Date: December 15, 3027
Location: Tianjin
Title: Payback
Author: Michael T. Herbert
Type: Scenario (Rolling Thunder)
Synopsis: A series of raids by a bandit group known as the Red Wolves has upset the FWL's offensive timetable against the Lyran Commonwealth. Rolling Thunder was diverted from its preparations to raid Poulsbo and deployed for a retaliatory strike against the Red Wolves' basecamp on the Periphery world of Tianjin.
Rolling Thunder hit the basecamp at 0630 and caught the garrison napping while the Red Wolves 'Mech assets were elsewhere. Rolling Thunder consists of a BattleMaster, Victor, Hunchback, Hermes II, Awesome, Archer, Warhammer, Firestarter, Ostsol, Ostroc, Shadow Hawk, and Wolverine-M.
The Red Wolves' planetary garrison consists of four Harasser Missile Platforms, four Scorpion Light Tanks, two Hunter Light Support Tanks, four Galleon Light Tanks, four Rifle Infantry Platoons, and four Machine Gun Infantry Platoons. Infantry starts hidden, if desired. They are deployed to protect three Parts Depots (Medium), four Vehicle Garages/Repair Bays (Heavy), a Transmission Tower (Medium), and two Control Centers (Medium).
The Red Wolves get three points for every 'Mech destroyed/disabled. (Oddly, it says they get 2 points for every Rolling Thunder vehicle destroyed or disabled, even though the RT company doesn't include any vehicles.) The chart at the end ignores the earlier scoring setup, and instead grants five points for disabling/destroying a Rolling Thunder 'Mech, three for withdrawing a friendly unit off the map, 2 points for every turn that each side remains on the map after turn 15, and 25 if reinforcements arrive. Rolling Thunder gets points for damaging or destroying the buildings, but nothing for taking out Red Wolves units. If they wipe out all the buildings, they get a maximum of 69 points.
The Red Wolves begin to roll for reinforcements starting on Turn 13, with the chance increasing each turn until it automatically happens on Turn 20, consisting of 740 tons of equipment of the Defender's choice. (These units are being occupied by heavy aerospace attacks during the Thunder's insertion).
Notes: Tianjin is specified as being in the Periphery, and should not be confused with the Lyran world of Tainjin. (Sarna.net identifies Tainjin as the baseworld of the Red Wolves, but it's not in the Periphery, and a world 270 light years from the Marik border seems a poor choice of staging world for raids into the FWL...unless you're from the Red Duke school of thought and agree that Trell I is an excellent staging base for attacks on Tharkad.)
The scenario is undated, but the unit timeline specifies that it was deployed to the Lyran border for offensive operations in October 3027. Thus, mid-December seems an appropriate time for them to have been pulled away from that posting for this side mission, especially since they're back on for the Poulsbo raid by January 6, 3028, but any time from mid-November to mid-December would work. This also places the ongoing Marik Militia raid on Arcadia into context - the FWL wasn't just doing reconnaissance to check on the aftermath of GALAHAD, they were planning a broad offensive to gauge whether LCAF fighting capabilities had been improved as a result of Operation THOR '27. There's also action on Ford on December 25, so it seems clear that the FWL did indeed unleash raids all along the Lyran border in December 3027 - January 3028 to assess their capabilities.
Although Rolling Thunder is specified as having inserted under cover of darkness, local time is 0630 at the time of the engagement, so no "night fighting" penalties apply. (Poor planning on the FWL's part, since it would have been so much easier to get in, smash the immobile buildings, and get out unscathed with that extra +2 TN penalty.)
Hilariously, given the way the point table assigns results, the Red Wolves could force a draw by positioning their troops on the map edge and walking off on Turn 1, scoring 66 points immediately. 69-66 = 3, which is a Draw.
Assuming neither player is planning to metagame things to quite that extent, it seems clear that Rolling Thunder wants to get in, do heavy damage, and get back out before Turn 15 (ideally before Turn 13). The Transmission Tower and Control Centers are the primary targets, worth 10 and 15 points (fully destroyed) respectively. WIth CFs of 30 and 40 respectively, 110 points of damage should take them out in short order for a gain of 40 points.
While the FWL side isn't explicitly granted any points for killing Red Wolves units, in practice each unit killed is worth three points. The Rolling Thunder can't just take out the high value buildings and skedaddle, because otherwise they'll get killed on points from the withdrawal score. I would recommend, then, that the Thunder charge into the tanks and infantry guns blazing, and only take shots at the buildings if they have an otherwise unoccupied gun in range that has a terrible to-hit number against a mobile target but can still put some hurt on a building with the -4 immobile target bonus. Around turn 10, start pulling back and concentrating on any remaining buildings, making sure to fully down the high value ones, and at least get to the 50% "damaged" threshold for the low value ones.
For the Red Wolves, you simply lack the firepower to make much of a dent in Rolling Thunder's Heavy and Assault 'Mechs. The Scorpions, Galleons, and Harassers will implode once those PPCs and Large Lasers start landing. Your best bet for victory is to position your infantry (hidden) near the edge, and most of your tanks there as well, and exchange long range fire with the Thunder, targeting the Hermes II and Firestarter in particular (swarming any strays with the fast-moving Harassers). Use the hidden infantry to bushwhack any of their scouts who try to overrun your tanks. If you can take one 'Mech down with massed firepower and then bail, you'll end up with 71 points to the Thunder's maximum potential 69, resulting in a final score of -2, and a Red Wolf minor victory.
If, for whatever reason, the Rolling Thunder is still on the map when the reinforcements arrive, they're pretty much toast, points-wise. Not only is there the 25 point penalty from them just showing up, but they could all immediately just step back off for 3 more points per unit. If the Wolves player wanted to really bury the needle on the points, he could make it all infantry platoons (3 tons each) and score 740 more points for overkill bragging rights.