Wolf
Though nearly twice the size of their progenitors, the Strana Mechty wolf is otherwise identical to Terran wolves. Wolf packs roam both the northern and southern continents, and the Kerenskys considered them the epitome of the warrior spirit. For the day will come and our kin will stand On Terra's firm soil, ready to rebuild The Star League with their hearts and hands. But who shall lead? Upon whose shoulders Will the burden lie? The answer is the test; The test is the journey. Whichever Clan Carves its way through the barbarians To reach that fabled cradle of us all Shall be the vehicle of the League's rebirth. Upon The Star League throne shall sit that Clan's Wisest Khan. So should it be - so shall it be. -- The Remembrance (Clan Wolf), Passage 72, Verse 22, Lines 14-24 Background
Easily one of the most dangerous of the invading Clans, Clan Wolf was the only Clan to claim a decisive victory over ComStar at Tukayyid, both with its unconventional tactics and the knowledge of Inner Sphere tactics possessed by their two Khans: Natasha Kerensky and Phelan Ward. Clan Wolf also leads the Warden faction of the Clans, which believes that their mission is not to conquer the Inner Sphere, but to protect it from external threats. It is this reason, among others, that often pits them against Clan Jade Falcon, a staunch Crusader Clan. Taking the most worlds of any invading Clan and maintaining a large presence in the Inner Sphere, Clan Wolf is sure to be a rather dangerous opponent to all opposing it.
The history of Clan Wolf is as glorious as it is long. Chosen by Nicholas Kerensky to be the bearers of his legacy, the Wolves have established themselves as one of the preeminent Clans. The Wolves have the distinction of being the only Clan to absorb or annihilate two other Clans: the Wolverines and the Widowmakers. The Clans recent split into two factions (the Wolves, led by Khan Vladimir Ward, and the Wolves-in-exile, led by Khan Phelan Kell) has seriously weakened both groups. The Wolves under Khan Phelan, however, increased their strength significantly by capturing an entire Smoke Jaguar Cluster during Operation: Bulldog.
During the Second Exodus War, the Wolves distinguished themselves as a hard-hitting and wily foe. When the Wolverines broke with the Clans, Clan Wolf won the honor of destroying the Wolverines and absorbing what remained. The battles which followed nearly crippled the Wolf forces - already dangerously low to begin with. The Clan's success sparked more inter-Clan fighting between the Wolves and the Widowmakers. The matter came to a grisly end when Clan Wolf declared a Trial of Absorption against Clan Widowmaker.
The Widowmakers claimed that Wolf personnel were responsible for a series of uprisings by Widowmaker lower castes. Wolf Khan Jerome Winson refuted the claim, citing the Widowmakers inability to handle their own lower castes as proof of their weakness. In the end, the Wolves declared and won the right to call a Trial of Absorption against the Widowmakers. The Wolf forces, led by Khan Jerome Winson, engaged in a savage fight against the Widowmakers. At the height of the battle, Khan Winson and Widowmaker Khan Jorgennson paired off in single combat to decide the fate of the two Clans. Khan Winson quickly gained the upper hand in the battle when, unexpectedly, a Star of Widowmaker mechs lept into the fray and attacked Khan Winson. The other Clan Khans, who were witnessing in their 'mechs nearby, rushed to the aid of Khan Winson. In the battle, ilKhan Nicholas Kerensky was killed by a Widowmaker laser blast. Shocked and enraged at the ilKhan's tragic death, the Wolves utterly destroyed the Widowmaker forces and claimed all that was theirs.
Interestingly, the death of ilKhan Nicholas Kerensky led to a era of peace and prosperity for the Clans. In the 2800's, Clan Coyote scientists perfected the OmniMech, while Wolf scientists created the Elemental battle armor suit. The Wolves, within a few years, improved on the original Elemental armor design by adding harjel to the system after fighting a series of preemptive batchalls with Clan Sea Fox. Within four Clan generations, hundreds of massive soldiers were filling the ranks of Clan infantry units. The Wolf Clan also prospered as its merchants and scientists expanded the limits of the Clans' knowledge and resources. By the end of the so-called Golden Century, Clan Wolf was regarded as one of the most powerful and influential of all the Clans.
