@@MechanicalFrog Absolutely! We need to kick back, relax and have good fun in the hobby, which includes not taking our favorite factions too seriously.
@@MahPeepee This is a Notice of Batchall. I take offense to you using the term Heresy. It is Unclan-like behavior, and I will not tolerate any Warhammer Forty Thousand terminology used in my presence.
While the self importance of the wolves is certainly worth derision, this is the Smoke Jaguars they are whinng about. Smoke Jaguar's default move is appear as honorable as possible until nobody is looking. "Dancing on the boundaries of Zelbrigan" sounds like a motivational poster the Jags would have up in the war room.
The Dire Wolf is just a Stalker with 10 tons of arms and a 5 ton hat. Like it's little brother the Timberwolf, just a Catapult with arms. Clan Omnis are just arm proliferation and I will die on that hill.
The X Configuration reminds me of what Tex said about one of the Mad Cats that was like it. It feels like a Training configuration, allowing Cadets to get a feel for a bunch of weapon types in one session.
There are few things as scary as a slow Clan mech. The Dire Wolf is fifty tons of pod space waiting to be filled with the scariest weapon-combinations humanly possible.
I remember my dad getting ahold of this in one of the MechWarrior games (I wanna say 2, but low key it could’ve been 3 or 4, my memory’s fuzzy on it) and I just recall how awesomely powerful it was. It was also super scary to be the one fighting it. Got into tabletop via my dad too, and I think it’s just as awe-inspiring and scary there too. So much pod space, so much armor. Did some testing in MegaMek recently on several designs (in response to a comment in your video announcement post hating on the DW haha), and man you just have so much you can load into these things.
Ah the Direwhale, the bane of my existence back when I played the Clan invasion on tabletop. I'll be honest every time I had to face the Trashborn, this was the one mech I truly dreaded showing up.
As a Ghost Bear, I destroyed a Dire Wolf in a fight with Clan Wolf, then fixed it up and made it my own. I have always loved this mech, as I think it's the epitome of Superior power and muscle. I ran 3 Gauss with 6 tons of ammo, a targeting computer, and 2 ER Medium lasers for pew pew support. I used it for long range sniping to soften up lances before they hit the rest of my star.
Can't believe you missed the jump jets on the S configuration, MechFrog. That's, like, the S configuration's whole thing in Clan designations. Nice to see the Clans' need for soeed hasn't entirely abandoned this chassis with the T configuration. Although gambling that much armor and weaponry on a supercharger kinda makes my skin crawl.
There are a couple of Clan 'Mechs from the invasion that have that distinctive armoured shell/balcony over the cockpit. I always thought it made them look like repurposed dump trucks.
Great video Mechfrog. Until recently after all this time I never realized how new some of the Clan's Mechs really were for the invasion. By the time the Dire Wolf was in production in Clan space the Wolf Dragoons had already completed their 5 year contract with Davion and started a contract with Liao. By the time Clan Wolf won the rights to produce it the Marauder II had already been in production in the Inner Sphere for 7 years!
As a Clan Wolf fan, I am very upset by this inauthentic depiction of my faction. The Jaguar's CHEATED. I am going to stomp my feet until you fix this video.
As an actual Clan Wolf fan, i find your undying hatred for the clan hilarious even though I know you genuinely loathe the clan lol. I’m sure you’d be happy to know my other favorite factions are Wolf’s Dragoons and The Fed Suns. Yes theres a theme going on here lol. Though if its any consolation my forth fav is Ghost Bear who I know you also like. Genuinely hate Smoke Jaguar and Comstar tho lol
Oooooo, I must say. It sounds like the green of the Jade Falcons is such the correct color here. I’m no Wolf fan but dang……that’s some salty beef jerky being chewed.
One of my fondest memories behind the controls of my DWF was a particularly nasty battle in MWO. A fellow mechwarrior in their own DWF was pulling back from a small hill that was shielding our forces from a firing line of enemy battlemechs. Logic would have told me to hold back. To wait the enemy out. Instead, i charged right on ahead, rallying my fellow DWF pilot and the two of us smashed into theor firing line and tore it apart focusing our combined fire on mech after mech as our charge emboldened our allies to follow and as a wave we tore the enemy mechs to pieces. It was beautiful.
This 'mech is emblematic of my time playing Mechwarrior 4. I remember running it with way too many weapons and way too little heat sinks. But that didn't matter. There'd be plenty of time to take a heat nap after all of the opponents were sent back to their spawn.
To this day, the Daishi/Dire Wolf Prime is (in my mind) *the* most powerful stock mech. As I recall, in both MW3 and MW4, it's considered "The Big Bad" 'mech.
The only complaint I have against the Dire Wolf is its low speed. One of the Clans biggest advantages during campaign is their high mobility. The Smoke Jaguars figured this out spurring the creation of the Iron Cheetah.
That's a fair assessment. Though on the flipside, you can't really get it to move much faster. I think it was the right choice though. The Dire Wolf can carry so much firepower that if you see it rolling up, you know you have two choices: Fight or flight. A fresh Dire Wolf doesn't really care which you choose, it's going to do it's level best to gun you down either way.
This machine remains viable primarily because of its extreme versatility. With no Endosteel or Ferro Fibrous armor, this machine has so much more space compared to other designs. It still had more than enough Pod Space to be a threat to virtually any other design in the game. I'm still surprised we never got a LRM boat configuration...
I got my hands on a Dire Wolf in my modded Mechwarrior 5 game, and decided that the only reasonable course of action was to load it with half a dozen UAC/5's for ULTIMATE DAKKA (plus a couple of emotional support medium pulse lasers, just to fill tonnage). I have to say, watching assault mechs wither under an unending storm of fire was always a blast.
