Expendable but Unbowed: The LAV-25 in the Twilight War

[Tegyrius]

I recently acquired a copy of the Osprey LAV-25 book, which got me thinking about the odd ways in which Twilight: 2000 history diverges from the real world. The designers seem to have done their original work during the brief period in which the U.S. Army was considering purchasing the LAV-25, basing a fair amount of divisional TO&E assumptions on it and the 9th Infantry Division's light motorized experiments. As we know, real-world evolution was somewhat different, with the Army occasionally flirting but never committing until 4-68 Armor finally, um, borrowed some Marine LAV-25A2s in 2018 to return some sort of thing-with-a-gun capability to the 82nd Airborne.

But... the LAV-25 remains an iconic Twilight: 2000 vehicle, featured in the core rules' opening fiction, the character creation random vehicle table, and American color plate C2. So what if

As occasionally happens, this idea stuck in my brain and I couldn't do any other writing until I got it out. My mental blockage is, hopefully, your gain. Enjoy.

http://www.de-fenestra.com/t2k/downloads/T2k_LAV-25.pdf

- C.

[StainlessSteelCynic]

Nice work, I particularly liked the story of Ivan Eater.

As an aside, the first image you used intrigued me. At first glance I thought it might have been an Australian ASLAV. The black & white treatment rendered the vehicle colours unidentifiable so I checked the credits and found colour versions.
So why did I think it might have been Australian
The trees.

They looked like the trees commonly found in the eastern part of Australia.
When I tracked down some other copies of that specific image, sure enough, it's a LAV-25 from the USMC 3rd Light Reconnaissance Company, in the Shoalwater Bay Training Area (which is located on the east coast of Australia).

https://www.defense.gov/observe/photo-gallery/igphoto/2001239146/

[Ewan]

Thats an excellent little piece on the LAV-25, I wonder what other vehicles could get the same sort of write up.

[stilleto69]

Great work. I really like how you added those little details like the 1st engagement between US & Soviet forces in Norway and in Iran.

[Tegyrius]

Thank you, gentlemen.

@SSC: Your obsessive attention to botany is impressive but I'm keeping the photo where it is.

@Ewan: I think this format works best with equipment whose Twilight War development differs from real-world history. The LAV-75 is the first obvious choice, based on the collective development work done in the LAV-75; Stingray; M8 AGS thread. I also could see this being a good way to expand the US Army AAA in T2k thread into a comprehensive article.

- C.

[Raellus]

As always, great work, Teg.

-

[cawest]

great work... looking forward to more!!

[Gunner]

GREAT work!

[Ramjam]

Great work. Really good read.

More please

[StainlessSteelCynic]

<snip>
@SSC: Your obsessive attention to botany is impressive but I'm keeping the photo where it is.
<snip>
- C.

No objections from me, it's a great photo of the LAV-25 and I think most people would agree that it's a good image to lead into the article

Curiosity is probably my strongest life motivation so when something switches it on, I'm driven by it until it's satisfied.
The trees looked familiar so I "had" to know where the photo was taken.
My apologies if it seemed I was doubting the authenticity of the image

[lombardoslegion]

I really enjoyed the article. Thanks.

[Olefin]

Loved your article - FYI you should add the Kenyan theatre of operations to the list of places the the LAV-25 operated in - per the East African Sourcebook which is canon they deployed there along with the 30th Marine Regiment which was cobbled together in 1998 from troops withdrawn from Guantanamo, the last class of Marines being trained at Parris Island and Camp Lejeune along with their drill instructors, USMC security detachments from African embassies and a detachment from FAST Company, Atlantic

30th Marine Regiment – Mombasa, Pemba Island
Manpower: 1400 men
Armor: sixteen AAVP9, six LAV-25, six M106 Mortar Carrier, three M60A1 tanks
Vehicles: fifteen HMMVW, six gun trucks, twenty MUTT Jeeps
Artillery: four M101 howitzers

[Tegyrius]

@SSC - In no way did I take it poorly. I was just amused. I hadn't considered the area in which the original photo was taken to be a major selection factor. When I was doing my image search for this piece, I was mainly trying to avoid photos with Marines in anachronistic MARPAT or with vehicles clearly from a non-T2k timeline (e.g., KFOR markings or counter-IED electronics masts).

(By the way, I didn't address the ASLAV in this article because I wanted to leave that territory for whoever does a comprehensive article on the Australian military in T2k. Ahem.)

This, on the other hand:

@Olefin - You come into a thread I started on my fan work and try to dictate content to me in a poorly-veiled attempt at self-promotion Eight years here, and you still haven't internalized advice point #5. Congratulations. You are now the first person on this forum with the right combination of arrogance, rudeness, and tenacity to earn a slot on my ignore list.

- C.

[Legbreaker]

(By the way, I didn't address the ASLAV in this article because I wanted to leave that territory for whoever does a comprehensive article on the Australian military in T2k. Ahem.)

No no, go ahead so I can steal your work!
Seriously though I'm focusing more on the big picture stuff rather than minutia such as equipment stats. Including authorised OOBs and general loadouts, but leaving stats to those better qualified than me (ahem, Paul).

[pmulcahy11b]

When I first got to the 82nd (this was about May 91) they were in the process of trying to foist off the LAV-25 on 3/73. The tankers were not happy, and most importantly, the CG and the ADC(M) were not happy. The LAV-25 did not last long at 3-73 (and I do think they were the wrong vehicle for the 3/73). The 3/73 ended up going to Desert Storm with up-armored HMMWVs with TOWs in the back. Embarrassing.