Battle Cry
Other namesGame of the Civil War
IllustratorsJames Walker
PublishersMilton Bradley
Publication1961; 63 years ago (1961)
Years active1961–?
GenresBoard game
LanguagesEnglish
Players2–4
Playing time60'
Age range10+

Battle-Cry is a combat board game set in the American Civil War that was published by the Milton Bradley Company in 1961 as part of their popular American Heritage series.

Description

Battle-Cry is a two-player board game between units representing the Union and Confederate armies. There are also special rules for a 4-player game.[1]

Components

Set up

Each player begins with 22 color-coded counters (10 infantry, 10 cavalry and 2 artillery), which are set up on the map on specified starting locations.[1]

Movement

The active player rolls two 6-sided dice; the resultant total can be allocated as movement to any units. Infantry moves one square per dice pip, cavalry moves two squares per pip. Any unit reaching a mountain square must stop for the rest of the turn. Units at a railway station can each use 1 movement to immediately move to the next station.[1]

Combat

The attacker lines up a column of pieces either horizontally or vertically to attack an enemy column. In order to begin combat, the attacker's column must have numerical superiority, calculated as 2 points for each infantry and artillery unit, and 1 point for cavalry units. All units in the defending column are eliminated, and the rear-most unit in the attacker's column is moved to the front of the attacker's column.[1]

Victory conditions

The first side to eliminate all enemy pieces is the winner.[1]

Publication history

Battle Cry was published as a cooperative effort between Milton Bradley and American Heritage to mark the 100th anniversary of the American Civil War.[3] It was one of a series of four collaborative games that the two companies published, the others being Hit the Beach (a Pacific Theater of World War II-based island hopping title), Broadside (a naval game set during the War of 1812), and Dogfight (a World War I air combat game).[4] Although the designer was not credited, box cover art was by James Walker.[1]

Battle Cry was reprinted in the 1970s.[3]

Reception

Other recognition

A copy of Battle Cry is held in the collection of the Strong National Museum of Play (object 116.3755).[5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f "Battle-Cry (1961)". Board Game Geek. Retrieved 2021-02-09.
  2. ^ a b "Chess with cannons! – A Review of American Heritage Battle-Cry A Civil War Game from Milton Bradley (1961)". The Player's Aid. 2016-03-21. Archived from the original on 2020-12-03. Retrieved 2021-02-08. In case you didn't know the American Heritage series was Milton Bradley's series of "war" themed games released in the early to mid-sixties. The sixties editions came in oversized boxes and featured large mapboards and plastic miniatures.
  3. ^ a b c Lawrence A. Kreiser Jr.; Randal W. Allred, eds. (2014). The Civil War in Popular Culture: Memory and Meaning. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 9780813143217. Archived from the original on 2021-02-08. Retrieved 2021-02-08. Battle Cry and Civil War came out in 1961, during the Civil War centennial. Battle Cry, produced by Milton Bradley, was almost certainly the best-selling game on the Civil War, and was available at many mainstream stores during the war's centennial and the nation's bicentennial.
  4. ^ a b Antonio Catalán (September 2017). La simulación histórica y la historia militar [The historical simulation and military history] (PDF). Universitat Jaume I (Thesis) (in Spanish). p. 70. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2021-02-08. Retrieved 2021-02-08. Tambien en los años 60 y 70 Milton Bradley diseño una colección de juegos a medio camino de los abstractos con tema bélico, y juegos con diseño propio, se trataba de la serie American Heritage Games146, con hechos significativos de la historia americana, como Battle-Cry (Guerra Civil), Broadside (Guerra naval del XVIII), Dogfight (combate aéreo I GM) o Hit the Beach (desembarcos en el pacífico durante la II GM).
  5. ^ "Board game:American Heritage Battle Cry Civil War Game". Google Arts & Culture. Archived from the original on 2021-02-15. Retrieved 2021-02-09.

External links

Milton Bradley Company
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