Date: June, 2859
Location: St. Ives
Title: Mission: Capellan Raiders
Author: Ben Rome
Type: Scenario (HexPack: Lakes and Rivers)
Synopsis: A company from the 7th Crucis Lancers is reassigned to the Capellan March and assigned to attack a firebase on St. Ives in hopes of stalling incursions against the Federated Suns. The Lancers player may choose four units from a list of seven, including: Stinger, Mongoose, Phoenix Hawk, Griffin, Crusader, Warhammer, and Marauder. Half the force enters from one edge of the map at the start, and the other half enters from another edge starting on turn 2. The defender, a "Confederation Militia" unit, rolls on the 3039 RAT after making a force composition roll that will give them between 4 and 5 'Mechs of various weights.
Optional elements include impassible heavy woods, and night combat conditions. The Lancers' goal is to destroy at least two Militia 'Mechs (ideally all of them) and exit at least one 'Mech off the Militia's home edge. The Militia gets points for preventing these conditions from occurring.
Historically, this raid succeeded, boosting Davion morale and terrifying Chancellor Dainmar Liao, who signed a peace treaty in 2861, ending the Second Succession War on the Capellan/FedSuns front. In honor of their actions, the Lancers company was officially designated "McKinnon's Raiders."
Notes: This is an extra mission presented as bonus content to be used in conjunction with Starterbook: Sword and Dragon. Of course, Starterbook Sword and Dragon takes place in the 3030s and 3040s, so I'm not sure how you'd use a Second Succession War scenario "in conjunction with" the campaign tracks from two centuries later.
Historically, this attack on a St. Ives firebase was not what brought Dainmar to the negotiating table. That happened on July 5, 2861, when Colonel Melissa Davion led a strike against Dainmar's palace on St. Ives with the Davion Assault Guards, coming close to killing Dainmar before he escaped. Dainmar immediately sent an emissary to New Avalon, seeking terms, and signed the treaty in January 2862. The Crucis Lancers' strike against St. Ives could be considered a preliminary raid, one of many aimed at softening up St. Ives' defenses prior to the strike against the palace.
Ben Rome wrote HexPack Lakes and Rivers in 2010, while the Second Succession War sourcebook is dated 2017, so the dates and event sequence, for canonicity purposes, defaults to the more recent product.
The AFFS targeted St. Ives repeatedly during the Second Succession War, first hitting it in 2836 during Operation TIGER, raiding it with the Fourth Syrtis Fusiliers and the Bloody Suns, and then hitting it again with the Davion Assault Guards in 2861 during Operation WINTER GARDEN, which effectively ended the Capellan involvement in the Second Succession War.
This 7th Crucis Lancers raid on St. Ives isn't recorded in the 2nd Succession War sourcebook, and I have to admit, I overlooked the scenario myself at first, since it was buried at the back of the Lakes and Rivers hexpack pamphlet, behind the Rules section. According to the AFFS TO&E chart in SSW, the 7th remained posted on Raman for the duration of the war, going from Heavy weight and 76% operational to Medium weight and 25% operational. Raman is on the FedSuns/Combine border, but Ben Rome's foreword for the scenario does note that the company was transferred to the Capellan front for the raid. Appropriately, the CCAF table shows that no front line forces were posted to St. Ives during the Second Succession War, explaining why the defenders are listed as just "Capellan Militia." By 3025, Capellan militia units usually just have infantry and light tanks, but things were better for them (at least on regional capitals) in the 2800s.
Ben's setup is an adaptation of the history section of the "Fox's Teeth" scenario pack, which says that "During the Second Succession War, McKinnon's Company fought mainly on the Capellan front, spearheading several offensives deep into Confederation territory. In one of the most famous operations of the Second War, the comapny launched a sneak raid onto Sian itself, the homeworld of the Capellan Confederation. Although it did not inflict serious damage and the casualties were heavy, McKinnon's Raiders dealt a crucial blow to the Confederation's already sagging morale. As a result, the House of Liao sued for peace just three months after the Raid, and McKinnon's Company acquired a new name, McKinnon's Raiders."
Given the SSW chronology, this raid is not the strike on St. Ives portrayed in this scenario, but would have had to happen in April 2861, three months before the Davion Assault Guards hit St. Ives and prompted Dainmar to sue for peace. Ben seems to be conflating a May 2861 raid on Sian with a 2859 attack on St. Ives (and with the July 2861 attack on St. Ives). My suggestion for sorting out the chronology is that McKinnon's Company took out a firebase on St. Ives in 2859, and then launched a raid on Sian in 2861, earning the right to do the Sian raid after success on St. Ives, and earning their "Raiders" moniker on Sian.
As an introductory scenario, this one is fairly straightforward, though giving the Lancers the option of entering from two sides of a single map makes it ludicrously easy to get a unit off the defender's home edge, since, by definition, one of their entry points will be adjacent to the Home edge of the defender. All they have to do is enter in the Hex next to the corner, turn one hex facing, and exit on the same movement phase.
Rolling on the 3039 RAT has the potential to create some anachronisms, since it might come up with a Hatchetman, Wolfhound or other post-2859 design, but I understand that the purpose was to cross-promote the products that had come out around the same time.