The Clans are the other major faction of the Battletech universe and for the most part they reside in a separate area of space well outside the Inner Sphere. If you're new to Battletech, a little backtracking may help to understand how they fit in, as their origins go back to the collapse of the original Star League...

The Exodus

In the year 2784, the ranking Star League Defence Force officer, General Aleksandr Kerensky, called a meeting with around 200 other senior officers to propose a move to an as yet uncharted region of space. Dismayed by the political infighting and the warfare that was tearing the Inner Sphere apart, he wanted to take as many as would follow him and set up a new colony, run along military lines, based on honour and justice and free of the greed and corruption that had beset the Star League.

Around 80% of his fellow officers chose to follow General Kerensky on what became known as the Exodus - leaving the Inner Sphere with almost no military force to speak of. He vowed to return one day and 'save' the Inner Shere, restoring it to its former glory.

The Exodus reached its final destination in a region of space far beyond the Periphery, known as the Pentagon Worlds around 2 years later and the settlement of the people began. However, problems soon arose as they struggled to adapt to their new life. They were all military personnel, but it was quickly realised that they would need civilians to serve as scientists, merchants, labourers etc. if they were to have any hope of maintaining a viable new society. Kerensky ordered the demobilisation of around three-quarters of all his troops, determining who would be mustered out and who would remain in service through a series of gruelling tests. Those who did not meet the stringent requirements to remainin uniform underwent further tests to determine their new status. The surplus military equipment was stored in huge depots that became known as Brian Caches (a nod to the Star League's Castle Brians). The remaining naval vessels began to explore nearby star systems in what came to be known as the Kerensky Cluster. The most promising of these was named Strana Mechty (Russian for "Land of Dreams"). An Explorer Corps was formed, allowing many former military personnel to take up new careers not unlike their old ones, freeing up the regular navy to concentrate on defensive duties.

Civil War & The Second Exodus

Over the following years, the Pentagon Worlds were colonised and developed and all seemed well. However, the first rumblings of discontent eventually surfaced, mainly from the newly-created civilian populace, many of whom were unhappy with their new roles. Many called for the creation of planetary militias, in the hope of finding their way back into military service. Old enmities and cultural differences, carried over fromt he Inner Sphere, also began to manifest themselves. This escalated into localised rioting and eventually into full-scale rebellion on at least one world, during which Kerensky's second in command was killed. Alexander's ruthless suppression of the rebels only sowed the seeds for further uprisings on other worlds. Factions aligned to the Houses of the Inner Sphere formed and formed private armies. With the factions now openly pitted against not just Kerensky's rule, but each other, all-our war ensued and in the power struggle that followed, key cities on each of the worlds ended up in their hands. By this time General Kerensky was nearly 100 years old and the strain was taking its toll. With his wife having died five years earlier, this new civil war proved to be the final straw. He suffered a fatal heart attack while planning a campaign to retake Eden.

His son, Nicholas was his designated successor, but while he had the support of the navy and the military units garrisoning the cluster colonies, the division commanders on the Pentagon worlds rejected his leadership, instead pushing their own claims for leadership...a situation eerily reminiscent of the Successor State Lords after the fall of the Star League. Remembering his father's words and recognising the consequences of a drawn-out and bloody civil war, he decided to gather those still loyal to him and embark on a second exodus to Strana Mechty. In the end nearly a quarter of the population of all five worlds elected to follow him. Just a few weeks later, all-out war erupted on the Pentagon Worlds.

The Exodus Civil Wars, as they became known, lasted for nearly 20 years. Nicholas and his followers gradually severed all communications with the Pentagon Worlds, ignoring any and all pleas for assistance. While they colonised and developed the cluster worlds, those who remained on the Pentagon Worlds fought a futile series of attritional wars that destroyed much of their technological capabilities and, in some cases, civilisation itself as the hostile worlds were once again able to unleash viruses and other harmful agents on now-helpless populaces.

