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Wolfgang Hansen

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Wolfgang Hansen
Personal
Born3013[1]
AffiliationHansen's Roughriders
Career
ProfessionMechWarrior
Colonel of Hansen's Roughriders
Family
ParentsGerhardt Hansen (father)
Spouse(see text)
Children(see text)

Wolfgang "Wolf" Hansen (also spelled "WolfGang"[2]) was the son of Gerhardt Hansen, and succeeded his father as commander of the famous Hansen's Roughriders mercenary unit.

He inherited his father's directness, which endeared him to some subordinates while alienating others; however, even those who disliked him would fight their hardest to prove him wrong, ultimately strengthening the unit.[3]

Character History

Groomed as his father's successor to lead Hansen's Roughriders, Wolfgang—then a major—performed poorly in the costly defense of the city of Merkator on Pike IV during the War of 3039. The Roughriders suffered heavy losses at the hands of the 5th Sword of Light, losing half a battalion of troops.[4] (Some attributed this to the concern about his wife, who was giving birth to their first child on Algol at the time.[5])

Consequently, Gerhardt postponed his retirement until 3044 while Wolfgang underwent rigorous extra training before taking over command of the unit.[5][6]

Although it was noted that he kept the unit in top form through his abilities and attention to detail,[7] the Roughriders saw little actual combat action for some twenty years during their plum posting to Bromhead. It was not until Katherine Steiner-Davion sent them against Clan Jade Falcon that they got a chance to fight the Clans. This endeared Katherine to them, and they fought for her in the FedCom Civil War. Wolfgang Hansen met with the commanders of the two AFFC units on Bromhead and declared for Katherine Steiner-Davion, resulting in the withdrawal of the 2nd Davion Guards from the world on 6 November 3062.[8] The assignment on the Jade Falcon border had endeared Katherine Steiner-Davion to the Roughriders, and they fought for her in the war.[2]

The Bromhead Massacre

In 3067, while the Roughriders were traveling between contracts, Taurian Concordat troops attacked Bromhead and killed the Roughrider dependants at the base, including Wolfgang Hansen's wife and three youngest children. Ever since, Wolfgang was a dark, brooding officer leading a close-knit group of like-minded individuals. Under his leadership, the Roughriders embarked on a private war against the Taurians during the Jihad that knew no bounds, to the point where they razed Taurian infrastructure to the ground while the defending Taurians soon began to use nuclear weapons not as a resort but right from the start. Ultimately, even though an entire WarShip task force was set against them, the Concordat failed to destroy the Roughriders.

Liberation of Terra

During the Liberation of Terra from the Word of Blake, Hansen's Roughriders were loaned to Stone's Coalition by their employer and saw action at the Texas lowlands where six cobalt-laced nuclear weapons were detonated by the Word of Blake. Though Wolfgang Hansen and a small cadre of troops survived, the Roughriders had to be rebuilt afterwards.

BattleMech

As of ca. 3039, Major Wolfgang Hansen and his father, Colonel Gerhardt Hansen, were noted for piloting the two CP-10-Z Cyclops 'Mechs with functional Tacticon B-2000 Battle Computers that the unit possessed.[5]

References

  1. Masters and Minions, p. 234
  2. 2.0 2.1 Mercenaries Supplemental, p. 37
  3. Combat Manual: Mercenaries, p. 45
  4. Historical: War of 3039, p. 85
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 Technical Readout: 3039, p. 164
  6. Combat Manual: Mercenaries, p. 44
  7. Jihad Secrets: The Blake Documents, p. 81
  8. FedCom Civil War, p. 30

Bibliography