Dragoon Compromise
In 3001, Khan Nadia Winson of Clan Ghost Bear brought forth a proposal to launch an invasion of the Inner Sphere. The Crusaders held a majority of votes in the Grand Council. Wolf Khan Kherlin Ward, the leader of the Warden movement, proposed to send a reconnaissance force in ahead of the main Clan force. Without sufficient information, he claimed, the invasion could turn into a disaster if the Inner Sphere armies were ready.
Ward's plan to send an expeditionary force to learn the status of the Successor States proved resourceful enough that enough Clans agreed to the proposal. Many contended, however, that the force should be led and manned by trueborn warriors claiming that freeborns would be unsuitable and untrustworthy of such a mission, but that motion was swiftly defeated. In 3005, Wolf's Dragoons entered the service of House Davion.
Over the next thirty years, the reports from the Dragoons were received further and further apart until they finally stopped in the early 3030's. The Crusaders used this to prove their point that the freeborn force was as untrustworthy as predicted. The Crusaders, particularly Falcon ristar Elias Crichell, argued eloquently that the time had come for invasion. It took another fifteen years and the accidental arrival of the Comstar vessel Outbound Light to bring matters to a head.
Invasion
In 3047, Smoke Jaguar Khan Leo Showers presented evidence, gained from the interrogation of the Outbound Light's crew, to the Grand Council that showed that their worst fears were coming true. Far from what they had believed, the Successor States were on the road to recovery and rapidly gaining back their technological edge. Technology which had long been denied the Inner Sphere was being rediscovered and rebuilt at a tremendous rates. Scientific advances in all areas, especially military, were given highest priorities and the Federated Commonwealth appeared as though it would emerge victorious over its rivals. Wolf Khan Ulric Kerensky, an ardent Warden, protested mightily against the upcoming invasion. He was dismayed somewhat when even the Wolve's closest allies went along with the plan. He declared a Trial of Refusal and skillfully negotiated the odds down to four to one. The Wolf forces proved again their formidable prowess, particularly the Third Battle Cluster, but victory was snatched from their grasp by virtue of sheer numbers.
To further punish the Wolves, the Crusader Clans forced Clan Wolf to accept a role in the invasion. The Clan was assigned one of the less attack corridors. The Wolf's route would pit them against the weaker and relatively untried Free Rasalhague Republic. The Crusader Khans believed that this avenue would provide little in the way of battle and glory for the Wolves. This would, in their eyes, further humiliate Khan Ulric Kerensky and weaken his position.
The early battles in the Periphery at first proved everything that ilKhan Leo Showers had said about the Inner Sphere. The warriors the Clans faced in the first few months were mostly dishonorable, under-trained and equipped pirates in outdated equipment. Except for the Falcon's battle for Von Strang's World and the Wolves encounter with the Kell Hounds on The Rock, none of the invading Clans faced any real challenges. Their belief's in the degeneracy of the Inner Sphere confirmed, many Crusader Khans believed they would be on Terra in a year's time.
When the Wolves struck the Inner Sphere, it was like no other invasion before. The Wolves conquered dozens of worlds in the Free Rasalhague/Federated Commonwealth corridor. A number of elite House and mercenary units were left bloodied or, in many cases, utterly destroyed. Unlike their brethren, the Wolves were extremely willing to take bondsmen into their ranks. The Free Rasalhague Army, which was quite adept at the hit-and-run tactics which plagued the other Clans, were little more than a minor nuisance for the overwhelming Wolf forces. No other Clan conquered worlds as fast as the Wolves, a fact which would ultimately help bring about their downfall in future years.
In 3050, the Ghost Bears decided to invade the Free Rasalhague capital world, Rasalhague. Although the world actually lie in the Wolf corridor, the Ghost Bear Khans successfully argued to ilKhan Leo Showers that it was close enough for their forces to attack. ilKhan Leo, ever looking for ways to slow or embarrass the Wolf juggernaut, agreed to let them bid for the world. Khan Ulric, however, proved a wily adversary in the bidding. His removal of Clan Warships from his initial bid threw the Ghost Bear Khans off-balance. Seeing that they could not hope to win the bidding, the Bear Khans drove down the bidding to dangerous levels. The Wolves won the right to invade Rasalhague, but they would only have three Clusters to do so.