My first use of a Direwolf was a config A in the late 90's. It was a 6-man pickup game and my best friend wanted to test his first custom design. A turn 2 22-hex gauss shot to the head was apparently not in his plans for the test.
I love the Dire Wolf because there's so many things it can be. With more than 50% of it's mass going to pod space, the only thing it can't be is fast. It's been a while, so I want to throw out another custom configuration. It should prove interesting because it's actually a mixed tech loadout. I feel it might end up being just mediocre, but eh, that's what I get for trying to mix tech. For it's main source of firepower, the Dire Wolf MT carries two large pulse lasers in the right arm, a Small Pulse Laser in the head, and two plasma RIFLES (with two tons of ammo) in the left arm. All these weapons are supported by a targeting computer (right torso) and seven additional double heat sinks, meaning that while the MT can't really hit beyond the mid range, every shot it takes will be accurate. For backup weapons, the Dire Wolf MT has a ATM 6 and Streak SRM 6 in the left and center torso respectively, with appropriate amounts of ammo for each in the left torso. As a last surprise, the MT mounts a Rocket Launcher 10 in each side torso. Could it be better. Yeah, it's a bit over-sinked when you run out of plasma, and suffers from being thoroughly mid-range. If you want to be pure clan tech, you can fit in a third Large Pulse Laser and an extra ton of Plasma ammo, though you do have to sacrifice one double heat sink, do a little crit shuffling, and will have one ton + one slot still open, but I feel that beats the point, because it wouldn't be the MT anymore. Personally, it might be more fun to swap a couple heat sinks for more Rocket Launchers. Anyways, thanks for listening to my ramblings. If you have any thoughts on the Dire Wolf MT, or think you can do better, I'd be happy to hear it.
I ran a custom config on tabletop a few times... Two ultra 20s with 6 tons of ammo, 2 ER PPC, 4 medium pulse and an emotional support ER small laser. It was..pretty dang awesome.
I might recommend swapping the ERSL for a clan flamer if you find yourself frequently getting in 3 hexes or dealing with a lot of infantry/too close ICE vehicles. Being able to apply heat can help. Or just help you put on a show with a breath weapon. But otherwise, this sounds like a delightful design.
I have a Direwolf but I hardly ever use it as my go-to mech was Marauder IIC. This mecha was so rare for me to play that it was the last sheet in the mech pile. I put it in megameklab-0.45.4 to validate it which brought up an error in the heat scaling. I won't bore you with the first half of the stats as it is a standard direwolf 'Prometheus' with different weapons. Here's the loadout. 2x Rotary AC/10 in LA&RA with 4 tons of ammo. in the LA/RA & LT/RT 4x MedPulse Lasers in LA&RA 1x Streak SRM 6 in the RT with a 1 ton of ammo in the RT 1x ER Small Laser in the HD because birds can't shit on the mech. ( The Heat for all these weapons should only be 28 in total but for some reason it's MegaMekLab is showing 58 heat for some reason. So I threw in some more DHS: 21 [42 ])
My favorite support mech in HBS BT… Dire Wolf with 4xArt IV Clan LRM-20, 2x Clan ER LL, Clan ECM, 10 tons ammo protected by CASE, heat exchanger and heat sinks to fire it all
There is always something deeply terrifying when the clans make a machine that is fully devoted to firepower. No speed, no agility, nothing fancy aside from the utterly massive wall of guns that they strapped to the 100 ton brick of armor that dares you to move it
The Jupiter and Executioner Beta certainly showed just how nasty that could be. Then there's Annie C2 with 5 head clippers and the Bane Configuration 4 being a terrifying homage to the King Crab. Edit: oops, Executioner is 95 tons.
My Dire Wolf build would be similar to the C config but with a few tweaks. Namely remove 2 heat sinks, reducing the amount to 21, a medium pulse laser and the one shot streak srm 4. Some of these weight reductions is for the sake of adding 3 more tons of ammo, split into 1.5 each, for the atm 6s and then protecting said ammo with Case IIs. Furthermore, I will also put an AMS in order to deal with missiles. Lastly the ER PPCs will be switched with large pulse lasers.
The only time I have used a Dire Wolf it went 1v5 with my opponents entire star for 3 turns before he managed to get inside. The CASE saved the Dire Wolf while the rest of my star tore into his flanks. Anything that turned to engage the flanks, got popped by the Wolf. Overall, 9/10. Took everything that could be given, and asked for more. Downside, IT’S SO DANG EXPENSIVE!
Hey there mate, the S does have JJs so it is 3/5/3 per what you had on the screen/books, some how you missed them in your script. gotta love a Dire S(mash) Another great video sir
Four Large Pulse Lasers and a Targeting Computer at the hands of your best pilot. Leg-B-Gone Machine; remove leg, force a fall (more damage and a mandatory pilot check for damage), move-kill the target and maybe just kill it in one go. That configuration had me take out an entire IS company during a game 30 years ago.
I don't mind the W with a little tweaking. You could drop the pulse lasers for the same weight in ER Medium lasers, shift around the ammo - shift 1 or 2 tons of gauss ammo to UAC ammo instead, and lose the small laser for another half ton of LRM ammo.
