’Mech of the Week: Warwolf OmniMechWarwolf OmniMech, Technical Readout: 3145, p. 163
It’s hard to say what sparked Khan Seth Wart’s desire to order the development of the
Warwolf and its smaller, equally lupus-inspired cousin the
Wulfen. Perhaps he was feeling a case of totem envy with the Falcon’s ‘Mechs. The
Eyrie,
Gyrfalcon, and
Shrike had been stomping across the fields looking rather snazzy what with their hooked beaks and partial wings. Hell’s Horses have been using the
Balius to canter into battle, snorting fire and hoping warriors don’t snicker at some inappropriately placed lasers. We haven’t even mentioned the granddaddy of Grand Council costumes ballooned to BattleMech scale, the
Kodiak . Worse yet, the Diamond Sharks/Sea Foxes had coopted the
Timber Wolf iconography over the decades, possibly stealing some of its luster in the eyes of Clan Wolf’s warriors. The Khan obviously felt something new was required either to inspire his Clan or to fill a gap in its TO&E. Hence, the
Warwolf, and its muzzle-like cockpit would be released on an Inner Sphere in turmoil.
Parting the curtains of the fourth wall for a moment, the
Warwolf was first spotted in MechWarrior: Age of Destruction’s Wolf Strike expansion park. The OmniMech’s look is based on art by Brent Evans which can be found on his
website. The creator of the ‘Mech’s visual aesthetic was also the source of the BattleTech stats, from the base chassis to several of the configurations. Except the H which I believe y’all can lay the blame on jymset for that one.
jymset: next to Patrick Wynne, Brent Evans was one of two people whose input took precedence over all other research that formed TRO 3145. I had a true geek moment when I realized that Brent had always intended the Warwolf to be an OmniMech. I pounced on the chance to have some fun with it when doing the H.So what does Khan Ward’s totemic heavy provide? At 75 tons and a flanking speed of 86 kph, the
Warwolf is comfortable in the heavy cavalry role and shares the same Starfire 375 XL fusion engine found in many such Clan machines. While there’s room in the engine, the base chassis has no double heat sinks installed beyond the base ten to save weight. As with many of the aforementioned Clan heavy cavalry models, an endo steel frame forms the Omni’s bones. What separates the
Warwolf from so many other machines is what protects all those remarkably similar internal components. Fourteen and a half tons of Forging BL2 reactive armor lends the ‘Mech the maximum level of protection for a machine its size and enables all the forward sections to readily handle the heaviest ‘Mech-scale weapons science has yet created. Well, except the head, but we’ll just ignore that bit. For those looking for specifics, 35 points in the center torso, 24 in the side torsos and arms, and 32 in the legs. Aft sections have a respectable 8/11/8 spread. The advanced armor is bulky and carries a slight risk of … well … explosion. But with that comes enhanced protection for missiles, mortars, and artillery. This could be seen as a Clan’s acceptance that warfare in the Sphere means accepting reality of weathering the odd bit of eruptive rain. The earliest
Warwolf combat, aside for trials, was also against the states of the former Free Worlds League. I’d certainly be grateful for anything that takes the edge off the flights of LRMs those armies stereotypically love.
Warwolf availability is limited to Clan Wolf, Wolf Empire, or whatever we’re calling it these days. Prototyped in the Wolf Occupation zone, it didn’t enter full production until manufacturing facilities were retooled on Thermopolis. Initially rare and only available to those who adequately impressed the Khan, the
Warwolf will certainly spread though the
touman as production continues to spin up. Now we’ll take a gander at what standard configurations those Wolf warriors will be taking into battle.
Warwolf Prime – Like a gunslinger out of the ancient North American West, the Prime’s right arm sports a Gauss rifle with sixteen shots loaded into an attached drum magazine. It’s a visual that continues with the remaining configurations as well, none of them mount a single weapon in the left arm. Each shoulder supports an LRM 10 as the rifle’s sole backup. The missile racks are each fed by their own ton of ammunition sheltered in CASE II protected bins. The overall offensive output is light for a Clan heavy, but at least the already fearsome gun is linked to a targeting computer, helping make every shot count. Proving that reactive armor is great, but making sure the missiles don’t hit is even better, a laser AMS is installed in the head. Just in case the
Warwolf Prime’s own weapons aren’t enough, a TAG laser has been added. The Wolves have never been shy about the application of Arrow IVs for problem solving and it would appear they don’t intend to give up on the idea. Finally, each torso contains a single jump jet. While not sufficient to generate any better TMMs that just running, the jets to come in handy for quickly clearing obstacles. Plus the image of this Omni’ “pouncing” on prey is just too appealing. The Prime isn’t about the overwhelming application of firepower, but its precision application. It strikes me as the kind of ‘Mech you assign to a
ristar with a finesse streak.
Warwolf A – The
Warwolf A takes the simplicity of the Prime’s armament and chucks it out the window without bothering to raise the sash. An ER PPC takes the BFG position in the right arm along with a medium pulse laser. Streak launchers occupy the side torsos; an LRM 10 in the right and an SRM 6 in the left, each with an accompanying ton of ammo protected by CASE II. The A’s center line contains an ER large laser, a second medium pulse laser and in case that wasn’t enough an ER medium laser in the head. Four extra double heat sinks are adequate for bracket firing but letting loose the full mix of beams and missiles will certainly risk unpleasant consequences. Still, it’s fully capable of inflicting pain at all ranges.
