The Real Paper Tank: Fake tanks were built by many of the nations involved in WW2. Local craftsmen would obtain whatever supplies were available to construct them (often plywood with a tree for a cannon). These were used to trick enemy troops and command, and at times they were placed as a trap. Units moving forward to engage the "Fake Tanks" would be flanked from another direction. Not much information available as to their effectiveness.
 
The German Panzer Holhe (or Russian Maskirovka) - commonly refered to as a "Paper Tank" (or "Fake Tank"), produces a single, unattached medium tank regiment. Although it is often the subject of jokes, the Paper Tank does actually have some practical applications in online mulitplayer gameplay. Annoy your enemies by stealing their cities and destroying their tech buildings, or even blocking their retreat. Possibly the most powerful use is a technique we'll call the....

Using the "Grab and Go" AXIS and ALLIES RTS | PAPER TANKS | Panzer Holhe | Maskirovka The Basic Idea: Move a sizable force (out of view of the enemy), with supply trucks, towards a city by an opponents' base, and use a Paper Tank to steal the city before you get there. Try not to enter the supply zone of the city with your main force until it has been captured by the Paper Tank. This way your enemies won't know you have reinforcements there, and may only send a small force to try to retake the city. Deploy your supply trucks as needed, and enjoy chewing on a base for awhile... Step by step instructions below, or view the slideshow     Step 1: Spoke with my allies and they assured me they could hold their side, and they gave me the go-ahead to try and attack the enemy base, using the ‘grab and go’ - I've deployed 8 AT-Mech, and 3 Supply Depots, to a city I have held not far from an enemy base, and I'm pretty sure I was able to get over here without being spotted. I'll go ahead and order them to move to the city I'm trying to capture, but I will keep them in Assault Formation since I don't want them to get there too fast.     Step 2: Now that my forces are on their way, I'll go ahead and use my Panzer Hohle special op to try and take the city. Chances are there wont be too many troops there, so hopefully the city wall fall quickly. Holding the main force outside of the city supply zone, until the paper tank has captured the city. If the paper tank is unable to take the city, I'll go ahead and bring up the main force to take it, but the element of surprise will be lost. In this example I was able to take the city, so lets continue forward to the next step.     Step 3: Once you have captured the city move your paper tank to the back and let it entrench. Hopefully this will allow you to hold the city, while your main force continues forward.     Step 4: The city has been captured so I'm bringing my main force and supply trucks forward.     Step 5: In this example I have managed to capture a city right next to an enemy base. I can start to work on his tents, and I make sure to get those supply trucks unpacked so I can continue to push forward. Chances are, right now his troops are in full retreat running back to his base, so I'll try to take out as much as I can before they get here.     Step 6: Well no counter-offensive has come so I continue to roll thru this base, while unpacking supply to continue the blitzkrieg.   Step 7: At one point I had to double back to protect my supply chain and keep from being pinched, but was able to repel the counter-offensive and kept my supply zone intact. All in all, in this example, I ended up getting 3 Corp HQ's while using the ‘Grab and Go’. I think it's time the much maligned Paper Tank got a little respect! What do you think of this tactic? Let us know in the Grab and Go Thread.