I remember this bad boy from the MechWarrior 2 days, though I really made use of it in MechWarrior 3. I have to say, I surprised myself a bit when I made my Dire Wolf ISM configuration: it has a command console. So, yeah, it now has a 6-ton cockpit. Kept the standard armor and internals of the Prime (which I used as a starting point). Also kept the XL engine size it originally has, so no change there. Somewhat surprisingly for my ISM variants, it does not have TSM. I dropped it to 19 DHS, so with its loadout it still only goes 1 heat over its limit. The right arm carries an LB-10X autocannon and 2 Medium Re-Engineered Lasers, with another MREL and 3 tons of CASE II protected LB-X ammo in the right torso, while the left arm carries a Gauss Rifle and 2 MRELs (and, yes, there's another MREL in the left torso, along with 2 tons of CASE II protected Gauss ammo; I had no room in the arm for the CASE II without removing the upper arm actuator). So, yeah, a grand total of 6 IS-derived Medium Re-Engineered Lasers at 2.5 tons each.
I would also say an operation sneaky sneak 100 ton Mech walking towards you would definitely feel the ground shake as it comes sensors or not. You would know something big was coming even though the sensors might not know what was coming.
I’ve noticed a lot of clan mechs can just drop that random missile launcher added in and use the weight savings for more cooling. The dire wolf prime and Warhawk prime being 2 examples.
As a MechWarrior Online player it should go without saying that I'm going to be strange, but I'm probably strange even for MWO players. I have a Nova build that's all ER Micro lasers and heavy machine guns, and my favorite Shadowcat build is 2 heavy medium lasers and 2 SRM 6s on the Prime with ECM, because when everyone expects the 'Cat to snipe with ER PPCs they all get surprised when you put claws to asses. That said, my favorite Dire Wolf build is based off the Prime and uses its full omni set bonus. I upgrade the LRM10 to an LRM20 with 2 more tons of ammo because LRMs are annoying, upgrade the Ultra AC/5s to UAC10s, and swap out the entire energy compliment for 8 ER Micro Lasers. And because this is MechWarrior Online where I can't add a "Targeting Computer" I put in a Targeting Computer VII and top it off with a Clan Active Probe. At that point I run out of slots with 5.5 tons of weight allowance left. With the introduction of Hyper Assault Gauss weapons to the game I've got a HAG20 variant, but that leaves even more tonnage wasted. A Micro Pulse Laser variant uses up more tonnage, but even with the Speed Tweak perk maxed out and bringing me up to 52.5 KPH from 48.6 I don't like losing the 20 meters base optimal range. And yes, I'm aware that an extra 7.5% top speed on a "Dire Whale" is borderline useless on paper, but in practice having a mobility-focused Dire Wolf actually does throw people off. Not saying it's a great build, or even a good build, but it's a fun build, and when I play it right I do a good bit of crit-fishing.
I had friend in Highschool who totally sold me on the Die-E-shi, as he called it. To this day, I still love the design and the absolute oomph you can deliver. All mapped to the DELETE key plz! lol
27:23 those are baseless unfounded allegations. it was one in honorable combat, that combat was true to the letter of the law of dueling.... now we're not talking about the spirit of the dueling rules, we're talking this duel was fought by the book 😀😃😄!
Small error: When you were talking about the S config's movement at the end of its section, you stated the movement whas 3/5/0, when it is actually a 3/5/3. Your information on the screen was correct. With the jump-jets in mind, I feel the S is a great config for when you know you're going to be taking a fight in a city. Long range matters a lot less when you have city blocks providing cover, and your job is to move around around a corner to jumpscare something at close range.
One amebdment to the quote in the beginning: Loren Jaffray did in fact not face a novacat battlemech, he faced Satin West, future Khan of the Novacats who was wearing his black elmental-armour. And that book is absolute bonkers.
Great video! One piece of feedback, as a Japanese speaker: the "Dai" in "Daishi" is pronounced like the "Di" in "Direwolf". No worries though, I mispronounced so many Japanese words when I read Battletech novels before I studied Japanese.
The Dire Wolf has been one of my favorite assault mechs, or any weight, for a long time. The sad part though is I see how much potential it has and how close some variants come to what I'd make personally as either a refit or custom design...only to add something seriously confusing/disappointing to its arsenal. The main issue I have with most though is how much it relies on its arms for its damage output like you mentioned regarding the prime.
The Dire Wolf custom MF will see megamek game play soon as I want to see how it does both 1v1 Solaris Style and in the usual 5v8+ typical Clan V Inner Sphere. Was never a fan of the mech overall as it was too slow for my tastes. That said as an siege or assault breakthrough mech it certainly did its job. Another great video covering an important mech.
Forgot how pricy the dire wolf is. Comparable BV Solaris style matches the MF is brutal between pulse lasers and the atm at short range. The ATM’s and the plasma punish mechs that can run hot, especially if the ams is laser set. In my 5v9 Clan vs IS match’s the Dire wolf is either a reliable enemy assault killer or a giant distraction carnifex that the enemy team zero in on in fear. Honestly the only thing this mech fears is universal for its weight class. artillery, thru armor criticals and head capping weapons. Made a monster for sure and while I haven’t gotten to DFA anyone yet I can only shudder at the raw damage numbers.
In the insert that it comes in the letters denoting its place are DRWLF. That is why mine is forever named Dr. Wolf. He specializes in lasek and proctology and yes, he makes house calls.
Why do we love the Dire Wolf? Same reason we love the Atlas but crank it up to 11, because that's what it is, an Atlas cranked up to 11. Also, the Widowmaker just looks plain sexy in Natasha's personal colours.
