Dragon’s Teeth:
Scenario Preview, Part Six
By Mike Bennighof, Ph.D.
April 2024

While it’s good to return Panzer Grenadier to the Western Front, with Panzer Grenadier: Dragon’s Teeth we also open the door to more expansions – books, Campaign Studies and more. We want all of your Panzer Grenadier games to be played for many years, over and over, and we like to keep them fresh for you with added ways to play.

In game publishing, it’s called the “core-supplement model,” because every tribe has its own language. In this case, it means that there are core games, that have everything you need to play, and supplements, expansions that add more game fun. This is how role-playing games are structured, and we do the same thing with Panzer Grenadier.

Dragon’s Teeth is a core game, which means it includes everything you need to play. And we’ll expand it, as there’s still a lot to say about the American invasion of Germany, and we have all of those airborne pieces to get into action. But for now, let’s look at the sixth and final chapter.

Chapter Six
Final Push to the Roer
The American higher commanders – Dwight Eisenhower, Omar Bradley, and Courtney Hodges – had expected to drive through the shattered remnants of the German Army and reach the Rhine River. The Rhine had an almost mystical significance to older American officers who had sought to reach it in 1918, and now they saw this goal within their grasp.

An American jeep patrols the streets of Grosshau.

That didn’t happen; aided by the West Wall fortifications, the Germans rapidly stood up a replenished and re-armed army, that slowed the once-rapid American advance to a crawl. The Americans brought up new troops, massive amounts of artillery (both tubes and ammunition) and prepared a set-piece battle plan. The first phase was to smash in the “crust” of the German defense. The second would be to reach the Roer River line.

The last natural barrier before the Rhine, the Roer now became the American objective. And it had a series of seven dams (four on the Roer itself, three on tributaries) that supplied hydroelectric power to German industry, and could be used as a defensive weapon by releasing their impounded waters.

As the weather grew steadily worse, the Americans drove steadily forward. The ultimate goal of the First and Ninth Armies would be Düsseldorf, a major communications and industrial center. But to get there, they would first have to reach the Roer.

Scenario Thirty-Seven
Frenz Castle
26 November 1944
The men of K Company, 47th Infantry Regiment, had been glad to have been assigned flank security for the day instead of spearheading the assault. They had advanced unmolested until spotting a medieval manor on the other side of a beet field. German troop had turned the manor house and its surrounding walls into a small fortress, and the Americans would now have to eject them.

Conclusion
K Company’s commander was hit by shellfire and command passed to Lieutenant William McWaters who led his men forward. They overran a platoon of service troops who promptly surrendered, but then took heavy casualties from enemy mortar fire. Upon reaching the castle, Private Carl Sheridan earned the Medal of Honor but lost his life in his efforts to breach the main gate. Even the arrival of the remainder of 2nd Battalion failed to tip the balance in the Americans’ favor. Later that evening a disputed (but probably large) number of Company K troops who had taken shelter in a basement were captured by the Germans.

Notes
It’s just a small scenario, but it’s an intense one, with each side bringing on two waves of troops to contest the castle (the Americans called it “Frenzerburg Castle,” but it was really a manor house).

The main gate of Frenz Castle, seen in 1910.

Scenario Thirty-Eight
Return to Frenz Castle
27 November 1944
Though they’d failed to take the castle, the Americans had surrounded it and driven the defenders inside its massive walls. Holding the castle was crucial for the Germans, as it was the only fortified position in the sector and its loss would cause another withdrawal to the Roer River. Long before dawn, a German relief party went forward to reach the paratroopers holding out in the castle.

Conclusion
The German relief force pressed forward doggedly despite suffering greatly from American artillery fire, but just short of the castle the infantry got separated from their supporting armor and went to ground. The assault guns advanced alone, with the last one not breaking off until reaching the castle courtyard. In the afternoon a truce was called allowing both sides to tend to their wounded. Regimental commander Col. George W. Smythe told the Germans that they would be allowed to leave the castle unmolested between 2300 and 0100 hours, which they did; his superiors quietly confirmed the decision with a Distinguished Unit Citation. Smythe’s regiment had suffered enormous casualties in the fight, while the “castle” itself had been flattened by both sides’ artillery fire and it would be demolished after the war.

Notes
It’s a night action, and the Germans have both numbers and armor support on their side as they try to break through to their beleaguered friends inside the manor house. Those “paratroopers” are mostly green recruits, though, and would rather be somewhere else.

