Editing Harvest Trials

{{InfoBoxBattle
| conflict = Harvest Trials
| partof = Clan Invasion
| image = 
| startdate = [[Start date::1 July 3059]]<ref name=FMU8>''Field Manual: Updates'', p. 8</ref>
| enddate = [[End date::15 November 3059]]<ref name=FMU8/>
| planet = 
| place = [[Clan Homeworlds]]
| result = Recouped Refusal War losses by Clan Wolf and Clan Jade Falcon<br />
Minor Clans able to homogenize their forces and purge malcontents
| territory = 
| faction1 = [[Clan Wolf]]<br/>[[Clan Jade Falcon]]
| commander1 = [[Khan]] [[Vlad Ward]]<br/>Khan [[Marthe Pryde]]
| command1 = [[Clan Wolf Touman|Clan Wolf ''touman'']]<br/>[[Clan Jade Falcon Touman|Clan Jade Falcon ''touman'']]
| faction2 = Non-Invader Clans
| commander2 = 
| command2 = Home Clan ''toumans''
| faction3 = [[Clan Ice Hellion]]
| commander3 = Khan [[Asa Taney]]
| command3 = [[Clan Ice Hellion Touman|Clan Ice Hellion ''touman'']]
}}
The '''Harvest Trials''', also known as the '''Harvest Wars''', were a series of [[Trial of Possession|Trials of Possession]] conducted by [[Clan Wolf]] and [[Clan Jade Falcon]] to skim warriors and other martial assets from other [[Clans]] in order to rebuild their ''[[touman]]s'' after the [[Refusal War]].

==History==
====Refusal War====
After the terrible losses suffered during the Refusal War in [[3057]], the grievously weakened Clans Wolf and Jade Falcon sought to rapidly regain their strength in their own way. The now [[Crusader Clans|Crusader slanted]] Wolves led by [[Khan]] [[Vlad Ward]] launched raids against [[Clan Smoke Jaguar]] as a show of strength, as well recruiting and training troops from the Wolves' lower castes for garrison duties to rebuild [[Clan Wolf Touman|his ''touman'']]. [[Marthe Pryde]] of Clan Jade Falcon instead chose a more dramatic means, graduating many of her ''[[sibko]]s'' early and launching a [[Jade Falcon Incursion (3058)|dramatic incursion]] into the [[Lyran Alliance]] in [[3058]] to both blood her forces and show the Falcons remained a threat to be reckoned with.

However, upon returning to the [[Clan Homeworlds]] in the aftermath of Battle of Coventry, the Wolves and Falcons now both faced calls in the [[Grand Council]] from the [[Crusader Clans|Crusader]] Khans of [[Clan Ice Hellion|Clans Ice Hellion]] and [[Clan Diamond Shark|Diamond Shark]] for [[Trial of Absorption|Trials of Absorption]] as a precursor to replace the weakened invading Clans with untried but assumed to be stronger [[Home Clans]]. Reaching a loose political alliance, Vlad and Marthe rose to the defense of the other's Clan and made it clear the possibility of any Homeworlds Clan taking part in a renewed invasion were remote, and that the only chance of any of their warriors to participate was to be taken as ''[[isorla]]'' by Clans already chosen. The temptation of a chance at glory in the [[Inner Sphere]] to those units who would give their allegiance to Clans Wolf or Jade Falcon proved too much for hundreds of warriors, who deluged both Clans with preemptive ''[[batchall]]s'' for Trials of Possession which they then proceeded to allow themselves to lose.<ref name=FMCC-57>''Field Manual: Crusader Clans'', p. 57: "Current Events"</ref><ref name=FMCC-93>''Field Manual: Crusader Clans'', p. 93: "Power Games: Preparations for War (3059)"</ref><ref name=FMCC-137>''Field Manual: Crusader Clans'', pp. 137–138: "Unlikely Allies and New Enemies"</ref><ref name=SS-88>''Shattered Sphere'', p. 88: "Clan Wolf - Crusaders' Rise"</ref><ref name=FMU-10>''Field Manual: Updates'', p. 10: "The Shape of Things that Were - Clan Maneuvers"</ref>

