Israel’s War of 1967 was a classic case of preemption done right. Her strategic situation at the beginning of the year was dire and getting worse by the day. All her neighbors were universally hostile and were bent on the young nation’s destruction. The Soviets sent tons of arms and advisers to aid the Arab coalition, and the common wisdom of the day was that the Israelis had finally bitten off more than they could chew. Common wisdom was, of course, wrong.
Napoleon often said he would rather fight a coalition than anyone else, and the Israelis proved the truth of that maxim yet again. They took their time and prepared the battlefield meticulously, rehearsing air attacks constantly to open the war on their terms and not of their enemies. When the Israelis struck, it was with near total surprise, with most of the Arab air forces caught on the ground. The Israelis had almost no reserves, except for some jet trainers that could carry bombs. It didn’t matter. After the raids on the Egyptians, the Syrians and Jordanians did little till they were hit in turn. With the Arab air forces removed from the equation, the Egyptians tried to resist but could not and failed to retreat. The Israeli advance took all the Sinai and advanced to the right bank of the Suez Canal in three days. Jordan reacted late but ended up losing the West Bank in heavy fighting, and along with it, the embattled city of Jerusalem. Its capture by Israeli paratroopers was an emotional moment for many Israelis at the time. Syria was also bowled over, losing the Golan Heights, from where it had shelled Israeli farms with near impunity.
The war became a symbol. With such a lopsided victory, it was a nation-building moment for the nation of Israel. But it also led to further bloodshed and conflict in 1970, with the “War of Attrition” and the 1973 Yom Kippur War.
But the question we’re asking today is – What possibilities are there to wargame this conflict?
The truth is, quite a bit!
Board Gaming
This is one of the first games about the conflict, and it still holds up reasonably well today, though some of the rules (especially those about Electronic Warfare and ATGMs) seem a bit “bolted on” to a system meant to simulate World War II armored combat. That said, when I played it, the hiccups were few. While there are 23 scenarios that come with the game, most are set after 1970, with only four set during the ’67 War. It’s a shame, but keep in mind, the Israeli victory was a bit lopsided, and on a tactical level such as this game simulates, balanced scenarios are tough to come by. Sadly, while the game is out of print, you can still find it on BoardGame Geek for a reasonable price.
Elusive Victory is based on the same system as Downtown, which is about the air war over North Vietnam. What’s great about this game is like Downtown, you’re running the air war, not the individual aircraft, and are making decisions an operational commander would. The game has scenarios for 1967, 1970, and 1973, so you have plenty to do in this game. And, I dare say, if you got some components out of Red Storm, you could simulate 1982 as well. The game itself is a bit more complicated than Downtown, and the map is certainly bigger, but it has a VASSAL module, so space isn’t the deal-breaker it used to be.
While sadly, the game is out of print, you can find it for sale via Boardgame Geek, and I think GMT will probably reprint it in the near future.
I am not usually one to write up games I haven’t played yet, but this new release about an operational-level game regarding Abu Ageila by High Flying Dice Games (HFDG) has me intrigued. I have a couple of their other games, one on Hue and one on Susengard during the Iran-Iraq war. Both games are easy to play and learn but hard to master, and if HFDG’s track record holds true, then we should have a good game here. Mr. Rohrbaugh is selling copies for $16.00, and they are a throwback to the fun days of the glorious Ziplocs of the ’80s and ’90s. I am excited about this one.
Miniatures Games
A lot of the action for the Six-Day War is well covered by various micro-armor rules sets, such as Fistful of Tows III or Command Decision. The war is especially suited to 1:5 scale gaming as well. You had small Israeli divisions routing much larger Egyptian ones in truly lopsided engagements. All the 1/285 and 1/300 scale manufacturers carry everything you’d need to play out the war, and as such, it wouldn’t be a difficult thing to put on a game.
If you like the Flames of War system, Battlefront did their take on the Arab-Israeli wars with the Fate of a Nation game. The book is geared toward bringing the Flames of War system to the 1967 and 1973 wars and has put out quite a bit of miniatures to support the game. I am not the world’s biggest Flames of War fan, but if you are, and you’re interested in the Arab-Israeli Wars, then this is something to look into.
In 20mm, the rules get a bit more nebulous. Most of the war, as I have said, was a war either in the skies or swirling tanks in the desert. But in the city of Jerusalem? You had dug in Jordanians and Israeli paratroopers going house to house for control of the Old City. There are options out there, at least in terms of miniatures. Rules are a little stickier, but I’d personally recommend Force on Force, which while out of print in dead tree, is still available in PDF format from Ambush Alley Games. Figures are a bit harder to come by, but not impossible. Wargames Foundry has an entire line for the 1967-1973 period, and Ehliem also has some useable figures in their Generic Middle East line. There are also RH Models, which is the only source I’ve found for suitable Jordanians. Plastic figures can also be converted for Jordanians. Just put British WWII helmeted heads or ones wearing keffiyeh on a US WWII body, and you’re in business.
28mm is also going to require a lot of work and a lot of conversions. Surely someone out there in the 28mm world can see their way to producing figures for 1967 and 1973?
One last comment is about the air dimension. All the aircraft you’ll need are available in 1/300 and 1/600, and I’d refer people to my three-part series on air warfare, found here, here, and here. That said, I wanted to pick out for special mention Check Your Six: Jet Age. They did a wonderful book on the Arab-Israeli wars in the air named Star and Pyramid, and even if you don’t play Check Your Six, I would get the book for the valuable historical information contained in the book. The book is for sale with a variety of online hobby shops, such as Brigade Games, and I-94 Enterprises.
I hope all the information we’ve discussed today perhaps has you considering wargaming the Six-Day War. And, as always? Good Gaming, Everyone.
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(This article is credited to Jason Weiser. Jason is a long-time wargamer with published works in the Journal of the Society of Twentieth Century Wargamers; Miniature Wargames Magazine; and Wargames, Strategy, and Soldier.)