BATTLETECH: The Clan Wolf Disclaimer
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 21 พ.ย. 2022
- I'm definitely nervous about this video., as I do go into my own biases, which I'd rather not do, but its another sticking point that may be a problem for some going forward.
So, for those of you who don't know, I make my #Battletech / #Mechwarrior content genuinely because I love the setting of it. I love the stories, even some of the more ham-fisted ones. There is tons to love in it.
When I make #Battlemech videos too, I get to explore the Great #Houses and #Clans. It feels like I'm seeing them come to life with the characters and events happening around those things.
Unfortunately for me, there is one exception to all of this. Which is #ClanWolf. I'm going to have a frank discussion, while we go down memory lane, in this video. Because otherwise people will be very confused, or even upset with me, as I cover parts of events and #Mechs in the future, while avoiding going into or generalizing going over the Wolves.
Because quite honestly, they're the one thing that can harm my enthusiasm for the setting and its storytelling.
This goes from the #ClanInvasion, into the #FedcomCivilWar, then #DarkAge, and then of course into the #Ilclan era. Hell, even #ClanWolverine got punked by these guys because reasons.
So, this is my brief explanation as to why you're not going to see very much Clan Wolf content on the channel. It's also why I genuinely hope that they get solved on their own in the Ilclan era, without messing with the great storylines outside of them. Yea, I hope the #WolfEmpire gets destroyed too.
And while I don't want to attack anyone, I do have to end this with this:
#LUPUSDELENDAEST
#GhostBear #SmokeJaguar #JadeFalcon #Comstar #HouseDavion #HouseMarik #HouseLiao #HouseKurita #HouseSteiner #Comstar #InnerSphere
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Note: I am not associated with the Battletech / Mechwarrior IP, and create this under fair-use. Ownership of the Battletech IP resides with several companies at this time. I support all official releases. - เกม
I think "protagonist syndrome" is always detrimental when it applies to a faction within a setting.
Hard agree. I think it's made all the worse when it's the song that never ends regarding them too.
At least House Davion stopped getting it at some point. Clan Wolf's been a Protagonist Faciton for 30 years.
@@BigRed40TECH I haven't read most of Tamar Rising and haven't touched Empire Alone yet, but it seems to me Julian Davion is set up as the traditional noble warrior prince in the IlClan era. Plus he's the underdog fighting the Drac and Liao occupiers. I'm fine with Alaric being the edgy anti-hero, but the setting would really benefit from all the factions and corners of the Inner Sphere getting some love and the Wolves in particular would benefit from facing some adversity they can't just brush aside.
Julian's being setup to be a restoration Prince, given that Davion's last 3 leaders have in essence, destroyed the House. So it's less of a problem imo.
We'll see if it gets too bad though, of course.
@@BigRed40TECH I don't mind Julian, he's got an uphill stuggle ahead of him.
Er... antagonist. They WERE protagonists, but they Wolves are the Big Bad now. They are the antagonists now. As an old Wolf fan that makes me sad, but if you see them as protags... wait do you think the Word of Blake was the protagonist in the Jihad era?
You know what, I'm really upset now that the Clans didn't jointly conquer Terra and reform the Star League - and then discover that their beloved Star League was in fact just as borked as everything else in the Inner Sphere. Like, can you imagine the Clans realising that the Star League fell apart for the exact same reasons they themselves got clapped on Tukkayid? The salt, seethe and cope would be breathtaking.
That would be an interesting AU timeline.
That's what SHOULD have happened, the Clans figuring out that 'Yee old glory days' of The Star League, were instead a comforting fairytale compared to the reality.
That would be true to form for Battletech.
They would end up like most nations in culture shock in our timeline
1. Accept they got something’s wrong and move on
2. Go batshit crazy
Also, LUPES DELENDE EST😊
Its definitely a socialist's "The Star League is the best thing ever, it just those guys implemented it wrong meme." Those guys being the tyrants who killed billions with communism.
That would have been awesome, for them to discover that the Star League wasn't all sunshine and roses like they were led to believe.
I'm not as familiar with Clan wolf being The Golden Child in BattleTech since I mostly just play the video games, but it's relatable to see the Developers favorite character get all the love While others are left to languish despite their potential. I think it's respectable to lay your bias out on the table and play it face up, rather than trying to hide it. This way everyone can calibrate their expectations at ground level.
Thank you Baker!
I like most everything in Battletech, but the Wolves are just a bridge too far. Which is sad to me, as I love Wolves / Dogs. :\
Reminds me of how the Ultrasmurfs had that period where they could do no wrong and got hated because of it.
@@kyub3y467 Imagine if that went on for 30 years.
Clan Wolf = Goku
@@kyub3y467 the difference, far as I can tell, is that Wolf isn't the favorite faction for the writers/devs. It's just the golden child that can do no wrong.
From a lot of stuff I've read, the devs/writers are actually pretty solidly in the camp of "our favorite factions are the ones we absolutely brutalize - the underdogs who get their teeth kicked in repeatedly", rather than the golden do-no-wrong ubermensch.
For example, Randall Bills (head dev before Gideon) said one of his favorite factions is Clan Bood Spirit - and that clan got *annihilated* under his watch.
It seems like Wolf being the Golden Child has... *some* thematic reasoning - they need to reach a certain point for *some* reason or other - but I'm with BigRed that getting them here just has not felt organic.
As someone who is avid Clan Wolf, I honestly understand your frustrations. I focus more on the conflict between Wardens and Crusaders. As a Warden I feel it would have been more interesting to see Clan Wolf die in the Refusal War and letting Clan Wolf in Exile find their way in the wilderness. But that didn't happen and the Crusader Wolves have now reintegrated the Wolves in Exile, really leaving me with nothing. The Closest to them now are Wolfs Dragoons. Because of the developing events I find myself drawn closer to The Raselhogue Dominion.
I largely agree as a kid whose introduction to BT was MW2 and then the novels.
I do think that a lot of the GB love is fans who want to root for a "good guy" clan faction (which seems at it's core a futile goal) and glommed on to the GBs due to their good P.R.
Having read the latest about them, that faction is built upon a foundation of sand that just hasn't been tested until now.
Rassalhague?
I've got bad news for you...
@@rylian21 And some time later, good news (then WoB bad news for everyone).
