Battle

Battle, released by Bally Manufacturing Corporation in November 1935, is an early electro-mechanical game with a striking World War I combat theme spanning aviation and armored warfare. Released when pinball was still in its infancy, it stands out for pairing wartime imagery with a mechanically animated backbox at a time when many games offered only simple playfields and minimal art.

Battle's gameplay offered plenty for a nickel: 10 balls for 5 cents, with fifteen trap holes and a free play hole scattered across the playfield. Its signature feature is the backbox animation, in which "shells" are shot from a tank to score 1,000 points each, while a tank turret in the lower playfield tracks progressive scoring. The cabinet was advertised as 45 inches long by 20 inches wide.

Period advertising in The Billboard even touted "rat-tat-tat machine gun sound effects," though how the effect was produced remains a mystery today. With its mechanical animation and dramatic military theme, Battle remains an intriguing piece of mid-1930s pinball history for collectors and enthusiasts alike.