An Army at Dawn: Big Red One
Scenario Preview, Part Three
By Mike Bennighof, Ph.D.
August 2024

Panzer Grenadier is a game of platoon-level tactical combat in World War II. That’s its formal description, anyway. According to many of its players, what it actually is, is a “tank game.”

As a Tank Game, where players maneuver and fight with their tanks, Panzer Grenadier fits the bill admirably. But when I first designed it many years ago, I wanted to it be more than that. I played a Tank Game as a teenager, the ancient, long-forgotten Panzerblitz, the wellspring of all tactical games since. You got to zip around with your tanks and shoot at stuff, but the infantry pretty much just sat there and served as targets and/or speed bumps.

Even at the age of 14, I knew that it didn’t really work that way. Infantry won battles. It took and held ground. It was the centerpiece of combined-arms warfare in World War II, and that’s what it is in Panzer Grenadier. Panzer Grenadier has plenty of tank battles, but at its heart, it’s an Infantry Game.

An Army at Dawn: Big Red One is a Campaign Study adding 11 new scenarios to Panzer Grenadier: An Army at Dawn. It’s focused on the battles of the U.S. 1st Infantry Division during March and April 1943 in Tunisia, and that means infantry battles. There are a few tanks on one or both sides, but your infantry will win or lose these battles. That’s the way the real war was fought, and the way you’ll fight this cardboard one.

Let’s have a look at the third and final chapter of Big Red One:

Chapter Thirteen
The Heights of Djebel Tahent
The Axis defense of southern Tunisia collapsed in early April, driving the defenders back into a small bridgehead at the colony’s northern tip, centered around the capital city of Tunis and the naval base at Bizerte. The main effort would be made by the British V Corps, pressing directly down the road to Tunis, while the American II Corps protected their left flank. That mission included the First Infantry Division’s task of clearing the heights of Djebel Tahent (also known as Hill 609), which dominated the Tine River valley on its opposite side.

Patton had returned to Casablanca to prepare for the upcoming invasion of Sicily, handing over command of II Corps to Omar Bradley. The American 1st and 34th Infantry Divisions would suffer nearly 2,500 casualties taking the heights, called the roughest ground in Tunisia and well-defended by veteran German troops with artillery support. But this small campaign would be the U.S. Army’s first unequivocal victory of World War II.

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Scenario Forty-Nine
Third Effort on Djebel Reml
23 April 1943
All three regiments of 1st Infantry Division would attack in line abreast as part of the II Corps’ effort to secure the heights between the Sidi Nsir-Matuer road and the Tine River valley. The 18th Infantry Regiment’s 2nd Battalion had the task of clearing Djebel Reml. Long before daylight they had driven the enemy off the hill before a German counterattack regained the high ground. The Americans quickly pulled themselves together and took the hill a second time before dawn. Another German counterattack again forced them back to their starting positions. At mid-day the Americans made a third effort to secure their objective.

Conclusion
Realizing that another attempt without added support would be futile, 1st Infantry Division scheduled a heavy artillery barrage to open the attack and added a company of light tanks from 1st Battalion, 13th Armor Regiment. This made the difference as F Company supported by the tankers drove the Germans off the hilltop for good. The day had been costly for the battalion as they suffered 43 dead and 161 wounded, with 60 others missing.

Notes
It’s not a very large scenario, and the Americans open with a heavy artillery barrage against a decidedly second-line German formation, compared to what they’ve faced before. With numbers, tanks, artillery and morale all on their side, they should have what they need to take this hilltop. But in Tunisia, every hilltop is a ready-made fortress.

Scenario Fifty
Kef el Goraa
23 April 1943 
As part of the division-scale assault on the heights, all three battalions of the 26th Infantry Regiment moved out before dawn. The 3rd Battalion would occupy some lower hills between Kef el Goraa and the Sidi Nsir-Matuer road as a blocking force. The regiment’s other two battalions would take heights known as Kef el Goraa and, if successful, capture Hill 547 just to the east of it. The 1st Battalion would advance on Kef el Goraa from the west while the 2nd Battalion did so from the southwest.

Conclusion
The attack began before dawn, and the 1st Battalion occupied a hill a thousand yards west of Kef el Goraa with no trouble. That was the good news, as every-time they attempted to advance from the hill they came under a withering fire which halted all forward progress. The 2nd Battalion hit Kef el Goraa from the southwest and did little better. The Americans halted the assault and brought down long-range artillery fire on the defenders. They would try again the following day, adding the 3rd Battalion, and meet no more success.

Notes
This is another infantry assault, but it’s a tough one. The Americans have numbers, initiative, morale, and artillery firepower all on their side. But the German position is well-entrenched and has all of the terrain advantages Tunisia can offer.

Scenario Fifty-One
Djebel el Beida
24 April 1943
The 18th Infantry Regiment’s 3rd Battalion came under withering fire on the 23rd when it tried to take Djebel el Beida, Hill 407 on American situation maps. Only a single platoon from Company L reached the German positions. When no other units arrived to support them, the Germans surrounded the small American force and forced them to surrender. The battalion lost 17 dead, 73 wounded and 48 missing in action, and during the night the fresh 1st Battalion passed through them to renew the attack on the 24th.

Conclusion
Following a short artillery barrage, the 1st Battalion stormed up the hill and quickly drove the Germans off the high ground. The majority of the battalion dug in on the djebel to repel any German counterattacks. Other elements supported the 701st Tank Destroyer Battalion’s efforts to probe enemy positions to the east.

Notes
This is a small scenario, a brutal close-quarters infantry fight in Tunisia’s unforgiving terrain. The Americans are actually tougher than the Germans, and have more artillery (as is almost always the case). It’s still going to be a tough one.

And that’s all for Big Red One.

You can order Big Red One right here.
Please allow an extra three weeks for delivery.

Big Red Package
      An Army at Dawn
      Big Red One
Retail Price: $92.98
Package Price: $85
Gold Club Price: $68
You can order the Big Red Package right here.
Please allow an extra three weeks for delivery.

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Mike Bennighof is president of Avalanche Press and holds a doctorate in history from Emory University. A Fulbright Scholar and NASA Journalist in Space finalist, he has published a great many books, games and articles on historical subjects; people are saying that some of them are actually good. He lives in Birmingham, Alabama with his wife, three children, and new puppy. He misses his lizard-hunting Iron Dog, Leopold.

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