Warwolf B – Jump jet fans rejoice! The B has a full complement of standard jump jets for all your bouncing pleasure. Sadly, the armament is also the lightest of all configurations. The right arm is occupied by an Ultra AC/10 supplied with enough rounds to fire full bore for a solid two and a half minutes. The adjacent torso is fitted with an ER large pulse laser. The head mounted laser AMS returns to provide its aegis. A whopping five double heat sinks keep B astoundingly cool till the engine criticals start. ER pulse lasers take a beating from critics but that’s not the most concerning aspect of this configuration. Having just two weapons and mounting them both on the same side is something I find worrisome. Made sure you keep your left side facing the enemy. On the bright side, it is the least expensive in terms of battle value. Pilot it like a
Summoner and you should do well.
Warwolf C – The C is very much the Prime
redux with the weapon arrangement, jump jets, targeting computer, even the CASE II munition bins and laser AMS all returning. The right arm gun trades stopping power for accuracy with the mounting of a large pulse laser. Yes the dreaded pulse laser/targeting combination again rears its head. Shoulder-mounted missile boxes come in the form of ATM 9s this time around, each supplied with two tons of ammo. Unless I know I’m fighting in tight confines, those bins are likely to be split between extend range and high explosive types. Rounding off the C configuration is a trio of additional double heat sinks. Bounding around, weapons blazing and the AMS swatting missile flights, will put the heat gauge into positive territory, but only just. So no worries there. Perhaps it’s the HE rounds making my head all fuzzy, but the C wants to be a close ranged brawler. It’s none too shabby taking on that role, especially if it does finding itself frolicking in the aforementioned tight confines.
Warwolf H – The Gauss rifle returns to its home in the
Warwolf’s right arm. The two tons of slugs are stored in the right arm, still in their stylish drum magazine as indicated by the cover art of
TRO: 3145 – The Clans. Each of the side torsos houses an improved heavy large laser. The machine is protected from the lasers’ unstable nature by CASE II encapsulation. Three double heat sinks are woefully inadequate to tackle the volume of heat produced by an alpha strike. Thankfully a pair of coolant pods can flush the system keep the warrior from suffering sudden dehydration. Well, twice at least. Given the heavy laser’s short range compared to many other hard hitting weapons, the installation of a supercharger makes perfect sense. It also meshes with the aggressive mindset behind the armament. Personally, I find a 75 ton ‘Mech charging down the enemy at 108 kph with three guns carving off several tons of armor a thing of beauty.
Like nearly every other Clan heavy ‘Mech, the
Warwolf may suffer from comparisons to that sublime piece of machinery, the
Timber Wolf. More so with the
Warwolf sharing the same mass and pedigree. So it’s worth taking a few moments to set the two side by side. The
Warwolf ekes out a pyrrhic victory in terms of available pod space. The new ‘Mech has 30 tons at its disposal, two and a half more than the
Timber Wolf. The available critical space is the same, though the distribution differs. The weight advantage is overshadowed, at least for energy-heavy configurations, by the
Timber Wolf’s fixed heat sinks. It does work in the
War’s advantage in the case of the Prime were anything more than the base ten would over sink the design. The
Warwolf’s greatest improvement comes from the thick layer reactive armor, though in terms of raw points there’s only one more than what’s found on the
T-Wolf. That armor is the source of my only true gripe, battle value. Because of the modifier applied by reactive and other specialty armors, the battle values of every configuration are enormous compared to the offensive output.
In the end, the difference comes down to the configurations. Many of the
Warwolf pods benefit from new materials and designs born out of experience with Inner Sphere warfare. The torsos are always protected by the installation of CASE II when needed. The ammo supply is more than adequate for typical engagements. None of that silly “one ton of slugs for the Gauss rifle” business like the
Timber Wolf B. Running some simulations of Prime versus Prime, the newer
Wolf could edge out the older if it could stay outside of medium laser range. Once that gap was reliably closed the
T-Wolf often ground the
Warwolf down. But saying that the Omni it’s awful because it can’t reliable trounce a
Timber Wolf is an egregiously unfair statement. The list of heavies that fall into that category is long and quite distinguished.
jymset: Beyond the BV, the most difficult to swallow about the Warwolf is its eclectic weaponry in some configurations, and the general tendency to concentrate on only a few weapons with big punch. The Mad Cat is always more balanced, with 2 arm pods and (generally) 2 missile shoulders backed up by small tertiary guns is worth it. In the end, it’s hard to argue with thick, specialized armor, good speed, and respectable, if sparse, load outs. The Wolves could do worse, and frankly have. I’m comfortable saying that the
Warwolf admirably fulfills its purpose as a totem for the Wolf Empire.
As always, the
Master Unit List has plenty of information and always worth a look. While there’s no examples on CamoSpecs Online,
Iron Wind Metals has recently posted images of the miniature.