The Wolves emerged victorious on Rasalhague, the first Clan to capture a capital world. Subsequent political maneuvering the ilKhan Leo and other Crusader-minded Khans did little to slow the Wolf assault. The death of ilKhan Leo Showers sent the invading Clans home for a years conferring and to elect a new ilKhan. Khans Crichell and Chistu conspired with other Crusader Clans to elect a new ilKhan who would have to do their bidding. Together, they nominated Clan Wolf Khan Ulric Kerensky to the post of ilKhan. Their plan was to force the Wolf Khan to bend to their desires, thus slowing the Wolves while their own Clans caught up. To the surprise of many, ilKhan Ulric refused to play their game. Instead, he brought forth the Steel Vipers and Nova Cats into the invasion force. The Nova Cats were teamed with their longtime rival the Smoke Jaguars. Being teamed with the hated Steel Vipers galled the Falcon Khans, but ilKhan Ulric's requirement that the Jaguars and Falcons cede worlds for their new "partners" made things even worse. Although the Smoke Jaguars and Nova Cats quickly reached an accommodation regarding the exchange of worlds, the Jade Falcons made the Vipers fight Trials of Possession for every world. Even so, in 3052, the invasion resumed as the trueborn of six Clans returned to begin the conflict anew.
Tukayyid
The Clan Wolf DropShips landed 40 kilometers southeast of their objectives, the cities of Skupo and Brzo, five days after the rest of the Clans landed. Once down and secure, the Clan Wolf Galaxies lined up as if they expected to fight from the first step instead of forming the loose traveling columns they favored. Arrayed against Clan Wolf was the Tenth Army, composed of some of the best divisions and regiments the ComGuards had to offer. Having pinpointed the exact position of the Clan landing, Precentor V Margo Koivu deployed her forces along the trees covering the foothills of the Porozistu Mountains. Contact came as Clan Wolf passed the little hamlet of Forest's End. The ComStar forces engaged the Third Battle Cluster of Beta Galaxy and the Seventh Battle Cluster of Gamma Galaxy, holding the 283rd Division to fend off the Fourth Wolf Guards of Alpha Galaxy. The 283rd, though inexperienced, fought better than expected, and prevented Clan Wolf closing a loop that would have trapped the divisions involved in the primary engagement.
While the 283rd held off the Fourth Wolf Guards, elements of the Clan's right flank were harried by members of the elite Sixty-sixth Division. The Wolf Khans, seeing no easy way around the attackers, hit them in the center of their offensive line. The concerted pressure weakened the ComGuards' formation and forced the 278th from their hilltop position. Hard-pressed, the ComGuards started to fall back under cover of artillery support. Aerospace elements on either side were of little help to those on the ground, as they were fighting a running battle of their own. The retreat was accomplished in good order, and the Tenth Army regrouped 20 kilometers from Brzo and Skupo, establishing a new defensive line.
Precentor Koivu was concerned when her forces withdrew from Forest's End without pursuit. She had expected to be relentlessly harried, especially since Clan Wolf had blooded several divisions. Yet, as she positioned her forces outside Skupo and Brzo, the enemy was not in sight.
The Precentor's concern was validated when the Clan attempted to skirt the Tenth in an attempt to take the enemy's rear or bypass them entirely in a drive for Skupo. The ComGuards deployed scouts and fighters to find the Wolves, but the recon fighters were harassed by Clan Wolf fighters, and so Koivu's scouts found nothing but trees and hills.
As the ComGuards started to fall back, Alpha Galaxy's Thirteenth Wolf Guards slipped behind the 166th Division. The Precentor immediately ordered her reserve divisions forward, sending the veteran 282nd Division to take on the Thirteenth Wolf Guards and force them away from the 166th and Skupo. The next two hours would be crucial. The ComGuards began to pull back from their position, only to be attacked by the rest of Clan Wolf. They could not halt their withdrawal without stretching their forces dangerously thin in order to prevent Clan Wolf from slipping through their lines. The Precentor ordered her reserve forces to stand firm in the face of the Wolf juggernaut to cover the retreat. The 282nd Division made contact with the Thirteenth Wolf Guards, and the ensuing fight, though far more costly for the 282nd, forced the Wolf Spiders to abandon their drive. By the time the Wolf Spiders pulled back, most of the Tenth Army stood on the crest of a series of steep hills overlooking the two cities and the road that connected them, less than five kilometers away.
