Entebbe is Ready. - Get it now!
 

The Entebbe scenario is ready. This is quite different and includes a "dry run" scenario so you can rehearse your attack.

Then when ready, play the scenario. It is a matter of timing. Make the wrong choices and it could be a disaster.

This is a short, dynamic battle. Get it at the Wargamer.

Here is the text. THe download link is at the end of this announcement.

Design: Wild Bill Wilder
bwilder@bellsouth.net

Testers: Lars Remmen, Tom DeShelter


Special Note: For winning hints, read the end of this introduction!

NOTE: This scenario should ONLY be played from the Israeli side.

Your Mission:

As Lt. Col."Yonni" Netan-Yahu, an experienced Israeli fighter and commander, your task is to rescue the hostages, destroy the MIGS, and get your own men out in time. Can you do it?

"Thunderbolt," is a scenario you can play in 30 minutes. Can you rescue the hostages and get your men out? To do it, you must follow the general plan of the IDF. Its possible to take some "gamey" shortcuts and probably do it easily.

That method, however, takes away from the actual history and reliving the tense moments of "Yonni" Netan-Yahu and his heroic band of rescuers. I tried to set it up in such a way that you would have to more or less use the original Israeli plan.

A Note on Winning: The objectives are not important. Altogether they are worth about 100 points. What will win for you is (1) killing the Migs, (2) keeping civilians alive [each group is worth 200 points] and the rescuers. Losing them is also very costly, and (3) killing terrorists. Leave none alive. They are worth up to 150 points per group.

The "impassable" terrain around the old airport makes using certain exits the only way out.


Historical Background

When a French A300 Airbus with over 250 passengers, 103 of which are Israelis, is skyjacked and taken to the Entebbe airport in Uganda, the Jewish government forms a bold plan with a commando raid of the airport and the rescue of the hostages.

The units involved are volunteers from the 35th Israeli Para Brigade and the Golani Commando Brigade. Using four C-130 Hercules for transport and two Boeing 707s for communication, the rescue becomes a modern miracle.

The Israeli paratroopers do what no one thought could be done. It will go down in history
as one of the greatest and most dramatic rescues of all time.

http://www.wargamer.com/gamesdepot/details.asp?sid=4102

Re: Entebbe is Ready. - Get it now!
 

WBW, do you have any link about the Entebbe Raid?
Downloading. Can't wait for it http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif

Re: Entebbe is Ready. - Get it now!
 

Played the dry run version. Wow, it's amazing how well SPMBT can replicate this situation, given of course a clever scenario designer!

Oh, in the practice version there is a terrorist unit. Was this intended? I guess it's just the HQ unit. Startled my guys doing their dry run!

Re: Entebbe is Ready. - Get it now!
 

Yes, I do, Busko. Hold on, I'll get 'em for you.

Correct Mark, I had to have the A0 unit way in the corner but sounds like the frisky little devil would not stay put.

Yes, the game does offer some unusual tools, though I confess I spent many (Underline many!) hours working on this one.

First I had to find out just what I could and coult not do.
Then I had to carve the units, equipping and numbering them properly.
Third came the timing, the key timing where it is possible to do it all with no mistakes. Make one, only one, and you may be in real trouble. But you'll see. I don't want to spill the beans.

Its good that you've done the dry run. you'll be very glad that you did once you go into real action.

Thanks for the kind words. Okay Busco, let's see what I got.

There are a few of them out there but this one I found very informative.
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/...m/entebbe.html

And here is another:
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/...m/entebbe.html

There are a number of books on the theme. Check Amazon.com looking under Books, Entebbe to see what is there. A lot of my info came from the book "Daring to Win: Special Forces at War," by David Eshel.

WB

Re: Entebbe is Ready. - Get it now!
 

Oh, one more thing. If you take long enough for that A0 Terrorist unit to appear, you'll need to speed things up a bit. You want all civilians out of there by turn 7 latest! Sooner if you can. Oops, loose lips sink Ships. I'll say no more.

WB

Re: Entebbe is Ready. - Get it now!
 

Thanks WBW, i'll look for the books and the links!

Re: Entebbe is Ready. - Get it now!
 

It can be done...

Re: Entebbe is Ready. - Get it now!
 

Played trough the Entebbe scenario. It is one of the best SP2/SPMBT/winSPMBT I have played. Did a little worse than the real Israelis. Lost no hostages, but only killed about half of the terrorist (but got some of Amin's guys too). Lost the Mercedes and 6 men.

Great job, Wild Bill!
Halstein.

Re: Entebbe is Ready. - Get it now!
 

I'm still losing hostages http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/frown.gif. Glad to know that it's possible to avoid it, so I'm going to give it another try.

Re: Entebbe is Ready. - Get it now!
 

