Mad Cow
Posts: 3374
Joined: 7/31/2002 Status: offline
|
In two games I was Israel, tasked with knocking out the PLO and drive up the Lebanese coast to Beruit while also smashing the Syrian army in the Bekaa Valley. Both times I am able to break into the Bekaa, but the game ends before I can take advantage of interdiction which has bled the Syrians dry. Both times I get up to the outskirts of Beruit only to have the game end on me. Israel loses in disgrace. Nevermind that the Syrian force in the Bekaa are all but broken, the front stands wide open, the Syrians in the rear can offer no resistance, and within 2 or 3 days I would have captured Beruit. The frustrating part is that there is no way Israel would have stopped this operation on the verge of victory. I don't see how I could have gone fast enough to crush the Syrians and break into the valley. But I am not a great player even though I have put years into the game. In my first battle I made a ton of mistakes which I was punished for by triggering events which put me in a 90 point hole (Soviet Diplomatic intervention, Soviet interceptors deploying and attacking a hex before a civilian unit disbanded In the second battle I avoided the Soviets, smashed the Syrians quickly and used intervention to great effect. Sometimes. Problem was that every other turn the interdiction level would drop from 74% to 0%! I have no idea why. No air units were reorganizing or otherwise unavailable, all still retained their interdiction orders. all screens from second game. Anyways, here is the entire map on the games last turn, 12 of a possible 16. As I said, Bekaa front torn open. Beruit still not taken, but the defense will buckle soon. Here is a closeup of the Bekaa Front: My losses in the Bekaa Valley offensive were very low in this game, expecially considering the last one. But I did not have to trade time as I was actually progressing much better in this attempt than my first game. I took more casualties than I would have liked on the road to Beruit (below) but I do not think they were too bad: Here is the final situational briefing. If only I could get a few of those "5 remaining turns!" To sum it up, I could have used a few more turns. This game was great fun both times, but especially the second. The designer seems to have been extra tough on the Israeli player. Maybe someone who is a better player than me can make it work. I rarely got more than two rounds per turn and this probably really hurt me. I do want to stress that I think the scenario is excellent, very well done. I will try it again to see if I can do better next time.
_____________________________
|