Across Suez

Across Suez, subtitled "The Battle of the Chinese Farm October 15, 1973" is a board wargame published by Simulations Publications (SPI) in 1980 that simulates operational level ground combat between Egypt and Israel at the Battle of the Chinese Farm during the 1973 Arab-Israeli War.

Across Suez
PublishersSimulations Publications
GenresBoard game
SkillsStrategy

Description

During the Arab-Israeli War of October 1973, Israeli forces tried to open a bridgehead over the Suez Canal to exploit a perceived gap in the Egyptian line, and instead ran up against a strong force. The battle took place in the vicinity of an Egyptian research station that used Japanese equipment. Israeli observers mistook the Japanese Kanji characters on the machinery for Chinese Hanzi, leading to the misnomer "The Chinese Farm".[1]: 311  Across Suez is a introductory-level simulation of this battle.

Components
  • 11 in × 17 in (280 mm × 430 mm) paper hex grid map
  • 40 die-cut counters
  • rules booklet
  • various playing aids
  • a six-sided die
  • small 9 in × 12 in × 1 in (229 mm × 305 mm × 25 mm) game box

Gameplay

Each turn represent 8 hours of game time, and takes the following sequence:

  1. Israeli movement
  2. Israeli combat
  3. Egyptian movement
  4. Egyptian combat

The game lasts seven turns.

Victory conditions

Israeli victory: The Israeli player must

  • place a bridging unit on a specific hex on the Suez Canal
  • move a minimum of six combat units across the Suez
  • maintain an unblocked line of communications to the bridging unit at the end of the last turn

Egyptian victory: Prevent any of the Istraeli victory conditions.

Publication history

In 1980, SPI published four "gateway" games in small boxes with simplified rules, intended to introduce new players to the wargaming hobby: Leningrad; The Big Red One (originally titled Bulge); Austerlitz; and Across Suez,[2] a game designed by Jim Dunnigan and Mark Herman, with cartography and graphic design by Redmond A. Simonsen.

After SPI went out of business, Decision Games acquired the license for Across Suez and republished it in 1995. Decision added two variants (airborne landings and amphibious landings) and two new scenarios, which required 16 additional Arab and Israeli counters and 18 Soviet and American counters.

Hobby Japan published a Japanese version.

Reception

In Issue 5 of Casus Belli, Henri Gregoire thought that the rules "reflect the surprise and shock of the first fight." He agreed this was a good game for beginners, pointing out that with only seven turns, the game was quick, and could be completed in two hours.[2]

Other reviews
  • Campaign #102
  • Paper Wars #24
  • Zone of Control #5
  • Richard Berg's Review of Games #7

Sources
  • Elusive Victory: The Arab-Israeli Wars, 1947-1974, by Trevor N. Dupuy, Harper and Row, New York, 1978
  • "Across Suez, The Battle of the Chinese Farm, October 15, 1973", by Trevor N. Dupuy, in Strategy & Tactics #82, September-October 1980
  • "Across Suez", by Richard Berg, in Richard Berg's Review of Games #7, December 1980
  • "Across Suez: A Game Review", by Henry C. Robinette, in Campaign Magazine #102, March-April 1982
  • On the Banks of the Suez, by Avraham Adan, Presidio Press, 1991
  • "Across Suez/Go to Origins!", by Rich Erwin, in Paper Wars #24, March 1996
  • "Across Suez", by Rick D. Stuart, in Zone of Control Magazine #5, Winter 1996
  • Arabs at War: Military Effectiveness 1948-1991, by Kenneth M. Pollack, University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, Nebraska, 2002
  • Crossing of the Suez, The, by Lt. General Saad El Shazly, American Mideast Research, revised English edition, 2003

References
  1. Hammad, Gamal (2002). Military Battles on the Egyptian Front (in Arabic). Dār al-Shurūq. ISBN 977-09-0866-5.
  2. Gregoire, Henri (September 1981). "Après le monstres, Les Minis". Casus Belli (in French). No. 5. p. 3.
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