The Wolverine WVR-6R was introduced in 2575 to serve the newly formed Star League. It was an upgrade to the earlier WVR-3R that had been built by the Federated Suns with less advanced technology during the Age of War. It was designed to serve as a heavy scout to combine speed with more armor and firepower than a light ’Mech can carry.
After its introduction, the WVR-6R was shared with the member states of the Star League. During the Succession Wars, it was particularly common in service to the Free Worlds League and Federated Suns, but it could be found throughout the Inner Sphere from the Star League era into the Republic era. By the Dark Age, it is only found amongst a small handful of factions with more advanced variants replacing it elsewhere.
Read This First
- Use your running speed and jump jets to keep up your target movement modifier
- Your autocannon is great against light targets that lack long-range weapons, but most of your firepower is shorter range
- Don’t worry about heat buildup or ammo conservation
- Stay in the fight to help your force gain the initiative
Wolverine WVR-6R
- Role: Skirmisher
- Tech Base: Inner Sphere (2575)
- Chassis: 55 tons
- Movement: 5 / 8
- Jumping: 5
- Armor: 152
- Heat Sinks: 12 (12)
- Weapons:
- AC/5 (ammo: 20)
- SRM 6 (ammo: 15)
- Medium Laser
- Design Quirks:
- Command ’Mech
- Cramped Cockpit
- Extended Torso Twist
- Improved Communications
- Jettison-Capable Weapon (AC/5)
- Protected Actuators
- Ubiquitous
- Cost: 4,827,682 C-Bills
- Battle Value: 1,101
Mobility
The Wolverine WVR-6R has a fairly standard 5/8 ground speed for a medium ’Mech, but when paired with its 5 jump jets, that gives it the ability to outmaneuver a lot of other designs. When piloting a WVR-6R, a MechWarrior can achieve a +2 target movement modifier walking or +3 when running or jumping. There is not much slack to maintain those numbers on the ground, so they will drop if it loses just 1-2 hexes to turning or difficult terrain.
Unfortunately, the Cramped Cockpit quirk makes Piloting Skill Rolls a little more difficult, so the Wolverine is more likely to fall when maneuvering through dangerous terrain or taking heavy damage.
Durability
The Wolverine is decently durable for a medium ’Mech. Its 152 armor points are 82% of the maximum for its 55-ton chassis. That is below average for a 55-ton ’Mech, but about equal to the average 50-ton design. The armor distribution favors its torso with its legs being relatively light on protection. It carries two tons of explosive ammunition with 33% of its critical slots in the left torso and 11% of its critical slots in the right arm resulting in catastrophic explosions. The Protected Actuators quirk means that it is more resistant to anti-’Mech attacks from infantry and battle armor than most other ’Mechs.
Weaponry
The Wolverine WVR-6R’s main weapon is an AC/5. It gives it a maximum range of 18 hexes and enough damage to threaten light targets and harass heavier targets. The rest of its firepower comes into play at 9 hexes with a medium laser and SRM 6. This set of weapons considerably increases its total damage output to 22 points. With that mix of weapons, 3 hexes ends up being the design’s ideal range for damage output since it gets within short range for all of its weapons while only taking a +1 penalty to the autocannon’s target number due to its minimum range. Getting closer than that reduces the effectiveness of the autocannon while any increase in range drops the effectiveness of the laser and missiles.
The long range of the autocannon is useful for engaging opponents with only short-range weapons from a safe distance. For example, staying at 10-12 hexes from a Hunchback will let the Wolverine fire at medium range for 5 damage while avoiding return fire from its AC/20. While its damage output with just the autocannon is low, it is still enough to threaten light and medium targets.
The AC/5 is arm-mounted while the other two weapons are in the torso and head. The Extended Torso Twist quirk though means that all three weapons are able to engage targets in any direction.
Both the AC/5 and SRM 6 are ammo-dependent weapons, but the WVR-6R carries enough shots with both to last through most engagements without worrying about conserving ammunition.
Heat Management
The Wolverine WVR-6R runs fairly cool. It carries 12 standard heat sinks. Firing all of its weapons only generates 8 heat, so it will not build up heat unless it is jumping its maximum distance. This means that for the most part, a MechWarrior doesn’t need to worry about heat levels. Even when jumping turn after turn, the Wolverine only needs to occasionally hold fire with the medium laser in order to cool back off and avoid performance degrading heat penalties.
Brawling
The WVR-6R is an effective brawler. It has full actuator sets in both arms that let it punch for 6 damage per fist. For its right arm, it needs to give up firing its AC/5 to punch, but if it is in melee range, it is well within the minimum range for the autocannon anyways. The Wolverine’s kick can deal 11 damage, but the Cramped Cockpit quirk’s penalty does increase the risk of falling over due to a missed kick.
Other Capabilities
Thanks to the Command ’Mech quirk, a WVR-6R makes the entire force that it is part of more effective with a +1 bonus to initiative rolls. That helps to ensure allied forces have an advantage in positioning throughout the battle as long as the Wolverine stays in the fight.
The Improved Communications quirk is useful if a battle is using the optional ghost targets rules for ECM systems or if a scenario requires establishing a satellite uplink.
Finally, the Jettison-Capable Weapon quirk means that the Wolverine has the option of dropping its AC/5.
Cost & Upkeep
The WVR-6R makes use of inexpensive introductory technology, so it is relatively inexpensive to purchase and maintain. It will generally need to replace 2 tons of ammunition between engagements. When playing in a full campaign, the Ubiquitous quirk makes finding replacement parts a bit easier than for other ’Mechs.
When using the Warchest Point system, these are the expected costs for the Wolverine WVR-6R:
| Action | Cost |
| Purchase | 550 SP |
| Armor Repair | 55 SP |
| Structure Repair | 110 SP |
| Reload | 10 SP |
Miniature
The new plastic Wolverine is included in both the Beginner Box and A Game of Armored Combat. A metal version of the new sculpt is also available from Iron Wind Metals.
Scott's Game Room 
2 replies on “’Mech Manual: Wolverine WVR-6R”
The Wolvie’s always been a solid trooper, its damn near impossible to overheat, and really is oversinked, I prefer the Kuritan version with the large laser, as it still does not overheat. Solid, agile but explosive when breeched the Wolvie won’t do you wrong!
Yeah, the swap to a large laser works really well for the Wolverine since it wants to get up close anyways. Personally, I prefer the Free Worlds League variant over the 6K. It still gets the large laser but retains jump jets for good mobility. I’m planning to cover the 6M in my second batch of these guides.