[MarkSheppard]

Here's a (probably) fixed version of the scenario (it still has the straight SP2 converted map with decorative sand dune graphics), with some opening bombardments plugged in to liven up everyone's day and a new scenario briefing following more research to make it part of a potential set of scenarios:

MEW: 82nd in the Sinai, Oct 1973*
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Egypt Advance*
_____vs.*
US. Army Delay*
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Date: October 25, 1973*
Location: Thamad, Sinai*
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NOTE: This is converted from the SP2 scenario "THE 101st IN SINAI, OCTOBER 1973" originally done by Samy El Semman (samy@semman.com). Changes done during the conversion process was a totally redesigned US force OBAT, more in line with an airborne division's TO&E of the time.*
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This is an alternative history scenario.*
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In our timeline on 14 October 1973, the Egyptian Second and Third Armies launched a major armored offensive into the Sinai from their bridgeheads on the opposite side of the Suez Canal with the objectives of capturing the Mitla and Giddi passes. This was a highly dangerous manuver, as it would bring them outside of the dense Soviet-supplied SAM coverage that to date had blunted the Israeli Air Force, causing about three Israeli combat losses for every 200 Israeli sorties.*
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The plan was for the Egyptian Air Force (EAF) to take up the slack as the Egyptian forces pushed out into the Sinai. Unfortunately for the Egyptians, the EAF was unable to attrit the IAF beyond the coverage of the SAM shields around the Egyptian bridgeheads. Out of 1,020 tanks in the Second and Third Armies, the Egyptians lost over 250 by mid-day in the largest armored battle since the Battle of Prokhorovka some thirty years' prior; and from that point on, the Israeli forces had the strategic and operational advantage.*
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But what if the EAF had succeeded in blunting the IAF, allowing Second and Third Armies to achieve their objectives?*
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On 15 October, an American SR-71 overflew the Sinai (having overflown it a few days prior on 13 October), gaining photographic coverage of the entire area. *
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Faced with photographic proof of the catastrophe facing Israel, along with Israeli pleas for help; in this timeline President Nixon had no other choice but to begin direct actions to assist Israel in order to prevent the Middle East from becoming a Soviet-dominated region.*
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On top of the airlift (Operation NICKEL GRASS) which occured in our timeline, Nixon approved NICKEL SPEAR (a made up name); which consisted of the movement of elements of the 82nd Airborne Division from CONUS; along with the 1-509th and 2-509th Airborne Battalions in Europe (at that time attached to 8th Infantry Division at Lee Barracks in Mainz-Gonsenheim) to the Sinai.*
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At sea, the US Navy's two carrier battlegroups (INDEPENDENCE, F.D. ROOSEVELT) and amphibious group (GUADACANAL, IWO JIMA) stood ready with the USMC's Regimental Landing Team 34, consisting of BLTs 2/6 and 3/6.*
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On the 25th of October, the Egyptian advance finally met the American forces in the Sinai as elements of the Egyptian 23d Mechanized Division crashed into the 82nd's defensive positions, igniting what would become known as the Middle East War.