M113 Armored Personnel Carrier

The Original Metal Box

"METAL BOXES!"

– Firaeveus Carron

The M113 is an armored personnel carrier used by the United States Military. The M113 was the first vehicle armored entirely with aluminum, enough to stop small arms fire from turning the occupants into bleeding sponges, but not enough to stop anything serious. The M113 is armed with a single .50cal AA Machine gun, but the most powerful thing it carries into battle is the 11 mean, green fighting machines tucked away in relative safety inside.

Like a certain vehicle in a particular miniature wargame the M113 has been adapted into a staggering number of variants to fill various different battlefield roles.

In Team Yankee

USA

The Stat Card

The M113 is one of the best transports in Team Yankee with decent armor, good transport and a useful main gun. The M113 can carry 3 teams of infantry (4 less than the marines overgrown version the AAVP7, but one more than almost every other personnel carrier and two more than the British Spartan). The front armor of 3 is the strongest of any APC on the field (though don't go taking on Main Battle Tanks in this thing). The side and top armor are rather standard though at 2 and 1 respectively.

The M113 is armed with a .50cal AA machine gun, which can be used to deal with enemy infantry, BTRs, and helicopters. However, you can sacrifice some of your Mech Platoons M47 Dragon teams and mount the Dragon Missiles on the M113s, turning it into a stopgap tank hunter (which is somewhat situational due to the reduction in damage output). However, the main selling point of the M113 is its 5+ firepower. While inferior on the move compared to other NATO transports, the FP buff means that statistically, they perform twice as well against entrenched infantry due to the doubling in FP passes. The potential to hit targets beyond 16" is a welcome bonus, if a little situational. Expect to use these things as IFVs; their decent AT value can engage softer armored units like BTRs but their ideal task would be destroying infantry with the same efficiency as autocannons.

You cannot take M113s alone, only as transports for your Mech Platoons. For 4 Points you get 3 M113s, 2 M47 Dragon Teams and 3 M249 SAW/M72 LAW teams. For an additional 2 points, you get one more of each, for a total of 4 M113s 3 M47 Dragon Teams And 4 M249 SAW teams. In both cases, you may purchase an additional Dragon ATGM team for one point.

The best way to utilize the M113 is to support the infantrymen it just dropped off. Use them to draw fire away from your soldiers and cover them with machine gun fire. If you're rocking the Dragon, take out the tanks that pose the most danger to the troops, like AA autocannons or other transports. Also never EVER leave the infantry behind.

West Germany

Das Deutsche Stats

Since German homemade transports are a bit on the expensive side and take a while to manufacture, the West Germans purchased thousands of M113s to equip their panzergrenadiers. The rules for these machines can be found in the Panzertruppen Pamphlet.

Unlike the All American model, the German M113 mounts a 7.62mm MG3 machine gun instead of the M2 .50 cal. The MG3 has an improved moving ROF over the .50, letting the M113 roll three dice after moving compared to 2. Unfortunatly the AT rating and Firepower are not as good, at 2 (down from 4) and 6 (down from 5+) respectively. In addition, you cannot sacrifice one of your Milan Teams to mount their missile onto the M113 like you can with the other two German transport options (not that you should given the West German's tiny unit size). This means that the German box's offensive capabilities are strictly Anti-personnel as the high ROF can cut through infantry formations, but is useless against their transports or armor support.

The German M113 also has one less capacity than the American Model, at the rather standard 2 passenger limit. While sufficient to transport the tiny West German units, if you lose a vehicle suddenly you have a lot of ride-less infantry, while if this was the American model, you could just pile them into the rest of the transports. German commanders must be a lot more conservative with their support as if you lose a M113, you've lost almost all of the mobility of their infantry.

4 points will get you a pair of M113s, a pair of MG3/Panzerfaust Teams, and a pair of Milan teams, and for an addtionaly 3 points you get one more of each.

Canada

The 'Nuck Box Stats

Almost identical to their american counterpart, but with a better skill value, it lacks any night-vision or the ability to take an optional ATGM. However, the lack of AT, AA and general firepower potential isn't as detrimental as one might think, as the Canadians have options for these things elsewhere in their list. This all cements the Canadian Mechanized's role as a highly agile stopgap for pinning other infantry and preventing the enemy from maneuvering their own tanks around the board as they please. The M113, in turn, serves in a cursory support role, being relatively cheap and fairly well-armoured. Rush them forward as fire magnets or rush them forward and use the wrecks for bulletproof cover.