Before the ComGuard forces could dig in, Clan Wolf launched another offensive. Again they engaged the ComGuards up and down the line. When the defenders weakened, they hit the center of the line with a vengeance, straining the defensive perimeter to the breaking point. Having successfully broken through, the warriors of Clan Wolf stood on the road between the two cities.
It was beginning to look as if Clan Wolf would encircle Brzo, trapping most of the Tenth Army. The Wolf Spiders were in for a shock, however. As they closed on what appeared to be an open hilltop, 'Mechs, tanks, and squads of infantry rose out of a system of trenches to fire on the stunned Wolf warriors. The fighting in the trenches was fierce and unforgiving. Only sheer stubbornness and an unwillingness to retreat saved the Wolf Spiders.
After an hour of short-range firefights, the ComGuard division pulled back, with the Wolf Spiders on their heels. They reached the road, ready to continue the push northward and threatening to encircle Skupo. Elements of the Ninth Army appeared from the northwest, supported by aerospace fighters and artillery. The fresh troops barreled into the bulge that Clan Wolf had created between the two cities. Elements of the Ninth were also diverted to reinforce the reeling 138th.
By midnight the battleline resembled the letter "M." Clan Wolf had suffered a major disappointment in being prevented from closing a loop around either Skupo or Brzo. The ComGuards had achieved a great, but costly, victory because the Tenth Army had held long enough for the Ninth to arrive. The Precentor and her staff made an important discovery during the fighting. Not only was Clan Wolf being conservative with their ammunition (unlike the other Clans), but they had configured their OmniMechs with a heavy bias toward energy weapons. In addition, most of the Elementals fought without their usual SRM pack, and supply trains were following closely behind the second line. This frugality made one thing certain: the ComGuards could not count on Clan Wolf running out of ammunition. The fight for Skupo and Brzo continued with only short respites. It was centered on the Wolf Spiders, who renewed their efforts against the 138th Division. Under heavy fire from the Clan, the demoralized and inexperienced warriors broke and ran. Despite the reassignment of reserves from the Ninth Army as reinforcements for the 138th, the Wolf Spiders destroyed their prey completely. As Khan Kerensky hunted, the Eleventh Wolf Guards of Delta Galaxy engaged the 278th Division, and the 166th fought a hit-and-run battle with the remnants of the Thirteenth Wolf Guards.
The ComGuard forces were finally overwhelmed. Skupo fell to Clan Wolf. The ComGuards could not slow the progress of the Thirteenth Wolf Guards as they continued to push north to connect with the rest of their force. The resulting encirclement would trap whole ComGuard divisions in Skupo. Rather than risk the loss of so many warriors, the ComGuards withdrew and conceded Skupo to Clan Wolf.
Even retreat would prove difficult, because Clan Wolf launched a major push at virtually the same time. This caused considerable confusion among the retreating forces. ComGuard division commanders are to be praised for preventing the confusion from becoming a panic. As it was, the Wolf Guards captured almost two hundred warriors in their encirclement of Skupo.
The Fourth Wolf Guards and the Third Battle Cluster reappeared in the bulge. Both had been conspicuous by their absence during the past two days, and their arrival was dreaded, with good reason. Their main axis of attack was aimed directly at Brzo. The force of so many Clan heavy and assault OmniMechs attempting to breach the defenses around the city was daunting, and it was understandable when the Tenth Army bent. It is to their credit that they did not immediately break.
The divisions of the Ninth Army did not wait for an order to launch their own offensive in support of the Tenth, hoping to slow the Wolf offensive. The two Clan Wolf assault clusters shifted their axis. The Ninth's assault, instead of helping to hold the Clan forces, allowed Clan Wolf to breach the defensive ring where the two armies should have met. This split the ComGuard forces into two groups, a dangerous situation.
