Date: May 1, 3027 [See Notes]
Location: Udibi
Title: The Battle for Udibi - Hide and Seek
Authors: Richard Meyer, Walter Hunt, Lisa Hunt & Evan Jarrison
Type: Scenario (The Fox's Teeth)
Synopsis: In early 3027, a Davion survey ship landed on the otherwise unremarkable world of Udibi to make emergency repairs, and discovered a spare parts depot previously known only to Wolf's Dragoons, which visited the world as needed over the preceding decades. The AFFS dispatched Vanur's Battalion of the 7th Crucis Lancers to Udibi to safeguard the depot while recovery teams cleared it out.
The three companies split up and set up camps. McKinnon's Company (the Fox's Teeth) got bored of frying the local lizards (quite tasty) and aggressively patrolled their section of the perimeter. On May 1, McKinnon's scouts spotted elements of Woomack's Company (from Wolf's Dragoons) carrying crates from the depot.
Woomack's Company has a Warhammer, Thunderbolt (TND-4T?), 2 Wolverines (WLV-4E?), 1 Wolverine (WOV-4E?), 2 Phoenix Hawk-Ks, an Archer, a Crusader, 2 Stingers, and a Locust (LCS-2T?), all in varying states of disrepair. McKinnon's Company has the full company roster - a Marauder, a Warhammer, 2 Phoenix Hawk-Ks, 2 Stingers, a Crusader, a Rifleman, 2 Wasps, a Griffin, and a Shadow Hawk.
The two companies are pitted against each other in a campaign of four scenarios. The Dragoons can repair some damage using the supplies from the crate of supplies. McKinnon's Raiders can draw on supplies from their base camp. During scenarios, the crate can be carried by either one or two 'Mechs, as long as at least two functional hand actuators are in the mix (sorry, Warhammer). Successful Charge attacks can make a crate carrier drop its load, as can any failed PSR by the carrier.
In the meeting engagement, "Hide and Seek," McKinnon's recon lance encounters Woomack's command lance, putting a Griffin, Shadow Hawk, Wasp, and Stinger against a Warhammer, Thunderbolt, Wolverine, and Phoenix Hawk. To win, the recon lance needs to get a line of sight to the crate for a turn, and then have at least one lance member escape. Otherwise, the Dragoons win.
Historically, the Dragoons set the crate down behind a hill and engaged the Raiders, but the Raiders' speed enabled them to skirt the Dragoon position and scan the crate, then withdraw.
Notes: The scenario pack dates this battle to May 1, 3029. Since that would pit the Dragoons against the Federated Suns in the middle of the 4th Succession War, and conflicts with the chronology of "Wolves on the Border," it's pretty easy to chalk this up to a typo, and set the actual date at May 1, 3027.
This scenario has a number of similarities to the "Skirmish on Mesa 7" scenario setup of "a Davion scout team happens upon a Dragoon supply base in FedSuns territory." However, aside from the names of the worlds, there are some significant differences. There weren't any Dragoon guards when the scouts found the base on Udibi, whereas the Mesa 7 base had a Dragoon garrison company to fight the AFFS scouts off. Also, Mesa 7 was a "lost" world that had been "recently rediscovered." Udibi was inhabited (albeit very sparsely) and under Federated Suns control for the bulk of its history, without any period during which it dropped off the maps.
This is one of the few times where a scenario is an explicit tie-in to a novel, filling in the gap in the storyline. This technique is a clear attempt at cross promotion, encouraging readers who want to get the whole story to buy the scenario pack and (hopefully) get into the game. TSR did this as well around the same time, with narrative gaps in the Dragonlance Chronicles novels filled in by the accompanying RPG modules. Usually, scenarios with novel tie-ins just re-create a key scene from the fiction.
There's something decidedly odd about the designations of some of Woomack's 'Mechs. It seems like the author lacked the reference material for the chassis codes, but only for some. This raises the question of whether these represent actual variants, or simply typos.
Given the Dragoons' actual backgrounds, one suspects that the freeborn MechWarriors in the "McLean's Giants" Medium Lance (where all pilots are at least 6'7" or taller) have ancestry traced back to failed Elemental sibcadets that tested down into the civilian castes. Which is painful, indeed, for Arthur Kaneko, since he pilots a Stinger, noted for having cramped cockpit conditions for normal-sized MechWarriors.
Since the crate can be placed anywhere on the map, putting it on the far western edge of the map behind the ridge would be optimal. The Warhammer and Thunderbolt could take up position on the ridge in front of the crate, while the Phoenix Hawk and Wolverine use their speed to engage the Raiders in a mobile battle. Chase down any Raider 'Mech that tries to rabbit towards the crate, with supporting fire from the ridgeline. When they stop for the scan, make sure all your units are in position to Alpha Strike the scanner, and turn it to scrap.
For the Raiders, I would recommend the Griffin, Wasp, and Stinger advance on the bounce, jumping as much as possible (but staying close together), with the Shadow Hawk running close behind (its jump of 3 won't let it keep up). Only fire to the extent that it won't generate enough heat to slow you down, and try to get all three of your lead elements in visual range of the crate on the same turn. That way, the Dragoons will have to spread their fire and you have a pretty good shot at getting at least one 'Mech off the edge (especially if you have the trailing Shadow Hawk run forward along the north edge of the map, so it can exit and score a win even though it was another 'Mech that did the scan.)