Fielding the Australian 2 Cavalry Regiment in Team Yankee

Using 2 Cavalry Regiment in Team Yankee

Fielding the Australian 2 Cavalry Regiment in Team Yankee
with Scott McCorley and Garry Wait

2nd Cavalry Regiment – or 2 Cav as it’s known within the Australian Defence Force – was formed in 1965 as the "1st Cavalry Regiment", (it is the second most senior regiment in the Royal Australian Armoured Corps). In 1970, the regiment was redesignated as the "2nd Cavalry Regiment" to differentiate it from the 1st Armoured Regiment. During the Team Yankee period, 2 Cav was the eyes and ears of the sole mechanised force in the Australian Army, the 1st Brigade.

The regiment was based at Holsworthy, New South Wales, Australia during this period and using largely unmodified Vietnam era M113A1 APC hulls for its reconnaissance role. The only exception to this were the two M113 MRV’s (six per squadron and twelve in the Regiment) that had British Alvis Scorpion turrets mounted on M113A1 chassis.  Although the M113’s had served Australia faithfully since the 1960’s since action in Vietnam, the vehicle was coming to the end of it’s life as a reconnaissance vehicle.

The Australian Government decided in the 1987 Defence White Paper to consider a replacement and obtained a loan of some USMC vehicles to test the concept of a wheeled force instead of the traditional tracked vehicles. The trial of 15 ex USMC vehicles commencing from 1990 proved incredibly successful despite temperatures of over 55 degrees Celsius being experienced in the vehicles. The exercises of these 15 hulls (one being kept in reserve) involved exercises with over 6,500km covered, including 4,000km to travel from Tindal Royal Australian Air Force Base, Northern Territory in the far north to their home base in Holsworthy, New South Wales in the south – all self driven and without transporters. 

Other issues noted were stowage limitations and the vulnerability of the USMC issued tires which tended to be shredded too readily by the harsh cross country of the Australian outback. Following this successful test, four APC versions without turrets were purchased. These were based on the Canadian Bison but unlike the LAV-25 these were on  a six wheeled chassis unlike the LAV with an eight wheeled chassis. These were a temporary loan and are outside the scope of the trials unit so not referred to below. 

Using 2 Cavalry Regiment in Team Yankee

In 1992, the unit was relocated to Darwin when it’s parent body, the 1st Brigade, moved to the Northern Territory.  From 1995, 2 Cav also transitioned from the M113A1 Light Reconnaissance Vehicle (M113 LRV in Australian terms) and M113 Medium Reconnaissance Vehicle to the ASLAV ( Australian Service Light Armoured Vehicle) as a full replacement. Partly this occurred due to the outstanding success of the trial and partly due to issues being experienced with the cracking of aluminium armour on the top of the M113 MRV following firing, severely limiting their service life.

In late 2014 the regiment was transferred to the 3rd Brigade, and is now based in Townsville, Queensland. 

The unit today is equipped with M1A1 tanks and LAV light armoured vehicles, continuing the traditions established over many years of faithful service.

For 2 Cav, the byword of the unit is “Courage”.

What does this mean? To the men and women of the 2nd cavalry Royal Australian Armor Corps it is their motto as well as the standard they aspire to in all things. The symbol of this unit is the Australian Wedge Tail Eagle clasping a lance in its talons. The unit color patch is light blue over dark blue in a diagonal rectangle with the light blue on the left. Unlike their brethren in the 1st Armored regiment, the soldiers of 2 Cav  wear a slouch hat with emu feathers (as well as the black beret). Since its creation it has had three Wedge Tailed Eagles each named Courage. In 1985, Sergeant Courage (an 18 year old female Eagle) was the unit mascot for 2 Cav. It is noteworthy that being sole handler of the Courage, the Wedge Tailed Eagle is a prized position within the Regiment. The Wedge Tailed Eagle was chosen for "keenness of sight and ability to roam over large distances” to quote the Australian Army.

Using 2 Cavalry Regiment in Team Yankee

2 Cav is also the custodian of the battle honours of the World War 2 era 2/6 Cavalry Regiment which was a Divisional Cavalry force that you can use in Flames Of War, using a Command Card in the desert. Such a force was armed with Crusader and Stuart tanks as well as Universal Carriers.  

