328th Assault (Clan Wolf)

Walpha.png
328th Assault Cluster
Formed Post-Exodus[1]
Nickname The Lion-Hearted
Affiliation Clan Wolf
Parent Command Alpha Galaxy


Overview[edit]

The 328th Royal BattleMech Division was a part of the Star League Defense Force Regular Army. It was one of the SLDF's Royal units, which consisted of troops from the Terran Hegemony. Thanks to the unwavering loyalty shown by the 328th, it survived the formation of the Clans to become the 328th Assault Cluster of Clan Wolf.

History[edit]

Clan Wolf[edit]

The 328th was one of the few units allowed to keep its history alive after the formation of the Clans by Nicholas Kerensky and all military assets where reorganized.[1] They received this honor because of their unwavering support of Nicholas Kerensky. This recognition of their pre-Clan roots upset several other units who challenged the 328th to several Trials of Grievance.[2]

Widowmaker Absorption[edit]

After the death of ilKhan Nicholas Kerensky, the 328th tracked the Fourth Fang Cluster of Clan Widowmaker on Ironhold. The Fourth was trying to reach their DropShips to leave, but the 328th slaughtered most of the Fourth. Only a few Binaries escaped the rage of the Lion-Hearted, but the 341st Assault Cluster was in place to prevent the surviving Widowmakers from escaping.[3] The two Wolf Clusters joined forces to face the survivors of the 194th Crusader and Fourth Fang Clusters outside Ironhold City. The Wolves were so bent on destroying the Widowmakers that they forgot to limit collateral damage. This later degenerated into a three-way battle as Clan Jade Falcon's Eighty-ninth Falcon Strikers fought with one Wolf Cluster to stop the Falcon's capital city from being destroyed. The Falcon intercession allowed several Widowmakers to escape.[4]

Clan Invasion[edit]

Three months before the Invasion of the Inner Sphere was announced, the commander of the 328th was killed in a Trial of Possession. Most of the Command Nova was involved in the Trial as well and the unit took heavy losses. This led to lower morale as the unit recovered. This was when Athen Kederk was transferred from the 4th Wolf Guards Cluster to take command of the unit. At first, the unit did not take well to Athen's promotion. However, the unit's performance did not suffer from the unit's dissent. Also, upon assuming command, Athen steered the unit's politics toward the Crusader faction.[5]

The 328th's first action during the invasion would be the attack on Verthandi. Verthandi was conquered by Clan Wolf during Operation Revival in May 3050. At the time the planet was defended by the Second Battalion of the 2nd Kell Hounds and the Third Battalion of the Second Drakøns, along with the 4th Verthandi Armored Infantry Brigade. It was decided that an attempt would be made to gather as much information about these mysterious invaders as possible, and so a number of recording devices were planted all across Prince William Island. When Star Colonel Athen Kederk of the 328th Assault made his batchall to the defenders, the Kell Hounds and Drakøns requested that the small forested island be designated as the battlefield. The Star Colonel agreed, impressed by their ability to honor the batchall, and attacked with the 328th's Supernova Battle. Five hours of fierce fighting took place across the island, on Onegin Shore, the Divers Plain and at Aaron Woods, with both sides giving as good as they got. Eventually the Kell Hounds and Drakøns were forced to retreat, but not before a Star of Elementals broke through their defensive lines and destroyed most of their recording equipment. Defeated, the Kell Hounds fled to the Federated Commonwealth while the Drakøns made their way to Rasalhague.[6]

Ridderkerk was conquered by Clan Wolf during Operation Revival as part of their Third Wave of attacks in July 3050, with major battles taking place at Vesinur, Sally's Bar and Grill, and Canton Downs. The 1st Lyran Regulars were supposed to defend the planet from attack, however just prior to the invasion its commanding officer had been in a traffic accident which rendered him unconscious while his second-in-command proved incapable of commanding the RCT. Thus when the 328th Assault Cluster made it to their drop zone and began advancing on the capital they were unopposed. By the time battle was actually joined a lack of leadership and tactical control completely doomed the Lyran Regulars, who couldn't even manage to flee off-world and thus ceased to exist by the end of the day.[7][8]

Refusal War[edit]