@rylian21 they said Rasalhague Dominion, not Republic.
I am a fellow Wolf in Exile refugee - and I sorta hate that they just turned their back on everything and let themselves get absorbed. I think Ulric's power play and sacrificing the Clan during the Refusal War was awesome. You're right, the Crusader wolves should have been left to wither or become a puppet of the Falcons; though while it was led by Vlad Ward it was a cool faction as it played politics with the other clans.
Honestly I think it really went south when they had Katherine Steiner end up there and "seduce" Vlad. WTF. Wherever that woman goes, every faction I enjoyed begins to die. It also meant that the Crusader Wolves became the focus, and that Phelan's Wolves essentially spent the next two decades as a series of footnotes. Ugh. And Alaric. Him playing himself off as "hey, at least I'm not as bad as Melvina" was a slick move, but I can't stand the guy.
Honestly, if anything I feel like the Kell Hounds, left alone after the WiE wussed out, are the faction I still have hopes for. And Lyran space is a really interesting fustercluck right now so it's a fun place to be.
EDIT: Also, anyone who's read the latest stuff.... WTF happened to Anastasia Kerensky? She was saKhan, then wasn't. Where is she now?
We can't blame you for not posting a video of the wolves. Their plot-armor is so thick that it might rival Star Wars or Star Trek.
Wolf plot armor makes the adamantium plating on an Imperator Titan look thin.
...Pre Disney or Post Disney SW?? LOL
Clan Wolf mechwarriors are secretly Ultramarines
I did always think it was really off when Clan Wolf, who was the clan of choice of Nicholas Kerensky and most aggressively sought to destroy the Wolverines, immediately became the most like the Wolverines after his death. Surely the most conservative clan should have been the Wolves, not the Flacons or Jaguars.
Wolves/dogs were the first animals tamed by humanity. It seems rather fitting to me :P
It probably didn't help that his brother was the Wolverine's biggest defender outside of the Clan. Andrey and McEvedy were close and shared a lot of ideas, and Nicolas probably hated the Clan and their Khan for that.
In fact it makes me thing that instead of complete annihilation, the wolves absorbed some of the wolverines that would have benefitted them. A few ideas here and there. That would go a long way in explaining why the wolves are so wolverine-like despite HATING the wolverines more than any other clan.
probably because all the Wolverine novel is a massive retcon
Nicholas's death definitely had a big effect in shaping the clan.
Well for me, it would be like covering the Altmeri Dominion in the Elder Scrolls lore. I personally feel the writers bullshitted the Dominion into a point where they could go toe to toe with an Empire several times their size, convince the Khajitt to ally with them...and even steamrolled the Blades and Dark Brotherhood. To the point that Bethesda even retconned the Empire in Cyrodil originally, NOT being able to fight off the Oblivion gates because they DID NOT, pull troops from the other provinces.
Instead, Bethesda decided 'oh well the Empire pulled most of their troops back to Cyrodil and that's why Skyrim and others wanted to leave the Empire'. So I completely understand why you would avoid covering something that does nothing but piss you off and you find reductive to the setting.
The Dominion must burn
@@guardianhunter9608 Skyrim belongs to the Nords!
With Davion having been pantsed, and the plague of pet mercenary companies in the past having been more-or-less reigned in, it's all the odder that Clan Wolf has escaped being dragged down to Earth, both figuratively and literally...
Wolves: "We have brought peace, justice, security to our new empire."
Big Red: "Your new empire?"
Yes my new Empire!
LUPUS DELENDE EST
Big red: "give it up wolves, I have the higher support of the player base."
Wolves: "you underestimate my plot armour."
better that the nobels of the Inner sphere
Alaric Ward is practically the setting's equivalent of Cato Sicarius: canonically wins struggles that his predecessors would struggle with. I feel Battletech works best as a Neofeudalist Interstellar Tragedy with a Cast of Thousands, where focal characters exist but struggle with problems that don't change the greater status quo. There can be a few exceptions, but none that upend the rule. It would have been more interesting if Clan Wolf suffered a pyrrhic victory on Terra, winning Alaric's trial yet leaving many of the 3048-51 conquests vulnerable to opposing Clans and Houses due to the fact that their best and brightest died alongside their Jade Falcon rivals.
No worries Red, we all _know what must be done._
#LUPUSDELENDAEST
Clan Wolf, "They hate us 'cause they ain't us."
Interestingly, I glommed onto the Hell's Horses and the Snow Ravens from an early date. In the case of the former, a Clan that uses Combined Arms tactics, and in the latter, and Aerospace heavy Clan were HUGE draws to me.
Same on the Hell's Horses
Same on the Snow Ravens.
I agree with Hell's Horses with the addendum that I also love 4 legged mechs for some reason.
In theory all of the Clans employed "combined arms". The difference with Hell's Horses is that their front line forces included "conventional" combat vehicles, e.g., tanks, wheeled vehicles, and hovercraft. Whereas with the other Clans their concept of "combined arms" ended with 'Mechs, Aerospace Fighters, and Armored Infantry.
@@OptimusWombat that was one of the things that annoyed me about the Dark Age; the constant references to Factions "learning the value of combined arms". They already knew that, they are just getting desperate enough on resources they started to use more easily replaceable stuff for more mundane uses
Yes, I've seen Clan Wolf as becoming more and more the protagonists of the setting. They seem to be unstoppable overall.
We have to be honest about our biases. We all have them. No point in pretending otherwise.
I get why people don’t like the current clan wolf and this is coming from a wolf but a warden wolf of ulric’s days. I felt that us moving to the crusader ways with vlad ward and him taking in a war monger like Katrina Steiner sowed the seeds to our current monstrosity. Wolf in exile was what I thought was the true clan wolf.
While Clan Wolf in Exile wasn't as bad. I still think it was a mary-sue riddled wreck, and I consider it apart of my boycott on going over them.
I will be covering the Dragoons however.
Well as a fan of the exiles, in their defense, I always thought of them like the Farsight Enclaves from 40k. Sure you got a bunch of cool Mary-Sue styles characters, a shinning image of hope, but realistically? What can they do? I mean when the Jade Falcons go whole hog and invade in the Dark Age the Exiles get their butts whupped. They are hated or feared by most Lyrans and the other clans like to pretend they do not exist. Except Nova Cat, whose is gone now...😔
Could be worse. We could be led by genetically engineered psychopath who’s gene parents are brother and sister and the “sister” who was his mom was best described as a war monger and was in love with a crusader warrior leader.
