Referee's Notes
1. The game starts at 0900 and ends at the conclusion of the 1145 turn.
2. The cost to cross each contour level, either up or down, is 2" for tracked vehicles and personnel, and 4" for halftracks and wheeled vehicles. If a contour line is crossed on a road or trail, half these costs.
3. The areas marked as scrub give cover to stationary units and vehicles, but do not block line of sight.
4. Victory is determined by the following condition: (This is a winner take all game, there is no chance of a draw.) Israeli Victory: Prevent the Syrians from exiting seven tanks off the west map edge within the victory zone. Syrian Victory: To exit seven tanks off the west edge of the board in the area marked as the victory zone.
Historical Information
Again, if this battle looks familiar to those of you who purchased The Sands of War, once again you're right. I have been on Frank's case for some time to get him to write up several modem battles for the CP. At the end of our last conversation, he told me to check out "Booster Ridge."
This is a battle that I was involved with before. During the earlier stages of the playtest of the Sands of War, I served as the Syrian commander for this scenario. At that time, Frank was working on the battles of October 6 and 7 and as the Syrian it was a far different game. One inched one's way forward a day at time, burning up Syrian brigades as one went and nibbling slowly away at the Israeli positions. Frank's decision to just do the last day made for a much more balanced game. The action on the 8th is a classic case of the settlers holding out against the Indian hordes in the hope that the cavalry will arrive in time.
This game will probably work best with micro armor and a alternate scale. One could use either the centimeter version, or one could half all movement distances, ranges, artillery burst areas, etc., and construct the terrain with each square 6" on a side An 8' by 9' board in 20mm would be a bit hard to manage, and other than Frank, I don't know that many gamers with 30+ 20mm Soviet model tanks. On the other hand, if played with micro armor and a scale of each square being 12" on a side, it gives on a very good feeling for the battle and the problems that both side faced.
For the record, the cavalry did arrive in time. As Israel remnants were being pushed down the western slopes and the Syrians were out to break through, the reinforcements arrive and helped drive the Syrians back and off Booster.
Bibliography
Duel for the Golan, Joseph Bermudez, unpublished manuscript.
Weapons Data
| Vehicle | Weight | Speed | Armor | Weapon/ROF/Ammo |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Centurion | VI | 60/25 | 25(30)/9 | T: 105, 2/16, LMG, AAMG |
| Halftrack | III | 90/40 | OT 1/1 | T:HMG, H:LMG |
| Jeep/106 | II | 125/30 | - | T: 106RR, 2/4 |
| Jeep | II | 125/30 | - | 1/2 stand |
| M113 | III | 85/30A | 3/2 | T: HMG, LMG, 1 stand |
| M125 | III | 80/30A | 3/2 | T:HMG, 81mm mortar, 2/28 |
Direct Fire Weapons Chart
| Weapon | ROF | 2" | 5" | 10" | 15" | 20" | 30" | 40" | 50" | 60" | HE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5" Bazooka | 1 | 9x3 | 6x3 | 2x3 | - | HE 4 | |||||
| 105APDS | 2 | 9:30 | 9:27 | 9:25 | 8:24 | 8:23 | 5:20 | 3:18 | 1:15 | 1:12 | - |
| 105 HEAT | 2 | 9x5 | 9x5 | 9x5 | 8x5 | 7x5 | 4x5 | 2x5 | 1x5 | - | HE 5 |
| 106mm RR | 1 | 9x5 | 9x5 | 6x5 | 5x5 | 4x5 | 2x5 | 1x5 | - | - | HE 5 |
| Type | ROF | Effective |
|---|---|---|
| Command stand | 1 | 4" |
| Infantry Stand | 2AR | 8" |
| MMG stand | 2 | 12" |
| Swagger AT-3 stand | 1 | 4" |
| RPG-7 stand | 1 | 4" |
| Gun/Mortar crew stand | 1 | 4" |
| Vehicle HMG | 1 | 15" |
| Vehicle LMG | 1 | 10" |
| Vehicle | Weight | Speed | Armor | Weapon/ROF/Ammo |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| T-62 | VI | 60/25S | 20(23)/6 | T: 115 SB, 1/10, LMG |
| T-54 | V | 60/25S | 22/6 | T: 100, 1/8, LMG, AAMG |
| T-54 | V | 60/25S | 22/6 | T: 100, 1/11, LMG, AAMG |
| BTR-60PU | III | 80/20A | W 2/1 | staff radio |
| BTR-60 | III | 80/20A | W 2/1 | T: HMG, LMG 1 stand |
| BTR-152U | III | 90/40 | WOT 1/1 | T: HMG, 1 stand |
| BRDM-1 | II | 100/25A | WOT 1/1 | T:LMG |
| Jeep | II | 125/30 | - | 1/2 stand |
| Medium Truck | III | 75/15 | - | 2 stands or 1 dbl stand |
| Weapon | ROF | 2" | 5" | 10" | 15" | 20" | 30" | 40" | 50" | 60" | HE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RPG-7 | 1 | 9x4 | 6x4 | 1x4 | - | HE 4 | |||||
| 100 APDS | 1 | 9:27 | 9:25 | 7:23 | 5:21 | 3:19 | 1:16 | - | - | - | - |
| 100 HEAT | 1 | 9x5 | 9x5 | 6x5 | 5x5 | 4x5 | 2x5 | 1x5 | - | - | HE 5 |
| 107mm RR | 1 | 9x5 | 9x5 | 6x5 | 4x5 | 3x5 | 1x5 | - | HE 5 | ||
| 115 APFSDS | 1 | 9:35 | 9:32 | 9:30 | 8:27 | 8:25 | 4:23 | 2:21 | 1:19 | - | - |
| 115 HEAT | 1 | 9x5 | 9x5 | 9x5 | 7x5 | 6x5 | 3x5 | 1x5 | - | - | HE 5 |
More Golan Heights October 8th, 1973: Booster Ridge
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© Copyright 1993 by Greg Novak.
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