Tiger Leader
The World War II Ground Combat Solitaire Strategy Game
2nd Edition
by
Dan Verssen Games (DVG)
"Tyger, Tyger burning bright,
in the forests of the night:
What immortal hand or eye,
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
(William Blake)
Yes, it is a different Tiger, but the response of its enemies is pretty much the same: sheer terror. The amount of Tigers that Germany built compared to the totals of other tanks on each side was quite small. However the Allied soldiers would see them behind every house or large bush. Reading the Allied and Soviet reports, they destroyed 10,000 German Tigers. Germany actually constructed only 1,347 Tiger I's and 489 Tiger II's. Yes it is actually a Panzerkampfwagen Tiger Ausf. B., not a Tiger II. However, not all wargamers have as much OCD about things as others do. Before we get pigeonholed, we have to remember that you will be in charge of a German Panzerkampfgruppe (Battle Group). You will not only have tanks under your command, but almost every other German land combat unit. It will also be a long time before you see or even dream about Tigers if you play the early campaigns. You may even start the game with Panzer I's. these were no better than any other machine gun equipped tanks from the mid 1930's. So, what does DVG actually give you in the box:
Enemy Units include units from the Polish Army, French Army, British Army, Russian Army, and the American Army.
240 Full Color Cards
440 Full Color Counters
12 2.5" Terrain Tiles
1 22"x 17" Mounted Display
1 11"x17" HQ Sheet
1 Player Log Sheet
1 Full Color Player Aid Sheet
1 10-sided die
All of the DVG games I have played have four things in common:
1. Everything in them is large and easy to read.
2. When possible they fit everything including the kitchen sink in the box for the player to use.
3. They are all excellent solitaire games
4. Mounted map boards
I could simply end the review here and say why are you bothering to read this, then tell you to go out and go buy it, case closed. However we have to conform to the standards, so here goes. The map board is well mounted; not a surprise there. The 'hexes' on it are almost as big as the bases for miniature wargame units. In reality they are actually 2.5" wide. The counters are 5/8" in size, and very easy to read. Your counters only have numbers at the bottom, to use in conjunction with the unit cards. The enemy counters have their designation, for example infantry, etc. They also have their Armor Piercing and High Explosive ratings on them. The cards are separated into six decks: Event, Unit, Special Condition, Objective, Battalion, and Leaders. The rulebook is only twenty-two pages long. It is also in full color, and is in large type. Examples of play are scattered throughout it. The one Player Log Sheet needs to be copied. I am not a big fan of manual record keeping. However, in this game it makes sense. DVG has given us so much in the box already that some of it would have to be removed to replace the manual record keeping. The twelve Terrain Tiles are double sided. Their use gives the game extra depth and replayability.
These are some of the German units you will be playing with:
Tiger Leader includes the following units:
Panzer I
Panzer II
Panzer III
Panzer IV
Tiger Tank
Panther Tank
King Tiger Tank
Stug
Marder
Infantry
Armored cars
Halftracks
Naturally you will be fighting some of the above and more in your solitaire quest to survive the war. This is a list of the campaigns you are able to fight in:
The Invasion of Poland 1939
The Battle for France 1940
The Battle for North Africa 1941
The Invasion of Russia 1941
The Battle for North Africa 1942
The Fight for Italy 1943
The Fight for Russia 1943
The Days of D-Day 1944
The Final Days in Berlin 1945
The game has been revised a good bit in this Version 2 release. Let me clarify that. If you own only the original Tiger Leader, there have been changes to the game to make it closer to Sherman Leader in the rules. If you already own Tiger Leader and the upgrade kit, the changes are mostly in the artwork. The upgrade kit fixed the issues that people found with some non-historical rules.
The game is both Card and Die driven. The main driving force behind the game is Special Option (SO) points. These are given to you to use from the Objective Cards. You will purchase your units with SO points. The Leader games from DVG are not supposed to be a highly detailed simulation of whatever they represent. They are a commander lite simulation of the historical conflict that takes place in their area of focus. They are also eminently fun and great games. Just like any other wargame, people can argue about the different numbers given to each unit in the game. It is really a pointless exercise because each person has his own view of what they should be. When you purchase a wargame you are seeing the designer's thoughts on the effectiveness of each unit. I do have an idea, though. If you do not agree with the designer, then try your own. It is a boardgame that you have purchased. Feel free to fiddle with them as you see fit. However, realize that your own numbers might make the game totally unbalanced. There is a reason the designer used his numbers, and it is because play testing showed which ones represented reality in the designer's mind.