Yeah I liked the Exiles and seeing them rejoin along WITH the Dragoons was rather strange...
@@BigRed40TECH "Past it's introduction" - *Deletes post about awesome initial release* OK, that rant was just rendered irrelevant.
≡][≡ Maybe we could borrow some of the Imperium's Inquisitors to delete the heresy that followed instead of giving them the full on II / XI legion treatment. ≡][≡
I felt like Jade Falcon not winning the IlKhanship was a missed opportunity. They have this enormous inferiority complex over Kerensky choosing the wolves over them. I think it would've been interesting to see them actually fulfill their whole reason for being that they were denied so long ago. They beat their rivals, conquer Terra, reform the Star League and fulfill Aleksandr Kerensky almost forlorn doctrine. Would stepping out of Nicholas Kerensky's shadow make them into a better faction, or an even more craven one? Would they be stronger for it? I suppose with the dog-kicking orphan-grinding Khan Hazen at the head it just wasn't meant to be from a narrative stand-point.
I think it would've been a great story to see Jade Falcon realise their vision only to find out its never going to be what they expected. And when it ended up being just like the Inner Sphere governments maybe they'd realise this is human nature.
Could only work if Malvina died in the battle. Then they've made it to the top, but in addition to trying to figure out how to actually be ilclan, they have to also grapple with power structures and the internal divisions between mongols and conservatives. If Malvina lived, her force of personality and downright madness would have been difficult for anyone to get behind.
There have always been the seeds of Clan/IS collaborism with Clan Wolf, and from the start I wish that was the story that had shone through. There were hints of it through to the end of the clan invasion but all of that stopped for some reason or another. It's also worth mentioning that post the battle of Tukkayid, that Clan Wolf essentially ceased to exist, with so many of Wolf's best and brightest, the warriors that respected the inners, dying on the field of battle. This is why, even being a big time Clan Wolf shill, I tend to not play them post clan invasion. I usually go with Dragoons, or, post Jihad, former Clan Wolf warriors. (Clan Wolf got me into the setting, and so they will ALWAYS be my origin.)
Going forward, I wish they'd do one thing in particular with the wolves. Make them remember the line, "We are sworn to ward the Star League and its subjects, not destroy it." And not become it. Instead of being the shining beacon of hope that Alexander Kerensky wanted of Star League in exile, they've simply become another player in the great game, with Alaric Ward running the Wolfs as little more than another successor house with even more self righteousness than the Davions.
It's my oppinion, as someone who's called themselves a Wolf since 1996, that Clan Wolf as it is in the setting now must die. Wolf's overconfidence must be its own downfall, and that zealous aggression must be burned away in the hellfire that only the Inner Sphere can bring. Its members should be scattered to the winds, hopefully to reflect and learn, and hopefully to come back carrying the vision of the Great Father... NOT the founder.
BTW, the enthusiasm you have for Battletech really shows through in your videos, as it does with all the creators I watch for stompy robot content, whether it be Tex, Mage Leader, Razorfist, Sven, or yourself. YOU guys are the reason for the resurgence of my favorite plastic addictiom, and I thank you for it
I feel the same way. As a kid, I liked Clan Wolf because Mechwarrior 2 let you choose between Wolf and the Jade Falcons. Red was my favorite color and their emblem was pretty cool.
Now I prefer Coyote among the Clans because they feel like they actually contributed to the clans and later pushed back against the status quo of the warrior castes dominating when they sided with the society. My training and professional background is in science so Coyote resonates with me very strongly with their heavy focus on developing technology.
Sadly, Coyote is all but no more, and they massacred their entire Science caste :\
@@BigRed40TECH A tragedy, but at least one self made and not at the feet of the Wolves.
As someone whose favorite clan is/was Jade Falcon, I am right there with you on hating the Wolves and their 3 meter thick plot armor. But, that was to be expected from the moment Kerensky joined them, I guess.
Hot take: Andrey Kerensky should have been lumped into Jade Falcon as a consolidation prize for not snagging Nicolas. It would explain their own spotlight focus having a Kerensky bloodline, and much of it's inner turmoil considering Elizabeth Hazen hated him.
The writers recognised this themselves. In the Critter-tek version of the game, the 'Wolf's Baboons' have a special power called: "The Scriptwriter Is On Their Side".
My brother and I started playing Battletech right around the same time as you, 94'. We have lunch every other weekend and talk BT, no matter the topic, Wolf cheese worms it's way into almost every story imaginable lol. I really admire your honesty with your bias and respect for the viewers that still love the dogs. Keep up the great work!
Better I not cover them at all then just savage them every time they come up.
I remember being into Clan Wolf when I was younger, after playing MW2 a whole bunch.
Now that I’m older and have read more of the setting, I’m gills deep in vodka and borscht in a bar on Tikonov, throwing darts at a picture of whatever Davion is wearing the big hat now.
Dammit. I wasted my PLOT armor joke on the community post! Shoulda held it back for this video...
Sort of like how CGL should have held back on the ilClan era until the sun burns out.
I love most of the era so far.
Just not anything that happens on Terra.
The PLOT Armor gag went over well. 😎
@@BigRed40TECH As you said, it's entirely likely that the Terran aspect will intrude before too long.
A real shame, since the Jade Falcon reformation looks interesting.
@@observationsfromthebunker9639 I'm always glad to entertain. I aim to please, but miss often.
Hey, I'm just happy we avoided the Worst Timeline with the Clans taking over everything and the Successor States completely disappearing. Btw my Latin is kinda rusty, lupus is a masculine noun so it should probably be "Lupus delendus est" or "Lupa delenda est" if you think of the Clan as a female wolf.
My Latin is near non-existent my friend! I just took the saying from Cato the Elder and tweaked it :P
Tell it like it is. I used not to care so much about Clan Wolf, but they've reached unprecedented levels of plot armor during the iclan era. So while we don't agree on everything, the universe would be better if they were culled. Plus killing of ComStar was unforgivable. I'm still sour about that.
