when they go.

Proper use of SAMs can frustrate the co-ordination of ground support and artillery and thereby prolong the life of your units. Also SAMs can protect your ground support aircraft against hostile fighters. Fixed SAMs should be placed so as to provide interlocking "fields of fire" over as wide a section of front as possible; thus they provide an umbrella.

The Syrian SAMs should be placed so that Quantara and a large section of the front nearby are overlapped. Along the Suez Canal the SAMs should be placed within range of each other creating two umbrellas-one in the north and one in the south. The mobile SAMs should be placed to reinforce the fixed SAMs and to displace in order to maintain the umbrella over the advancing units. Israeli SAMs, because of their limited range, must primarily be used to protect the artillery.

Helicopters, when properly used, can provide the winning margin for the Israeli player. The Hueys and Chinooks can be used to speed reinforcements to the fronts, a useful function to be sure, but they can be put to better use. The Hueys are most useful for airmobile assault, especially hitand-run raids. The best targets for these hit-and-run raids are neutralized units, because as long as a 1-2 attack can be made the unit is automatically killed without any risk of loss to the attacker who sets down directly on top of the unit.

The next best targets are SAMs and artillery units whenever these can be attacked at minimal risk. Against these targets it may be better to attack from an adjacent hex so as to get better odds on attacking the SAM or artillery unit. The helicopters can then leave the infantry units to continue the fight during the combat phase or whisk them away to safety. Another good tactic is the rear area raid where the Hueys make an airmobile assault on a strategic point while the Chinooks fly in reinforcements to nearby hexes. This sudden vertical envelopment onto Syrian villages or the Suez Canal bridges can threaten Arab supply lines and force the Arab player to divert units from the main attack or may even cause his front to collapse.

Israeli armor has the advantage of being able to move through Arab infantry zones of control (ZOC) which can enable it to make sudden break-throughs and devastating raids on rear areas. When combined with airmobile raids, this tactic is especially effective.

Israeli artiIlery has the advantage of barrage firing. This can help to kill more units by increasing the probability of double neutralizations but it also reduces the number of hexes that can be bombarded in a given turn.

The recce jeeps, with their ability to retreat before combat, are admirably suited for delaying actions. judicious use of these units can protect valuable units from costly Arab attacks while holding the Arab units at arm's length so that air and artillery can decimate them.

The Arab special units can be beneficial when used properly. The Egyptian paratroops should be placed in Ismailia and should be dropped on the first possible turn. If the Israeli player has a poor set-up, the paratroops should knock off Hawks or even exposed artillery units. If this course of action is not possible, then they should be dropped so as to block the two southern road-entrance hexes. Although the Syrian fortifications are not, strictly speaking, units, their placement can have a very important bearing on the middle and end game play of the Syrian front. They should be placed in streams and towns so that defending units will receive a +3 benefit against Israeli artillery. Good sites to be fortified are Miskin, Sasa, Kiswah, and Baytima; the other four fortifications should be placed along the front to block roads and shelter the artillery and fixed SAMs. The idea is to prolong Syrian resistance as much as possible.

The Arab player(s) must maintain the offensive in order to win. He must kill as many Israeli units as he can early in the game and then hang on to his gains. The Arab T-62, T-55, and Sagger units are well suited for attacking but they also make good targets.

The overall strategy on both fronts should be to seal off as many entrance roads as possible and then destroy the Israeli units piece-meal as they come onto the board. Try early in the game for an instant victory but as this is usually impossible play for a draw on both fronts. Remember, even a draw on both fronts is a victory for you.

On the Syrian front the Arab player must break through the defense at all costs and seize the high ground west of Quantara. He should make every attempt to "over-run" the Israeli artillery by moving units adjacent to it. The importance of destroying. Israeli artillery cannot be over-emphasized. Avoid giving the Isiaeli a 1-1 or better first-fire on any of your units. Make high odds attacks whenever possible. Hold back the Arab Allies until later in the game when the Syrian morale has cracked. Crowd the Israeli into a corner and try to keep him there.

On the Sinai front the Egyptian player should cross the canal as rapidly as possible. The main attack should be made in the South with the objective of seizing all the hills and blocking the two southern roads. Doing this will force the Israeli to defend on clear terrain without a first-fire benefit. The artillery and mobile SAMS must cross the canal to support the advance.

Defense by the Arabs is especially problematical due to the threat of vertical envelopment. On the Sinai front the bridge crossings must be defended. SAMS and artillery must be dispersed to protect against air strikes and artillery. (Indeed stacking should be limited to small combat units.)

SAMS should be stacked with Saggers to prevent airmobile assaults onto the same hex. A 1-2 attack against a stack with a first-fire of 1-1 is very risky; even an adjacent-hex airmobile assault risks a 2-1 attack against one Huey. As helicopters do not refit, this should be an adequate deterrent. Needless to say, SAMS must stay out of range of Israeli artillery. The artillery must be protected by preventing the Israeli player from moving units adjacent to it. Remember that Israeli armor can move freely through Arab infantry ZOCs and plan accordingly.

The Israeli player must first defend on both fronts until he has mobilized enough forces to take the offensive. On the Syrian front kibbutzes should be placed on both bridge hexes where they will receive a favorable terrain benefit and impede the Syrian advance with the remaining kibbutzes set up on the ridgeline to gain a first-rate benefit and to maintain a solid line of interlocking ZOCs. The artillery should be placed where it can be fired in conjunction with the mech artillery. Anyway, the set up on this front is pretty well determined by the rules.

The Sinai front offers two strategies--the forward defense or defense in depth. The forward defense puts the artillery and the Hawks two hexes behind the Bar Lev line and attempts to contest the canal crossing. The defense in depth leaves only the infantry in the Bar Lev hexes with the artillery. Hawks and scout cars set up on the hills next to the southernmost road. Five infantry units should be placed on El Shatt and the adjacent Bar Lev hexes so as to afford maximum delay in the south. Of these strategies, I recommend the defense in depth as it does not expose the artillery and Hawks to early loss while it provides for maximum delay at minimum cost.

The Israeli Air Force should be committed to Syria on the first turn because the SAM umbrella there is not as formidable as it is in the Sinai. Also, the Syrian Air Force is small and can be smashed quickly. Four Skyhawks should be committed to ground attack with all the other planes committed as air superiority. However, the other Skyhawks, because of their relatively poor refit rate, are used for interdiction, None of the Skyhawks should be exposed to SAM fire.

After the Syrian Air Force is smashed to where it no longer presents a viable threat, the Israeli Air Force should strike west against the Egyptians with perhaps a few token Skyhawks in Syria to maintain the airmobile capability. Generally speaking, it is disastrous to split the Israeli air force between the two fronts early in the game.

The main Israeli counter-offensive should come on the Syrian front because the Syrian army is not as large as the Egyptian army and it demoralizes easier than the Egyptian army. If the Jordanians have not entered the war by the time the Syrian army is demoralized, Miskin should be the chief objective to insure that they do not enter at all. Otherwise take Mt. Hermon and two villages and hold on. As soon as Syria is sufficiently pacified the main effort should be directed against the Egyptians.

Using these tactical techniques and principles should aid you in the play of your game of Bar Lev. I have tested and developed them over the course of a number of games and I find that they work quite well.

Related

Bar Lev Analysis and Game Strategy (PFaC 72)