Paper Tigers II

Author: Donald Bailey

Publisher: Papertigerarmaments, 2012

Period: World War II

Scale: Skirmish

LIBRARIAN'S SUMMARY

Paper Tigers II is Don Bailey’s expanded 2012 version of his introductory World War II miniatures game, retaining the original game’s unusual card-driven command system while adding more historical detail. This system is deliberately accessible and works well for solo play. The central attraction is its clever use of an ordinary deck of playing card to handle orders, initiative, and combat resolution. High cards act earlier but are harder to successfully activate; low cards are easier to use but act later. This produces a surprisingly effective representation of battlefield friction without elaborate charts or bookkeeping. Both editions of the rules, the 2008 original and 2012 expanded edition, are available for download at the Wargame Library.

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WHAT YOU NEED

Paper Tigers requires very, very little to play...which is a big part of the appeal. Players need several six-sided dice, a normal deck of playing cards with the jokers removed, a tape measure, terrain, and a few miniatures. The rules recommend a battlefield of at least 3' × 3'. Infantry can use whatever basing style a player already has available, while vehicles and guns operate as individual units. Cotton balls are suggested as simple smoke markers for damaged vehicles.

Although designed around inexpensive printable 1/72 or 1/76 paper models, there is nothing fundamental tying "Paper Tigers" to paper figures. Conventional plastic or metal miniatures are easily substituted. This makes Paper Tigers II particularly attractive as an introductory WWII game. A player could begin with a handful of models and homemade terrain rather than assembling two large armies. The rules support infantry, tanks, armored cars, halftracks, transports and artillery in the basic game, with optional distinctions between light, medium and heavy vehicles and guns. More advanced options introduce machine guns, mortars, howitzers, historical vehicle characteristics, amphibious vehicles, landing craft, airborne troops, artillery barrages, and fortifications.

Paper Tigers II expands the PDF from 9 pages to 26 pages, but almost all of the new page count is dedicated to optional rules, traits and premade lists of common unit types. The core game remains, essentially, a tight 8 page system. It's clearly written and well organized. Unfortunately, the original homepage for the rules has been defunct and offline for years.

HOW IT PLAYS

DEAL CARDS: Deal 2d6 cards to each side, face down
ASSIGN CARDS: Players assign up to 2 cards, face down, per unit
REVEAL: Each side flips cards for one unit; high card(s) go first
ATTEMPT ACTIONS: A unit rolls to attempt movement or fire based on the card
RECOVERY: After all actions, saved cards may be assigned for recovery attempts
SAVED CARDS: Each side may save up to six cards for the next turn

At the beginning of each turn, players roll dice to determine how many playing cards they receive. Those cards are then assigned (face down) to units, with normally no more than two cards assigned to a single unit. The result is an important command decision before any shooting begins--you rarely have enough command capacity to make everything perform exactly as you would like. The playing cards simultaneously govern initiative, action type, and difficulty. Higher cards act sooner, but their numerical value also establishes a higher target number for the action. An Ace gives a unit excellent initiative but requires a difficult roll to successfully carry out its orders. A low card does the opposite.

Card color adds another decision. Red cards favor firing, while black cards favor movement. A unit can still attempt the less-favored action, but it rolls fewer dice. Paper Tigers II adds close assault as a red-card action and finding defilade as a black-card action. This means that a hand of cards does not tell you exactly what your army will do; instead, it presents a shifting set of limited opportunities. And limited is the operative word, because your game ends when the poker cards run out. This keeps battles short and tense.

Combat is incredibly simple. A successful firing roll causes a hit, after which armor or cover may negate the damage. A surviving hit leaves the unit damaged and “shell-shocked”; another unsaved hit destroys it. Damaged units can attempt recovery at the end of the turn. The optional rules add lethal hits, flank shots, suppression, specialized weapons and more differentiated armor without replacing the underlying mechanism (use of the optional rules is strongly encouraged due to the simplicity of the base game).

One particularly useful mechanism is the “Follow Me!” mechanic. Nearby units without assigned cards can follow another unit performing the same action. This allows a single card to move or fire a small group and prevents a poor card draw from completely paralyzing a larger force. It also encourages players to maintain coherent groups rather than scattering units across the table.

The advanced rules provide just a touch of historical character. Instead of giving every tank a long statistics block, vehicles receive broad classifications and selected traits. An M4 Sherman, for example, can receive "Reliable" and "Death Trap," while other vehicles might possess Improved Armor, Fast, or Unreliable. There's a nice list of traits to differentiate the units just enough for some flavor.

Solo play is a particular strength that makes Paper Tigers unique. The author recommends revealing assigned cards across both forces and allowing initiative to determine the resulting sequence rather than requiring the solo player to consciously choose the optimal activation order for both sides. Optional hidden unit slips and dummy positions can further create uncertainty over the opposing force. The rules are not explicitly designed for solo play, but the card mechanics make it not only possible, but very enjoyable.

FINAL Note

Paper Tigers II is an exceptional beginner game and a wonderful solo opportunity. The rules are also unusually modular. The basic game can be taught with little more than infantry, tanks, movement and shooting. Players can subsequently introduce more unit types, optional rules and traits.

For veteran gamers, Paper Tigers II offers a fun one-hour game, but probably lacks the detail and complexity more advanced wargamers seek. But for any gamer looking for a fast, free, solo-friendly WW2 miniature game, this one should be high on your list.