Crossbows and Catapults was first released back in 1983 by Tomy. To play the game you had two sides, originally Vikings and Barbarians, later versions used different names such as Orcs and Knights.
Each player would build fortifications from plastic bricks which were an attempt to stop the opposing player from destroying your castle. Using a catapult and crossbow powered by rubber-bands you would fire plastic discs back and forth at each other in turn until there was an eventual winner.
Crossbows And Catapults
There were four different ways that you could win the game, you could either knock over your enemies tower, capture all of your opponents discs, get four spies into the enemy courtyard or knock the enemy tower out of the way and land a disc (spy) on the secret treasure beneath.
However, as kids the rules usually went out the window. It would simply be a case of knocking all your opponents men over to win the game. Making your own rules was something actually encouraged by the game designers.
There were also various add-ons released that you could purchase to expand the game. This included pieces like the Trojan Horse and extra towers. In 2007 the game was re-released but this time under the name of ‘Battleground’. As with the original release, this also had numerous add-ons available.
