Across Suez

Across Suez
Designers	Mark Herman; Jim Dunnigan;
Illustrators	Redmond Simonsen;
Publishers	SPI
Publication	1980
Genres	Middle East

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.

Background

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

Description

Across Suez is a introductory-level simulation where one player controls Israeli forces while the other player controls Egyptian forces.

Components

11 in × 17 in (280 mm × 430 mm) paper hex grid map
40 die-cut counters
8-page 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:

Israeli movement
Israeli combat
Egyptian movement
Egyptian combat

The game lasts seven turns.^[2]

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 Israeli 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); The Battle of Austerlitz ; and Across Suez,^[3] the latter 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.^[3]

In Issue 5 of Zone of Control, Rick D. Stuart found the game to be "no frills", but gave it grades of "Good" for gameplay and "Fair" for historicity, saying, "Across Suez, with its fluid movement and numerous attack options — on both sides — makes for a solid game that is easily mastered. The game as a whole has exceptional replay value."^[2]

Other reviews and commentary

Campaign #102
Paper Wars #24
Richard Berg's Review of Games #7

References

↑ Hammad, Gamal (2002). Military Battles on the Egyptian Front (in Arabic). Dār al-Shurūq. ISBN 977-09-0866-5.
1 2 Stuart, Rick D. (Winter 1996). "Across Suez". Zone of Control. No. 5. p. 55.
1 2 Gregoire, Henri (September 1981). "Après le monstres, Les Minis". Casus Belli (in French). No. 5. p. 3.

External links

Across Suez at BoardGameGeek
Across Suez at Web-Grognards
Across Suez at ConsimWorld

[1] Hammad, Gamal (2002). Military Battles on the Egyptian Front (in Arabic). Dār al-Shurūq. ISBN 977-09-0866-5.

[zocmag-2] 1 2 Stuart, Rick D. (Winter 1996). "Across Suez". Zone of Control. No. 5. p. 55.

[cb5-3] 1 2 Gregoire, Henri (September 1981). "Après le monstres, Les Minis". Casus Belli (in French). No. 5. p. 3.

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