Operation "Peace for Galilee' 1982

 

Spyros has some extraordinary collections- one of which is the Israeli and Syrian forces for the 1982 invasion of Lebanon.

In this scenario an Israeli armoured column was tasked with clearing a small town of Syrian troops. The Syrians were supported by some militia. They also had 2 T-55 and 4 BMP-1s.

The Israeli support was 3 tanks ( one a Merkava, one  Centurion Sho't and an M60 variant) as well as 6 M113 APCs and  4 recon jeeps.

See the photos below with the captions for much of the story. 

See Spyros Blog for more Photos and more details : NO DUFF GAMER

A close gritty encounter that saw substantial numbers of Israeli vehicles take damage or be destroyed. The Syrians were, in effect, wiped out. The militia took out a number of jeeps and one APC but then ran off after the Israeli Vulcan M113 opened up on the building they were hiding in.

                                       

Main street

Backpackers in town?

The streets seem quite........

The Syrians and armour on the left- militia on the right.

Soviet made and supplied Syrian T-55s

All the Israeli armour ( in the box ready to go)

The Syrian HQ.

Advance units enter the town

APC platoon carrying Infantry follow up the Reece elements.

Lebanese militia firing at the forward Recon elements.

Small arms fire hits the first Recce jeep killing the driver. The crew kept the TOW firing.

Israeli Merkava- an impressive looking vehicle. Unbelievably, a two man Syrian RPG team broke cover late in the game, dashed towards the Merkava, firing and hitting with both RPGs at close range (the dangers of urban warfare!) With a roll of double 6, the Merkava erupted in a ball of flame!!

Israeli APCs- one with a Vulcan the other with a TOW. Both providing solid support for the infantry - until they both were destroyed by RPGs.

Militia units, emerging from cover to get close to use RPGs- they destroyed several Israeli APCs- but the disembarking infantry made short work of them. Most running away when the Israeli infantry came after them.

Slowed by debris and piles of tyres, the recon advanced jeeps took a lot of fire.

Israeli recon jeeps under heavy fire. The attached TOW would still be serviceable after the jeep was immobilised and took out  a Syrian section hiding in a nearby building.

Concentrated  RPG fire, MG fire and HMG fire from militia technicals caused serious casualties amongst the Israeli recon platoon- 3 of the 4 jeeps were destroyed as well as most of the crews. The recon elements suffered the most on the day.

Changing direction, the tanks and APC platoons broke west and avoided the pile of destroyed jeeps on the eastern route through the town.

The Syrians firing from both sides of the street, the Israeli would stop, fire and neutralise each threat in turn.

Israeli armour and supporting APC

T-55 breaks cover- shooting at the Israeli M-60. It missed and didn't survive long enough for a second turn.

Syrians spring the ambush 

One of the Syrian T-55 hit by the Israeli Sho't.

The straight arrow shows the advance of the IDF recon elements. X marks where they took heavy fire, ambushed by the militia and Syrian regulars. The red squares are where the defenders were positioned.
Z is where the three militia technicals were all shot to pieces after driving into the open. They did destroy two IDF jeeps, but the APCs and Merkava sorted them out very quickly, and then the Merkava drove past the flaming wreckage. Both T-55 were spectacularly unsuccessful! 

T

First of the Syrian APC to be taken out by the Merkava.

RPG Teams taking out another APC

The RPG teams were worth their weight in gold as they destroyed the Merkava and two APCS- but failed to hit the other two tanks

The last BMP-1 takes a hit from the Merkava after it shot up an Israeli platoon

The Israelis break through- as the last of the defenders withdraw or surrender. In a final act, just after this photo was taken, the two man RPG team took out the Merkava!