Aurora/Timpo's wonderful "Beachhood Invasion" playset was - along with my Marx "Blockhouse" Fort Apache - the last of my childhood toy soldier acquisitions. This is the original box, which I excavated out of the closet of my childhood bedroom my last trip home. Although a berserking tsunami of hormones was overwhelming my toy soldier fever at the time, I loved this set, and still have many of the figures and equipment. (Up to this point, my exposure to Timpo figures was extremely limited. I was fascinated by these inter-changeable little men.) Miraculously, this box still held/holds the set's original instructions - the only such playset document to have survived my childhood.
In hindsight, the presence of a thoroughly British Bren gun carrier in the set's all-American combat group was peculiar - but I was the only kid in my circle who had one.
The American bazooka team was practically a pre-made diorama vignette, complete with a small pile of debris, spare rockets and a terrain base. I've always been very partial to these two tank-busters. (Behind them, a 21st Century Sherman (commanded by a Forces of Valor officer) moves forward with a squad of Toy Soldiers of San Diego and Classic Toy Soldiers G.I.s.)
The Germans counter with a mortar crew, also plugged into its own base. (If one were so inclined, the German figures can be removed and Americans put in their place.)
Timpo issued each "army" with a howitzer with which to infuse their martial entanglements with a bit of dignity. (Paraphrasing here; can't recall the exact line, and it's Monday morning.) Save for their colors, the long guns were identical.
