The assignment no MechWarrior ever put at the top of her dreamsheet. The Warbook ID no Wolfhound pilot over feared coming up on his HUD. The topic of this article is the Wolf Trap!
The most prominent aspect of the Wolf Trap for many players, I’d guess, is its awful reputation. It’s not necessarily that the mech is
badly designed per se, but that it’s a terrible counter to Steiner’s Wolfhound battlemech that the Wolf Trap is ostensibly designed to counter. Most egregious is that it uses technology above and beyond the IntroTech present on the Wolfhound. The tonnage gained by using the fragile XL engine is put towards weapons that are so weight-inefficient compared to the Wolfhound’s all energy loadout that the Wolf Trap is still outgunned by the mech 5 tons its junior whilst simultaneously being more vulnerable to engine crits. All while carrying ammo!
Whether by retcon or clarification, more recent fluff never seems to allege that the mech was never actually designed as a Wolfhound-killer. In retrospect: a more reasonable view for this reputation as a failed "Wolfhound Killer" is due to the faulty assumption of the F-C analysts that simply feared that's what the Combine's newly designed mech was going to be. Either way, the affair is proof positive that it’s not just the Clans who drop their own designations to embrace their enemies’ code names for their own mechs!
Another aspect that I find interesting is in how well it really does look like what Kurita might make when toying with new technologies for the first time (or first time in a long time, depending on P.O.V.). While the mech debuted in the heady days of
Sputnik and Yuri Gregarin 20 Year Update and TRO:3050 and as such incorporates “new” LosTech basically for no purpose other than to field “new” LosTech, I find it’s really a creature of the Succession Wars experimenting with that new tech. While contemporary players savvy with the setting might be able to say that a “Kuritan” feel to a mech probably means PPCs and/or MRMs, that’s more of a post-renaissance phenomenon. During the Succession Wars a “Kuritan” variant often meant stripping the jump jets out for more armor and maybe firepower (See the SW-era Phoenix Hawk and Wolverine K-variants for examples). Although yes, "slap a PPC in place of an Autocannon" is also a popular Kuritan meme. In the curious case of the Wolf Trap however, the Kuritans never did so.. but spoiler alert! Someone else did!
Rather than comparing the Wolf Trap to the Wolf Hound because they’re both new designs that debuted almost together (and were both new mechs for the first time in a long time), the Wolf Trap feels very Kuritan if you compare it to the Clint of equal tonnage and speed. A Wolf Trap could basically be a Clint-K where you pull the Jump Jets and strap on more armor and firepower: a perfectly serviceable (if non-jump capable) light cavalry platform.
So how does it look in Alpha Strike? Like so many lighter, fragile units, AS is a rules engine where the Wolf Trap can perform better than it does in the Boardgame iteration of BattleTech.
Wolf Trap WFT-1: The Beginning
We get an all-round decent unit. 2/3/2 damage with 4/2 Armor/structure and 12”MV/+2TMM. Nothing stellar; just all round mediocre-to-solid. 26PV buys you a striker that meets the Thud standard on damage at medium range where most AS combat takes place. When you buy a striker you don’t expect to live thru more than 1 incoming “thud”, and the WFT-1 won’t. However I like that the short range damage drops off to 2. It shaves a point off the PV and you don’t want something as fragile as a WFT-1 in short range brawling anyway. Especially not when it possesses 2 long range damage. This guy should be dancing around at the high end of medium range with hostiles, willing to let a target that wins initiative to slip back into long range. Just don’t do short range; with a TMM of only +2 and 6 total pips you just can’t survive there.
What really stands out for the WFT-1 is its specials. FLK out to long range is always nice, but becomes even more crucial when the more annoying VTOLs come available after the SW eras. And threatening to easily force lawn dart checks always complicates your enemy when attempting air-to-ground attacks with aerospace. And without Artemis or other fancy lostech on its LRM, the WFT-1 qualifies for the IF special. With only 2 pips of structure, CASE is one of those specials that mainly is there just because it’s there in TW/Boardgame stats. And to be fair, under those rules the WFT-1 largely doesn’t benefit from CASE either due to the XL engine that is the source of its structure being reduced to 2 in AS. However, AS does make anti-mech attacks easier/more lethal and a few SPAs out there can force a critical hit even before armor is breached. So it’s not truly useless on a 2 structure unit.
