It seems like years ago when Al Sandrik submitted the prototype for what would become Yom Kippur. It was. Al submitted the game to us before Stalingrad Pocket came out. The original design was a stand-alone project, and I suggested it would fit nicely into this SCS thing I was working on. Al agreed and I rewrote the rules with the series in mind. The rest is history.

Yom Kippur is a one-map, 280 counter game on the Sinai portion of the 1973 Arab-Israeli War. In general terms, it covers the Egyptian Suez Canal crossing operation, the desperate Israeli defense, and the final Israeli crossing of the canal into Africa. Units are brigades and battalion-sized Task Forces. The map scale of 2 miles per hex allows an in-depth look at the canal area. Each turn represents two days.

The game begins with the Egyptian player's choice of how and where he will conduct his canal crossing. These decisions set the tone for the entire game. Aiming too low will not achieve much to threaten the Israeli-aiming too high will spread the Egyptians too thinly and invite early counterattack. The echeloning of the attack, use of artillery, placement of bridges, use of air mobile and Commando units, and reduction of the initial Bar-Lev Fort line will be some of the key decisions the Egyptian player must make.

The Egyptians have a credible army (not a great one), better than you might expect given other Arab-Israeli games. They are a brittle force-the first step loss on an Egyptian exploit-capable unit removes that capability. The Egyptians better stay under their SAM umbrella-going beyond it invites the full wrath of the IDF's air force. Of course, careful use of SAM suppression by the Israelis will allow some hits to get through. The location of the crossings, use of forces in the attack, and choice of objectives will give the Egyptian player the chance to show his ability.

On the other hand, the Israelis only have a few choices to make before play begins (where to put a small number of units), but have an excellent force with which to work. The key Israeli technique in the early stages of the war is the "run up, hit, run away" in which Israeli units stalk Egyptian weak links, then run away in the Exploitation Phase before being caught. However, this can backfire badly if units get hung up on tough Egyptians, or if the ATGM rule combined with a bad dice roll destroys Israeli units.

For their part, the Egyptians must solidify their bridgehead, await their Exploitation Reserve and attempt to damage the Israelis as much as possible while they pray for an early cease-fire die roll. Should either player feel cheated by a cease-fire die roll, each has the option of ignoring it. The problem is that doing so brings the forces of the US and Soviet Union into play (a handful of each). This could lead to some interesting end-game gambits that will bear watching.

The Israelis, after the ATGM period and a build up, need to look toward clearing a path of their own to the canal to throw up an engineer or a PCB bridge and advance on the western side of the canal. The process of crossing the canal triggers the Egyptian GHQ Reserve release, which will add to the Israeli player's worries. Time is extremely limited for the Israelis to accomplish all they must.

When the music stops, provided neither player decided to ignore the cease-fire, the game ends and there is a quick victory tally. At a cost in VPs, either player can ignore a cease-fire ... later, the players can pay to ignore a second cease-fire. Ignoring the second one brings on the Superpowers. Given their force buildup and qualitative edge (not to forget their Tank Repair capabilities), the Israelis probably want as long war as possible, while the Egyptians want a short one. However, it is not an easy decision for the Israelis to ignore a cease-fire-the Soviet forces the Egyptians get are very good, but the Americans the Israelis can expect are the dregs of the postVietnam US conscript army.

Playtesting of Yom Kippur showed the game behaved differently depending on the aggressiveness of the Egyptian player. In one game I saw, the Egyptians made a lodgment so small it was unlikely they would feel the war was worth it. In other games, the Israelis were barely able to hold onto the map (and the Egyptian player bemoaned the lack of map extensions to allow an advance on Tel Aviv). Most games fell nicely in between.

Look for the release of Yom Kippur in May of '95.