Wolverines!

"Sierra Delta, uh... we may have a minor ACS fault over here. Do you have anything on your scope?" "They're everywhere!" "Sierra Delta, repeat!" "I'm lookin' at fighter jets over I-95! How the hell did they get through!?"

'Wolverines!' is the sixth mission in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

Summary
In response to what they believe is a U.S.-supported terrorist attack on Zakhaev International Airport (after finding the body of Private Joseph Allen at the airport and apparently completely bypassing the United Nations), the Russian government has declared war on the United States, seeking revenge for the deaths of hundreds of innocent civilians. Using a duplicate of the ACS module that Task Force 141 had recovered earlier in Kazakhstan, the Russian military glitches the early-warning systems of NORAD into reporting massing forces approaching the United States on the West Coast, all of which are promptly dismissed by local Air Force bases, thereby allowing the Russians to sneak in on the East Coast undetected. The Russians then launch an attack using cargo planes to airdrop troops, armor, and equipment while fighter jets destroy targets. The U.S. military is caught off-guard by the sudden attack and mobilizes to combat the threat.

Walkthrough

You'll start off in a Humvee patrolling the area, when a BTR comes out of nowhere and pins you down. Quickly rush through the ally or you become toast. Follow your squad (along with some chatter as Foley calls in for Air Support, Overlord denying as they already used up all Air Support, and Dunn saying Overlord told them to "F" themselves).

You'll see the BTR again, firing at the houses and trees. DO NOT ENGAGE. Eventually it will reach a barrier and fire at your team. Throw a Smoke Grenade and then rush down the alley on the right (be warned the BTR will start reversing when the Smoke sets off).

Coming across a gas station, you'll be assaulted by gunfire. Pick everyone off, and follow your team. You'll eventually reach Nate's with an important client waiting, Codenamed "Raptor", sitting inside a Meat Locker (which is claimed to be "practically bulletproof"). Foley instructs that you get on the roof and defend your position. You'll find two useful weapons: M14 EBR (Thermal) and a Sentry Gun. Pick up the Sniper and position your Sentry Gun, as waves of foes will come in multiple directions. Since they deploy Smoke Grenades, use your Sniper. If they get on the roof, shoot them down.

Eventually, 2 BTRs come in and pin you down. You are also alerted a Predator is active and being used. Run to the Diner (which is where you came from near the beginning of the mission), kill everyone, and pick up the laptop (Note there is a Stinger in the Diner. Pick it up because you'll need it in a bit).

At this point, its a good idea to "abuse" your Predator Missile, since hordes of Almost-Never-Ending enemies will appear. When most of them are wiped out, Nate's gets bombed. Since most of Nate's is compromised/destroyed, Raptor must be moved. First kill everyone in Burger Town, and then wait on Foley's 3. When Foley rushes Raptor, cover him. When thats done, "Predatorize" Every-Single-Thing.

Eventually your Predator will be disabled and for the rest of the mission. Whats worse is that the Tangos keep coming. Whats even more worse is that a Chopper is coming. If you have the Stinger from the Diner, use it. If not, go get it. When you shoot down the Chopper, you are alerted a second Chopper is en-route. Quickly run up the roof on Nate's and grab the Stinger, and repeat.

After the 2nd Chopper is destroyed, the Convoy is here. Regroup and Mission End.



Enemy Intelligence

 * Intel No. 11


 * Inside "NOVA" gas station, on the red counter.
 * Intel No. 12
 * Intel No. 12

Inside "Taco Togo", on one of the smaller table.
 * Inside "CRB Financial", on the "Online Banking" counter.
 * Intel No. 13
 * Intel No. 13

Intel No. 14

Inside "Burger Town" dumpster, behind (east of) the building.

