Mech Every Day Force Saturday #7: Wolf Empire Lupus Galaxy Star

 

It feels a bit weird to say this about a violent warrior society that conquered Earth itself, but Clan Wolf has kind of been through a lot. I'm kind of putting the cart before the horse here, as I've got a Clan Invasion-era Clan Wolf Star coming up, but I wanted to do this scheme first.

So. For reasons that make a lot of sense in-universe and weren't mostly about introducing new factions in MechWarrior: Dark Age, Clan Wolf allied with the Lyran Commonwealth and moved their entire touman to the border with the Free Worlds League. Khan Alaric saw this as way to pursue his ultimate goal of taking Terra. The Mariks had no chance against the technologically advanced and numerous Wolf forces. Alaric carved a huge chunk out of the League and then, using the excuse that the Lyrans had been mistreating Wolf's lower castes, also assaulted the Commonwealth. Alaric went so far as to attack Tharkad and execute the Archon, declaring himself the proper ruler of the Lyran Commonwealth.

He then left. Again, for reasons. (In this case, to avoid blunting his strength against Clan Jade Falcon. He wasn't ready for that showdown yet.)

This left Clan Wolf in possession of a roughly spherical region in the anti-Spinward hemisphere of the Inner Sphere. This was quickly consolidated into the Wolf Empire. With both the Lyrans and Leaguers cowed, Alaric turned his sights on the tattered remains of the Republic of the Sphere. Once he had the secret to defeating the Fortress Wall, he sent it on to the other Clans and took the bulk of his forces to Terra.

He did not leave enough forces behind to protect the Wolf Empire. Star Colonel Othar, the remaining Wolf officer in charge, found himself in an unenviable position. He had to raise new armies as quickly as possible to defend the Empire, and was getting no communications from Alaric on Terra. (As it turned out later, this was because the Capellan Confederation had managed to set up a blockade to prevent messages between Terra and the Wolf Empire.) Othar authorized the creation of two new Galaxies - Lupus and Rufus - and filled them with former re-tested solahma and rushed sibko graduates.

This star, from Lupus Galaxy's 94th Battle Cluster, is the result of such actions. Three of its members just tested out from their sibko, and have been issued small OmniMechs to gain combat experience. The Fire Moth, Kit Fox, and Battle Cobra are all proven designs, though only the Kit Fox is particularly common among Wolf forces. Watching over them are two former solahma in second-line BattleMechs: an upgraded Lancelot C and a hulking Bane. These were chosen to provide longer-ranged support to the youngsters in their fast OmniMechs.

This scheme was a lot of fun to paint. Drybrushing Avalon Gray over Ryuken Gray gives a good Clan Wolf color, with just the right amount of variability to make these machines look battle-worn. The bright red claw marks provide a striking contrast and make the models stand out. This is a no-nonsense force, raised in desperation and fighting for its very existence.