There was something ironic about ComStar getting liquidated and bought out by Clanners tbh.
Back in the days of my 486 PC and MechWarrior2 I liked CW.
Over the years I more and more came to a not liking CW (more liking CW in exile) and the final nail in that coffin was the Primer for the Clans by Tex/BPL. At the end it's a Clan, I don't hate Clans but CW is like the favorite sports team of a dictator to me.
I feel this video was a good choice as a preface for many other videos to come. It allows you to proceed without having to continually reiterate your disgust for the elephant in the room, or wolf as it were. Also let's you increase click through with "I have feelings I've gone over already, check it out up here!"
This will likely be put into the end-cap for almost every video that covers a Clan Wolf Mech, as an explanation as to why I'm not going too deep into detail on its lore-based-backstory.
It's good that you made this video and are trying to be transparent with your audience. People love to meme on hating the Capellans but there's not a few folks in the Battletech community (myself included) that have the Capellans as their faction of choice. We all have our biases... stating them clearly is honesty with your audience. Not all creators are that honest with their audiences.
The Capellans make for a much more interesting adversary than any Clan. You’re going to fight on the battlefield; but you’re going to bleed because of the politics and espionage.
I've had a very similar journey with Clan Wolf. Used to be my favorite Clan, maybe tied with Diamond Shark, but the further into the timeline I got the less I liked them. After digesting as much lore about the Clans as I can I've come to like Star Adder the most. They seem to be the most down-to-earth, reasonable, and moral/ethical of all the Clans.
May the Wolf’s obstinate howl ring in your ears for eons to come!!!
Keep up the great work!!
Thanks!
...like nectar to my ear, drowning out the haterz
Lupus Uber Alles
I used to be a big fan of clan wolf. I personally still don't have any particular hatred for them, though I can see your point. Eventually I got on board with clan Nova Cat, before I knew their fate. I find them more interesting overall.
I agree but I went with Clan Blood Spirit. We see how that went….
Based and veneer-pilled. May Rosse guide you in your journey warrior, as he does for all of us in these trying times.
Man I’m a Clan Wolf fan tried and true but I’m also just a video game person when it comes to the lore. I’ve just been beginning to dabble into the book. I respect your candor on why you won’t be talking about it but I really worry about my enjoyment of the story if it gets that bad. Thanks for explaining your reasoning though!
Clan Wolf reminds of 40k's Space Wolves. SURE they're "cool" yet they're cool in an immature light. You simply understand what they're doing and why they're around.
Don't Compare the Sons of Russ to Clan Wolf. I love Space wolves because they are examples of a chapter should be like. Honorable warriors of the Imperium who see the guard as equals in the war against the darkness. Instead of the We are better because we are Spez marines. Clan wolf acts like they are the good guys but they win because they are good at out politicing others and then spin doctoring everything so they look like the voice of reason or the bastion in the dark.
@@steellynx8972 Space Wolves have just as much cringey Plot armor. They were my favorite Marines when I was a kid and now I realize they are just Mary Sue's with a wolf fetish.
All the "cool" things you add are why they are an issue. They get all the Marine benefits while being good. They can tell inquisitors to f off and nothing happens when everyone else would get wrecked (sometimes by Ork snipers sometimes by warships). Their hated enemies can unleash a well thought out, well planned assault on their homeworld and the Wolves are 100% okay by the end of it.
The Horus Heresy Wolves on the other hand are a much better faction.
As someone who has been a Clan Wolf fan since I got into the franchise 30+ years ago, I can honestly say I’d much rather you make content about topics, factions and mechs you enjoy - rather than forcing yourself to cover things you don’t enjoy just for the sake of trying to remain impartial.
Keep up the good work!
We got you filthy Clanner!
"Oh look at mah shiny clantech toys! Look at mah genetic superiority!"
Feels good to be at the top, right? Just remember that it's always the forces from beneath that tear down the foundation you stand on.
No worries. While Wolf has a lot of fanboys, they also have a lot of people who dislike them. Think of them like the Dallas Cowboys of Battletech. You will get quite a bit of hate for talking crap about them, but will probably get more people on your side overall.
I see where you're coming from, and I almost feel like the authors had to narrow all the philosophical conflicts into just a handful of characters rather than the handful of complex factions to fit them into a few novels. They just happened to pick the Wolves to do ALL the narrative lifting and it ends up being a disservice to the lore, as you say.
If you needed to undermine Clan philosophy by splitting the Clans along Warden and Crusader lines, don't center the entire conflict in one Clan - use the other Clans! The Ghost Bears and Nova Cats could have gotten narrative time to let us see how the reality of war and life in the Inner Sphere shakes Clan preconceptions. It would have been much nicer than the Ghost Bears and Nova Cats getting a paragraph each on their 180s right before the trial on Strana Mechty.
There are cultural foundations in the lore for why the Nova Cats and Ghost Bears have a soft spot for Spheroids, rather than Ulric just being a Mary Sue outlier. I also think it would have been a better vehicle for following shifts in Clan philosophy in the wake of Tukkayid.
Imagine the following:
Tukkayid and the subsequent Wolf/Falcon Refusal War would have created a huge power vacuum, with the Crusaders rebuilding after Tukkayid and the Wolves and Falcons tearing each other apart. We could have watched the Bears and Cats gradually favor Warden while their standing among the Clans increased because of the power vacuum. This would have been a more 'earned' version of the IS-savvy Clan philosophy Ulric represents imo. It paves the way for the unions the Bears and Cats develop within the IS later on, more so than the Warden Wolves turning into the ARDC imo.
This would also set the stage for the less Clans (Steel Vipers et al) to gain prominence as a resurgent Crusader bloc, essentially letting us test this newfound Warden-hybrid philosophy against a purer, oldguard Crusader ways.
Rather than the Wolves exiling the Warden faction and doubling down as Crusaders, we could have focused on the Jags doubling down on the Crusader philosophy as a narrative counterpoint to the Bears and Cats. This radicalization and the subsequent brutality would logically lead to their targeting in Bulldog/Serpent.
That would have created a purer narrative showdown between IS and Clan philosophies in Tukayyid with clear lines in the sand for each. It also would have clarified newWarden vs newCrusader vs oldguardCrusader philosophical conflicts between the Clans in the Refusal War and the Truce period. Every faction is fleshed out better and the conflicts are clearer in scope and narrative delivery.