====Preparations====
While the [[Home Clan Coalition]] Crusaders bemoaned the loss of troops to Wolves and Falcons, the [[Warden Clans]] viewed the Trials in a positive light, allowing Clans such as the Diamond Sharks to rid themselves of conservative troublemakers.<ref name=SS-94>''Shattered Sphere'', p. 94: "Clan Diamond Shark"</ref><ref name=FMWC-61>''Field Manual: Warden Clans'', pp. 61–62: "New Currents"</ref> For [[Clan Goliath Scorpion]] it allowed them to free up slots in [[Clan Goliath Scorpion Touman|their ''touman'']] for recruits from ex-Khan [[Nikolai Djerassi]]'s revamped ''[[sibko]]s''.<ref name=FMWC-107>''Field Manual: Warden Clans'', p. 107: "Present Action"</ref><ref name=SS-97>''Shattered Sphere'', p. 97: "Home Clans - Clan Goliath Scorpion"</ref> Rather than take part in the Harvest Trials, Khan [[Malavai Fletcher]] of [[Clan Hell's Horses]] reached an agreement where Crusader Horses troops would be bid directly into the invasion force under Wolf Command, avoiding wasteful fighting and providing the Wolves the Horses' elite forces while allowing them to fight for the honor of their own Clan.<ref name=FMCC-57>''Field Manual: Crusader Clans'', p. 57: "Current Events"</ref>

====Results====
However, not all the Trials were amicable or beneficial. Bitterness between [[Clan Snow Raven]] and the Jade Falcons manifested in the Snow Ravens' saKhan [[Joseph Crow]] bidding in forces purely to embarrass the Falcons, only to lose two whole Clusters to the Falcons and a handful of smaller units to the Wolves before the Ravens desperately tried to extricate themselves.<ref name=FMWC-122>''Field Manual: Warden Clans'', p. 122: "Present Action"</ref> Units in various [[Kindraa]] of [[Clan Fire Mandrill]] launched challenges to both the Wolves and Falcons, but while past experience with Mandrill [[Bondsman|bondsmen]] led the Wolves to largely refuse them out of hand, the Falcons did not and discovered that those taken would prove to be a disruptive influence.<ref name=FMCC-42>''Field Manual: Crusader Clans'', p. 42: "Reemergence of the Fire Mandrills"</ref> Even the Ice Hellions, the Clan that pushed most stridently to absorb and take the place of the invading Clans saw a number of its best warriors, including saKhan [[Weiland Cage]], challenging the Wolves and Falcons to Trials to be taken.<ref name=FMCC-78>''Field Manual: Crusader Clans'', p. 78: "Dream Destroyed - Wolf Trap"</ref>

==Aftermath==
The Harvest Trials proved to be highly successful for both Clans Wolf and Jade Falcon, simultaneously allowing both Clans to strengthen themselves with battle-hardened troops to hold off Absorption while undercutting the power base of those who raised the motion in the Grand Council. It also had the side-benefit of providing both Clans with valuable and up to date intelligence on the mindset and fighting style of the Home Clans.<ref name=FMCC-57>''Field Manual: Crusader Clans'', p. 57: "Current Events"</ref><ref name=FMCC-93>''Field Manual: Crusader Clans'', p. 93: "Power Games: Preparations for War (3059)"</ref><ref name=FMCC-137>''Field Manual: Crusader Clans'', pp. 137–138: "Unlikely Allies and New Enemies"</ref><ref name=SS-88>''Shattered Sphere'', p. 88: "Clan Wolf - Crusaders' Rise"</ref>

==References==
<references />

==Bibliography==
* ''[[Field Manual: Crusader Clans]]''
* ''[[Field Manual: Updates]]''
* ''[[Field Manual: Warden Clans]]''
* ''[[Shattered Sphere]]''


[[Category:Clan Trials|Harvest Trials]]