Broadside American Heritage 1962 Milton Bradley US

	Broadside American Heritage	1962	Milton Bradley US
	First produced	1962	Players	2	Age(s)	9+

Click the picture for more		1 x playing board 20 x spanker sails 1 x blue fleet; 10 ships with 20 removable masts; - 4 frigates with 3 masts, 1 fore, 1 main and 1 mizzen - 2 brigs with 2 masts, 1 fore and 1 mizzen - 4 cutters with 1 mast 4 x merchant ships 6 x blue buoys, 3 marked 'sink' and 3 marked 'pass' 4 x blue shore battery pieces; - 2 marked 'hit' and 2 marked 'miss' 1 x red fleet; 10 ships with 25 removable masts; - 2 ships of the line with 4 masts, 1 jib, 1 fore, 1 main and 1 mizzen - 3 frigates with 3 masts, 1 fore, 1 main, 1 mizzen - 3 brigs each with 2 masts, 1 fore, 1 mizzen 2 x cutters with 1 mast 1 x rules booklet 1 x naval Battles of the War of 1812 history booklet

Players control the red fleet attacking a harbour or the blue fleet defending. To win, the red fleet must sink the 4 blue merchant ships anchored at the docks. The blue fleet's task is to prevent this by sinking all of the invading fleet. The red fleet has superior ships but the blue fleet commands shore batteries that guard the harbour's 2 channels. It is also familiar with dangerous submerged rocks which can sink a ship.

All ships have a spanker sail inserted aft. The spanker sail does not count as a mast. Broadside dramatises the manner in which vessels of war, under sail, fought each other during the war of 1812. The title refers to the manoeuvre needed to use cannons against an enemy vessel. Since many wooden hulled sailing vessels had no guns fore or aft, they were not effective when heading toward or away from an opponent. However, with short-range cannon fired through ports on both sides of the hull, the ships could unleash a fierce broadside against the enemy. Since broadside to broadside, both ships could fire simultaneously and inflict almost equal damage, naval commanders usually tried to ‘cross the T' ie. cross the enemy's bow or stern to bring a full broadside against an opponent who is unable to return fire.

One of the American Heritage series from the 1960s and 1970s, all of which feature fantastic artwork on the box cover and well designed playing pieces. View a list of American Heritage MB Games.