Canadian Mechanized Platoon
"Whenever the Germans found the Canadian Corps coming into the line, they prepared for the worst."
- – David Lloyd-George
The Canadian Forces have earned and maintained an enviable reputation as crack assault troops over the course of their history, and the infantry are the centerpiece of that legend. The Canadian rifleman has much in common with both his British and American counterparts, sporting equipment from all across the globe. The Canadian infantry contribution to NATO's war effort are split into two multi-battalion-sized Regiments: The Royal 22e Régiment "Vandoos" and the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry (or PPCLI, incorrectly labeled as the PPLI in the Free Nations book), who bring Franco-Canadian vitriol and Prairie fire respectively. Packing C1A1 FALs, C2 SAWs, M72 launchers, 60mm mortars, the Carl Gustav and a big fat .50 cal MG, these men are ready to start counting kills.
In Team Yankee
If you can get them within about 16"/40cm of the baddies, these guys will easily earn back their point cost. Beyond that? Well...
They're very similar to the Brits, but are are more offensive by nature of their equipment. While their ROF and firepower values can both be quite intensive, their entire arsenal is frustratingly short ranged. Not a single tool they have is effective outside the 40cm mark, and lacking IR can worsen this for night fighting. As a consequence, retaining their 3+ skill rating is a godsend. Canadians will have an easier time making movement orders than a lot of their NATO counterparts (and all of their PACT rivals), therefore permitting them to maneuver across the board at a more efficient rate. This kind of hopping around will be required to line up the shots necessary to make their output count, and to avoid getting whittled down before they can bring their potential to bear. Almost all of your infantry teams have some form of AT, so anything dumb enough to get close enough and flash its side armour will die. If you do find a nice and cozy spot to open up, put the C5 GMPG to work. With ROF 5, it will eat up PACT infantry while providing cover for your other teams with unaltered moving ROF to push forward.
In summary, Canadian infantry are best used for the fairly standard roles of holding objectives, denying ground, and blowing up fortified enemies. Despite this, don't discount how they're capable of some reliable and unorthodox tactics thanks to free smoke, a big honkin' machine gun and a better skill value. They won't keep pace with your Leopard C1's once disembarked, but will still be able to consistently outpace most other flavours of infantry. The M113 transports that come attached are nothing special outside of their armour value, but are just what you need to get the infantry into a position where they can hit the ground running and do some damage.
IRL
From the Boer Wars to Korea, through both the World Wars, the Canadians built up a strong and storied wartime history. Boasting having never lost a war, it's not hard to see why. Known for being relentless attackers, the Canucks would never allow their enemies to rest under a constant barrage of precise shelling, sniper fire and nighttime raids. According to the official Canadian military history, the Germans loathed fighting them so much that they named the Canadians as the "White Gurkhas" as early as 1916. It is worth noting that there exists a debate as to whether or not this was all more reputation than reality, but the Canadian Forces definitely became known as some of the finest, most accurate shock troops the world had ever seen.
The Vandoos and the PPCLI are both Regiments with a storied history of their own, with the latter being formed for the First World War and the former being associated with the founding of Canada itself. Becoming mechanized towards the tail end of WW2 thanks to the local proliferation of "Kanagroo" type APC vehicles, they both had been adjusted in size to contain several Battalions instead of being Battalion-sized themselves. Ever since then, the Canadian forces in general had adopted and stuck to local variants of the M113 and FAL as soon as either were available, though plans to modernize and replace this equipment had been in place by 1985. As the case is here, Canadian equipment tended to lag behind the rest of NATO in terms of the technological cutting edge. Units often found themselves acquiring equivalent weapons and gear a fair while after their allies. This was said to be offset by the quality of the men who carried them, though again, there continues to be a debate as to the reality of such statements. Regardless, the stats presented for Team Yankee certainly reflect that emphasis on skill at arms.
| 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 |