In response to these new attacks, the Eleventh Army was dispatched to reinforce the faltering defense of Brzo. Clan Wolf was expected to attack the Ninth Army, but advance scouts reported the Clan devoting considerable effort to raiding ComGuard supply depots and creating and concealing depots of their own. Though it was obvious that Clan Wolf was willing to use its mobility to work around advantageous ComStar positions, they remained in the Porozistu Mountains. The Eleventh ComGuards had been assigned to that area to take part in a direct engagement with ilKhan Ulric Kerensky's forces.
Clan Wolf gradually broke off individual battles to regroup for the final engagement in the mountains. The fighting began amid a raging thunderstorm. Clan Wolf moved forward slowly, feinting and thrusting to maintain their advantage. The links to their supply bases held, and ComStar's few attempts to disrupt these lines were quickly smashed. Even with this advantage, what little ground was taken was won at a heavy price. Khan Garth Radick was slain commanding Beta Galaxy.
Clan Wolf inflicted heavy enough damage on the ComStar forces that the Thirteenth Army was committed to the mountains. Before the new ComStar force could join the engagement, however, the battle for Tukayyid ended.
Refusal War
The years after Tukayyid were relatively quiet as the Clans fell back to their old inter-Clan raiding habits. Things changed for the worse in 3058, when Wolf Supremists put Ulric Kerensky on trial for genocide. Ulric managed to defeat the motion in the Wolf Clan Council, but the Wolf Loremaster, Dalk Carns, played one last attempt to ruin him. Carns accused Ulric of deliberately plotting the destruction of three generations of Wolf forces. The treaty he agreed to with Precentor Martial Focht would deprive future generations of Wolf warriors of needed combat experiencing, thus leaving them unprepared when the invasion resumed. Ulric forced the issue to the Grand Kuraltai, but, in spite of a eloquent defense by saKhan Phelan Kell, he was forced out of office. The Crusader element in the Kurultai attempted to repudiate the peace treaty, but Ulric declared a Trial of Refusal. The Jade Falcons won the right to battle the Wolves, but, in a surprise move, Ulric declared his intent on striking at every Jade Falcon world in the Inner Sphere with all the might available to the Wolf Clan. The ensuing battles resulted in the deaths of Ulric Kerensky and Wolf Khan Natasha Kerensky. The battles destroyed nearly ten Wolf and Jade Falcon Galaxies. In a telling blow, Khan Phelan Kell led the best of the Wolf Clan Wardens to the world of Morges where his forces, along with the Kell Hounds, defeated two Jade Falcon Galaxies. The Wolf forces then retreated to Arc-Royal, Phelan Kell's homeworld, to rest and rebuild their forces.
In a blatant power play, Jade Falcon saKhan Chistu declared that the Wolves had been absorbed by the victorious Jade Falcons. This plan fell apart when Wolf warrior Vlad, a former aide to Ulric Kerensky, denied Chistu's version of Ulric Kerensky's death. The two warriors battled and Chistu fell to Vlad. Vlad, in a deal he made with Khan Crichell, then arranged for all the surviving Wolf Supremist and Crusader warriors to form the core of a new Clan, the Jade Wolves. Shortly afterward, Khan Elias Crichell was elected ilKhan. Crichell's tenure as ilKhan was probably the shortest in Clan history. Khan Vlad Ward challenged Crichell's fitness and slew the elderly ilKhan in a lopsided battle. Vlad then disbanded the Jade Wolves and reestablished the Wolf Clan.
Rebuilding
The bloody Refusal War devastated Clan Wolf. The once mighty Clan is now split into two ideological camps: the Wolves led by Vlad Ward and the Wolves-in-Exile led by Phelan Kell. Phelan Kell's Wolves have sided with the remergent Star League while Vlad's forces are staunch Crusaders waiting to begin the invasion again.
Khan Vlad has been very politically active in the Grand Council meetings. He and Jade Falcon Khan Marthe Pryde have an informal alliance to preserve their Clans. Khan Phelan's defection to the Inner Sphere deprived the Wolves of all of its Warden-minded warriors, effectively ten percent of the Clan's remaining strength. The remaining Wolf Clusters, all diehard Crusaders, were severely understrength and lacking available manpower. When Ice Hellion Khan, Asa Taney, attempted to absorb the Wolves, Khan Vlad and Khan Marthe teamed to crush the vote for Absorption. Vlad then manipulated the warrior caste of numerous Clans by stating that only those warriors who were members of the invading Clans would participate in the renewed invasion. Within days, the Wolf Clan headquarters was besieged with preemptive batchalls. The warriors taken into the Wolf Clan have replenished the depleted Galaxies and allowed Vlad to reform and equip seven Galaxies.