Personally, I save any resentment of lupines for the crusaders. Turning their back on the justification of their plot armor, yet still being rewarded! Hopefully most of their Empire's might will go the way of the Camerons, Amaris, and the WoB before them. As for the actual mech, from what I understand, one of the reasons for centralizing firepower in the arms of omnimechs is to avoid having to confront the drawbacks of carrying Elementals, namely that Torso weapons can't fire while Elementals are latched onto those torso locations. And in lore theory/FPS games, it has especially prominent results in ease of focusing fire. Whether the greater vulnerability is worth that will vary. Not quite sure which variant I'm feeling the most, but that's the great thing about omnis, ease* of refits for your specific needs going into each battle. Though I can safely say that Dire Wolves of the configurations E, H, and T will not be deployed from any mech bay of mine barring burning need for minimum turnaround between acquisition and deployment. But they're not too many fixes away from being good. Just sell the heavy lasers to people who fight fundamentally different than me, and sell the SLRM pods to people I want to see have a hard time with a bad weapon or skinny wallets.
Doom, death and destruction, and that's just the start, this monster is a legendary killer. I got to play this once on the table top. It did not disappoint:) Thanks MF😊
We love the Direwolf for it's raw power and size. It lives up to it's name sake from ancient terra. Also now you need to do an Iron cheetah video cause it is basically a jaguar offspring to the Dire wolf
There's a good reason why is is one of the only mechs to be firing in the thumbnail art. It is a majestic beast with room for an arsenal of your choosing. Sure, it has a price tag to match, but can you really put a price on making history? And that is what this mech did. It left a mark that will never be forgotten. Though a young mech, its place in the stories is secured.
As someone who likes Clan Wolf, that depiction about the Clan Warrior stomping his feet and having snot bubbles is very accurate
Glad it wasn't taken too seriously.
@@MechanicalFrog Absolutely! We need to kick back, relax and have good fun in the hobby, which includes not taking our favorite factions too seriously.
Heresey.
It's an understandable reaction. Imagine someone stealing your new toy when you haven't even been able to play with it yet!
@@MahPeepee This is a Notice of Batchall. I take offense to you using the term Heresy. It is Unclan-like behavior, and I will not tolerate any Warhammer Forty Thousand terminology used in my presence.
Wolf Scientists: "So what do you need? Besides a miracle."
Star Captain Neo: "Guns. Lots of guns."
While the self importance of the wolves is certainly worth derision, this is the Smoke Jaguars they are whinng about. Smoke Jaguar's default move is appear as honorable as possible until nobody is looking. "Dancing on the boundaries of Zelbrigan" sounds like a motivational poster the Jags would have up in the war room.
The Dire Wolf is just a Stalker with 10 tons of arms and a 5 ton hat.
Like it's little brother the Timberwolf, just a Catapult with arms.
Clan Omnis are just arm proliferation and I will die on that hill.
You will certainly die on that hill if the Dire Wolf hears you call it a Stalker with arms.
This is so true, but also awesome heresy
They hated him, for he spoke the truth.
It looks like the murder cube got up and went for a walk.
"You build up so much heat. How do you shoot a second time?"
"That's neat part. You don't."
Toastyboi.
If the other guy is already out of the fight, no problem.
You dont need to fire again if your opponent is a smoking crater.
All Clan Wolf mechs are standard equipped with a XL engine, indosteel, and plot armor.
Seems to work for them.
@@MechanicalFrogGargoyle ?
Coming soon: Faction exclusive battlefield support Plot Armor card.
And that's why we love (hate) them!
"I am Natasha Kerensk-"
"Didn't ask," replied Joanna the absolute chaddest of Falcons, "don't care, cry about it. Eat rocks."
Why do we love the mechanical frog? Cool videos 😎
Thank ya.
Config MF just sounds like a batchall in waiting.
"Which version is that?"
"Config MF"
"Aight Bet free birth"
The X Configuration reminds me of what Tex said about one of the Mad Cats that was like it. It feels like a Training configuration, allowing Cadets to get a feel for a bunch of weapon types in one session.
I admire your restraint in only putting one Plasma Cannon.
Thank you. It was a struggle.
I was surprised by this; I was expecting a BBQ grill on legs🔥
@@maeltacI hear clanners weld the grill on top of the right torso to ensure easy access for the Elemental squad doing a "Ride Along".
There are few things as scary as a slow Clan mech. The Dire Wolf is fifty tons of pod space waiting to be filled with the scariest weapon-combinations humanly possible.
Well put.
Ah yes, the good old anything-named-Wolf plot armour, where "losing" means at worst they have to share their toys.
That clan wolf roast was unexpected, but very cool
All in good fun.
100 tons for a wall of guns, truly the terrifying beast of the battlefield and demands your attention
Tough to ignore.
In MWO, I've smashed through many a lance of battlemechs in my DWF
Because it is one of a handful of mecha that can put fear into an Atlas pilot, who is used to being the one inflicting that fear.
"I'm you, but twice as well armed."
We don’t roast wolves, we smoke jaguars.
I remember my dad getting ahold of this in one of the MechWarrior games (I wanna say 2, but low key it could’ve been 3 or 4, my memory’s fuzzy on it) and I just recall how awesomely powerful it was. It was also super scary to be the one fighting it.
Got into tabletop via my dad too, and I think it’s just as awe-inspiring and scary there too. So much pod space, so much armor. Did some testing in MegaMek recently on several designs (in response to a comment in your video announcement post hating on the DW haha), and man you just have so much you can load into these things.
It's definitely a mech that can make a big impression.
@@MechanicalFrog the infantry I stepped on definitely thought the impression I left on them was large :)
I know it was in 3, as the only 100-ton mech available.
