“Since the dawn of civilization, tribes have raided each other for resources, and now thousands of years later humanity continues with one of its founding traditions – I see, I want, I take! This guide is for new MechWarrior’s to introduce you to raiding in the 32nd Century. How to conduct a successful raid and how to defend against one.”
Ariana “Raven” Zhou, CO of the Raven’s Remembrance Mercenary Company, 3151.
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Raids
A raid is simply defined as “a rapid surprise attack on an enemy by troops, aircraft, or other armed forces”. To further this definition, raids also are not an invasion. A rapid exit from the target area is as important as the initial rapid surprise attack.
In the era of modern BattleMech warfare, raids have risen in importance since the first BattleMech stepped off the assembly line. During the Age or War, the early successor states would launch raids against their new neighbours, often targeting vital infrastructure to new colony worlds. In one of the most famous raids of all time a team of special forces broke into the BattleMech facilities at Hesperus II to steal the first designs for the Mackie!
During the golden age of the Star League, pirates secretly backed by great houses would raid their “allies” for resources. During the early 1st and 2nd Succession Wars great armies would land regimental level forces on planets in the hopes of conquest, but by the 3rd Succession Wars the infrastructure to wage intergalactic war had been destroyed, and warfare changes to an endless series of smaller raids punctuated by larger military actions.
Now in the time of the IlClan, raids are once again on the rise, with the power of the Wolf Empire, Clan Jade Falcon gone and the conclusion of the Draconis Combine/Federated Suns conflict.
What does this mean to you as a mercenary commander? C-Bills! If you live long enough to spend them…
Objectives
There are many reasons why a force will raid a target, below is a by no means exhaustive list, but are those you are most likely to be hired for (and some you should avoid if you’re an honourable mercenary).
Resources
By far the most common type of raid the resource raid involves landing, defeating the force defending the resource you want, having the means to transport it and then getting away. Resources can include; raw materials e.g. ores, metals etc, BattleMechs (or more commonly parts), as well as other industrial materials. Sometimes the fundamental resources of life, food and water, are the primary target for the raid. The most abhorrent type of resource raid is for people, often to take away as slave labour or worse – this last act will often have your mercenary company marked as pirates to be hunted down!
Clans have their own way of conducting resource raids – the Trial of Possession. A Clan force will arrive at the location, tell you what they want (Their Battchal – or Battel Challenge), what they are going to use to take it, and expect you to tell them what you are defending with. While you might be tempted to refuse a Clanners Batchall, a savvy commander can often use the Batchall system against the Clanners. Sadly, many Clanners are ceased to give this honor to Spheroid forces – although between Clans it’s still common.
Destruction
Rapidly violent disassemble of key infrastructure is the second most common type of raid. Your company is hired to land, blow stuff up and leave. Sometimes you even have to destroy a specific target – although other things along the way might also get blown up. This can become an issue is where the targets are civilian. Being hired to blow up a residential block, hospital or school is a great entry on your resume for becoming a pirate band. Key manufacturing or support infrastructure (such as repair bays) are often the target for such raids. The most dangerous raids are those against military hardware e.g. aerospace fighters, DropShips or even enemy BattleMechs – sometimes specific commanders are targetted in Headhunter raids.
In the Age of War and early Succession Wars the destruction of vital infrastructure such as environmental domes, water purification units, atmospheric processors etc was common, but now most of these activities are seen as a war crime and will have you labelled a pirate. One infamous case in 3028 is when the Grey Death Legion were accused of the destruction of the domed city of Tiantan on Sirius V leading to large numbers of civillain deaths. Luckily the Grey Death Legion were able to clear their name before their were destroyed by the forces of the Free Worlds League.
