Call me impressed. I will go a bit into detail about the games below. But, I just want to say I walk into Toys R Us, and I see Attack, Battleball and the Mission Command games. Ok, these are not fullblown German style games, but they are what I thought went the way of the doodoo, intro war/conflict games distributed mainstream that aren't pointless rehashes (come on, how many times are you going to redo Battleship?). And yes, they are at Toys R Us. And yes, they were priced $20 each. The Star Wars Episode 2 games (Epic Duels, and even the German gamifying version of Life) were a start, and these continue what looks like a promising trend. I will also say that the Battle for Genocea game is a step in the right direction.

Anyhow, onto a brief look at each of the games. I didn't play them, but have looked through them, and read the rules. Anyhow, onto the games:

Attack

Think Axis and Allies meets Risk. A good next step games for those buying games from Toys R Us, who want to move onto something with more depth. $20 is a great price for this game with a ton of plastic pieces and huge map. I want to focus more now on the Hasbro games as they haven't been discussed much on here.

Battleball

It's a game like this is almost exactly what I was looking for. I could of did Blood Bowl, but I just didn't get to it, and the whole Warhammer thing... ICK (the moneypit collectability factor)! Anyhow, I was trying to think of a takeoff on football that would be playable. Battleball comes close. Score two TDs and win, while mauling your opponent. I am NOT a fan of dice governing movement for pieces, so this part leaves me a bit cold, but I guess I can't have everything. Well, the heart of football is there: Passing, tackling, formations (11 aside), INTs, Fumbles, injuries and death and wanton mayhem! :-). Maybe I could tweak the game. Or maybe I should just leave it the el alone and just play it. I do like a bit of the write-ups on the players inside the coverover flap (some humor there). I may get a Colossor the Dim t-shirt. I like the write up about how he still doesn't know the rules are or why he is paid to hit people.

There has to be a whole backstory here. Hasbro, ya dropped the ball here. Don't tell people to go to the "www.play battlball.com" for more data, and then have it point to your main Hasbro website. Blast it, how about a small website with a few strategy sites, fan links, and ways for people to find other players? And do it up like a football league site. Give me variants and whatnot.

Mission Command: Air Game

This is a remake of Screaming Eagles with a bit harkening back to Dogfight via German play mechanics. Still some dice governed movement (ick), but also some semi-interesting cardplay. The new mechanic to the game, besides there being two types of aircraft and allow 4 people to play independently or as teams, is the cardplay. Everyone plays one card from their hand of seven cards, drawn from a common deck, face down and then they are flipped over simultaneously and the cards are played out in sequence of their number on them. Then all the plans move accordingly, and dice are rolled also to add to movement. There are special cards that let you disrupt your opponent's movement or reorganize your planes back together. There is still the same loop around and the combat system is similar. The thing feels a bit on the random side, but I guess Screaming Eagles did also. Good effort. I think it would make a nice filler for killing 20 minutes or so.

I would only give another minor nit to the game is the box, I found the stand for the planes made the box cover not sit right. Well, you have to be careful how they lay, and you are all set.

Mission Command: Land Game

This is a remake of Tank Battle. I am thinking this may end up being my favorite of all the Mission Command games. This is like Tank Battle, except they added a helicopter unit (has extra mobility and is hell from the air), and dice combat. Enemy units next to each other roll, roll and roll until one is dead units take a certain amount of damage before they die. There is now a missile launcher that can shoot it down. All and all everything fits together real well I think for what the game is. I like the fact if you kill off one of the buildings of an opponent, they lose an ability. Things like this make the game fit together well.

Mission Command: Sea Game

This is a remake of Carrier Strike. Take out one air of the two aircraft carriers, and replace it with two destroyers, throw in some islands on the map that act as impassible terrain (they have no fly zones over them. I guess treaties between the islands and the warring factions made this so), and you have the Sea Game. Harpoon Missiles can sink sea units, and you have Sidewinder missiles give bonuses on dice roles on dogfights. For movement of Harpoons, pick one and roll a die and move the Harpoon. For airplanes, players roll up to 4 dice, and then assign one die per airplane. Destroyers get to move up to two hexes per turn (yes, the game has hexes!) and Carriers remain stationary. I would say this game fits between the Air Game and the Land Game on the Randomness scale.

All and all I think these games are a step in the right direction.

Good intro war (Mission Command games, Attack) or sports/conflict (Battleball). I am glad to see them at Toys R Us. Hopefully they do a good job recruiting new gamers to the hobby. These games do include basic concepts of wargames (combat modifiers, dice rolls. Hasbro must of looked through their Avalon Hill acquisition), and do have some elements of strategy. I would also say that Mission Command games and Battleball do have a BIG "BUY ME" packaging element. On the box you get to see the neat toys. They are in a a plastic cover that sticks on another cover that rests on the game box. These are thrown out. Although, my mom did get to see the plastic that held the pieces in and she stared at them and thought, "chocolate molds!". So perhaps there will be Easter chocolate tanks, boats and planes :-).

Anyhow, I am impressed they are at Toys R Us, and Hasbro went about re-releasing some of these. Now, perhaps they could redo their American Heritage games (Germanified Hit the Beach anyone done up in a sci-fi theme?).