The SS Wotan Series
Kessler’s Most Infamous Series
The series follows the fictional adventures of SS Wotan. Set during the latter days of World War II, this band of soldiers is thrust into the most perilous fighting to defend an ever more desperate Germany from the might of the Allied War Machine. The indomitable von Dodenburg leads his men from the front, while veterans Sgt Schulze and Cpl Matz are always where the action’s thickest.
SS Panzer Battalion: The First Book
In Wotan’s First Mission, von Dodenburg tackles the inpenetrable Fort Eben Emael. “SS Assault Regiment Wotan was preparing for a mission so secret that it was known just by its codename, Zero. Only The Vulture, Major Horst Geier, knew that the objective was the key Belgian fortress guarding the junction of the River Meuse and the Albert Canal. It was the most impregnable stronghold in Europe and had to be taken if Hitler’s handpicked SS Panzer troops were to turn the flank of the Maginot line and force the phoney war to explode into the Blitzkrieg.”
Pick up SS Panzer Battalion here.
Dogs of War
The Dogs of War Series, by Leo Kessler
The SS Wotan series was so successful, that in encompasses a great many books – read the full list in the Leo Kessler Author Page. To mark off the most important installments, previous publishing houses created a miniseries entitled Dogs of War. These are now all available as ebooks on Kindle, B&N, Kobo, iBooks, and Google Play Books. Here’s the list of books.
- Forced March
- Devil’s Shield
- SS Panzer Battalion
- Claws of Steel
- Stormtroop Edelweiss (prev. Blood Mountain)
- Death’s Head
- Frozen Mountain (prev. Blood and Ice)
- The Sand Panthers
The chronological order
If you want to read Dogs of War in chronological order, tick them off like this:
- SS Panzer Battalion
- Death’s Head
- Forced March
- The Sand Panthers
- (Stormtroop Edelweiss (prev. Blood Mountain)*)
- Claws of Steel
- Devil’s Shield
- Frozen Mountain (prev. Blood and Ice)
*The odd one out is most definitely Stormtroop Edelweiss, previously entitled Blood Mountain. This book is a one-off novel from another Kessler collection and features a completely different set of characters. Here’s the blurb:
Hitler’s orders were clear: prove to the entire world the might of the unstoppable Motherland by conquering the peak of Mount Elbrus piercing the sky between German and Russian lines. It would be a near impossible task: the route was blocked by hostile tribesmen and Stalin’s female commandos, the Red Ravens. Only one unit in the German army could pull of such a daring task, only one unit with the necessary combination of reckless courage and matchless skills: Stormtroop Edelweiss.
Hammer of the Gods – Series End
The SS Wotan novels ends with Hammer of the Gods. This is the last book in the series from a chronological perspective. Not strictly part of the Dogs of War miniseries, it deals with a unit under pressure during and after the Battle of the Bulge. Read on for the blurb:
December 1944. The strength of Germany is faltering in the face of the Allied War Machine. But for SS Wotan there is one last ditch attempt to force the Allies back, and it will take place in the Ardennes. This is The Battle of the Bulge, and perhaps the most dangerous mission Schulze, Matz, and the indomitable von Dodenburg have ever faced. Can Wotan survive the Hammer of the Gods?
