Warg Assault Battle Armor - Technical Readout 3085 Supplemental page 47
The Warg Assault Battle Armor is the first known Clan Wolf design since the Elemental. They've developed variants of Battle Armor introduced by other Clans, and we know that there were unknown pre-Invasion designs, but for the inventors of Battle Armor, a completely new suit of their own has been a long time coming.
Published in Technical Readout 3085 Supplemental, the Warg is a Clan Wolf response to the attacks by both the Blakists and the Hell's Horses, the latter fleeing the turmoil of the War of Reaving in the Homeworlds. Finding themselves on the defensive at the very time when they've lost both resources and manufacturing facilities, Khan Vlad Ward opted for a new Battle Armor design as a way to quickly get troops on the ramparts. Given that the Warg took six years to develop, meaning that Ward didn't live to see the first production suit fielded in 3086, either the Wolves weren't really that desperate or perhaps they were in even worse shape than they might appear to outsiders.
Notably, the Warg is a departure from Clan Wolf's prior preference for suits that could benefit from Mechanized Battle Armor operations, in particular drawing inspiration from the equally heavyweight Ironhold design that had been fielded by their longtime rivals, the Jade Falcons. Oddly, despite the examples of the Ironhold and other Clan Assault designs, the Wolves apparently chose an Inner Sphere suit as the model for the Warg, in the form of the Draconis Combine's Kanazuchi.
It's easy to see the comparison to the Kanazuchi, both being slow suits that are capable of withstanding a Gauss Rifle hit, while being armed with a heavy laser on the right arm, twin missile launchers and a secondary anti-personnel armament. Personally, I also find the Warg feels like a miniature 'Mech due to its mixture of three different 'Mech-scale weapon types. Although there are exceptions, most Battle Armor designs tend towards one 'Mech-scale weapon type, with perhaps a missile launcher of some sort as the main battery or secondary 'Mech-scale firepower, whereas many 'Mech designs have a variety of weapon systems.
Whatever the comparison, the Warg is one of the Battle Armor designs that bases a large proportion of its firepower around its missile launchers. Unlike other suits, the Warg has more than one multi-shot launcher, in this case a pair of three-shot SRM3s, which provides the flexibility of a powerful alpha strike or a less powerful attack with greater ammo endurance by staggering shots. When salvoing a single launcher, a Star is capable of inflicting an average of eighteen points of damage with the SRMs alone, plus another twelve available from the shorter ranged guns, thus potentially forcing a MechWarrior to make a Piloting check. When out of range of the guns, or when the Warg really needs to dish out a smack down, then both SRM3s can be salvoed, giving an average of thirty-six points of SRM damage, which is a hefty main punch. The twin launchers also allows for mixed warhead types, adding even more flexibility, but the cost is the amount of mass that has to be spent on the launcher mechanisms themselves, rather than extra ammunition or enhancing the other armament.
Backing up the SRMs, the Small Pulse Laser and Light Machine Gun are both capable of extra damage against conventional infantry and in addition both have a reach out to six hexes, doubling the old standard of three hexes. As useful as this sounds, it should be remembered that this can still leave them outranged by some infantry platoons and by Battle Armor armed with weapons like the AP Gauss Rifle. The right-arm mounted Small Pulse Laser is an accurate weapon, but if it is meant to mimic the Medium Laser of the Kanazuchi, then I have to say that the Clan suit definitely got the short end of the stick. As useful as the Pulse hit bonus and anti-infantry burst damage might be, the heavier anti-armor damage and greater range of the Inner Sphere weapon are far more useful in my opinion. Of course, the Small Pulse Laser is lighter, even with the extra magazine capacity installed on the Warg, but for such slow suits, range is very important and Warg Points can easily find themselves in a situation where they're being pounded by enemy fire while being unable to retaliate.