Instead, every one of those conflicts is taking place within Clan Wolf. Rather than a grand challenge of the way of life among the Clans, we get a conflict between 4 people that should have been settled in a Circle of Equals in a single afternoon in true Clan fashion.
I always thought Wolf's Dragoons and Snord's Irregulars were the best part of Clan Wolf because they left the Clan. BTW, you need to do a video on Snord's Irregulars
I gave up on Clan Wolf after Vlad Ward was able to conveniently revive the Clan after losing the refusal war. I find Clan Diamond Shark/Sea Fox to be much more interesting.
What gets my goat is that after the Refusal War, the Jade Falcon Khan wants to absorb the Wolves, because both are so damaged from the war they’d be easy pickings for the other Clans… and then Vlad beats him to death, and that somehow makes both Clans injured state no longer an issue?
They should have just let the Wolves get absorbed by Jade Falcon, and then let the Wolves-in-Exile keep on as the plucky underdog they clearly want them to be.
I cemetery agree with you man. After watching your Warwolf video, I dived deeper into the Wolves to understand how things got to that point, and I saw what made me despise the Ultramarines in Warhammer: blatant favoritism and ridiculous plot armor. Like you, I noticed that their contributions to the BT setting is simply just "I'm the best, you are all beneath me, I am 3 steps ahead so that when I lose I actually win ha-ho-ha-ho". I have a friend I used to play with weekly who worships the Wolf, and as a Bear convert, I like to poke a mountain of fun at him for it.
I'd argue that the Wolves are far worse than the Ultramarines at this point, personally. :\
Not that the UM are any saints. It's just BT is grounded much differently than 40k.
Lupus Delanda Est
For the sake of Battletech itself. Lupus Delenda Est.
This reminds me on when I stopped reading Battletech books: I got sick of Victor Davion during his plot armor days. I know this changed later, but even then the plot armor for Clan Wolf was already visible.
My honest opinion: stick to the parts you love and don’t waste your energy on the stuff you hate. But I‘m glad you informed me, I like to know this type of stuff when watching a channel.
Serious question here. What 'plot armour days' for Victor Steiner-Davion? While I just sort of petered out of reading the BT novels around the Blood of Kerensky Trilogy (so quote early in Victor's story), from what I understand of the events of Victor's life, he's a bit of a colossal screw up. During the Clan Invasion he gets saved a couple of times by Kai and others, and it seems he shaped up into a decent tactical commander. Which seems to be where his skills end. He was a disaster as head of FedCom, is completely outplayed by Sun Tzu (who seems like a far better candidate in this era for 'plot armoured mary sue') and his sister. In 2 years he effectively destroyed FedCom, wrecking the legacy his father, mother and grandmother spent the previous 35 years building.
This is something I've never got about the BT fandom, the assumption that Davion, and Victor specifically, are mary sues. The House doesn't seem to have had anything go right since Hanse died, near as I can tell...
To be fair, I kinda feel the same about Clan Wolf too. For a 'plot armour' faction they kinda get ruined by the Invasion and its aftermath. Ulric Kerensky's gambit with the Refusal War fails and he dies. Natasha dies. Phelan's Exiles don't really seem to do much of import until their reabsorption by Alaric. Sure, Vlad rebuilds them, but flipping one of the Arch Warden Clans to a lead Crusader always struck me as bit weird (keeping the Jade Wolf name would've been more fitting imo). And if Vlad's bounce back from the Refusal War counts as 'plot armour' then Jade Falcon under Martha Pryde should get equal flak. Sure, the current plotline with Alaric may well justify the title, I don;t really know. But imo a solid claim can be made that the Wolves weren't 'always' the plot armoured wunderkind.
@@efffvss I wouldn’t call him a Mary Sue as he didn’t succeed at stuff all the time, but as you said, he would always be saved or get some other benefit out of the situation. Most of his screw ups (as far as I can tell from loosely following BT) happened later. In my time the most interesting part was, when he was tricked by his sister into losing the Lyran part of his empire. That’s where I stopped, because it didn’t feel like it would go anywhere else then him getting it back. From what I saw later, it seemingly went somewhere else, which could have been refreshing for me, but at that time I already lost any interest in him as a main character.
In my time Sun Tzu didn’t evolve further than „slightly less of a joke for a Liao“ than his predecessors. Seems they made more out of him later on and he was a character I did like, but it never felt like Liao was going anywhere back then.
Ultimately it boils down to how the books were written, they never sold me the feeling that i.e. Sun Tzu winning over Victor was a possible outcome … and I know, that’s what later partially happened, so the books must have improved (or different authors).
#LupusDelandaEst PRAISEBLAKE
Peace ✌️
Can't think of a good thing to say about clan wolf. I've never really been interested in any of the clans at all. I'm an inner sphere guy through and through. But I appreciate the video and it's honesty!
Frankly I agree, I'm not as deep into the lore of the setting as a lot of people but I got the impression that the Wolves were just frankly boring because every time they came up they'd somehow manage to walk out of any scenario without barely a scratch.
While everyone else was getting mangled into draws or similarly grim outcomes they'd pretty much always seemingly be the one to get out of it without much issue
Prior to the Clan Invasion of 3050 it was House Davion that suffired from this, although to a lessor extent.
Ah yes, Convenience, the Clan.
Mmm. I don't think it's a problem, especially with you putting this just flat out there. For me... I've had too much going on life-wise to follow Btech through all this. I liked the differences in the clan cultures, even beyond just "Crusader/Warden." I got a *little* of the feeling of "Yes, Wolf is favored," because they were the clan Kerensky chose. So that just automatically flagged, way back then, "ok, this is supposed to be one of the clans that the others *listen* to."
Maybe part of my issue is that I *have* been trying to catch up, but with multiple materials produced under different leadership, I don't see "one storyline" (yet) that pushes them over the top to mary-sue-ism (knowing, here, that I'm missing a *lot,*) up *until* the recent stuff. I end up jumping around a good bit. So it's likely very diluted in my experience. My experience (lorewise) has just been "the clans are just OP - when they're allowed to fight their way, which is a way that's forgotten things like actual *war.*" And then, recently, "WTF is with the Falcons?" more than anything.
Eh.
