The Arab-Israeli Wars takes many of the core mechanics of Panzer Leader and Panzer Blitz, incorporates some of the various fixes implemented to them, adds some various long-range artillery and air-power rules, and sticks it in the deserts of the Middle East.

We warmed up to The Arab-Israeli Wars with one of the smaller scenarios, a meeting engagement between a small group of Israeli M-48s and a mixed Egyptian force of T-62s and mobile infantry. The goal of the scenario was for the Arabs to try to fight their way off the map while the Israelis hammer them from behind sand dunes; the Israelis’ goal, naturally, is to blow up as much Egyptian armor as they can before the scenario ends. This kind of felt like playing a tower defense boardgame…

The Israelis have enough firepower in this scenario to kill just about anything that crosses into their range; anything they shoot at will probably be destroyed. Their main limitation is the number of tanks they have – with 8 tanks, they can kill about 6-8 things per turn, so really, the Egyptian player’s only hope is to move up far more targets than the Israelis can shoot at and sneak off the narrow single-slat map as best they can.

This probably isn’t a great scenario to judge the game by; playing it was less of a headache than playing Panzer Leader’s Celles scenario, but at the same time, it felt like shooting fish in a barrel. The tactical options here were very limited, but at least now I feel comfortable enough with the system that I’d be willing to try a more nuanced encounter.

No Ardennes Forest blocking your LOS here!

– Alex