Extraction/Kidnapping
For reasons state before, this type of raid is a moral minefield for mercenaries. Extracting a key person of interest (of POI) e.g. A scientist, an enemy commander, and the occasional tyrannical overload, is a perfectly valid extension to warfare. Kidnapping on the other hand is type extraction of a POI with the hopes of using them as leverage, either for influence or money, and is some cases (such as an infamous kidnapping targeting the Kell Hounds), to recruit entire mercenary companies to work for you for free.
In Clan society – extraction/kidnapping is viewed in a completely different way. Personnel from a clan from worker caste to warrior cast can find themselves the target of a Trial of Possession. If the raider is victorious, they will expect the targets of the trial to become part of their new Clan. Wolf’s Dragoons have been known to perform Trials of Possession for Clan MechWarriors to bolster their forces.
Information/Intelligence
Usually more the realms of special ops and intelligence services, sometimes mercenaries are hired to raid a facility and extract key data (often called paydata). This raid often involved escorting a special ops team to the target to extract the paydata from a server room, data vault or even paper files. Some special ops missions involve extracting an operative from a hostile location. Either way, companies that only have BattleMechs in their TO&E find this type of mission very difficult as a combined arms approach is often required (although sometimes operatives can hitch a ride in a cockpit or even be carried in a BattleMechs hands).
Scout/Recon
The recon raid is a double-edged sword. Land on the planet, see what enemy forces are there and the exfiltrate to report back that data. The problem is, by the time the recon raid is finished the situation on the ground could have changes and the next objective raid that hits will run into reinforcements and a bad day all round. For this reason, overt recon raids are not that common, instead a more stealth infiltration is required.
Getting In/Infiltration
Insertion to the System
Getting from one system to another is the first order of business of any raid. In most cases your mercenary company will be hitching a ride on a civilian jump ship that has either been pressed into service or is in desperate need of C-Bills. Very few mercenary DropShips get the luxury of travelling via a military JumpShip or WarShip!
There are several possible approaches to Jumping into a system:
1 – Use the JumpPoints! Your JumpShip jumps to one of the JumpPoints. Advantages – You survive the jump… Disadvantages – The planetary monitoring stations detect your JumpShips emergency wave and get several days warning as you burn in system. If you’re especially unlucky, enemy aerospace fighters, DropShip or even a WarShip might be able to attack you at the Jump Point or on your way in system! In the 3020’s this was less of a problem, but in 3151 WarShips, jump/charging stations and static defence platforms are more common.
2 – Pirate Points! To successfully jumps to a non-standard jump point (the technical term for pirate points) takes expect calculation or detailed system knowledge to map out the areas which the various stellar bodies gravitation fields cancel out. These are often called LaGrange Points. The most popular pirate point is between a planet and one of its orbiting moons in the LaGrange Point between the two. This can often allow you to insert with in only a few hours of being in orbit of the target planet.
3 – Stealth Raid! This is a very uncommon tactic. The emergency wave from a JumpShip is only detectable out to about 15 AU’s. A JumpShip can jump to 15+ AU without detection and deploy its DropShip. The DropShip can then either burn into system normally, with the changes that a telescope array will see its drive plume or can accelerate for a while and then go on the float (moving at a constant velocity) with no need for the drive to be engaged. Once at the target, the DropShip performs a heavy breaking burn and the defenders have very little of any warning. The disadvantage is that the transit time is increased to many weeks or months, straining the provisions of a small DropShip. At these distances the recharge time from the jump sail will also be long.
4 -Deep Raids! Most raids occur withing 30 LY (one Jump), so usually target border worlds from a safe launch point. However, what you don’t see when you look at a mass media produce star chart if all of the other uninhabited star systems. A JumpShip over the course of many weeks or months can move from one uninhabited system to the next without being detected, to then strike at a world many jumps from the borders. The key disadvantage for this, and the reason it is so rare, is the danger of a KDF drive failure or other problem leaving the JumpShip stranded in an unknown system, with no way to get help. Many a mercenary company and JumpShip crew have starved to death when their ship was stranded in an uninhabited star system. If they are lucky, some can survive if there is a habitable planet in the system, leading to many stories of ship wreaked souls.
