MB is for American Heritage!

American Heritage was an umbrella brand-mark for a series of Milton Bradley (MB) products (now MB Games and since 1984 part of Hasbro's portfolio) which seems to have begun with trading cards of 'old timer' cars around 1961 (some of the images of which - I'm pretty sure - ended-up being issued as place-mats here in the UK?), but which through the 1960's and into the 70's gave us three board games with figures, and two others which pique the interest of war gamers, but which (all five) are really family games with family-game mechanics.

We're looking at Hit The Beach, obviously channeling the US WWII pacific campaign, and in particular the island-hopping of the Marine divisions. In addition to the American Heritage moniker, there was also a further universal - to the five games - Command Decision Series sub-brand marking with a circle of stars.

I've  posed the ships and 'planes; when new the four US units are on the runner with the two accessories just laying on the blank area of card, held there by the runner, from which they need to be removed! Normally they hide under the board with the other ten Japanese machine gunners.

The island is a strangely symmetrical archipelago with a central feature and various islets to be 'hopped', while the Japanese figures look a bit like one of the Dunkin (and others) bubblegum premium sculpts, but I'm sure it's more coincidence than any copying, by either side.

The US forces or 'beaches'; blue beach, red beach &etc., consist of two US Infantrymen and two Marines along with one-each of the Naval and Army-Air support, figures are bigger than the commoner Battle Cry 20mm ACW's, at around the 30mm mark and I think it's fair to say the Marine has a more gung-ho attitude!

The vessels look like armoured tugs, but the Liberator bombers are rather nice, red and black are upside down so you can see the crude landing gear, that's it, another box ticked, it's been a while since we had a board game, although there's still about five [shots taken] in the long queue! Actually we had the Tri-Ang checkers, only the other day . . . Doh!

It doesn't seem to have been a particularly big seller (by the time it came out US involvement in the Vietnam War had seriously ramped-up and anti-war feeling was beginning to be heard), and when they were re-issued in 1975 it was dropped/replaced by a fifth game, which was set firmly in the more 'patriotic' era of the 1770's - as the bicentennial approached!

The American Heritage series:

• Battle Cry - ACW (1961 & 1975)
• Broadside - 1812 (1962 & 1975)
• Dogfight - WWI (1963 & 1975)
• Hit the Beach - WWII (1965 only)
• Skirmish - AWI (1975 only)