All in all, the M113 Transport is nothing special for the Canadians. Yet it's the only transport option you're given, and you need to get your infantry as close to the enemy as possible since their range is at times cripplingly short. So use that decent front armour to keep the hosers alive, use that .50 cal to cover them as they march forward into the breach. Worst comes to worst, it's free cover for your rifles.

The non-transport variants, on the other hand, are highly varied. These range from a multipurpose AT/AA MANPAD carrier, a standard TOW launcher, an OP Carrier and an 81mm mortar carrier.

ANZAC

'splish splash'

The ANZAC M113 is a little different from the classic metal box. Instead of the observation cupola and a pintle-mount for a Machine Gun, the Aussies have instead fitted an actual turret with not one, but two MGs: a primary .50cal and a coaxial 7.62mm. This translates to an extra shot at AT 2 and a bare bones 6 FP on top of the regular .50 cal stats. You also lose the AA ability because I guess the turret just can't turn fast enough to track helicopters and strike aircraft. Also it has an Infra-Red Scope.

Other than that, treat the "Bucket", as the ANZACs call the M113, the same as you would any of the other transports. Support the Infantry and deal with other light vehicles and enemy soldiers. You can get M113 T50s as transports for your ANZAC Milan Sections and ANZAC Mechanized Platoons.

Netherlands

The slightly less armed option for the prospective Dutch commander. Battlefront must have been high when they built it as the studio model for the Dutch M113 has the top hatch installed upside down on the box art.

The Dutch use M113s for their infantry platoons which, IRL, formed the bulk of the transport fleet for the infantry. You will probably be taking YPR-mounted infantry in a Dutch list, but might choose to bring M113-mounted troops to defend your objective.

Like other M113s, it is a reliable transport that can weather a beating from the front and has a .50 cal that can punish entrenched infantry (when spammed) and punches through lighter armoured vehicles like BTRs. Losing the 7.62mm machine gun is less of an issue, since you lose only an additional shot.

The M113 is an option for your mechanized infantry platoons and costs 5 or 7 points depending on the platoon size.

IRL

An M113 in Denmark

The M113 First entered service in 1960 and has remained in use ever since. Currently, over 6000 M113s are in use in the United States, with thousands more in other nations. The M113 is being phased out by the Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle. A more up to date version of the Bradley Fighting Vehicle. Turns out removing the turret gives you a lot more space and options to work with. By "options" we mean things like extra space for more troops, medivacing wounded, mortars, longer ranged missiles or 30mm/40mm autocannons. America isn't the only nation replacing the M113 either. The AMPV is just the latest attempt and the only one that hasn't been canned by the US Army.

During the Cold War it has seen some repurposing as various support vehicles, such as AT Missile Carriers, mortar carriers, anti-air guns, Air-Defense Missile carriers, and Recon Vehicles. It also has mindless fanbois who call it the Gavin. A term made up by a drop out of both the USMC and Army Reserves. He and his dumb ass followers believe that the platform is just as capable as the upgraded Bradley and superior to just about any wheeled APC. Never mind that its armor can be defeated by anti-material rifles,heavy machine guns, and possibly sustained fire from a LMG. Given its appearance, models of it make decent proxies for 40K Rhinos for players on the cheap or who want a different look.

Canadian Forces in Team Yankee
Tanks:	Leopard C1
Transports:	M113 APC
Infantry:	Canadian Mechanized Platoon
Artillery:	M109 Field Battery - M125 81mm
Anti-Aircraft:	ADATS - M113 Blowpipe
Tank Hunters:	M150 TOW
Recon:	Lynx RECCE Patrol - M113 OP
US Support:	M1 Abrams - M60 Patton - US Mech Platoon - A-10 Warthog
WG Support:	Leopard 2 - Marder Panzergrenadiers - BO-105P - Tornado

ANZAC Forces in Team Yankee
Tanks:	Leopard AS1
Transports:	M113 (T50)
Infantry:	ANZAC Mechanized Platoon - Milan AT Section
Artillery:	M125 Mortar Platoon
Anti-Aircraft:	M113 Redeye SAM section
Tank Hunters:	AT Land Rover
Recon:	Scorpion - M113 MRV - M113 LRV
British Support:	Abbot Field Battery - M109 Field Battery - FV432 FOO - Harrier Jump Jet - Lynx HELARM