Biases out and explained, you do you, I can't argue with your reasoning with what you've seen. You make interesting BTech videos, I enjoy them, that's what counts.
Meanwhile a single Ghost Bear trinary kicked a Wolf cluster's ass across Toffen. I like the Ghost Bears.
I'm a general newcomer to Battletech: only been with it for maybe three or four years thanks to the HBS game and MW5, so there's a bit I'm missing in terms of content context.
That's not to say that I don't know the narrative of Battletech up to a point. I'm pretty solid on everything from the Grey Death Legion books to the end of the first clan invasion. The stuff afterwards is somewhat puzzling. I'm limited to audio-books and videos, sadly.
That being said, what I *do* know about clan Wolf from some of the newer books I've listened to does not impress me. Rather, they do seem rather overly competent? It's hard to describe.
I can understand a dislike for them. For me, it's to a point where I don't want the clans to achieve their goals. Not because I don't like how the clans operate or their culture, but because it'll probably be Clan Wolf being the ultimate victor. And to me that just feels boring. Like a predicted outcome but one I don't feel happy about.
I dunno. Might just be me.
Clan Wolf conquers Terra and declares a New Star League btw.
So it's exactly as you fear. No joke.
@@BigRed40TECH Ugh. I really hope the great houses and a number of clans are like, "What? No." and there's still plenty of fighting.
Clan Wolf are basically the Ultramarines of BattleTech.
Snord's Irregulars are an offshoot of Wolf's Dragoons. As such is there a possibility that you'll cover them?
Likely. But I don't know when.
The Irregulars are worthy of their own video. One could do a fifteen-minute episode on them quite easily!
Keep in mind that it was their absorption of the Jade Falcon Solahma that allowed them to expand into "Clan Snord". So they basically became a Jade Falcon Warden unit. Still ridiculously OP though.
As a Jade Falcon i wholeheartedly agree on this Message
Wasn't sure where you were going at the start but I feel your disdain. As a clan they have plot armor infinity. I think it's because the black widow and the dragoons were top shelf in the 80's and they introduced the clans. So they are the favorite son of the setting
Awesome video as always, Red! I couldn't agree more. Clan Wolf has prospered in it's plot armor for far too long. Lupus Delenda Est!
It definitely has "Go Away" heat from me, rather than Heel Heat.
@@BigRed40TECH I think if anything, you didn't dunk on them enough in this video. I think you've laid out your case against them far better on live stream before.
Certainly. But I didn't make this video to pick fights with folks. I wanted to keep it low-key just because it's not worth trying to ruin other people's time imo.
@@BigRed40TECH Fair enough!
Mad respect. Always love to hear from people who got into the hobby the same time I did. As always, a well-reasoned and thought provoking video. Keep it up, my dude!
This proud Capellan soldier will be cheering as the emerald dao of the Chancellor strikes the mutt squatting on Terra.
Okay, but seriously...I wish I cared more about Clan Wolf. But like you said in the video, their exceptionalism just doesn't feel earned. It feels forced, at the expense everyone else in the setting. When you step back and look at Battletech's big picture, the favoritism is just...blatant?
Like, on paper, the Capellan Confederation and Free Worlds League should be able to sandwich and destroy the exhausted Wolf Empire+Star League, but I'm worried their combined offensives will just be no-sold by the pet faction.
And *also* like you said, it's frustrating because I genuinely dig how the ilClan era is shaping up. I recently read both Empire Alone and Tamar Rising, and both are excellent, ESPECIALLY Tamar Rising!
I appreciate you putting your bias out there. I don't know much of anything about the clans, aside from the little bit from the 6 episodes of battletech cartoon and your videos on the subject... and tex, but I'm glad you decided not to cover something that you didn't like. It's better to be happy while working on something rather than create something you know won't be good because of your own biases
I agree, when the Clan material initially was released I was under the impression it was Jade Falcon that was going to be FASA's darling. It's too bad the canon went in a different direction. Turning their baby Wolf's Dragoons into a whole clan seemed really silly.
I picked a damn good time to become Capellan.
Good in the context of being not Clan Wolf? Yes.
Good as in not getting mauled by Clan Wolf? Errr....
@@BigRed40TECH I get the feeling we're gonna see the IlKhan take some lumps from the Confederation.
Galactic Confucians: _"liberals get the UAC too"_
@@Gigas0101 Looks like their alliance with the MoC is in the process of collapsing and their former allies the Anduriens are invading planets near Sian. All while the majority of their forces are perched on Terra. CC is set to take a stumble.
It's never a good time to be a Capellan
Well as a fan of your channel I will admit, I did not like this video, but I respect it. You made your honest opinion known, no shame in that. While I disagree with your final thought, (mostly because I am interested in seeing what the writers will do) I can understand your frustration. As a Dragoons and Wolf-in-Exile fan, the ending of Hour of the Wilf/Ilclan source book did leave a bitter taste my mouth.
It's not even the Ilclan era that drove me here.
I like the Goons myself, I don't feel that they are nearly as mary-sue of a faction despite having some boughts with it.
I'd argue that my genuine disdain for Wolf began with the aftermath of the Refusal War. It puts everything into context before that, and after. The Wolves are the chosen one. Others exist to satisfy the writer's wants.
It's just not something I want to cover. Ever.
Could not agree with you more about the refusal war. The Falcons should have absorbed or annihilated the Crusader Wolves after the fight was over. Previous Clan conflicts set up that precedent, but oh well.
The rules exist to be bend around the Wolves. Again, this is just what's always been. So it's not in my interest to cover stuff that is going to just kill my interest in the setting.
No worries here Red, it’s like Tex or Oculus Imperia, or any other lore channel, everybody has their preferred field of research and discussion and the whole point of making fun videos is to enjoy it.
The Clans in general are the living embodiment of plot Armor in action.
I feel the same way about the new York Yankees.
The Yankees are so brokenly and favored OP in real life they even got their own musical!
th-cam.com/video/aQv2sq6jEhU/w-d-xo.html
lol who doesn't?
I think the wolfs show what happens if you support a fan-favourite too much.
Plenty of Plot Armor to go around in Battletech, and the vast majority of it doesn't have a red doggy logo. I guess I just don't get the drama dialed up to 11. It's the way of "fandom" these days I suppose, whatever your movie/tv series or game line.
