Dishonor Before Death:
Scenario Preview, Part Three
By Mike Bennighof, Ph.D.
December 2020

For a while now, we’ve been presenting our Panzer Grenadier books and game sin what we call the story-arc format, where the scenarios help tell the story of the battle or campaign. The scenarios are split into chapters, and each chapter has a “battle game” that ties the scenarios together. With Panzer Grenadier: Dishonor Before Death, designer Mike Perryman has made a couple of subtle changes that make the battle games even easier and more fun to play.

It’s really so simple, I have no idea why this eluded me for years. Panzer Grenadier scenarios usually have victory conditions presented in one of two forms: you win by accumulating victory points, or you win by meeting objectives. There are some oddball scenarios with oddball victory conditions, but without looking it up I’d guess that 90 percent of the scenarios we’ve published in recent years fall into one of those two categories.

What Mike has realized is that if all of the scenarios in a chapter have the same type of victory conditions, then you can structure the battle game victory conditions the same way. Combined with his preference for short chapters, that means that the battle game plays much like an extended scenario. Except that each scenario still plays perfectly well by itself.

So let’s take a look at more of those scenarios, this time Chapter Three.

Chapter Three
Thunderbolt in Normandy
With the great port of Cherbourg secured, Lt. Gen. Lawton J. Collins of VII Corps sent his troops southward to break out of the Cotentin Peninsula. The Germans had formed a defensive front across the base of the peninsula they named the Mahlmann Line after the commander of the 353rd Infantry Division. Just about halfway across the peninsula, the town of Sainteny stood astride the road to the vital road junction of Coutances. Collins assigned his newly-arrived 83rd “Thunderbolt” Infantry Division to take the town.

Scenario Nine
Damp Thunderbolt
4 July 1944
Collins and his corps staff gave the 83rd Infantry Division the narrowest front in the assault. Constant rain had rendered the battlefield so muddy as to render off-road movement nearly impossible, and German resistance added to the raw American division’s woes. “Lightning Joe” Collins had demanded that the Thunderbolt Division take Sainteny by the 4th of July. That would not have been an easy tas even for a veteran outfit.

Conclusion
The inexperienced American infantry had a great deal of trouble locating enemy positions dug into the hedgerows. When they finally located the Germans, the Americans were reluctant to call in artillery fire for fear of hitting friendly troops. For a gain of four hundred yards the division suffered 1,400 causalities, relatively few of them killed in action but with many wounded and large numbers captured or cut off and trying to regain friendly lines.

Notes
A small-scale infantry fight; the raw Americans aren’t very good yet at fighting but they’re up against one of the SS militia’s worst divisions (which is saying something) and they have some tank support, so it’s a pretty fair fight.

Scenario Ten
Auxais
8 July 1944
The 331st Infantry Regiment regrouped on the previous morning and in the early evening took Hotot, a roadside village about four miles north-west of Sainteny, could not press any closer to their objective. With Collins pressing them to capture Sainteny and reach what the Americans called the Taute River - actually a canal - about three miles east of Sainteny as soon as possible, the 331st moved out early on the morning of the 8th.

Conclusion
The 331st quickly learned their craft and pushed past Auxais, turning northwards again to put themselves in a position to take Sainteny tomorrow morning. Improving weather conditions allowed American fighter-bombers to carry out missions starting around noon, subjecting the Germans to the punishing effects of the heavily-armed Thunderbolts.

Notes
This is one of the larger scenarios in the set. The Americans are better; the SS militia still suck but they have a small cadre of determined German Air Force paratroopers who are extra-tough. But the Americans have artillery, armor and air support so it’s going to be a long day for the Herrenvolk.

Scenario Eleven
Day One at Sainteny
9 July 1944
After five days of grinding combat, the 83rd Infantry Division had finally reached a position from which they could assault their objective, the town of Sainteny. With skies having cleared, in addition to artillery and armor support the infantry could expect significant help from the Air Force. Unfortunately, they could also expect fierce opposition from the battle-hardened 6th Parachute Regiment headquartered in Sainteny rather than the hapless SS militiamen they had faced to date.

Conclusion
Around 1130 the fighting for Sainteny intensified with Lt. Colonel James S. Faber's 2nd Battalion finally getting enough troops and armor in position to mount a proper attack with strong artillery support; the promised air support had already arrived and was making their presence felt. The Germans repulsed the first American attack, inflicting heavy causalities including two company commanders. Faber took over personal leadership, participating in close assaults that destroyed one German assault gun and immobilized another. Faber’s men drove the Germans out of Sainteny, and then prepared to meet the inevitable counter-attack.

Notes
There aren’t many Germans, but they’re in good defensive terrain and this time there are more of those paratroopers to solidify the defense. The trick here is to attack the SS militia, who are just not very good at their job.

Scenario Twelve
Day Two at Sainteny
10 July 1944
Faber’s battalion prepared their defenses through the night while the Germans dropped a few shells on Sainteny but did not probe the American positions. At dawn the harassing fire became a full-scale bombardment, followed shortly by an infantry assault. The Americans met the attackers at the edge of the town, with Faber once again taking personal charge of the fighting.

Conclusion
These SS militia had more skill and determination than the sad lot the Americans had seen off on the previous day, and soon the fighting became house-to-house. Faber was killed leading his men from the front, but his troops did not waver even without their charismatic leader. The SS had tanks, but the Americans had bazookas and a great deal of anger, and drove the infiltrators back out of the town. Sainteny had held but the Germans had not abandoned hope of taking it back.

Notes
Now the Americans have done it: they’ve taken the town of Sainteny, and the SS militia have brought an actually good division to try to take it back. The Americans are well-led, but they don’t have a lot of artillery this time or support weapons, so they’ll need to rely on the dense Norman terrain to act as a natural fortress.

And that’s Chapter Three. Next time, it’ll be Chapter Four.

You can order Dishonor Before Death right here.

Sign up for our newsletter right here. Your info will never be sold or transferred; we'll just use it to update you on new games and new offers.

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 countless books, games and articles on historical subjects. He lives in Birmingham, Alabama with his wife, three children and his dog, Leopold.