Ah the Direwhale, the bane of my existence back when I played the Clan invasion on tabletop. I'll be honest every time I had to face the Trashborn, this was the one mech I truly dreaded showing up.
I must now paint on like an orca. Thank you for that suggestion.
The problem with Katherine Steiner-Davion is that she had a personality only a mother could love... and she had Melissa assassinated.
As a Ghost Bear, I destroyed a Dire Wolf in a fight with Clan Wolf, then fixed it up and made it my own. I have always loved this mech, as I think it's the epitome of Superior power and muscle. I ran 3 Gauss with 6 tons of ammo, a targeting computer, and 2 ER Medium lasers for pew pew support. I used it for long range sniping to soften up lances before they hit the rest of my star.
Great Presentation! Dire Wolf is a beast mech. Looking forward to more videos.
Can't believe you missed the jump jets on the S configuration, MechFrog. That's, like, the S configuration's whole thing in Clan designations.
Nice to see the Clans' need for soeed hasn't entirely abandoned this chassis with the T configuration. Although gambling that much armor and weaponry on a supercharger kinda makes my skin crawl.
Man as a died in the wool wolf fan. Joanna is the best character in battletech bar none
This seems a bit of a dire situation (thank you for your continued video work)
*Record scratch* I bet you're wondering how I got into this sticky situation.
There are a couple of Clan 'Mechs from the invasion that have that distinctive armoured shell/balcony over the cockpit. I always thought it made them look like repurposed dump trucks.
Clan Bob the Builder's influence
@@MechanicalFrog Can we KILL it? YES WE CAN!
Thanks for the video, I really liked it! You're my favorite PNGtuber/cookie
I'm a big fan of the MF config, it's quite scary
Thanks for giving it a go. Even though I have to deal with accepting this PNGtuber thing.
@@MechanicalFrog hey, at least you're a cookie too! everybody loves cookies
3:52 as a Spheroid merc, anything that makes canister-born cry makes me happy.
This is fair.
I’ve used this bad boy on the table several times, never disappoints
It'll leave a mark.
One of the true monsters of the setting, to this very day.
Great video Mechfrog.
Until recently after all this time I never realized how new some of the Clan's
Mechs really were for the invasion. By the time the Dire Wolf was in production
in Clan space the Wolf Dragoons had already completed their 5 year contract with
Davion and started a contract with Liao. By the time Clan Wolf won the rights to
produce it the Marauder II had already been in production in the Inner Sphere
for 7 years!
Really was a late arrival.
As a Clan Wolf fan, I am very upset by this inauthentic depiction of my faction. The Jaguar's CHEATED. I am going to stomp my feet until you fix this video.
Liar.
My proof?
You made the Roc specifically to kill Wolves
@@Vic-fj3qs This is a slanderous accusation!
As an actual Clan Wolf fan, i find your undying hatred for the clan hilarious even though I know you genuinely loathe the clan lol. I’m sure you’d be happy to know my other favorite factions are Wolf’s Dragoons and The Fed Suns. Yes theres a theme going on here lol. Though if its any consolation my forth fav is Ghost Bear who I know you also like. Genuinely hate Smoke Jaguar and Comstar tho lol
@@Angel7black I unironically love the Federated Suns and Wolf's Dragoons though XD
I expected you to go in a bit on the wolves for this one,
But not quite for the Jugular like that!
As a Falcon I approve.
Heh... This was actually the more restrained version of that part of the script.
Oooooo, I must say. It sounds like the green of the Jade Falcons is such the correct color here. I’m no Wolf fan but dang……that’s some salty beef jerky being chewed.
Heh
One of my fondest memories behind the controls of my DWF was a particularly nasty battle in MWO. A fellow mechwarrior in their own DWF was pulling back from a small hill that was shielding our forces from a firing line of enemy battlemechs. Logic would have told me to hold back. To wait the enemy out. Instead, i charged right on ahead, rallying my fellow DWF pilot and the two of us smashed into theor firing line and tore it apart focusing our combined fire on mech after mech as our charge emboldened our allies to follow and as a wave we tore the enemy mechs to pieces. It was beautiful.
I really appreciate the Lego mini MOC in the top right. There is a lot of amazing Lego mech stuff out there.
Frank does great work.
Upside of putting the small laser in the head is one more thing that can catch a crit instead of the cockpit itself
Absolutely.
This 'mech is emblematic of my time playing Mechwarrior 4. I remember running it with way too many weapons and way too little heat sinks. But that didn't matter. There'd be plenty of time to take a heat nap after all of the opponents were sent back to their spawn.
I want to think that in whatever afterlife clanners have, that Malvina Hazen's eternal punishment is named Joanna.
One of the most feared mechs among the Clans. Even the Clanners themselves show some trepidation when facing this monster.
To this day, the Daishi/Dire Wolf Prime is (in my mind) *the* most powerful stock mech.
As I recall, in both MW3 and MW4, it's considered "The Big Bad" 'mech.
That was TO far! The apology, not the insult. (Clan Ghost Bear here)
The only complaint I have against the Dire Wolf is its low speed. One of the Clans biggest advantages during campaign is their high mobility. The Smoke Jaguars figured this out spurring the creation of the Iron Cheetah.
Yeah that 3/5 can be painful.
That's a fair assessment. Though on the flipside, you can't really get it to move much faster.
I think it was the right choice though. The Dire Wolf can carry so much firepower that if you see it rolling up, you know you have two choices: Fight or flight. A fresh Dire Wolf doesn't really care which you choose, it's going to do it's level best to gun you down either way.