Scenario Thirty-Nine
Green Green Devils
28 November 1944
During the Normandy fighting, Maj. Gen. Charles H. Gerhardt of 29th Infantry Division called the German 3rd Parachute Division “the best damned soldiers I ever saw.” Five months later, the division consisted of underaged conscripts and surplus Air Force ground crews unwillingly transferred to ground combat, with a small core of veterans. These newly-minted “Green Devils” were now asked to throw the Big Red One out of Jüngersdorf.

Conclusion
The green “paratroopers” almost managed to force their way into the town, but the tough American 1st Infantry Division was not about to give up their hard-won gains of the last few days. The German advance ground to a halt, and with confusion reigning in their ranks they were driven back to their jump-off positions with heavy casualties.

Notes
It’s tough for a lower-morale force to drive a higher-morale defender out of his positions, but that’s what the Germans are asked to do here. They out-number the Americans, which is going to be their saving grace if they hope to win this one.

A 22nd Infantry Regiment bazooka team in the snowy ruins of Grosshau.

Scenario Forty
Mean Streets of Kleinhau
29 November 1944
Colonel Buck Lanham of the 22nd Infantry Regiment had proposed a wide flanking maneuver to finally capture Grosshau, but that wouldn’t work with the Germans still holding nearby Klenau. Fifth Armored Division’s CCR, detached to the neighboring V Corps, would have to clear Klenau while Lanham attacked Grosshau. That would require coordination not only between division commands, but their corps headquarters as well. The tankers set out exactly as planned.

Conclusion
Task Force Hamburg secured Kleinhau and prevented any reinforcements from reaching Grosshau. The latter was made easier by the fact that all German transport units had been pulled out for the upcoming Ardennes offensive. Lanham’s 22nd Infantry Regiment had been delayed by heavy German artillery fire, but after initial difficulties his troops captured the shattered town at nightfall and finally escaped the cursed Hürtgen Forest.

Notes
A small American mechanized force, backed by tanks, has to cross a wide stretch of woods before it can even attack the objective. Should the Germans defend forward, or cluster around the town? The ground’s very soft, so the tanks won’t move too fast. Decisions, decisions.

Scenario Forty-One
Disaster at Merode
29 November 1944
The village of Merode blocked one of the northernmost exits from the Hürtgen Forest. A single mud-choked road led directly west into the forest and provided an unobstructed view of anyone attempting to drive the defenders from the village. The inexperienced German “paratroopers” would try to secure the strategic junction before the Big Red One could do so.

Conclusion
Heavy artillery fire disrupted the American armor and ruined the operation’s timing. Despite heavy casualties, two companies managed to enter the village where they were counterattacked. The artillery which had delayed the armor earlier now prevented reinforcements from reaching the harried GI's. Long into the night the Germans pressed home their advantage and in one of the darkest days of a nasty campaign 120 Americans became casualties and another 165 were herded into captivity.

Notes
We had a scenario by this title in the old Siegfried Line booklet, but during development it turned into something that bore no relation to the actual battle at Merode (and didn’t even match the intro and conclusion). This time we have a scenario more in keeping with history, and with more challenging game-play as well.

Scenario Forty-Two
Struggle for Hill 401.3
30 November 1944
Buck Lanham’s 22nd Infantry Regiment had taken heavy casualties in the repeated assault on Grosshau, so to keep the advance moving 4th Infantry Division assigned him the fresh 46th Armored Infantry Battalion from Fifth Armored Division. The height labelled 401.3 on American situation maps dominated any advance routes, and it would have to be taken by direct assault.

Conclusion
All day the 46th Armored Infantry and the 2nd Battalion of the 22nd Infantry tried to force their way up the hill in the face of murderous small arms and automatic-weapons fire. The armored infantry lost half of their strength, and finally after night fell, they claimed the crest of the hill and dug in there. It had taken sixteen days, and an enormous casualty list, but the 22nd Infantry Regiment was finally, fully out of the Hürtgen Forest.

Notes
Once again, we had a scenario based on this action in the old Siegfried Line booklet, but this is a new scenario. The Americans are forced into a bitter frontal assault against a bunch of well-armed Germans on top of a rugged hill. Whoever wins, the result will not be a pretty one.

And that’s all for Dragon’s Teeth.

You can order Dragon’s Teeth 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 an unknowable number of books, games and articles on historical subjects. He lives in Birmingham, Alabama with his wife and three children; he misses his dog, Leopold.

Want to keep Daily Content free of third-party ads? You can send us some love (and cash) through this link right here.