By Chris Wilkowski
Six Days into the Yom Kippur war, scratch elements of the Israeli Defense Force consisting of six M-60 Patton tanks were positioned on both sides of Wadi Marbouk awaiting the arrival of the Egyptians. The Egyptian 3rd Armored Brigade with supporting units inteded to push through the wadi at the weakest point in western Sinai), outflank the forward Israeli positions and reach the Mitla Pass before the Israeli forces could halt their advance. The Israeli force (commanded by a first-time player from the College with support from Tim Kellogg, Tornado Alley HMGS, Norman, Oklahoma} was positioned ideally for an ambush, vehicles hull-down with over-lapping fieIds of fire. The scenario called for the Egyptians (maneuvered by a contingent from the Lion's Den out of Kansas City, Missouri, consisting of Ken Van Pelt, Jon Hayworth and Doug Martin), 32 T55 and 8 T62 tanks with BRDM's in support, to run the gauntlet, unable to fire or shift course until fired upon. Adrenaline got the better of the Israeli commander, and the ambush was sprung too early. The first wave of the Egyptians was decimated by the long range fire of the M-60's, but the subsequent waves of T-55's and T-62's rolled on as Egyptian 122mm artillery ranged in on the defenders. At the point the game was stopped, the Israeli force had lost 67% of their tanks, all to artillery fire. The Egyptian casualties amounted to 25% destroyed and about 10% disabled. The Egyptians were declared the winners of the scenario. Action took place on Sept. 14, 1996 at Free Game Day, College of the Ozarks, Branson, Missouri Back to Tornado Alert #23 Table of Contents © Copyright 1996 by Tornado Alert! This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. |