Well, if you're willing to drop an energy weapon or two, you could put a supercharger on it and get 4/6 for a couple of turns.
This machine remains viable primarily because of its extreme versatility. With no Endosteel or Ferro Fibrous armor, this machine has so much more space compared to other designs. It still had more than enough Pod Space to be a threat to virtually any other design in the game.
I'm still surprised we never got a LRM boat configuration...
I got my hands on a Dire Wolf in my modded Mechwarrior 5 game, and decided that the only reasonable course of action was to load it with half a dozen UAC/5's for ULTIMATE DAKKA (plus a couple of emotional support medium pulse lasers, just to fill tonnage). I have to say, watching assault mechs wither under an unending storm of fire was always a blast.
My first use of a Direwolf was a config A in the late 90's. It was a 6-man pickup game and my best friend wanted to test his first custom design. A turn 2 22-hex gauss shot to the head was apparently not in his plans for the test.
I love the Dire Wolf because there's so many things it can be. With more than 50% of it's mass going to pod space, the only thing it can't be is fast.
It's been a while, so I want to throw out another custom configuration. It should prove interesting because it's actually a mixed tech loadout. I feel it might end up being just mediocre, but eh, that's what I get for trying to mix tech.
For it's main source of firepower, the Dire Wolf MT carries two large pulse lasers in the right arm, a Small Pulse Laser in the head, and two plasma RIFLES (with two tons of ammo) in the left arm. All these weapons are supported by a targeting computer (right torso) and seven additional double heat sinks, meaning that while the MT can't really hit beyond the mid range, every shot it takes will be accurate. For backup weapons, the Dire Wolf MT has a ATM 6 and Streak SRM 6 in the left and center torso respectively, with appropriate amounts of ammo for each in the left torso. As a last surprise, the MT mounts a Rocket Launcher 10 in each side torso.
Could it be better. Yeah, it's a bit over-sinked when you run out of plasma, and suffers from being thoroughly mid-range. If you want to be pure clan tech, you can fit in a third Large Pulse Laser and an extra ton of Plasma ammo, though you do have to sacrifice one double heat sink, do a little crit shuffling, and will have one ton + one slot still open, but I feel that beats the point, because it wouldn't be the MT anymore. Personally, it might be more fun to swap a couple heat sinks for more Rocket Launchers.
Anyways, thanks for listening to my ramblings. If you have any thoughts on the Dire Wolf MT, or think you can do better, I'd be happy to hear it.
as a Jade Falcon, wasn't far enough. love your channel
Thank ya!
I ran a custom config on tabletop a few times... Two ultra 20s with 6 tons of ammo, 2 ER PPC, 4 medium pulse and an emotional support ER small laser. It was..pretty dang awesome.
That'll leave a mark.
I might recommend swapping the ERSL for a clan flamer if you find yourself frequently getting in 3 hexes or dealing with a lot of infantry/too close ICE vehicles. Being able to apply heat can help. Or just help you put on a show with a breath weapon. But otherwise, this sounds like a delightful design.
I have a Direwolf but I hardly ever use it as my go-to mech was Marauder IIC. This mecha was so rare for me to play that it was the last sheet in the mech pile. I put it in megameklab-0.45.4 to validate it which brought up an error in the heat scaling. I won't bore you with the first half of the stats as it is a standard direwolf 'Prometheus' with different weapons. Here's the loadout.
2x Rotary AC/10 in LA&RA with 4 tons of ammo. in the LA/RA & LT/RT
4x MedPulse Lasers in LA&RA
1x Streak SRM 6 in the RT with a 1 ton of ammo in the RT
1x ER Small Laser in the HD because birds can't shit on the mech.
( The Heat for all these weapons should only be 28 in total but for some reason it's MegaMekLab is showing 58 heat for some reason. So I threw in some more DHS: 21 [42 ])
There really should be a jumping Clan 'Mech called the Leap Frog, shouldn't there?
There really aren't enough amphibian-themed mechs.
As a citizen of the (rebuilt) FWL, I think your assessment of the wolves is pretty fair, if not bordering apologetic.
My favorite support mech in HBS BT… Dire Wolf with 4xArt IV Clan LRM-20, 2x Clan ER LL, Clan ECM, 10 tons ammo protected by CASE, heat exchanger and heat sinks to fire it all
It would be a monster in HBS.
There is always something deeply terrifying when the clans make a machine that is fully devoted to firepower. No speed, no agility, nothing fancy aside from the utterly massive wall of guns that they strapped to the 100 ton brick of armor that dares you to move it
The Jupiter and Executioner Beta certainly showed just how nasty that could be. Then there's Annie C2 with 5 head clippers and the Bane Configuration 4 being a terrifying homage to the King Crab.
Edit: oops, Executioner is 95 tons.
My Dire Wolf build would be similar to the C config but with a few tweaks. Namely remove 2 heat sinks, reducing the amount to 21, a medium pulse laser and the one shot streak srm 4. Some of these weight reductions is for the sake of adding 3 more tons of ammo, split into 1.5 each, for the atm 6s and then protecting said ammo with Case IIs. Furthermore, I will also put an AMS in order to deal with missiles. Lastly the ER PPCs will be switched with large pulse lasers.
"Was that too far?"
No. In fact, it's not far enough. Freakin' Wolves....
Great video btw!
I've been a Clan Wolf player for like, forever, and the Dire Awoo is the best Awoo there is. 🐺❤️
The only time I have used a Dire Wolf it went 1v5 with my opponents entire star for 3 turns before he managed to get inside. The CASE saved the Dire Wolf while the rest of my star tore into his flanks. Anything that turned to engage the flanks, got popped by the Wolf. Overall, 9/10. Took everything that could be given, and asked for more.
