I think "protagonist syndrome" is always detrimental when it applies to a faction within a setting.

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.

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.

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.

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...

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.

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: "We have brought peace, justice, security to our new empire." Big Red: "Your new empire?"

Clan Wolf, "They hate us 'cause they ain't us."

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.

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.

Yes, I've seen Clan Wolf as becoming more and more the protagonists of the setting. They seem to be unstoppable overall.

No worries Red, we all _know what must be done._ #LUPUSDELENDAEST

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 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 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.

We have to be honest about our biases. We all have them. No point in pretending otherwise.

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.

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".

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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!"

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.

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

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.

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.

My fondest hope is that both Wolf and Jade Falcon will be brought to ruin by the rightful heirs to the Star League. May the Inner Sphere rise up to expel these invaders.

Ate the Ultramarine Ate the Wolf Ate the posterbois Luv the Iron Hands Luv the Comguard Luv the forgotten Simple as

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.

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 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.

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.

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 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.

Lupus Delanda Est

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.

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.

Ahh Clan Plot Armor. Gotta love em. Or they manage to wipe you out with only a Cluster of mechs...

Clan Wolf are basically the Ultramarines of BattleTech.

Meanwhile a single Ghost Bear trinary kicked a Wolf cluster's ass across Toffen. I like the Ghost Bears.

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!

May the Wolf’s obstinate howl ring in your ears for eons to come!!! Keep up the great work!!

Ah yes, Convenience, the Clan.

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'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.

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!

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.

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

I picked a damn good time to become Capellan.

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.

Snord's Irregulars are an offshoot of Wolf's Dragoons. As such is there a possibility that you'll cover them?

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.

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.

I think it's getting down votes, but the fans appreciate. Lupus Delenda Est!

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.

"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.

The Clans in general are the living embodiment of plot Armor in action.

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

I think the wolfs show what happens if you support a fan-favourite too much.

Playing this on loop while I paint my Beta Wolf Shit Heels 😅

Dang it Red! Why do you have to be right all the time? Actually, I appreciate it. Thanks for illuminating my true feelings about the lore and fiction. When I first saw the image of Lin singing at the opening of your LAM video, I realized that you recognize and value the true, core appeal of it all. Now you've reminded me of how we used to loathe anything Davion, especially Golden Boy Hanse, when my group of friends first got into 'Tech in the late '80's, just because they were the Paladin Protagonists ad nauseum.

As an old tech fan (

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

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

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.

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!

As a Jade Falcon i wholeheartedly agree on this Message

#LupusDelandaEst PRAISEBLAKE

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!

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

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.

I just assume that **every** thing I like about Clan Wolf is apocryphal :D

Roar of Honor shows us who the better clan is. And that is someone who Loved Clan Wolf in the Past

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...

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.

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.

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.

understood, but the "Mary Sue" plot armor that has protected the Wolves for so long in the lore may be failing. I don't think anyone sees them as the go-to hero clan after the events of "Hour of the Wolf"

I have two thoughts on this, if I wanted unbias take on the setting I would be looking a wikies reference sections and reading the source, and two I would like to see more open thoughts on sci-fi settings. Heck, even a teardown of Clan Wolf would be nice (a total rip and tear video). I am getting into Battletech from being a 40k player and fan, and I want to hear other points of view.

I feel the same way about the new York Yankees.

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.

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.

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.

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.

You may have misspelled it: LUPUS DILENDA EST is what you're looking for, I think. :P

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:)

my knowledge of clan wolf is basically they built the madcat and they were one of the clans that lead the charge during the clan invasion. never really read about anything going past that except for some fedcom civil war stuff.

The only part of Clan will find is what happened when the Calhoun's and them got involved and then getting basically put in charge of the plan wolf. After that that's when it's soured for me.

I can't stand Clan Wolf either Red. Too much plot armor for them. Clan Jade Falcon is so much more interesting. Even the Mongol War Doctrine and Hazen. You could possibly even do a video on Aidan Pryde?

praise to you for this. It's better to openly recognise and state your bias, rather than a false attempt at objectivity.

Main Character Syndrome is rampant in Battletech, but nobody has a problem with it unless it's the Wolves because it's fashionable to hate them. Your average 3025 IS merc protagonist is a once-in-a-generation wunderkind who can't walk five feet without stumbling across a long-lost Star League cache, and nobody raises an eyebrow. Kai Allard Liao could solo Hanse Davion, Theodore Kurita, and Jaime Wolf, and repeatedly fell off of cliffs to certain death only to show up later without a scratch like he's Wile E Coyote, and everyone loves him. But Clan Wolf wins a fight- or hell, just doesn't lose enough for people's liking- and everyone cries and moans about plot armor, and how much better the D-list do-nothing Clans are.

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 think it's possible to criticise something you love, and is sometimes necessary, but I understand it is *hard* mentally. It's not fun, and especially in something like Battletech, it might just add more fuel to a fire that doesn't need to be any bigger. I really do feel bad about people that do like clan wolf and want it to be more well-rounded, because it hits kind of that ultramarine level of "poster-boy" status. How much of Clan Wolf's actions have been decided because it has been the big notable clan since its inception, being pushed because "well it was always *the* clan before". I don't think it's exactly malicious or necessarily incompetent, but rather, something that had so much inertia unwillingly built up it may seem wrong to break it off now. It's the poster kept in one's room since one bought it as a teenage Impulse buy, but now it's been two decades and past college.