5 – It’s an older code, but it checks out! Deception is sometimes the best way to start a raid. Steal the transponder codes of another DropShip that is due in system and you could be inserting into the atmosphere before anyone realises you aren’t who you say you are. In some cases DropShip captains have even faked crashes to keep up the appearance they are an innocent and legal flight. The key disadvantage to this is that you need the intel or means to carry out the deception. In some cases when the deception goes wrong that’s when the fun starts…
Transport in System
The vehicle of choice for the raid is the ubiquitous DropShip, and most commonly a Spheroid DropShip such as the Union. Spheroid DropShips can land in most areas, paved or concrete areas are best, but a field or flat plain is often good enough – although your DropShip will leave one heck of an indent crater and may take some damage to the landing struts. In one particularly crazy story – the Grey Death Legion landed their Union on water and converted the fusion engine to a water turbine engine and sailed around the world (mercenary commanders are prone to exaggeration).
If I have to explain to one more civilian that you can’t VTOL land in a leopard class DropShip, I may have to shoot someone. Due to so common media/simulator portrayals, many believe the AeroDyne DropShips can quite happily perform Vertical Take Off or Landings (VTOL) – well that’s pure fiction. AeroDyne DropShips are designed to land on nice flat, straight areas we like to call runways. A particularly daring (or insane) AeroDyne DropShip pilot might attempt an unorthodox landing such as on a dried-out salt plane, or on a civilian highway (hoping that fuel tanker moves out of the way), but often that will lead to mangled landing gear at best. OK, I did lie, AeroDyne DropShips can VTOL land by using their main fusion drive. In the process of landing, the pilot will either have to land on the ships belly, or deploy the landing gear which will then be slagged by the fusion plume, either way it’s a huge repair bill. If you can find an insane pilot and have the C-Bills for a new set of landing gear then be my guest!
Deployment
There are several options available to a Mercenary Company when conducting a raid.
1 – KISS – Keep it Simple and Safe! Drop several Kilometres away from the target, 30+ KM is a good rule of thumb if you want to avoid artillery. The advantage is you can now secure your DZ and keep your DropShip safe. The disadvantage is time – you are now looking to force march you force from the DZ to the target, giving extra time for defenders to respond.
2- Danger close! In this approach, you put the DropShip down with a few km of the target. The advantage being, you can rapidly put your force into the fight and reach the objective, and then rapidly load up and leave. The disadvantage being, your DropShip is now a primary target. Many a mercenary company have surrendered when the defending force turned their nice shiny union into a funeral pyre.
3 – Drop Zone! Your DropShip flies over or near to the target and you airbourne deploy (sorry that’s military jargon for you Jump out of the still airbourne DropShip and pray!). BattleMechs without jump jets can be fitted with disposable jump pods to perform this approach. Advantages – Tactical surprise! Disadvantages – Your DropShip will then have to land some distance away or return to orbit, increasing your exfiltrate time. Also, DropShips and Mech’s can be prone to attack during the Drop. Low Altitude Drops from 50-150m are the most effective and most common, giving the defending forces the least time to target the forces as they drop. Dropping from 1000m plus is the safest method for the DropShip placing it outside all by artillery flak ranges, but at these heights it takes at least 30 seconds for the BattleMechs to drop to the surface. The rarest method is via orbital drop – which exposes the BattleMechs to attack for several minutes as they fall through the upper atmosphere is heat resistant DropPods.
Extraction/Exfiltration
Once in system, your JumpShip will need to recharge its KF drive while you’re happily performing your raid. If you are especially lucky (or have a very good employer) your JumpShip might have a Lithium Battery allowing it to jump twice. Otherwise, you’ll wither need to wait for the JumpShip to recharge from its solar sails (taking several days), or risk fast charging from the fusion drive, an option which can burn out the drive and leave you stranded!