The Founding of the Clans

In the meantime, Nicholas devised a plan to rid his followers of any remaining loyalties to their former nations, to ensure something like this could never happen again. He organised the 800 troops who had accompanied him, into 20 Clans of 40 warriors each. He also restructured their military formations, moving from the traditional 4-unit Lance to the 5-unit Star. Two Stars made a Binary, four Binaries made a Cluster and three to five Clusters made a Galaxy. At that time each Clan had a strength of 1 Cluster.

Out went the idea of individual glory, replaced with the ethic of working for the benefit of the Clan and an environment of continual testing, to ensure only the best warriors remained in service. Nicholas also stressed the idea that each Clan was a family or society in it's own right. He equipped them using battlemechs from caches on Strana Mechty and trained them to fight, using a strict code of honour that would also prevent needless waste of life and equipment.

He returned with his troops to the Pentagon Worlds to find them devastated and the survivors, numbering less than half the original populations, in dire straits. Even so, he still faced opposition from the remaining military forces. They were however, shattered by the civil war and despite their numerical superiority, they were defeated by Kerensky's Clan troops in under a year. The victory did come at a price, however. A number of Clan troops were killed in the fighting, among them Nicholas' brother, Andery who was caught in a rebel ambush.

Unsurprisingly, Nicholas was hailed by those who had not opposed his return, as a saviour, especially as the supplies he brought with him, saved numerous lives. His striking resemblance to his father even caused some to mistake him for Alexander. Desperate for a return to some semblance of normality, the vast majority were willing to follow him blindly.

His first act was to repeat General Order 137, (a.k.a the Hidden Hope doctrine), written by his father, in which he outlined his aim for the people to become moral beacons, standing for all that was good about the Star League. Only in this way, could they one day return to the Inner Sphere and restore it to it's former glory.

He scattered the survivors of the Exodus Civil War across the Pentagon worlds and the Kerensky Cluster, breaking up any old factions and loyalties that had existed before. He also outlawed any affiliation with any order or society outside of the Clans. Every person's record had any mention of former ties to the Inner Sphere erased, replacing them with their current Clan and location. Everyone, whether civilian or a serving member of the military, was assigned to one of the 20 Clans.

Clan Society

Being warriors they tended to admire and identify with the dominant predators on their worlds, adopting their names and images to identify their Clans...even modelling their cultures on the creatures' characterstics.

Over time they developed a number of combat based rituals, known as Trials, to settle disputes without resorting to the full-scale warfare that had decimated them before. They appear to be based on the works of Alexander Kerensky, including 'A Primer of Strategy and Tactics' and 'Applied Concepts of Attack and Defence'. The bidding or 'batchall' process, carried out prior to Trials, seems to have been derived from another of his works 'Twelve Principles of Command'.

They also developed a language of their own and a caste system which gives the Clans a social structure unlike any other civilisation. Not surprisingly, the Warrior caste are the top dogs, followed by the Scientist, Merchant, Technician and Labourer castes. There is also a Dark or Bandit caste to which criminals and misfits are assigned, but this is rarely spoken of as they are seen as an embarrassment.

Perhaps more disturbingly, they also took the science of genetic manipulation and made it into an art form, carefully selecting genetic material from their best warriors and using it to create a superior breed of warrior, born in artificial wombs. Traditional conception is frowned upon - at least in Warrior circles - as there is less control over the offspring's genetic makeup. Warriors do, very occasionally have children, but this is more by accident than design. In Clan society, it is left to the lower castes to reproduce naturally, to provide an ample workforce.

Clan Numbers

Originally, there were 20 Clans, but over time this number has been reduced to 16. You can find out more about each Clan by clicking on the insignia to the left.

Clan Burrock was absorbed by Clan Star Adder in 3059, after the Burrock leaders were found guilty of conspiring with elements of the Dark/Bandit caste to acquire technology through illegitimate means.

Clan Mongoose was absorbed by the Smoke Jaguars in 2868 after trying to ignore one Grand Council ruling too many.

Clan Sea Fox was renamed Clan Diamond Shark after the Clan's totem animal (the Sea Fox) was rendered extinct by a larger predator (the Diamond Shark).

Clan Smoke Jaguar was destroyed in one of the most famous military campaigns in Battletech history. After the invasion had been halted in 3052, Prince Victor Steiner-Davion, then ruler of the Federated Commonwealth, led a massive task force, which first routed the Jaguars from the Inner Sphere, then pursued them to Clan space and defeated them on their homeworld of Huntress.