Under the leadership of their new Khan, Vlad Ward, the Wolves face the monumental task of reorganizing their shattered forces and restoring them to their former strength. The sheer difficulty of accomplishing this should keep the Wolves from immediately threatening the Inner Sphere, though they may pose a danger to the exiled Wolf Wardens. Their existence is an affront to their Crusader sensibilities, and the very weakness of the surviving Wolf supremacists paradoxically provides them all the more reason to attack. By launching successful assaults against the "traitor" Wolves in exile, the Crusader Wolves may attempt to prove to their fellow Clans that they are stronger than they seem and thereby stave off other Clans' attempts to absorb them.
Fortunately for the Inner Sphere, the Crusader Wolves must also use their military resources to hold onto the Inner Sphere systems they currently possess. The citizens of these worlds have not hesitated to take advantage of their conquerors' reduced strength, and rebellions are rife. Anti-Clan resistance in the Wolf Clan Occupation Zone should keep the better part of the Crusader Wolves' fighting forces too busy to threaten the Inner Sphere for quite some time.
Though rebuilding will probably take the Crusader Wolves the better part of the next decade, we cannot afford to be complacent about their reduced numbers or their difficulties. Ardent Crusaders to a man, the warriors of Clan Wolf likely have no intention of allowing the Refusal War to cost them their chance at taking Terra and becoming ilKhan. Undoubtedly they will do whatever they must to regain the Wolf Clan's former prominence, shatter the Truce of Tukayyid and take the lead in the renewed invasion.
Instead of striking at Clan Wolf in Exile, Vlad Ward's Crusader Wolves decided to attack the Clan Smoke Jaguar planet of Kiamba. Attacking and defeating the Smoke Jaguars because of their weakened state resulting from their failure to recover from their losses on Tukayyid and the near constant raiding by Clan Nova Cat and the Draconis Combine, Khan Ward captured Katrina Steiner-Davion and her JumpShip, on the way to Kiamba to negotiate an alliance with the Jaguars. Seeing her chance, the Lyran Alliance Archon instead formed a covert alliance of sorts with Khan Ward and his Crusader Wolves, the terms of which are presently unknown. The Archon was then released and allowed to return home to Tharkad. What the future holds for Vlad Ward's Wolf Clan is unknown. Their need to rest and recover from the Refusal War with Clan Jade Falcon is important, but may be overridden by their need to prove themselves strong and fend off any Clans interested in absorbing the Wolves or capturing their planets. It is these two conflicting needs that make the Wolves a rather unpredictable force and one to be watched closely by the forces of the Inner Sphere.
Death of a Clan
With the defeat of the Smoke Jaguars in the Inner Sphere and on Huntress, the Clans found themselves with the unprecedented prospect of an Inner Sphere invasion of Strana Mechty. The Star League Defense Force soon challenged the Clans to a Trial of Refusal over the invasion. If the Inner Sphere won, the invasion was over and the invading Clans would retain the worlds they had conquered. If the Clans won, the invasion would resume. In a bid to wreak chaos in the future, Vlad abstained from voting on the challenge. The Warden Clans refused to participate in the Trial, leaving the eight Crusader Clans to face the SLDF. As the Smoke Jaguars had only two Binaries of troops left, it was decided that each Crusader Clan would only commit two Binaries to the battle.
Vlad led the Wolf Binary into action against Kai Allard-Liao and the 1st St. Ives Lancers. The battle quickly became mired down as it became clear to Vlad that the Lancers were not afraid to fight the Wolves. This point was proven when Kai, using an ex-Smoke Jaguar Stormcrow, shot Vlad out of his Timber Wolf. The battle by then had reached a stalemate - the Lancers were too slow to catch the fleet Wolf 'Mechs, but the Wolves lacked the firepower to gain a decisive victory. With this in mind, Vlad accepted Kai's offer of a draw.