The game also comes with Optional Rules to enhance gameplay. There are three of them:
Tenacity
Battlefield Heroics
Flank Attacks
For Tenacity you can decide to extend a battle by one turn, at the cost of each participating Commander gaining one extra stress point. For Battlefield Heroics, if a Commander's unit is destroyed, he can take over from a KIA, Unfit or wounded Commander from the same type of unit. Flank Attacks take place with a die roll at ranges of 0 or 1. Tenacity and Battlefield Heroics also cost one SO point for each week of the campaign that the rule is used.
The game tries to be as user friendly as possible. The Sequence of Play is shown right on the top of the mounted map. This is the sequence:
Campaign Set-Up
Select Campaign Card
Select Objective Card
Draw Battalion Cards
Buy Units
Select Commanders
Start of Week
Special Condition Card
Assign Units
Pre-Combat
Event Card
Place Turn Counter
Place Terrain Tiles
Place Friendly Units
Place Enemy Units
Combat
Fast Move and Attack
Roll for Enemy Movement
Enemy Actions
Slow Move and Attack
Advance Turn Counter
Post-Combat
Event Card
Battalion Status
Record Commander Stress
Record Commander Experience Points
End of Week
Move Battalions
On Leave
Adjust Special Option Points
Repair/Replace
Priority R&R
End of Campaign
Campaign Outcome
The game's rules are easy to understand and the fact that almost all of what needs to be done each turn is right on the map makes it that much easier to remember. The big difference in DVG solitaire games is the fact that you are playing campaigns and not separate scenarios. Many players win games by totally exhausting their troops to win one scenario. If they were forced into a battle again with the same troops, they would quickly lose the second battle. Tiger Leader and its brothers are commander games. The player is forced to deal with fatigue, loss, and all the other problems that a real commander is faced with. If you go into the first scenario with guns blazing you will quickly lose the campaign. The player has to deal with the battle at hand, but also keep looking at the long haul. You must win every battle, and also have a strong force left to fight all of the rest. This game has been tweaked to be even better than its first iteration. Tiger Leader has excellent gameplay and components, not much more can be asked of a wargame. If you are interested in WWII European Theater land combat acting as a commander, then this game is for you.
DVG was nice enough to send me three expansions with the base game. These are:
Tiger Leader Expansion #1 Blitzkrieg
Tiger Leader Expansion #2 Panzers
Tiger Leader Terrain Tile Pack #2
This comes with new:
Campaign Cards
Situation Cards
Special Condition Cards
Event Cards
Enemy Battalion Cards
Commander Cards
Enemy Battalion Counters
This comes with these new items:
Vehicle Cards
Infantry cards
Vehicle Counters
Infantry Counters
Among the new Vehicle Cards are one for a late war E-50 and E-100
This set comes with these new tiles:
River
Bogging
Urban
Riverfront
Industrial
You can also purchase a Neoprene mat to play on, and Tiger leader Terrain Tile Pack #1.
These serve to make this excellent game even more so. Thank you very much Dan Verssen Games for allowing me to review Tiger leader 2nd Edition. I have reviewed about six of their games, and they just keep upping the bar with each new release.
Robert
Dan Verssen Games:
Tiger leader 2nd Edition:
At the risk of being late to the party, I'll comment now.
ReplyDeleteI had a "shut up and take my money" moment after reading this review, and after struggling to find a UK supplier with the game in stock had to go down the Amazon route (supplied ex-Germany).
I've only played one week so far of the Poland 1939 campaign but can honestly say I have not been disappointed. After a few false starts forgetting to factor in things like commander modifiers, campaign and Objective modifiers the game has settled down into a nice flow. The way the manual is set out in chronological order (so to speak) makes referencing the odd thing here or there fairly painless.
The enemy battalions you're sometimes up against can be daunting - when they are fielding four tanks and sundry support units in one battle and you couldn't even afford four tanks for the entire campaign desperation sets in. However, the balancing seems to take care of it nicely - and leaves a sense of accomplishment if you successfully see them off.
One thing that puzzled me in the rulebook was the mention of marking on the hex pieces showing level of cover, impassibility etc. There's no such markings on the pieces I received, but it's fairly easy to improvise (a few trees I'm taking as light cover, buildings as heavy, etc.).
Anyway, thanks for the review. Good recommendation I'm glad I acted upon.
You are very welcome. unfortunately, 95% of the comments left are from spammers. It is difficult to sift the wheat from the chaff.
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