Clan Widowmaker was absorbed by Clan Wolf in 2834 after their right to rule was questioned, following some particularly brutal treatment of their civilian population.

Clan Wolverine (also known as the Not-Named Clan) was annihilated by Clan Wolf in 2823 after declaring their independence from the other Clans. Fearing they had become tainted by the greed and corruption prevalent in the Inner Sphere, ilKhan Nicholas Kerensky petitioned the Grand Council for a Trial of Annihilation. Elements of the Wolverines survived this action and escaped to parts unknown. Reforming their society along similar lines to the now-defunct Star League, they now go by the name of the 331st Royal Battlemech Division. They are more commonly known as the Minnesota Tribe, as the unit insignia shows an outline of that state, once part of the ancient Terran colony known as the United States.

Clan Wolf In Exile was formed shortly after the end of the invasion of 3050. One of Ilkhan Ulric Kerensky's last acts was to order those loyal to the Warden cause to find a new sanctuary in the Inner Sphere and to remain there as its guardians against future Clan incursions. Chosen to be the leader of this new clan was none other than Phelan Kell, a former bondsman who had begun his career as a mercenary with the Kell Hounds. Kerensky believed that Phelan's Inner Sphere roots would ensure they remained true to their assigned mission. Kell led the exiled Wolves back to the Kell Hound world of Arc Royal, where they continue to work closely with the mercenary unit.

Return of the Clans

On 13 August 3049, while hunting bandits on a backwater Periphery world known as The Rock, just beyond the borders of the Free Rasalhague Republic, a company of the Kell Hounds encountered a mysterious foe, who defeated the famed mercenaries with terrifying ease. Among the casualties was Phelan Kell, son of the Kell Hounds' founder Morgan and cousin of Victor Steiner-Davion. Initially listed as missing, presumed dead, his true fate would only be known several months later.

This turned out to be only the first of many defeats suffered by the forces of the Inner Sphere, as the Clans, descendents of the long-departed Star League Defence Force, returned with a vengeance, believing they were fulfilling Kerensky's ambition of restoring the Star League.

That skirmish on The Rock was just the first of many probing attacks, designed to test the defences of the Inner Sphere. In March of 3050 they attacked in force, driving back the militaries of the Lyran half of the Commonwealth, the Free Rasalhague Republic and the Draconis Combine. Clans Wolf, Jade Falcon, Smoke Jaguar and Ghost Bear rolled over any and all opposition in their way. With physically superior and more intensively trained warriors, piloting technologically superior Omnimechs and battle armour, they were able to take control of a large wedge of the Inner Sphere that included all but a handful of worlds of the Free Rasalhague Republic. They also made substantial inroads into the Lyran half of the Federated Commonwealth and the Draconis Combine.

The invasion was only halted when, on October 31st 3050, a Rasalhague fighter pilot, named Tyra Miraborg, deliberately crashed her stricken craft into the bridge of the Clan flagship, killing the entire bridge crew, along with the Clans' war leader, or ilKhan. This forced the Clans to suspend operations, secure the worlds they had already taken and withdraw back to their homeworlds to elect a new ilKhan. It was not until the latter half of the following year that Khan Ulric Kerensky, leader of Clan Wolf, was chosen to be the new ilKhan and the Clans' conquest of the Inner Sphere resumed.

Wardens & Crusaders

Clans are generally classified as either Warden or Crusader. Wardens believe the Clans should act as protectors of the Inner Sphere, while the Crusaders' ultimate goal is to conquer it and rebuild the Star League as it was in its heyday. Of course, this is complicated by the fact that most Clans have their own Warden and Crusader factions and their allegiances can change with the election of a new Khan. Below are the current affiliations.

Warden	Crusader
Cloud Cobra Coyote Diamond Shark Ghost Bear Goliath Scorpion Nova Cat Snow Raven Steel Viper Wolf In Exile	Blood Spirit Fire Mandrill Hell's Horses Ice Hellion Jade Falcon Star Adder Wolf