After much waiting, building excitement levels and general impatience. My copy of 'warlord games - Pegasus bridge ham and jam' arrived.
The delivery man had been warned. Hold until relieved. Unlike the legend that is Mjr John Howard, he didn't have to wait hours...or even minutes. It was more like seconds between his knuckles crashing against the door and his arms being relieved of a mighty and when i say mighty i mean MIGHTY box of goodness.
Like a kid at xmas who has to wait though, other matters meant only a cursory inspection could be done.
Until a little while ago that is.
What follows maybe unsuitable for those of a nervous disposition.
I was going to attempt a 'video unboxing' but quickly realised that my inane gibberish, squeaks of delight and giggling may have rendered that video unwatchable.
So i settled for a few pics and the following article.
Warlord Games - Bolt Action - Pegasus Bridge - Ham and Jam edition.
Delivery.
Delivery was via DPD couriers and was swift. 24 hours from dispatch to delivery.
The packaging for the whole set was very secure with copious amounts of packing chips used.
The sets.
I wasn't sure what to expect.
But i know i wasn't truly expecting the box to be so huge.
The Pegasus bridge box is a mammoth sized box and bigger than anything i have ever encountered in wargaming before.
Then there was an additional large box with 'ham and jam upgrade' on it.
It seems those lucky ones who have ordered Ham and Jam have the additional items hand picked to boost the set.
Here's the boxes
I must mention the great artwork on the Main box, it is simply fantastic.
Now the Contents...what you really want to know about.
Ham and Jam upgrade set.
The contents in the words of 'warlord games'
The Ham & Jam! Collector's Edition adds 6 resin sandbag emplacements (which can be put together into 3 machine gun emplacements), 3 more MG42 machine gun teams, 6 dead livestock models, a resin sandbag emplacement for the top of the control tower, 8 more telegraph poles and 12 resin Dragon's teeth tank traps. In addition to this are 20 more plastic Germans, a Marder III Ausf. M tank destroyer, and 20 plastic Royal Marine Commandoes led by Lord Lovat and Piper Millin. We've even added a copy of Osprey Publishing's Raid: Pegasus Bridge book to give you even more reference material, giving a full historical account and detailed uniform guides!
So my thoughts.
How much extra booty!!! The scenery is well cast and detailed. The Marder III is relatively flash free and simple enough to assemble from inspection. The plastics are well cast with a normally acceptable level of flash. The metals...oh metal not resin or resin-plastic....metal models are well cast, a decent level of detail. My only gripe is the flash on them, but experience with other metal producers show this to be pretty nominal levels.
There is also a blister of dead cattle...burgers anyone..even horse burgers if your so inclined.
In addition there are some wooden telegraph poles from Sarrissa precision. Which look simple enough to build and nicely cut.
Then there is the Osprey 'Raid- Pegasus Bridge' book. Giddy bloody god blimey. This book is Fanbloodytastic and that's coming from someone who owns 'Stephen Ambrose's Pegasus Bridge' book. It has everything from photos of the main participants and areas, to original recon photos, maps showing all the positions and right the way through to a list of every soldier on each of the 6 gliders in their glider units.
As a historical reference, it is a must have. For me, it's even more to the story behind my old army regiments most coveted battle Honor.
Now onto the beast.
That simply shows the artwork...glorious amid excited yelps of 'up the ox and bucks'.
On opening the box the first thing you see is a pile of wood....lots and lots and lots of wood.
This is what constitutes Sarrissa Precisions Pegasus bridge, German bunker and the Cafe Gondree. The level of detail is outstanding and i find myself daunted by the challenge. I want to do this kit justice and i just hope i am not found wanting.
Once you remove the wood pile your confronted by more metal, plastic and resin. It just never seems to end.
Like the stuff in the 'ham and jam' box. It is all well cast, with acceptable amounts of flash. Only puzzling piece is a large block of what i assume is flash on the underside of the Anti Tank gun pit. I can imagine it being a bit of a SOB to remove but it is a minor niggle in reality and really just nit picking at what is a amazing set.
There is a nice little scenario book that allows you to play through the battles of d-day from the minute the first glider punched through the barbed wire in front of the bridge. Right through to fending off the desperate German counter attacks.
There are plenty of little info points in the booklet describing everything from the regiments involved, through to their experience levels and training.
Here's a nice yummy pic of the Pegasus box contents.
For sheer mouth watering fun...here is the entire set weighing down my desk and shelves in the hobby room.
I should point out that the Stephen Ambrose book and bolt action rulebook are not included, but its today's hoard and reading material.
So in summary.
I am one happy wargamer, i have been wanting something related to Pegasus Bridge all my hobby life and now i have it.
Does it live up to my hopes. HELL YES.
Is it worth the £275, it's a purely personal decision but for me again its a massive yes.
Am I daunted and a tad terrified by the prospect of all that plastic, metal, wood and resin?. In truth yes i am.
I have never made a Sarrissa model before so that will be a learning experience. As to the rest, its more a case of wanting to do justice not only to this fantastic set, but also to the Brave men who at 00:16 on June 6th 1944 Landed in occupied France and went into battle as the first fully functioning allied unit and executed what remains today a text book example of a coupe de main operation.
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