Downside, IT’S SO DANG EXPENSIVE!
Yeah it'll eat up your BV...
Hey there mate, the S does have JJs so it is 3/5/3 per what you had on the screen/books, some how you missed them in your script. gotta love a Dire S(mash)
Another great video sir
Dire Wolf: 100 tons of unapologetic "Go Away Spheroid."
Giving an Assault 'Mech an active probe is to prevent such a slow machine being flanked or otherwise surprised.
If 'sky's the limit' was an option, then a Dire Wolf with 2 Gauss Rifle, 2 Plasma Cannon, 4 medium pulse, and a Null Sig springs to mind..
What about the config that has 11 ER PPC's??? That thing is a beast!
You talk about the DireWolf Config "Beef". Has to described in french to get the full flavour of it 😉
Four Large Pulse Lasers and a Targeting Computer at the hands of your best pilot. Leg-B-Gone Machine; remove leg, force a fall (more damage and a mandatory pilot check for damage), move-kill the target and maybe just kill it in one go. That configuration had me take out an entire IS company during a game 30 years ago.
My all time favorite mech. So much fun.
I don't mind the W with a little tweaking. You could drop the pulse lasers for the same weight in ER Medium lasers, shift around the ammo - shift 1 or 2 tons of gauss ammo to UAC ammo instead, and lose the small laser for another half ton of LRM ammo.
I remember this bad boy from the MechWarrior 2 days, though I really made use of it in MechWarrior 3. I have to say, I surprised myself a bit when I made my Dire Wolf ISM configuration: it has a command console. So, yeah, it now has a 6-ton cockpit. Kept the standard armor and internals of the Prime (which I used as a starting point). Also kept the XL engine size it originally has, so no change there. Somewhat surprisingly for my ISM variants, it does not have TSM. I dropped it to 19 DHS, so with its loadout it still only goes 1 heat over its limit. The right arm carries an LB-10X autocannon and 2 Medium Re-Engineered Lasers, with another MREL and 3 tons of CASE II protected LB-X ammo in the right torso, while the left arm carries a Gauss Rifle and 2 MRELs (and, yes, there's another MREL in the left torso, along with 2 tons of CASE II protected Gauss ammo; I had no room in the arm for the CASE II without removing the upper arm actuator). So, yeah, a grand total of 6 IS-derived Medium Re-Engineered Lasers at 2.5 tons each.
I would also say an operation sneaky sneak 100 ton Mech walking towards you would definitely feel the ground shake as it comes sensors or not. You would know something big was coming even though the sensors might not know what was coming.
A brutal Mech!
"It insists upon itself."
I’ve noticed a lot of clan mechs can just drop that random missile launcher added in and use the weight savings for more cooling. The dire wolf prime and Warhawk prime being 2 examples.
As a MechWarrior Online player it should go without saying that I'm going to be strange, but I'm probably strange even for MWO players. I have a Nova build that's all ER Micro lasers and heavy machine guns, and my favorite Shadowcat build is 2 heavy medium lasers and 2 SRM 6s on the Prime with ECM, because when everyone expects the 'Cat to snipe with ER PPCs they all get surprised when you put claws to asses.
That said, my favorite Dire Wolf build is based off the Prime and uses its full omni set bonus. I upgrade the LRM10 to an LRM20 with 2 more tons of ammo because LRMs are annoying, upgrade the Ultra AC/5s to UAC10s, and swap out the entire energy compliment for 8 ER Micro Lasers. And because this is MechWarrior Online where I can't add a "Targeting Computer" I put in a Targeting Computer VII and top it off with a Clan Active Probe.
At that point I run out of slots with 5.5 tons of weight allowance left.
With the introduction of Hyper Assault Gauss weapons to the game I've got a HAG20 variant, but that leaves even more tonnage wasted. A Micro Pulse Laser variant uses up more tonnage, but even with the Speed Tweak perk maxed out and bringing me up to 52.5 KPH from 48.6 I don't like losing the 20 meters base optimal range. And yes, I'm aware that an extra 7.5% top speed on a "Dire Whale" is borderline useless on paper, but in practice having a mobility-focused Dire Wolf actually does throw people off.
Not saying it's a great build, or even a good build, but it's a fun build, and when I play it right I do a good bit of crit-fishing.
I had friend in Highschool who totally sold me on the Die-E-shi, as he called it. To this day, I still love the design and the absolute oomph you can deliver. All mapped to the DELETE key plz! lol
well, 'die-shi' would be the correct pronounciation.
27:23 those are baseless unfounded allegations. it was one in honorable combat, that combat was true to the letter of the law of dueling.... now we're not talking about the spirit of the dueling rules, we're talking this duel was fought by the book 😀😃😄!
:O
Small error: When you were talking about the S config's movement at the end of its section, you stated the movement whas 3/5/0, when it is actually a 3/5/3. Your information on the screen was correct.
With the jump-jets in mind, I feel the S is a great config for when you know you're going to be taking a fight in a city. Long range matters a lot less when you have city blocks providing cover, and your job is to move around around a corner to jumpscare something at close range.
Why do I love the Dire Wolf? They are just so pretty, pretty deadly.
Because it's a huge box with legs and more guns that fit into a normal interface. Simple.
Plain and simple.
One amebdment to the quote in the beginning: Loren Jaffray did in fact not face a novacat battlemech, he faced Satin West, future Khan of the Novacats who was wearing his black elmental-armour.
And that book is absolute bonkers.
