AMERICAN HERITAGE BOARD GAMES FROM THE 60'S

  Milton Bradley released 5 games in the 1960's with military themes.  They named them the 'Ameritcan Heritage Series' games.  Due to their limited production and heavy demand for Americana, collectors have been gobbling up each of the 6 releases in this series at fairly high boardgame prices.  The sixth game came out  in the 1970's.   In this guide, we'll review all six, provide a pictorial graphic and give you an approximation of what each game is worth in an Ebay Auction setting.

    All of the games either features a detail map-gameboard and/or plastic miniatures of cannons, artillary, aircraft, infantry or ships.  Also included with each game is a gorgeous detailed historical booklet with pictures and excerpts from the American Heritage books themselves (hence the name of the series.)

  CIVIL WAR:

    There are two versions to this game:  One called 'Civil War' and the other called 'Battle Cry'.  Both are basically the same game with different packaging. 

 In this game you play on a large mapboard that features 44 total pieces including infantry, cavalry and artillery.   Essentially the object is to overpower your enemy with sheer numbers.  You do this by moving pieces up from the back to the front via dice rolls.   It has a some great playing strategies that rivals the classic boardgame:  Stratego.

APPROXIMATE VALUE OF COMPLETE GAME:  $17-35

APPROXIMATE VALUE OF NEAR-COMPLETE GAME: $10-22

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BROADSIDE

  This was the second game in the series to be released.   This is probably the most well known of the six games.  It features ships in the War of 1812, complete with masts and cannons.   This 1962 release was based on the British and Spanish frigates.   The minatures are very cool even if the play of the game seems a bit basic.  There are land cannons on the board that also shoot at you if you get too close to them.

APPROXIMATE VALUE OF COMPLETE GAME:  $35-45

APPROXIMATE VALUE OF NEAR-COMPLETE GAME: $15-25

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DOGFIGHT

   This 1963 release has more very cool minature replicas of WWI airplanes.  Of course they feature Americans vs. Germans.   Again, the play is fairly simple (too simple for 'role playing gamers'), but fun for just about 90% of the rest of board game enthusiasts.   Each nationality gets 6 planes.  The object of the game is to manuever around in the sky into a shooting position to down the plane.  You get a 'ring' that is placed on the base of the plane itself.  The team with the most tokens at the end of the game wins.

APPROXIMATE VALUE OF COMPLETE GAME: $25-46

APPROXIMATE VALUE OF NEAR-COMPLETE GAME: $15-30 (varies wildly)

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HIT THE BEACH

 This was the final game of the 60's era games, and my personal favorite.  This 1965 release features a WW II enactment of marines landing on a Japanese beach.   The Japanese always play defense, and the Marines always play offense.    Each player has 6 pieces (2 Marines, 2 infantry, 1 naval landing support ship and 1 air-support aircraft).   The objective is to be the first team to actually penetrate the beach and reach the Japanese headquarters first.

APPROXIMATE VALUE OF COMPLETE GAME:  $60-80

APPROXIMATE VALUE OF NEAR-COMPLETE GAME: $50-$75

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SKIRMISH

  This is the sixth and last game in the series.  It actually came out in the 70's as part of the 1976 Bicentennial Celebration.   It represents the American War of Independence.  The British forces have four armies of 5 unts, 3 warships and a troop carrier with 2 reinforcements on board.  The Americans have 16 units, 1 warship and troop carrier with 4 reinforcements on board.    This game more closely resembles Risk than the others do.  Since there are so many playing pieces, a loss of a few of them in the playing doesn't always result in a loss.

APPROXIMATE VALUE OF COMPLETE GAME:  $25-45

APPROXIMATE VALUE OF NEAR-COMPLETE GAME: $15

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  The average shipping price on any of these games is $10.

   I sincerely hope this has been helpful to you.  If you find the time, please check the HELPFUL BOX below for me.  Many thanks and enjoy the games!

Jeff Feezle of Macafeez