All told, the WFT-1 is an all-round performer. It’s too easy to kill to be a megastar in its own right, but as a member of a team where something scarier is drawing attention it’s a unit that you can ask a lot from.
WFT-C: The inevitable C3 variant
“Swap a medium laser for a C3 slave” is the third Kurita theme and the Wolf Trap series wasn’t excused from the trend. In Alpha Strike’s level of granularity, it means the WFT-C loses a point of medium range damage, but gains the relevant specials.
In the case of the former, the WFT-C doesn’t benefit from rounding up like the WFT-1 does for medium range. But due to the latter, the WFT-C really doesn’t care anymore what the range to target is. 2 damage at long range is all the better when a C3 spotter reduces the penalties to Medium range or even Short. Since it’s still just as fragile as the WFT-1, there’s little reason to close with this guy at all. And since it keeps its FLK and IF specials, just hang back and snipe. Only a technicality in the letter of the conversion rules keeps the WFT-C classified as a Striker. The thing is a Sniper. Use it accordingly.
Interestingly, the loss of a point of all-important medium range damage perfectly offsets the PV increase due to C3. I’m not always a fan of the “swap a med laser for C3 slave” mod, but here it really works well. C3-capable units tend to be very expensive, so the WFT-C is a good value even if it doesn’t meet the Thud standard for offense. Hitting more often with C3-linked 2 damage hits is an excusable tradeoff for 3 raw damage in a trooper type unit.
With the WFT-1 and WFT-C both coming in at 26 points, I gotta say I find the WFT-C the superior choice. Unless of course you’re not using a C3 network (why not? Boo!) or your game is set prior to the -C’s introduction date of 3060. Alas, no Clan Invasion era games with this model.
WFT-B: The Blakist Adaptation
Chronologically the next* variant in the Wolf Trap family, the WFT-B is the Blakist take on the WFT-C. B must stand for “Blakist” afterall, just like “C” stands for “C3”. Doesn’t make sense otherwise for C to come before B! ;)
Essentially, the C3 is swapped out for the ComStar analogue C3i. The extra tonnage comes from downgrading the LRM to a smaller launcher. In TW/Boardgame stats, the model also benefits from a half ton of extra armor, but this improvement doesn’t manifest at Alpha Strike’s level of granularity. Womp, womp!
Accordingly with its downgraded LRM, the WFT-B suffers worse long range damage and IF ratings than the WFT-C model. It makes up for the loss by being one point cheaper in PV, but I’d take the 2 damage at long range. C3 networks and all. The equally bad (at AS scale) survivability doesn’t make up for the WFT-B being otherwise equally capable at medium and short range. In this case, that one point of long range damage wasn’t worth 1 PV.
However, given the Wolf Trap’s in universe reputation, it probably wasn’t a priority ride for the Light of Mankind or present in any Shadow Divisions. While the Blakists really optimized a bunch of designs, this wasn’t one of them. It was surely just given the stamp of “good enough for Militia and company store exports” approval.
WFT-2: The Jihad Upgrade
What with needing quick replacements during the devastation of the Jihad and storehouses full of maligned mechs, why not slap some new tech on those guys and rush them back into battle? The WFT-2 was never a production model but a field upgrade incorporating various weapons new to that era.
The result is a much more impressive damage profile than previous incarnations. It loses long range damage in the weapons swap, but goes back to 3 damage at the all-important medium range and hits 3 damage for the first time at short range, and best of all gains an OV value. Finally, a true striker!
Unfortunately, in swapping its LB-10X for a Plasma Rifle it loses not just long range damage value, but the FLK special as well. And Alpha Strike’s granularity doesn’t convert a single such weapon to a HT special in its place, either. Worst of all is the chronological context. During the Jihad you’re beginning to expect a Striker to be capable of much more than a 12” non-jumping move. Compare to the Cicada-3P introduced in the same era: comparable damage value, but +3TMM. That makes their matching A/S values skew heavily away from the identically priced WFT-2. That’s just one example… the WFT-2 is more of an under-armored skirmisher than in the same league as the best strikers of its time.