I'd not call this drama. I get a lot of requests for factions and characters to be covered in comments, DM's, and other social media. I'm just letting people know ahead of time that this is not getting covered.
Ahh Clan Plot Armor. Gotta love em. Or they manage to wipe you out with only a Cluster of mechs...
Frankly, I really enjoy when you really rip into some stuff. It's not like you're tearing down Battletech, if anything your passion about it really shows how much of an impact the setting has had on you.
Still, if -you- don't enjoy it, then easy sacrifice. I adore your content and want to keep seeing it and keep enjoying its constant improvement.
As a Memeber of Clan Ghost Bear and ally of Clan Cloud Cobra I for once am going to agree with a Sphereoid Clan wolf must be put down for the good of not only the Clans but also the Inner Sphere as well, though I do like the Timber Wolf and Dire Wolf but we can just "acquire" those mechs and reverse engineer them
As a member of Word of Blake I agree. And am pleased to inform you that ghost Bear is at the bottom of list
Thank you for laying out your position on this aspect of the lore and trying your best to be impartial within your videos.
Guy that got me into battletech said: if you want to play clans you can play clan wolf or one of the NPC clans and he was right so far
Interesting. Makes sense, though. My last real information on MW lore was MW2. In that it made a certain amount of sense for at least one of the characters to have PC armor (F5 Jedi quicksave, after all), and I enjoyed the War of Refusal with the exodus of the Wolves. That's a great setup, but if the Wolves managed to essentially come out of top after that, that kind of invalidates all the drama of the MW2 story.
A lot of writers don't seem to understand that losing can generate great stories. One of my favorite novels was Crystal Soldier/Crystal Dragon. The good guys are up against borderline incomprehensible entities that are trying to unravel the universe to remake it in their own image. And in the end they cannot beat them; all they can do is ride the shockwave into another universe that the bad guys can't reach. And it is an awesome story of an incredible battle against impossible odds, and giving them a surprise win in the end would simply negate all of it.
"It's awesome to..." I see what you did there with the visual.
Also, seems like there is a hint of Clan Jade Falcon in your soul. It may be small, but it is there. Noticed in the Jade Phoenix video, and this just confirms it.
My opinion of Clan Wolf predates any affection I have for Jade Falcon.
Truth be told, Clan wise, I'd rank myself as a Ghost Bear first.
Yeah, I hate to admit it, but Clan Wolf does seem to get hamfisted into being the victor in a lot of stuff I've glanced over. Never very satisfying answers on how a lot of things happen, either, from what I've read (Which is admittedly a minimal amount). If your impression from so much more reading ends up being the same one I have, then yeesh, I can't blame you for having some beef with it. I think this video was a really tactful move, though, thank you.
Honest as always Red, thanks.
Roar of Honor shows us who the better clan is. And that is someone who Loved Clan Wolf in the Past
I’d like to start this comment out by letting you know that I really appreciate your careful, deliberate, and detailed videos that break down Battletech/Mechwarrior that’s palatable to both casual and hardcore fans alike. All the hard work and passion really shines through in your videos. As for this video, I thought it was funny bc it’s mostly you just apologizing when you didn’t say or do anything wrong. Makes me think of what we were told growing up- ‘if you don’t have anything nice to say, than don’t say anything at all…”
I say a couple unkind things. But I mostly don't want to start a flame-war over it.
As an old tech fan (
My criticism for Clan Wolf goes well beyond the Ilclan era.
As a Ghost Bear and a supporter of Snow Raven... I have no strong feelings about Wolf. My knowledge of Wolf is fragmented at best in relation to thier story telling, as the only real stories I ahve read involving them are in the more modern dark era, and I have read nothing of the current ilClan stuff. So, while not as poisoned against the Wolves, I also don't see how they are as powerful as they are ported to be simply because when I left off from the wolves... they were a fragmented mess of a clan that had at least three, maybe four different splinters all claiming to be clan wolf... so yeah.
Long live the Ghost Bears! Long Live the Snow Ravens!
I personally have not been a fan of most of the new material except Forever Faithful and that is because the redemption and reconciliation themes in that book really spoke to me. As for this video, put down the shovel. Those that will dislike your decisions will not be swayed by deeper explanations yet you do risk the ire of others who previously didn't have a strong opinion before.
Better to let people know before videos like the Timber Wolf go up, saying almost nothing about Clan Wolf, than afterwards.
I am and always will be a stalwart Clanner, a bunch of alcoholic depressed Space Army veterans who went a lil nuts from Space Madness are just overall a more interesting set of factions to me than a bunch of squabbling Space Nobles doing Space Game of Space Thrones. Legitimately, without the Clans the only thing I'd find neat about Battletech would be Mechs, Mercs, some of the Periphery states (well before the writers ruined the Taurian Concordant by basically making them ultra mary sues as well), and of course the Rasalhague Republic.
Anyway, I was pretty hardcore Clan Wolf as a kid, but these days I'm Clan Ghost Bear, especially the Ghost Bear Dominion cause I love the Rasalhague lore and the fact that they're being influenced by it ever so slowly to where you're starting to get Clanner Viking Samurai (or is it Clanner Samurai Vikings?) is fricking neat.
Anyway, the writers have done Clan Wolf dirty, at this point they're almost as much of a mary sue as Victor Steiner-Davion.
I'd argue they're more mary-sues personally. lol
Battletech has three golden children, designated protagonists. The Wolf's Dragoons, the Federated Suns and Clan Wolf. I'm fine with the Wolf's Dragoons, even if they get a bit eye-rolling sometimes, and I'm a dyed in the wool Davion apologist, but it's hard to disagree that Clan Wolf's plot armor is far more aggravating than the light-medium favoritism the other two receive.
As a kid in the '90s I was all Wolf, as MW2 introduced me to BattleTech. These days, I realize my sympathies were more broadly with Jade Falcon. Ergo, I imagine myself a Crusader Wolf when I play MWO, keeping true to my roots on both sides.