Perhaps because their SRMs are so good, requiring much less mass than their Inner Sphere counterparts, the Clans have somewhat neglected to develop light- to medium-sized weapons able to reach out to around the nine hex mark. It's true that they have the even longer ranged ER Medium Laser, Medium Pulse Laser and Medium ER Pulse Laser, plus the nine-hex Heavy Medium Laser, but all are so super-heavy that serious design compromises have to be made to install them. For more reasonable payloads for heavily armored designs, the only viable options are the AP Gauss and the recently developed LB-X. By comparison, the Inner Sphere have the David, Magshot, King David and Medium Laser, giving a variety of options depending upon how much mass is available, from a mere 100kg upwards. While the AP Gauss Rifle does risk overuse due to its superb performance, in part it can't be helped because it is almost a lone voice in the wilderness, and like so many designs before it, the Warg definitely would have been improved by switching the two guns to a pair of AP Gauss.
As noted above, the sixteen points of armor allow the Warg to take a Gauss Rifle hit and then some, and to then keep ticking. Sadly, it's not fire resistant and, like the vast majority of Clantech designs, it lacks any form of stealth either, so not only is it a prime target for Infernos, but it's entirely possible for lesser armored suits such as the Hauberk to outlast it under fire. Of course, either option would have required a reduction elsewhere to provide the required mass to upgrade to a more advanced armor type, and with only a Heavy Battle Claw as technically spare equipment to add to the 10 kg that is unused, such a change would have forced a downgrade in the armament.
Like other slow suits, using the Warg is simply a matter of positioning it on a spot that you want to hold and beating on any enemy that comes within range. Ideally, this location should have good cover to help make up for the suit's inability to generate a Target Movement Modifier, plus you should try to keep at least one fire support unit around to help against an opponent attempting to camp just out of range of the Warg's weaponry. Given the short-to-medium range of the guns, it's best when used in confined terrain, such as cities or woods, so that there's more chance of being in reach of an opponent with the full armament instead of just the missiles. Parking the Warg on a prime piece of real estate is obviously going to be easier in a defensive battle, but if APC transport is available then it can also be done in an offensive scenario, although this is not really the Warg's strong suit, and a smart opponent will look for an opportunity to hit them while they're still deploying and thus vulnerable.
The Technical Readout speculates that the Wolves will be building additional Badger and Bandit APCs as transports for their Wargs, with both designs previously fielded by the Wolf's Dragoons. In this regard, that does give the Warg an edge over the Falcons' Ironhold, with the latter Clan apparently lacking a viable Battle Armor carrier. There is one small fly in the ointment, in that both vehicles can only transport Warg Points if using the default Total War rules that only require one ton of capacity per suit, rather than the two tons each suit weighs. Out of the two, only the Bandit has the payload to be able to transport ten tons of Battle Armor, and even that is a custom configuration, so those Wolf players preferring a strict adherence to canon and the more realistic advanced Battle Armor transport rules can find themselves scrabbling for APCs elsewhere, just like the Falcons.
So far only known to be fielded by the Wolves, it's likely to remain that way for quite some time, if not permanently. The Sharks tried to get in on the ground floor by offering assistance during development, but they found the door closed firmly in their face. Among the other Inner Sphere Clans, the Falcons, Bears and Horses all have access to Assault Battle Armor of their own, or at least a variant of an existing design, leaving only the Nova Cats and Snow Ravens; it should go without saying that Clan Wolf are unlikely to share their new toy with the Exiles. Being a primarily naval Clan, the Ravens perhaps would have little interest in a slow, bulky Assault suit, especially given their adoption of ProtoMechs. As for the Cats, from their development of the Clan Medium Battle Armor and the Thunderbird, plus their involvement in the design of the Void, it would seem that they have a preference for more mobile Battle Armor designs.
If the Warg can be said to have one flaw, I have to say that it's the appearance; I've met few players who actually like its looks. It's not quite up to the level of ugliness of the Ravager, but it's getting into the same ballpark. As far as stats go, the Warg does have an impressive throw weight while its SRMs last, especially if it can get in range of its guns too, beating all other Battle Armor with a full alpha strike. Of course, it should be mentioned that all the other Clan Assaults have their own advantages over the Warg, whether mobility, toughness, sustained firepower and/or anti-Battle Armor firepower. Assuming that you're not fenced in by faction availability, then among the Clan Assaults you have enough variety to fit almost all tastes and styles of play. Of course, many are going to be entranced by the Ironhold (Fire), or perhaps the Golem (Support) for the more discerning player, but the Warg shouldn't be overlooked and it's well worth giving it a try.
Next up:
- Gladiator
- Ailette
- Kopis
- Gorilla