@@christianholzschuh6853 I remember that book, Impeteus of War was the title and this was on Wayside V.
Ok. I need a lego Dire Wolf.
Wolf doesn't need any new mechs, they've got plot armor for days.
Arguably the best designed assault mech in the Clan's arsenal.
Indeed arguably.
Sounds like the green parakeet enjoyer is the sour grape protein paste one here 😅😊
J/K MechFrog, love the videos!
I'm glad that I'm into battletech lore deep enough to finally be able to know who Joanna is.
Joy!
I’m sensing some pent up aggression toward Clan Wolf. Might just be my imagination.
I don't know... seems like the perfectly appropriate level of aggression. :D
@@MechanicalFrog As a Taurian enthusiast, aggression is always the appropriate level.
Back in the day, it was the ultimate nightmare when you had to faced one...
Great video! One piece of feedback, as a Japanese speaker: the "Dai" in "Daishi" is pronounced like the "Di" in "Direwolf". No worries though, I mispronounced so many Japanese words when I read Battletech novels before I studied Japanese.
It wouldn't be a day that ends in Y if I didn't mispronounce something.
The Dire Wolf has been one of my favorite assault mechs, or any weight, for a long time. The sad part though is I see how much potential it has and how close some variants come to what I'd make personally as either a refit or custom design...only to add something seriously confusing/disappointing to its arsenal. The main issue I have with most though is how much it relies on its arms for its damage output like you mentioned regarding the prime.
The Dire Wolf custom MF will see megamek game play soon as I want to see how it does both 1v1 Solaris Style and in the usual 5v8+ typical Clan V Inner Sphere.
Was never a fan of the mech overall as it was too slow for my tastes. That said as an siege or assault breakthrough mech it certainly did its job.
Another great video covering an important mech.
Let me know how it does if you take it out for a spin.
I think it's best not to think of the Dire Wolf as a mech. Rather, think of it as an assortment of guns in a armored trench coat.
Forgot how pricy the dire wolf is. Comparable BV Solaris style matches the MF is brutal between pulse lasers and the atm at short range. The ATM’s and the plasma punish mechs that can run hot, especially if the ams is laser set.
In my 5v9 Clan vs IS match’s the Dire wolf is either a reliable enemy assault killer or a giant distraction carnifex that the enemy team zero in on in fear.
Honestly the only thing this mech fears is universal for its weight class. artillery, thru armor criticals and head capping weapons.
Made a monster for sure and while I haven’t gotten to DFA anyone yet I can only shudder at the raw damage numbers.
In the insert that it comes in the letters denoting its place are DRWLF. That is why mine is forever named Dr. Wolf. He specializes in lasek and proctology and yes, he makes house calls.
Why do we love the Dire Wolf?
Same reason we love the Atlas but crank it up to 11, because that's what it is, an Atlas cranked up to 11.
Also, the Widowmaker just looks plain sexy in Natasha's personal colours.
The Dire wolf and the Bloodasp are my 2 favorite clan Assault mechs.
Woo! The Dire Wolf a blast to play on MWO whether you are running an ERPPC/GUASS sniper build or running as many UACs as possible to delete opponents.
Personally, I save any resentment of lupines for the crusaders. Turning their back on the justification of their plot armor, yet still being rewarded! Hopefully most of their Empire's might will go the way of the Camerons, Amaris, and the WoB before them.
As for the actual mech, from what I understand, one of the reasons for centralizing firepower in the arms of omnimechs is to avoid having to confront the drawbacks of carrying Elementals, namely that Torso weapons can't fire while Elementals are latched onto those torso locations. And in lore theory/FPS games, it has especially prominent results in ease of focusing fire. Whether the greater vulnerability is worth that will vary.
Not quite sure which variant I'm feeling the most, but that's the great thing about omnis, ease* of refits for your specific needs going into each battle.
Though I can safely say that Dire Wolves of the configurations E, H, and T will not be deployed from any mech bay of mine barring burning need for minimum turnaround between acquisition and deployment. But they're not too many fixes away from being good.
Just sell the heavy lasers to people who fight fundamentally different than me, and sell the SLRM pods to people I want to see have a hard time with a bad weapon or skinny wallets.
Doom, death and destruction, and that's just the start, this monster is a legendary killer. I got to play this once on the table top. It did not disappoint:) Thanks MF😊
I shall make this world a slightly better place, but only slightly for only today and tomorrow. Perhaps I'll help an old person cross the street.
Ultimate goal of ending each day with the ledger in the green.
Laughed SO hard and out loud when I heard that "about as easy to like as a bag of angry hornets" line hehe 😂
Seems like an apt comparison.
Great as always.
Thank you! Cheers!
We love the Direwolf for it's raw power and size. It lives up to it's name sake from ancient terra.
Also now you need to do an Iron cheetah video cause it is basically a jaguar offspring to the Dire wolf
There's a good reason why is is one of the only mechs to be firing in the thumbnail art. It is a majestic beast with room for an arsenal of your choosing. Sure, it has a price tag to match, but can you really put a price on making history? And that is what this mech did. It left a mark that will never be forgotten. Though a young mech, its place in the stories is secured.
That and I didn't want to painstakingly re-create the art for the arm, which is firing in the lineart.
@@MechanicalFrog Fair.
Fire support Direwolf build:
6 LRM-15 with 12 tonnes of ammo, 6 Medium Pulse Lasers, 3 if adding JJ.
15DHS.
1 Emotional support ER Small Laser.
I once ran a game where a Nova Cat Dire Wolf D destroyed a Blakist Hermes II with a single volley.