1967: Sword of Israel
Scenario Preview, Part 8
By Mike Bennighof, Ph.D.
August 2022

Our scenario preview now moves on to the third of the three wars portrayed in Panzer Grenadier (Modern): 1967 Sword of Israel, the Israeli attack against the Syrian positions on the Golan Heights. The Syrians had sat back and allowed the IDF to pummel their allies; now it was their turn.

In game terms, the Syrians are just awful. They do have some good weapons systems, and on occasion their troops fought well from their fortifications. But the Syrian Arab Army deliberately chose the stupidest candidates to become officers, to assure that they would never lead a coup against the Ba’athist regime. That shows up markedly in a game like Panzer Grenadier (Modern) where leaders drive the action.

Let’s have a look at the first chapter of the Syrian odyssey. You can see the prevoius installments in Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five, Part Six and Part Seven.

Chapter Eight
Golan Heights

While the Syrian government had pledged to fight alongside Egypt in the Six-Day War, the Syrian Arab Army contented itself with lobbing a few artillery shells at Israeli farmers within range and conducting one forlorn charge with tanks and infantry against Israeli positions at the far northern end of their common border.

Once both Egypt and Jordan had been defeated, the Israelis could turn against the Syrian threat. Additional brigades moved northward to join the forces already deployed there for an offensive against the Golan Heights, Syrian-held high ground along the border that dominated northern Israel. The Syrian Arab Army, secure in their fortifications, awaited them.

Scenario Thirty-Seven
Up the Ridge
9 June 1967
The Israeli offensive plan on the northern end of the border called for an attack via a number of parallel avenues. This was the most heavily defended and fortified sector of any of the war’s three fronts. The escarpments in this region rise very steeply and the roads wind through narrow and rocky defiles. The Syrians augmented this formidable terrain with heavy minefields and fortifications, backed up by significant artillery. Lengthy artillery preparation and massive air attacks – the IAF could now deploy its full strength against the Syrians, with the Egyptian and Jordanian air forces destroyed – did little to shift the well-entrenched defenders. The Israeli attack into the Golan Heights commenced with Albert Mandler’s 8th Independent Armored Brigade, just re-deployed from Sinai, trying to capture the fortified town of Qala near the top of the ridge.

Conclusion
The Syrian defenders fought hard to repel the invaders, while the difficult and confusing terrain hampered the Israeli advance. After pushing through the first villages despite some losses and misdirection, the Israeli advance was checked by strong resistance and flanking fire.

Notes
This is a big scenario, with four boards in play but fewer forces than some of the massive tank battles of the Sinai front. The 8th Brigade had actually fought in Sinai and rushed north to join the forces on the Golan; it’s filled with confidence if not with the IDF’s best tanks. The IDF has a lot of armor and high morale, but they have a lot to accomplish and a lot of confusion on their part on how to get it done.

Scenario Thirty-Eight
The Road to Qala
9 June 1967
After seizing their initial objectives on the Golan Heights, Mandler split his 8th Independent Armored Brigade to capture its two final objectives: the fortified town of Qala near the top of the ridge, and the key town of Zaoura with its commanding view over the plains of northern Israel below. The terrain had not grown any more forgiving; nor had the Syrians in their trenches.

Conclusion
The Israeli Centurions suffered near complete destruction and, in the end, Mandler’s brigade needed air support to finish the conquest of Qala. The Syrian defenders had put up a good fight, but the controlling formation in this sector – 12th Brigade Group – had not expected such a heavy attack and did not reinforce their position. The Syrian “brigade groups” were administrative formations, not tactical commands, and they did nothing to direct or assist their constituent brigades. As a result, much of 12th Brigade Group’s artillery spent its time firing on Jewish settlements rather than supporting the defenders.

Notes
The Syrian defenses include German-made PzKpfw IV tanks, 22 years after the Red Army took the Reichstag. That alone sums up the state of the Syrian defenses, but they do occupy a natural fortress despite the Israeli command of overwhelming morale and firepower.

Scenario Thirty-Nine
On to Zaoura
9 June 1967
While the bloody attack on Qala proceeded, the rest of 8th Independent Armored Brigade surged uphill to seize the key town of Zaoura. Unsure whether the position in front of them was actually Zaoura or Qala, the Israelis decided to attack it anyway. As elsewhere in this zone, the forbidding slope was strewn with boulders and dug-in Syrians. Despite the Israelis’ obvious confusion, the Syrians remained in their positions and refused to counter-attack.

Conclusion
Zaoura cost the IDF half of the tanks committed, but the Israelis finally overcame the Syrian defenders after hard fighting. Once again, the Syrian leadership had not expected such a heavy attack in this sector, and did not reinforce the defenders or order the counter-attacks that were the backbone of Syrian pre-war planning. That might not have helped: at the tactical level, where the primarily Alawite and Druze officers – selected for political reliability – refused to lead their mostly Sunni troops into action and often left them to fend for themselves.

Notes
Once again, the Syrian defending force is of unequalled crapulence. But they’re on top of the forbidding heights, and they greatly outnumber the attacking Israelis who have split their forces perhaps once too often.