Still, comparing the WFT-2 to its relatives rather than other strikers of its time, you do get a viable alternatively playing Wolf Trap for a reasonable price. However as an underarmored skirmisher, it shares a trait in common with its forebears: it’s going to perform best when you have something scary nearby that you can get the enemy to shoot at instead.
WFT-2X: Hey these things die too easily!
By 3075 House Kurita has been focused on fighting the Clans for so long that we’re probably starting to see an generation of Mechwarriors where combat against Steiner or Davion is the exception rather than the rule. The WFT-2X “Bear Trap” was an experiment to address the reality of warfare against the Clans for the foreseeable future. X-Pulse lasers and a Silver Bullet Gauss entirely comprise its loadout for the first member of the Wolf Trap family to be devoid of missiles.
These advanced weapons give it a comparable damage profile as the WFT-2, although it loses the ability to overheat. Improved armor technology, however, registers as an extra pip of armor on the AS card. One pip in this case means more than one pip. This is the first Wolf Trap to survive two “Thuds”, and it meets the conversion criteria for the Skirmisher role rather than Striker. The latter change can have meaningful advantages if optional force building rules are in effect.
Unfortunately, the WFT-2X has no specials whatsoever. Not even CASE. However, loss of CASE on what is still a 2 structure ‘mech isn’t a big deal. As mentioned upthread, CASE only helps 2 structure units in corner cases anyway. The upside is that this bona fide Skirmisher incarnation of the Wolf Trap is only 27PV.. a mere point higher than the original WFT-1 and identical to the jihad variant WFT-2. 27PV is beginning to compare much more competitively with 12”MV/+2TMM mechs, especially as a budget alternative to a SZ3 Skirmisher of the era.
WFT-2B: The Production Model Skirmisher
Coming available in 3080, the WFT-2B is essentially a production model Bear Trap. There are minor tweaks, but the most prominent change is swapping the Silver Bullet Gauss for a standard model. It’s a fortuitous choice when looking at Alpha Strike conversions: the Silver Bullet’s advantages don’t manifest in AS’s granularity but a conventional Gauss rounds up to a higher long range damage value!
With the improved long range damage, the WFT-2B has an accordingly higher PV. It makes the WFT-2B one PV less competitive compared to heavy skirmishers, and since so little combat takes place at long range (and the WFT family is fast enough to get medium range when they want it) I find the 27PV “Bear Trap” to be the better variant from a min-max point of view. If canonical plausibility is a factor, a production model is easier to justify in a force than an experimental test bed.
*WFT-1 (Daitama): The 2nd Star League variant
Although the Blakist Wolf Trap variant began strolling off captured production lines in 3069, way back in 3060 the SLDF retrofitted a unique WFT-1. In what is surprisingly NOT a Kurita variant, the autocannon is swapped for an ER PPC. The SLDF was able to cram a Beagle Active Probe and a ComStar C3i in as well as improving its armor protection.
It shares maneuver and firepower stats with the WFT-1, but has different specials and much better armor. The Datiama’s electronics package give it a suite of specials and its vastly improved armor in turn formally qualifies it for the Sniper role the WFT-C wishes it could list. Interestingly, it loses the IF1 special even tough (according to Sarna) it keeps the LRM10 and doesn’t add artemis or anything. I suspect the IF special’s omission on the card may be in error, but I’m not a member of BattleCorps and can’t verify the source material.
Overall: The Wolf Trap tends to be a good mix of maneuverability, offensive contribution, and price. It's not good at taking a beating, and may sometimes look sub-par if you compare it to units of its given role... but that's because its converted role sometimes has more to do with its (lack of) armor than what it can bring to the table. It's a good little trooper if it is deployed as part of a coherent team... in other words a perfect Alpha Strike unit! :)
I hope you've enjoyed what was my first contribution to Alpha Strike articles.