Now that I've gotten into the actual tabletop game (finally! Why did it take me so long?), I look forward to broadening my Clanner horizons. And playing Lyran if I have to play Inner Sphere
Gosh this was a great video. I may be alone in this opinion, but I truly liked the concept of the Republic of the Sphere and Fortress Repulic. They weren't my favorite faction but they felt different than the Great Houses and the Clans. I know the Dark Age era gets a ton of hate, but having the RotS wiped out and Clan Wolf reviving Smoke Jaguar just rubbed me wrong.
My first introduction to Battletech was Mech Warrior 2. And looking back, my young mind was very easily impressed by the weird clanners. These days my knowledge of the setting is far more nuanced, so now I am mostly indifferent to the clans.
Well, it's regretable but I'm probably a bit biased. Mechwarrior 2 on PC, WAAY back in the day and the Refusal War and Clans Wolf and Jade Falcon in game codexes were essentially my initial introduction into Battletech/Mechwarrior lore. After reading through the codexes I found the novels and read everything Stackpole wrote and pretty much everything else covering the Clan Invasion to the end of the Fedcom Civil War, as well as the Warrior trilogy. Played the Mechwarrior games up to MW5 Mercenaries before I largely dropped out of MW lore. Couldn't really get interested in any of the Dark Ages novels. Lost most of my novels to leak damage in my basement when stationed atJoint Base Cape Cod but have bought a few of the books I lost on kindle and occaisionally re-read the books I still have.
I always liked Clan Wolf, more pointedly the Wardens and Clan Wolf in Exile but Phelan Kell was basically my POV character intro into the universe before the narrative focus turned to Victor Davion during that era. To each their own. I still like your work and will stay subscribed.
Love the passion! So I must challenge you to keep the passion going. Anything that flames your fire. Anytime you can put feeling or insight into you videos. That is what will drive you point home. Have not played BattleTech in years. Caesar
Your wolverine video is my absolute favorite. I'd like to hear your more impersonat Nicholas Kerensky :-)
I hope to do more with covering him at some point. Maybe his death.
This was really interesting to see. Had no idea they were so hated! I only pay loose attention to the lore - have played a few video games, and getting into the tabletop game more now, but haven't read any of the books. Always thought they were a popular faction, but not the outright Mary-Sues you speak of.
A good example:
They finally lose to Jade Falcon, get absorbed, become "Jade Wolves".
Shortly after, they murder the leadership of Jade Falcon, break away, take tons of stuff with them.
Jade Falcon's victory was the most catastrophic event that could have happened to them. Because it was no victory. Clan Wolf doesn't get setbacks.
LUPUS DELENDA EST!!!
I went into this video with an open mind, I think your take is fair honestly. I personally kinda sidestep the marysue aspect with WIE.(my reasons for CW are purely aesthetic and trite) The TimberWolf was my intro into the game in the 90s and I still like it. Gonna be true to me.
I also think the ilClan era will be a reckoning for the “Wolf Empire” by the time it’s all said and done. I’m even personally holding my breath for the 11th hour return of Clan Wolverine.
6:00 Woot! Awesome pun :) Having played a bunch of WM5 I can appreciate that beast in a new way.
Thank you for all your Battletech content and honesty about Clan Wolf #LUPUSDELENDAEST
The true beauty of the Battletech Setting is it's nod to history and in the intial setup there were no Mary sues... or for that matter Gary Stu, Marty Stu, or Larry Stu. The setting explored human nature and conflict through the lens of a future history. Rereading the old sourcesbooks I can set the set ups for the fourth succession war and the return of Kerensky. However, this seamed to slowly diluted with different corporate eras and the need release more source books, novels, and stuff.
No worries...but now I want to see a video on Hell's Horses, just because I like the different groups...and maybe Snord's irregulars:)
Clan Wolf is like Chevrolet and it's lineup of Corvettes: they must win (sell) no matter what... with this realization, I kinda don't like them either, but I got so attached though...
My BT days predates the introduction of Clan. Outside of the Timberwolf I’m inner sphere fan all the way. I have only read a couple books so I’m really lost as to what has happened. I totally get the disdain for the golden boy clan.
Keep up the videos. I must have watched an hour plus of mech videos over the last day.
All the kitty clans got annihilated, but the doggo clans shrug off all blows and the doggo sphereoid factions do the same. Clearly the authors are dog owners!
PS, all Timber Wolf models look better in Jade Falcon paint than wolf paint. The colors just pop better.
I love Dogs too. So its even more sad they turned Clan Wolf into this mary-sue riddled trash.
Thankfully I just won't be covering it.
Didn't the coyotes get destroyed in the wars of Reaving.
Nah it looks better in Clan Ghost Bear colors.
Actually everything looks better in Clan Ghost Bear colors.
Lets make the entire Inner Sphere and Clan Space Clan Ghost Bear colors.
Clan Nova Cat me beloved 💔
to be fair, clan wolf had one really crappy thing when their chosen base color was just GREY. I mean you could say any unpainted plastic mini already has clan wolf paint on XD
Gosh yes, reviewing some things I enjoyed reading in my youth... tastes grow and change. And you start to see things you missed before. Plus the world has changed with those decades.
I just assume that **every** thing I like about Clan Wolf is apocryphal :D
Thank you. I feel the same way and would have skipped any wolf content anyways. This means more for me!
Im pretty new to battletech. Im so far enjoying it and ive found your channel great for learning bits an pieces of the lore. Its sad to hear a faction has basically been removed from your roster of coverage but i cannot disagree with your thoughts on them as a faction in the wider setting. It felt like the original writers wanted a faction to be the moral high geound and got caught up into thinking that means they need to win all the time. When its more important for pur protaginists to fail and learn from that.
Sad to hear the tone of disapproval here, but long to short, i understand and hope to hear more intricate videos from you in the future.
I do think Clan Wolf does add something of value to the franchise; Hatred inducing smugness. They were the Lesser Kerensky's clan of choice, and probably inherited his tendency to edit history as they saw fit. One could look at a lot of how they're presented as Clan Wolf propaganda written by them, the wolves going to great lengths to present themselves, the Founder's Chosen Clan, as the heroes of every story they show up in.
They'd be drinking their own Koolade right from the tap, too, the most distilled aspects of Clanner idiocy all in one clan. It can explain how a walking garbage fire like the Warwolf can happen yet the Wolves would be proud of it.
Either way, thanks for the heads up on this. I'll be able to keep it in mind going forward, though it won't dampen my enjoyment of your videos.