All of Alpha Galaxy fought on Wotan in December 3057 alongside the remnants of Tau Galaxy against the Jade Falcon Delta Galaxy. The Battle for Borealtown was ultimately one of the most costly battles of the Refusal War, with casualties of more than eighty percent taken on both sides.[9] By the end of the Refusal War the 328th was no longer an active command;[10] although rebuilding Alpha Galaxy was essential to maintain Clan Wolf's position, Khan Vlad Ward hadn't chosen to rebuild the 328th by 3059.[11] This remained the case until at least 3085.[12][13]

Dark Age[edit]

During the invasion of the Free Worlds League the 328th worked with the 9th Wolf Battle Cluster to take Gannett. They faced relatively little opposition during the attack. The only real fighting took place between Wolf aerospace fighters who fought a group of retired Atrean Hussars pilots.[14]

During Operation SHOFAR in January 3149, the 328th swiftly recovered from a surprise attack and prevented their RAF opponents from driving them off Castor. The addition of the Fifth Fides Defenders turned the tide against the Wolf warriors and one of the Cluster's Trinaries perished while enabling the rest of the unit to escape. A year later the 328th gained a measure of revenge when they aided in the capture of Marcus from the Republic.[15][16]

Officers[edit]

Rank Name Command
Commanding Officers of the 328th Assault Cluster (Clan Wolf)
Star Colonel Jal Ward 2833[17]
Star Colonel Athen Kederk 3050 - 3052[18][2]
Commanding Officers of the 328th Assault Cluster (Wolf Empire)
Star Colonel Antonio Radick 3145 - 3149[19][20]

Other Officers[edit]

Tactics[edit]

The 328th was a rarity: A front-line Cluster with several Naga OmniMechs. Their presence was more of a salute to their SLDF combined arms heritage than a real combat asset however. Commanders frequently bid away the Nagas and when they actually participated in a conflict the escorting members would speed ahead of the ArtilleryMechs, leaving them exposed on the battlefield.[2]

They were among the first Clan Wolf units to adopt the "no physical attacks" doctrine of the Clans.[17]

Composition History[edit]

3052[edit]

328th Assault Cluster

[22]

3145[edit]

328th Wolf Assault Cluster (Elite/Fanatical)[23]

- At this point in time the 328th was based on Castor and was operating at almost full strength; four-fifths of the equipment within the 328th used Omni-technology.[23]

Organizational Structure[edit]

Game Rules[edit]

Widowmaker Absorption[edit]

The 328th can use Overrun Combat when they are the attacker. If deployed with Khan Jerome Winston or saKhan Elise Fetladral, they get a +1 initiative bonus.[17]

References[edit]

  1. 1.0 1.1 Wolf Clan Sourcebook, p. 78
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Era Report: 3052, p. 44
  3. Operational Turning Points: Widowmaker Absorption, p. 21
  4. Operational Turning Points: Widowmaker Absorption, p. 23
  5. Wolf Clan Sourcebook, p. 78: "Notes"
  6. Wolf Clan Sourcebook, p. 59
  7. Wolf Clan Sourcebook, p. 60
  8. ClanTroops, p. 34
  9. The Falcon and the Wolf, pp. 31–32: "In the Falcon's Nest"
  10. Field Manual: Crusader Clans, p. 157: "Clan Wolf"
  11. Field Manual: Crusader Clans, p. 141: "Alpha Galaxy: The Wolf Spirits"
  12. Field Manual: Updates, pp. 74–75: "Clan Wolf"
  13. Field Manual: 3085, p. 126: "Clan Wolf"
  14. Technical Readout: 3145 Free Worlds League, p. 46
  15. Shattered Fortress, p. 63
  16. Shattered Fortress, p. 85
  17. 17.0 17.1 17.2 Operational Turning Points: Widowmaker Absorption, p. 13
  18. Record Sheets: 3050 Upgrade Print Edition, p. 14: "Scenario 1: Gathering Intel (planetary Invasion)"
  19. Field Manual: 3145, p. 170
  20. Shattered Fortress, p. 115
  21. Historical: Brush Wars, p. 17
  22. Wolf Clan Sourcebook, pp. 76–78: "328th Assault Cluster"
  23. 23.0 23.1 Field Manual: 3145, p. 170: "Alpha Galaxy (The Wolf Spirits)"

Bibliography[edit]