In raids gone wrong, the raiders are forced to literally run for the hills, trying to survive until a relief force is sent or they can capture a DropShip and return to their JumpShip (if it’s still there).
In some long-term raids, this is the plan. Jump in system, deploy the DropShip and then Jump out. At a set time and location, a JumpShip can then jump in and collect the DropShip. There have been cases where a DropShip is waiting on the float for its JumpShip to arrive and it never does… this is why I always pay my JumpShip Captains well and buy them a bottle of Rum (I know this is clichéd but it’s true, JumpShip captains all seem to love Rum… call it naval tradition)!
Defending against raids
Let’s look at the other side of this C-Bill. The objective you ware raiding the planet for is likely to be defended. You might even be hired to be that defender.
The first thing to appreciate is planets are big! This is why civilisation is often clumped into small areas – allowing for easy defence. No one is going to be able to defend a target that is 1000km away from their garrison by walking…
There are several strategies that defender might employ to defend their objectives.
1 – Local defence! The most effective way to defend a target is to have local forces on site. For larger facilities, such as BattleMech factories, it is common for the target to have an on-site garrison, ready to respond, or be within a few minutes of a main base of operations. The key disadvantage here are that defending forces can’t be everywhere. If they defend too many targets, they will be spread too thin to mount an effective defence. If they commit to the defence of a single high value target – then other targets are left vulnerable. It is most often the case, that non-high priority targets will be garrisoned only by conventional forces or armor and infantry – and the occasional armed IndustrialMech or even an UrbanMech!
2 – Automated and static defence! Many facilities will employ weapon turrets and high walls to help defend them. These can often be enough to hold an attacker at bay long enough for reinforcements to arrive. Using hardened bunkers and weapon turrets, even a single company of infantry can defend a facility against a larger force. Weapon turret systems in many facilities are powered from one main reactor (rarely a fusion reactor, most often a petrochem ICE reactor using Power Amplifiers for energy weapons) so finding and destroying the reactor can know out the power to all the turrets energy weapons and turret motors (although ballistic turrets often can fire without power). Some facilities even use remote controlled turrets, although these are often far less accurate that manned turrets and vulnerable to ECM. In addition to this, minefields may be employed to mine all but “safe” routes to the facility.
3 – Rapid response forces! If the defending forces have access to a DropShip, they can, once the alert goes up, load up onto the DropShip and then do a sub-orbital hop to arrive at any location on the planet withing 30 minutes. This often creates a countdown timer for the raiding force as they know they have only 30 minutes to complete their raid, load up and dust off before an enemy DropShip full of angry BattleMechs arrives.
4 – Air/Space Superiority! The best defence against a raid is simply to shoot the DropShip out of the sky on approach. Many raids fail when their DropShip is shot down by an unexpected wing of AeroSpace (or Conventional) fighters, an enemy DropShip or even the most feared Assault DropShips (Pocket WarShip). One Union Class DropShip can probably hold its own against 2 medium aerospace fighters, but anymore and it’s a turkey shoot. This is why many Unions carry their own AeroSpace fighters to act as escort. Faced with an even fight, many garrisons would rather let an enemy DropShip land, and deal with them on the ground, than risk losing their whole AeroSpace defence.
5 – Trip Wire! The most expensive and effective defence is the TripWire. A friendly JumpShip stands ready to jump, and when it detects a raiding force, it jumps to a friendly staging system. At this staging system are several fully charged JumpShips, loaded to the teeth with DropShips and ready to jump back to the system being attacked. This obviously requires a huge amount of readiness in the defending forces, at huge expense and often only sustainable for a short time. Nevertheless, this ultimate defence will allow the defending forces to jump in system and be putting down a large force just as you touch down on the planet.
Rules Notes for GM’s and Players
All of the above are rules that exist within the following rulebooks and are not house rules:
Total Warfare
Strategic Operations: Advanced AeroSpace
Campaign Operations (Planetary Systems)
ComStar 