Thank you so much, Halstein! I really appreciate that. I love to play this one. I do it over and over again, trying different tactics to get the job done.

One can quickly see (as Mark and I both have) that you can lose hostages. It is a very tight, tense scenario, watching the clock and watching the roadways, plus looking over your shoulder for those evil Palestinian terrorists who attack with a vengeance.

You'll get it done, Mark. Historically a few hostages were killed so I'll allow you that. Just avoid any sort of vicious slaughter. Losing one group of hostages can really hurt you.

Taking out those terrorists is a good way to get points.

But DON'T take too long to do it all. (Easy for you to say, Wild Bill!)

Re: Entebbe is Ready. - Get it now!
 

This is a magnificant little scenario, quickly playable and managable - plus with a great storyline and a couple of snazy design inovations.

One issue is raised by it however: I noticed that even the Israeli commandos are not granted an 'elite' experience rating, indeed 'elite' as a qualification has not been used for any of the standard OOBs, including SAS type commandos. The first question would be: who is exactly 'elite' then?

Secondly, historically the Israelli's suffered (IRC) a single casulty, Bibi netenyahu;s brother (the CO), although there were a couple of hostages killed. It is impossible to replicate this result, even under the following conditions:
- all israeli troops have had experience increased to 105-110.
- all terrorists have average exp. 60, moral 70
- all ugandans have average exp. 50, moral 60.

still the israeli's suffer casulties, which makes me wonder more about the game system. E.g. the ugandan gaurds react a little 'too well' (firing every single time someone enters a spotted hex) and the Israeli's tax casulties too easily (every single time 1 man goes down). If we actually look at the specifics - one full-allowance commando team moves 1 hex in a building and is fired upon by a unit 100m away AND causes casulties - it makes me think the building cover rating is insufficent, as well as the true differential between experience ratings too small. what is the actual difference between exp. 100 and exp. 60, besides ROF?

Re: Entebbe is Ready. - Get it now!
 

Thank you Alex!

I'm not able to answer some of your queries but let me address the scenario itself.

To replicate the battle precisely as it occured would make it too easy, not much of a challenge to the player. Then there is the fact of the limitations of the game itself. Finally, there is the "unknown" factor. By that I mean things might have gone differently. That is what makes a scenario like this so interesting and such a challenge.

Not being able to exercise much control over the AI, I cannot make the terrorists stand still and not see what is going on when the Israelis move adjacent to them. Historically, the Israelis fired first.

Another issue is that of the hexes. Each hex represents 50 meters or about 50 yards. But, one must remember that one unit could be "on the line" of the hex when the unit in the adjacent hex moves into it. So in a sense they could conceivably be next to one another, or even closer than separate hexes might indicate.

Another factor is that if both units are in the same building, the building modifier realistically might not apply. They could be facing each other in adjoining rooms.

I'm not disputing your thoughts neccesarily, Alex. I think your questions are good ones and worthy of some technical answers.

My own experience in design indicates that a higher morale makes a unit more resiliant, it rallys and keeps coming, even if the experience is so low it can't hit anything.

On the other hand experience gives a unit the edge in the lethality of their firepower. I use those two numbers to make units behave in a certain way. Its one of the few tools afforded me as a scenario designer.

In fact, often unnoticed I'm sure, I modify most units in many ways, move factors, experience, morale, cost (value), name, weapons, number of men, etc. This helps me to do a scenario like this one.

It did take a lot of work and a lot of testing to get the timing right and make the units do what they should do.

And, of course, we are looking back to an event that has already taken place. Thus we have a great edge that the actual participants did not have. We know how it should go. They didn't. They had a plan, but no way of knowing if all contingencies had been covered.

A classic example of this is the attempted rescue of the hostages in Iran in early 1980.

Your note here is a very good one and should be food for thought for designers, programmers and gamers alike.

Thanks for your positive comments about the scenario. Wish us luck to produce more of the same.

Wild Bill

Re: Entebbe is Ready. - Get it now!
 

WBW, the scenario is excellent and i wish more of the same - you mentioned a potential 1980 Teheran there- may we hope? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif)

The technical issues do bother me however and I am finding it difficult to use a common 'fix' (such as using preferences - infantry toughness).

The 'fixes' I attempted with your scenario were purly an attempt to generate losses, and general behavior, more in-line to what you (or I) would expect when one of the world's most elitle formations goes against a 3rd world / terrorist type outfit. when i massively changes the experience levels i was very surprised to find that it made hardly - if any - difference at all to the orignal scenario. i certainly will keep trying , but i find that result nonetheless instructive.


You raise some valuable points, however IMO there should be very few cases where for instance the terrorists 'out shoot' (out react) the israelis, and especially the ugandans. movement in non-adjacent building hexes/

Re: Entebbe is Ready. - Get it now!
 

The 1980 one is a real possibility but we'll carry it through..WB