Milton Bradley

American Heritage Command Decision Series



Battle-Cry

A Civil War Game
Milton Bradley Company, 1961

Players 2 or 4
Playing Time variable
Era American Civil War
Scale abstract grand strategic
Time abstract
Distance 1 square = about 40 miles
Units abstract

Components

box 13¼"x20"x1½" cardboard accordion, with rules printed on the inside box top
1 19½"x24" tri-fold mounted map 1 4 1" tall 3D plastic pieces
1 32-page 5"x7" historical booklet
2 6-sided dice

Unit Manifest

20 Infantry (10 each blue and grey)
20 Cavalry (10 each blue and grey)
4 Artillery (2 each blue and grey)

The Game

Don’t be mistaken. Battle-Cry, like it’s three siblings, is an abstract game, in the same sense that a eurogame is abstract: a thin patina of historicity is overlaid on a set of very simple mechanics. The map is of the relevant eastern states of the USA with a few roads and railroads, and a square grid superimposed to regulate movement and combat. It could have been deepest Africa or the far side of the Moon. The dice regulate how many of your 22 units you may move each turn, and combat seems to be a cross between checkers and gomoku, with very little differentiation based on unit type (think pawn, knight and rook). Does this game simulate the Civil War? Well, maybe the Ruritanian Civil War. Does this game have intrinsic value? Absolutely. It is probably the first board wargame for many grognards, a simple introduction that left you with the taste for blood and the craving for more. And, true to MB form, the pieces des resistances were the nicely-detailed 3D plastic units.

Collector’s Value

Boone lists low, high and average prices of 6/60/24.23 at auction and 11/100/36.03 for sale. I would suspect that a copy of the originally-titled Civil War would command considerably more simply because of its greater rarity. MB board wargames tend to hold their value, the main exception being Shogun, the demand for which tanked when MB re-released it as Samurai Swords.

Games Reviewed

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