Introduction

The following introduction is as supplied by Tankograd:
In July 2018, the first Leguan armoured bridge-laying system was handed over to the Bundeswehr Engineer Corps. The ordered systems are being delivered between 2018 and 2021, enabling the German Armed Forces to cross water and terrain obstacles even with heavy equipment bearing an MLC 80 rating. As the German Army has a total requirement of 31 Leguan bridge layers, in the middle of 2020 additional 24 systems were ordered which should be fielded from 2023. This publication describes, for the very first time and highly illustrated this brand new high-tech weapon system of the German land forces.

Review

This book released by Tankograd publishing has a 64 page count using a good quality glossy paper for the presentation of the contents; these are protected by a card cover that does a pretty good job as long as the books are not abused by liquids and the like. The pages are held in place with staples and one of the few areas I am not a fan of. This particular offering is authored by Ralph Zwilling a person whose style I have become very accustomed to. This offering is one of the duel language publications from Tankograd having German on the left of the page and English on the Right. The content in this book is presented as follows:

Leguan Armoured Bridge Laying system
From Panzerschellbruke 2 to the Leguan Armoured Bridge laying system
Leguan Series Production Vehicle
Leguan
Hull
Power pack
Central hydraulic system
Electrical system
Radio system
Bridge laying system
Bridges
14m Bridge
26m Bridge
Optronic system
Laying and support system
Laying arm
Rear support arm
Smoke grenade discharger system
Front support blade
SPECTUS
Bridge support section

This book is one of the latest releases from Tankograd and it needs to be remembered that all of their offerings are limited print runs and so if you want one don’t hang about. This title looks at one of the latest vehicles to go into service with the German army and to be best on the Leopard chassis, both of these aspects should be making the title fly off the shelf? Being a bridge layer it is a large vehicle and not available in plastic that I know of, but I am sure a certain German resin caster will be working towards making it into a viable model.

The text in this offering is provided in both German and English and so has a wide appeal on the written side. Ralph Zwilling has provided a lot of written information in this title and so it should hold appeal for the person interested in the vehicle rather than the modeller only. I am unsure if Ralph Zwilling writes both the German and English text but either way it is very well done and usually a pleasure to while away a few hours with an interesting read.

As we all know with Tankograd offerings it is the images that steal the show and this title is no different. The photographs offered are all of a very high quality and in full colour; I was particularly pleased with the walk around section that is especially good in this title. If the photographs are the star of the show then it is the captions that run a close second. The captions accompany every photograph and are well written in German and English. The information provided varies in quantity but meets my requirements of a title such as this.

Conclusion

This offering from Tankograd is limited to 999 copies and I have one of those. The Laguan is unlikely to appear as a mass produced model, but being based on the Leopard you never know what is around the corner. Regardless of what happens on the model front this is a great book to have around both as a general reference on the vehicle and specific reference in a lot of areas; as such this is well worth seeking out.