Since its formation, 2 Cavalry Regiment has played a key role in Australian military operations. In 1999, ‘C’ Squadron deployed to east Timor as part of the initial Australian contribution to INTERFET.

More recently, 2 Cav Regt has deployed its LAVs to Iraq in the aftermath of the 2003 invasion. The regiment’s initial role was to provide armoured transport for Australian diplomats and military personnel based in Baghdad and Northern Iraq. This service resulted in 2 Cav being one of only a few Regiments of the Royal Australian Armoured Corps to see action since Vietnam.

In 1985 the unit was comprised of two squadrons, also referred to as sabre squadrons. The make up of these squadrons were troops of m113s LRV and the M113 MRV also nicknamed the “Beast”. The squadron would have three troops of three M113 LRV’s with two M113 MRVs. It also had its own infantry for backup, which was equipped with the same weapons as their brethren from the infantry battalions at the time.

Using 2 Cavalry Regiment in Team Yankee

Based on the doctrine of the time, the idea was that 2 Cav would scout ahead and recon for the heavier armour of 1 Armoured Regiment or the mechanised forces of 5/7th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, the sole specialised mechanised infantry unit in the Australian Army at this time.


This is an unoffical list intended for use as part of the Gallipoli Cup which you can check out here...

So now that you have some background information on 2 Cav, this gives you a briefing on how to use 2 Cav in Team Yankee. 2nd Cav LAVs use the same points as USMC LAVs.

These Additional Options are intended to build upon the list within Free Nations

A player may take up to two Sabre Squadrons and up to one  Trials Squadron.

Support options are identical to Free Nations.

(BOLD text are compulsory ONLY if you take that formation).

Sabre Squadron
M113 Mechanized Company HQ Headquarters - x2 M113 at 2pt   
(Courage 2+ Skill, 2+, Morale 3+, Remount 4+, Assault 4+, Counterattck 4+)

2 to 4 Troops – x2 M113 MRV and x1-x3 M113 LRV (stats per the card)
(Courage 3+ Skill, 3+, Morale 4+, Remount 4+, Assault 4+, Counterattck 5+)

0-1 Platoon – M113 Mechanized Platoon (per card)

0-1 Platoon – Milan Anti-tank Section (per card)

0-1 Troop – 3x or 4x Leopard AS1 (per card)

 

Trials Squadron
Squadron HQ – 2x LAV-25 – 2pts (stats per the LAV card for USMC)
(Courage 2+ Skill, 2+, Morale 3+, Remount 3+, Assault 4+, Counterattck 4+)

2 to 3 Troops – 3 or 4 LAV-25 (stats per the LAV card)
(Courage 3+ Skill, 3+, Morale 4+, Remount 3+, Assault 4+, Counterattck 5+)

0-1 Platoon – M113 Mechanized Platoon (per card)

0-1 Platoon – Milan anti-tank Section (per card)

0-1 Troop – 3x or 4x Leopard AS1 (per card)

List Notes
Due to the very close working relationship within 1st Brigade between these three units, you can have directly attached up to one platoon of each Regiment as noted below. Despite being an early trial unit for the Milan AT system, 2 Cav was designated primarily a reconnaissance force and can have no more than one AT unit per Squadron, utilising spare Assault Troopers. Assault Troopers provide the Scout ability for the LAV and M113 LRV units, noting one or two dismounts per vehicle who otherwise wouldn’t amount to a full stand each vehicle. These Assault Troopers guide the way and help the vehicles sneak forward to observe enemy troop buildups.

As noted earlier, the trials unit found tyres to be highly susceptible to shredding or puncture damage in the Australian bush and vehicles would commonly carry two spares strapped to the rear hull. Stowage was also modified as it was found that the racks on the vehicles were easily damaged. A keen modeller could modify their plastic vehicles to suit this change.   

Original LAVs were painted in USMC colours (being on loan) so could therefore be represented by NATO three colour paint schemes as vehicles were not finished in MERDC in this period.  Over time, vehicles were repainted to Australian AUSCAM pattern per your Free Nations book, so feel free to model the vehicles as you wish.

*Note that you can now have an additional M113 MRV for an extra 1pt in a Cavalry Troop when taken as part of an Armoured Squadron or a Mechanised Company.