Night Drop 2: Pegasus Bridge

About this board game

Night Drop 2: Pegasus Bridge is a two-player historical game about the first hours of D-Day in the sector east of Caen, with games lasting approximately 120 minutes.

The game covers the night of 5–6 June 1944, when Major Howard and his men captured the bridges over the Orne River and Caen Canal. These actions formed one part of Operation Tonga and the deployment of the 6th British Parachute Division east of Caen.

Players explore the challenges faced by the 3rd and 5th Parachute Brigades after they were dropped shortly before 1 AM on 6 June. Bad weather disrupted the work of the Pathfinders and pilots, scattering the deployment and leaving some battalions at only 50% strength several hours later. Flooded landing zones also caused many British paratroopers to drown.

• Destroy bridges over the Dives to block routes toward the British landing beaches.
• Silence the batteries on the Merville coast threatening the invasion fleet at Sword Beach.
• Take control of several important villages.

Based on the rules from Night Drop, which covered the 82nd Airborne Division’s sector to the west, the rules in Night Drop 2 are adapted and very slightly different for this campaign.

The game uses a focused historical scale: each hex represents 400 meters, each turn represents one hour, and each counter represents either a platoon or a company. Released in 2018, Night Drop 2: Pegasus Bridge presents a compact view of the confusion, disruption, and determined action surrounding the British airborne objectives on D-Day.