Games – American Heritage Games

In the early and mid-1960s Milton Bradley introduced some interesting games, all marketed under the American Heritage games label. These were all war based games and at the time they were very popular. Unfortunately, they went dark and are now some of the rarest games out there, if you can even find one. Collectors are getting a mint for some of these.

The series began in 1961 with the Civil War Edition. This game was a very stripped down Civil War battle game. Each side had only 22 pieces consisting of 10 infantry, 10 cavalry, and 2 artillery. To engage an enemy piece, you had to line up your piece next to it in some way, either side-by-side or facing the piece. Also, to defeat the piece, you had to have superior battle strength. Infantry and Artillery had the highest strength of 2 and Calvary had a strength of only 1. You could combine your pieces in any way but to attack with Artillery you had to have a Calvary piece with it. To remove a piece you jump over it, except Artillery pieces don’t jump. The game was won by removing all the pieces from the other side. However, his opponent could give up if he felt there was no way for him to win.

The next game in the series was the 1962 edition of Broadside. This was a game that was probably based on the old wars between Britain and Spain during the days of the pirates, although no actual description of a timeline is given. The objective of the game is to position your frigates in such a way that they shoot at your opponents’ ships and knock down one of their masts. There are also land cannons that can attack enemy ships, so getting too close to land can be very dangerous. The game itself is not very complicated and honestly not that interesting either, but it does contain some great miniatures that you can play with and the board is very colourful. Not one of Milton Bradley’s best efforts.

In 1963 the American Heritage series continued with Dogfight. This was a World War I air battle game between the American and German air forces. The game is a very light take on World War I air combat and is not for really serious gamers. Each side receives 6 planes divided into 2 squadrons of 3 planes each. You have to try to maneuver your planes so that you can have a clear shot at an enemy plane without getting shot at yourself. For every plane you shoot down you get a token. These tokens are used to get cards. The player with the most cards at the end of the game is the winner.

The last game in the series was Hit The Beach. This game came out in 1965 and was a World War II edition of the Japanese beach landing of the marines. In this game, both players are Americans and the goal is to be the first to reach the Japanese headquarters. The Japanese defense forces are obstacles for both players in this game. In this game, each player has 6 pieces consisting of 2 Marines, 2 Infantry, 1 Naval Landing Support Ship, and 1 Strategic Air Support Aircraft. If while moving your pieces you land directly on an opponent’s piece, you send that piece back to the start. Ultimately, this is how you become the first to reach the Japanese HQ. This was probably the most interesting and exciting of all the American Heritage games.