Scenario Forty
Tel Fakhr
9 June 1967
The imposing rise of Tel Fakhr glowered over the northern end of the Golan plateau. The Syrians honeycombed the entire hill with concrete bunkers and communications trenches, sprinkled liberally with minefields and barbed wire, and garrisoned it with a great many armed and determined Syrians. Just getting to the hill to start the attack, the Israelis would have to cross more than two kilometers of open but very rough terrain under a hail of artillery fire from the Syrian heights all around. To help, the Israelis began softening up the hill at daybreak with the nearly continuous air and artillery bombardments. As always, the poor bloody infantry would have to take the high ground.

Conclusion
The road was narrow, in terrible condition, and mined, and none of the supporting tanks made it to the hill. The few halftracks that did arrive could not overcome the rocky ground and steep grade to join the infantry in their climb to the top. Aircraft and artillery had done some damage but not enough to make it easy. The Syrians fought back fiercely, holding off the Israelis until nightfall and inflicting serious casualties. Under cover of darkness, the remaining brave defenders slipped away to fight another day.

Notes
The Syrians have yet another rocky fortress, and though the Israelis will eventually have a strong edge in numbers they show up piecemeal. That’s not a good look, since in order to win they pretty much have to wipe out the Syrians, who get to fight back.

Scenario Forty-One
The Monster
9 June 1967
If Tel Fakhr was a fortified hill, Tel Azzaziyat was a nasty ridge-like steep mound just to the west with similar fortifications. Local farmers appropriately called the basaltic pile “the Monster.” In addition, another position guarded its western approach, called Burj Babil (Tower of Babel). A battalion of Israeli infantry would have to assault the dug-in Syrians.

Conclusion
Once again, the infantry had a tortuous climb across wire, minefields, and steep hillsides, and the hours of air and artillery preparatory bombardment did little to ease their path. While a few halftracks made it to the top of Burj Babil, none made it up “the Monster.” As on Tel Fakhr, the Syrian foot soldiers, despite their fairly cowardly leaders, held their ground stubbornly until nightfall, then slipped away under cover of darkness to fight again another day. 

Notes
This is a fairly small scenario, and it’s a brutal infantry fight at close quarters. The Syrians don’t really want to be here, but they have the high ground and enough automatic firepower to give the IDF a serious defeat if they’re not at their best.

Scenario Forty-Two
The Road to Rawye
9 June 1967
To the south of the 8th Independent Armored Brigade’s attack zone, more IDF engineers pierced the mine and barbed wire belts at Notera to allow another force to penetrate the Syrian defenses of the Golan. An AMX13 recon company teamed with a motorized infantry battalion to press forward and capture the town of Rawye, just south of the critical road juncture of Kuneitra. The Syrians had a couple of surprises in store for them.

Conclusion
The Israelis captured Rawye (just off the east edge of the scenario map) shortly before dusk, but it took prodigious amounts of airpower to dig out the Syrians blocking the way. Syrian anti-tank fire claimed three AMX13 tanks, but despite heavy casualties the Israelis had achieved a narrow breach in the Syrian main line of resistance.

Notes
This time the Syrians have reasonable morale, numbers nearly equal to the Israelis, and an edge in armor. Plus, they get to defend on the Golan. The IDF’s going to have to work to win this one.

Scenario Forty-Three
Darbishiyeh
9 June 1967
A couple kilometers southeast of Notera, the IDF selected another track leading up the heights as a breakthrough point. This time, a reinforced company of resolute Syrian infantrymen defended that location, and their unexpected resistance greatly complicated the mine-clearing operations and delayed the Israeli attack. When the Israelis finally moved forward, the Syrians were ready for them.

Conclusion
The mine clearing took quite a while under the hail of Syrian fire. Eventually, Israeli airpower suppressed enough of the Syrian positions for the IDF’s ground force to get close enough to clear the Syrian entrenchments. As in many other points along the Golan Heights, the Syrian infantry fought furiously from behind their fixed defenses, but their officers would not lead them forward into counter-attacks, allowing the Israelis to regroup and try again as many times as needed to eject the defenders.

Notes
There’s at least one book that calls the Syrian brigade here one of “reservists,” as did the first edition of this game, but the Syrian Arab Army deployed no reservist formations in 1967. The tag “reserve brigade” simply meant that it was one not deployed in the front line, but held in reserve to protect the regime in case the Israelis broke through the Golan fortifications. As such it’s actually pretty good, as Syrian brigades go, and will give the Israelis all the fight they want.

Scenario Forty-Four
Dardara
9 June 1967
Still further south on the plateau, yet another track led up the Golan escarpment and on toward Dardara. This one was unguarded by Syrians, an oversight that allowed Aluf Mishne Emmanuel Shehed’s Israeli engineers to make short work of the wire and minefields. Then the combined infantry and tank force drove swiftly toward Dardara, where they engaged the Syrian defenders. Their secondary objective was the village of Tel Hillal.

Conclusion
The combined force of tanks and infantry fairly quickly maneuvered the Syrian defenders out of Dardara. From there, the IDF pressed on toward Tel Hillal and captured it nearly unopposed. What surprised the Israelis was that none of the large Syrian force guarding Kuneitra or in reserve behind it responded to this deep penetration.

Notes
This is a small scenario, with just one board in play. The Israelis have a lot to accomplish in a short time, and much depends on the arrival of Syrian reinforcements. If the get onto the map, the Syrians will have an edge in both numbers and armor, but they’re still Syrians so their leadership and morale are awful.

You can order 1967: Sword of Israel (Playbook edition) 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, three children, and his new puppy. He misses his Iron Dog, Leopold.

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