1967: Sword of Israel
Publisher’s Preview
By Mike Bennighof, Ph.D.
December 2024

When it came time to bring Panzer Grenadier (Modern) 1967: Sword of Israel back into print, I decided to do so in our Playbook format rather than as a boxed game. That was a short-term decision, but given the threat of greatly increased tariffs at this writing (December 2024) and new Euro-regulations concerning boxed games, it may be that we stumbled into an actually smart decision. We make books locally, but we import boxes.

1967 Sword of Israel is a big game; one of the largest in our catalog. It’s based on tactical combat during the June 1967 Six-Day War. Israel faced three enemies: Egypt, Jordan, and Syria. And while Israeli-friendly versions of events usually emphasize the combined weight of these enemies’ military force, that’s not exactly how it happened. The Egyptians, Jordanians, and Syrians (in that order) very obligingly lined up one after the other and allowed the Israelis to fight them one at a time. As a result, even though their combined forces greatly outnumbered the Israelis, they allowed Israel to muster numerical superiority against each of them. When added to Israeli advantages in training, leadership, planning, and morale, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had an overwhelming edge.

Panzer Grenadier (Modern) takes place at the tactical level: units are platoons of tanks and infantry, and batteries of artillery, missiles, and other heavy weapons. It shares a ground scale with Panzer Grenadier (200 meters per hex) and the maps are completely interchangeable (to the point that they’re numbered in the same sequence). The pieces are designed just like those of Panzer Grenadier (that is, they have the same factors in the same places) and the rules hew closely to the organization of Panzer Grenadier’s Fourth Edition. The idea is that if you already know how to play one system, you can pick up the other very quickly. Panzer Grenadier (Modern) adds new concepts: missiles, supply, helicopters, jamming, NBC defense and more.

As with Panzer Grenadier, play is interactive, with players activating their units using their leaders, who are also vital to moving troops closer to the enemy and attacking, and then rallying them when things go sideways. The Israelis almost always have greater initiative (so they get to take action sooner and more often) and morale (so they withstand combat better), and many more leaders. All of this combines to allow the Israelis to do more with less (and often, do more with more).

The Israelis are good. Not just good, but awesome: morale is incredibly high, leadership is plentiful and extremely competent. Their weapons are a mixed bag: on the one hand, some excellent modern weapons like the modified M48A2 tank bearing the deadly British-made L7 105mm rifled cannon, and on the other, World War II leftovers like the M3 halftrack.

While often lumped together as “the Arabs,” the three armies facing Israel had little in common, despite Egyptian efforts to forge a united front. The Egyptians field good armor, for the most part, and their infantry fought very well from fixed defenses. It’s that lack of initiative and leaders that can get them into trouble in a mobile fight. So the Egyptian player will need to play to his or her advantages, use that firepower and avoid being distracted.

The Jordanians are the best of the three armies, with good morale, more leaders than the Egyptians (fewer than the Israelis) and often better equipment than the Israelis (supplied by the U.S. and U.K.). They have modern equipment, like the M113 armored personnel carrier and Centurion and M48 tanks. Man for man, their troops aren’t much below the Israelis and would hold up very well against anyone else. Unfortunately for King Hussein’s men, they aren’t fighting anyone else. And in common with the other Arab armies, their leaders just aren’t very good. In the 1967 war, the Jordanians were badly deployed thanks to their high command falling for their Egyptian allies’ propaganda, so they are often handed tougher missions than were really necessary. They can, with good direction by the player, hold their own against the IDF.

The Syrian Arab Army, under the direction of Hafez al-Assad (Bashar’s father) purposefully identified the officer with the greatest intelligence and initiative, and then executed them as threats to lead a potential coup. With an army led, on purpose, but the stupid and the sluggish, they are no match for the Israelis - except that the IDF got cocky in the last days of their march to victory. The Israelis have very ambitious goals as they storm the Golan Heights, a true natural fortress, and even the wretched Syrians can stop them with good play.

The scenario set totals 48 (I trimmed two from the first edition that were beyond my ability to repair). They’re organized into nine chapters, each covering one aspect of the war, and each with a battle game that links the scenarios together so you can play them with a larger objective. The war with Egypt gets four chapters and 22 scenarios (that’s fitting as most of the action took place on the Sinai front). The fight with Jordan (mostly around Jerusalem, but also on the West Bank) consumes three chapters and 14 scenarios. And that leave a dozen scenarios in two chapters for the Golen Heights.

To tell those stories, we have (by our standards) a lot of components. There’s a very fine set of eight maps, two of them specially designed to portray the unique terrain of the Golan Heights. The artwork’s beautiful.

And then there are the pieces: 672 combat units and leaders, and 197 markers. The Panzer Grenadier (Modern) pieces are very similar to those of Panzer Grenadier. There’s some additional information: anti-aircraft ratings (like indirect fire, these can also be used for direct fire), a missile indicator for some units (the ones that have missiles), a designation for amphibious vehicles and another one for open-topped armored vehicles. The pieces retain their simple design, with just some tiny tweaks to how the information is presented – we haven’t larded them with additional stuff.

All of the are die-cut and silky-smooth: unlike the die-cut pieces of the previous century, they’re pretty much smooth on both sides. They lack the massive damage from getting hit with a die seen on traditional game pieces. Since they’re smooth on both sides, we add a little colored line across the back so you can tell the front from the back. This type of piece has been our standard for about a decade now. They still amaze me.

What we have here is a very large game, with a very rich gaming experience. The topic may be nearly six decades old, but its absolutely relevant to current headlines. This is one is a must-have.

You can order 1967: Sword of Israel (Playbook edition) right here.

1967 Package
      1967: Sword of Israel
      Voice of the Arabs
      Journal No. 32: Four-Five Commando
Retail Price: $184.97
Package Price: $145
Gold Club Price: $116

Acquire the 1967 Package right here.

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Mike Bennighof is president of Avalanche Press and holds a doctorate in history from Emory University. A Fulbright Scholar and NASA Journalist in Space finalist, he has published a great many books, games and articles on historical subjects; people are saying that some of them are actually good. He lives in Birmingham, Alabama with his wife and three children. He misses his lizard-hunting Iron Dog, Leopold.

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