COMIC BOOK WAR GAMES!
"CANNON BALL"
A Civil War Battle Game by
Helen of Toy, Co.
"Dedicated To: Fighting Heroes of Chickamauga."
(Dual Comic Book Ad below also featured a second Helen of Toy War Game
called Gold Crown - the inserts show close ups of Cannon Ball Ad Text and
Order Form)
The image above features an Ad for two Helen of Toy, Co. War Games - the Gold Crown Medieval Game and the Cannon Ball Civil War Game. The Ad was found in a DC war comic from 1975 called "G.I. Combat." Some early Comic Book Ads featured only one Game, but it seems the advertisers learned fast to double the Ads up to offer two of their products for the price of one Ad spot!
Cannon Ball seems to have included 64 3D Toy Soldiers representing Blue & Grey Civil War Troops; as well as a Playmat and multiple Accessories such as "Exploding Bridges" (these were small hard plastic pieces which were triggered by rubber band tension, similar to the Tank Trap War Game's "Exploding Tanks.")
The Troops of Cannon Ball were evidently made by GIANT in Hong Kong. However, it has also been suggested that some versions of the Game featured generic/non-brand-name Troops clearly made with the same GIANT molds but not stamped with the GIANT logo. This has not yet been confirmed for certain so if anyone knows for sure, please let us know.
"Al H.", a great contributor to this site, was able to send us images of a complete Cannon Ball Set and full directions.
See link below to view the directions. See collage of images below for a look at the Cannon Ball game pieces. Images are not to scale with each other.
Below from Top to Bottom:
1) A sample of GIANT Civil War troops.
2) The Cannon Ball Battlefield game mat which is actually 18 1/2" by 25" or so.
3) Original "Handsome Book Form" Box with all items inside except the troops. The black & white "Fort Commander" Spinner is partially visible beneath the other items in the box.
4) A sprue of all the Cannon Ball plastic parts including enough for each player to have (per directions) "3 Cannons with 6 snap-on Wheels, 5 Red TNT Boxes, 1 Flag, 2 Stockade Strips (Fort Walls), 2 Gate Bases, 2 Observation Tower Roofs, 2 Tower Bases and 6 Support Poles that will be inserted between the roofs and bases in the matching holes provided for them, plus 3 Exploding Bridges (3 Plain Sections, 3 Pronged Sections.)"
5) The Red Card contains 25 perforated squares which serve as the "TNT Boxes."
6) Two Flags - One Union, One Confederate.
7) The corrugated cardboard "Stockade Strips." These were used to create the Fort Walls around the red areas of the Playmat. See directions link to get an idea of how they were set up and how the Flags and Observation Towers were attached to them.
Many thanks to "Al H." for letting us finally get a look at this great Helen of Toy Set!