Tips

 * Ammo drops are located near the first BTR, on the street by the diner, and atop Nate's.
 * The sentry gun can be saved for later if it is still operational after defending Nate's restaurant from the first wave of attackers. The player can simply take it downstairs before the Predator attack, then take it across to Burger Town once the restaurant has been cleared.
 * Another thing that can be done with the sentry turret is to place it near the Nova Star gas station. It will then kill off any stragglers and groups of hostiles.
 * The player should try to pick up a Thermal Sight as it would work against smoke screens.
 * Walking through the middle of the mall can be hazardous, especially when the enemy BTRs are around. Taking the long way around by simply walking closer to the edge of the level may save the player's life, along with smoke grenades the player still has.
 * It is recommended to use the Predator missile as much as possible before it goes offline. Firing it into large groups of enemies as soon as they appear will earn the player the trophy/achievement "Ten-plus foot mobiles." Additionally, unlike all other missions in the campaign and special ops, there is no cooldown time.
 * When taking out the second helicopter on higher difficulties, the player should not try to run to the Stinger on top of Nates' Restaurant, but instead use the M240 in the diner as it is located right next to the first Stinger and works just as effectively.
 * Alternatively, the Stinger can be taken from the top of Nate's with the player upon leaving, though this does fill up a weapon slot with something that will be largely useless for a large portion of the level (until the helicopters arrive).
 * When using the Stinger missile on top of Nates, if you stand near the ammo crate and quickly use it after firing, you will not drop the Stinger.

Quotes
"Sand Bravo, we're reading 70 bogeys in your sector, please verify." -NORAD HQ

"Very funny, Station. That's a big negative, over." -Nome AFB

"Sand Bravo, be advised, running diagnostics to scan for malfunctions." -NORAD HQ

"The skies are clear, Station. You got yourself some phantom dots, over." -Nome AFB

"Zulu X-Ray 6. Signs in your sector of some 100 bogeys, please advise." -NORAD HQ

"Negatory, Station. Scope is clear. I dunno what to tell ya. Solar interference? Heavy sunspot activity today." -Vandenburg AFB

"Sierra Delta, uh... we may have a minor ACS fault here. Do you have anything on your scope?" -NORAD HQ

"They're everywhere!" -Air Traffic Controller

"Sierra Delta, repeat!" -NORAD HQ

"(Siren sounds) I'm lookin' at fighter jets over I-95! How the hell did they get through?" -Air Traffic Controller

"Standby! Attempting to contact the nearest unit in that sector." -NORAD HQ

"I read you. This is First Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, Sergeant Foley, acting commander of Hunter Two-One. Do you copy over?" -Sergeant Foley

''"All stations, be advised - satellite surveillance has been disabled. SOSUS and PAVE PAWS arrays are inoperative at this time." ''-NORAD HQ

Trivia

 * The loading scene shows that ACS stands for Attack Characterization System.


 * The ACS module that TF141 recovered apparently controlled U.S. coastal radar systems and defenses, and the Russians duplicated it, allowing them to approach within miles of the coastline without being detected, enabling them to penetrate U.S. airspace before a defense could be mounted.


 * There are three Special Ops missions that take place in this area.


 * "Wolverines!" is the easiest mission to get the achievement 'Desperado', due to the claymores, thermal weapons and shotgun attachment.


 * While the mission, presumably for sensitivity reasons, takes place in a non-specific area of "Northeastern Virginia," evidence in the game files and the layout of the streets, architecture of the houses, and generalized restaurants based on real restaurants suggests that this level is based on Sterling, Virginia in Loudoun County.


 * In real life, the 1st Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment that Private James Ramirez is a part of, is based in Fort Benning, Georgia, so it is unknown how his unit is the closest to the area in Virginia he was supposed to defend from the invading Russians. Most likely forces from Marine Corps Base Quantico in Triangle, Virginia and Langley, Virginia would be closest to the invasion, unless Foley and his regiment had just been shipped off from Afghanistan, concentrating on Washington D.C. due to it being a top priority.


 * This is widely considered the most "complete level" in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. It makes use of smoke screens, Predator drones, sentry turrets, sniping, thermal sights, and Stingers. The Rangers even attempted to use stealth, but were seen.


 * In the early development of this level, the mission would have been at night and the BTR-80 that attacks you at the start would have been a BMP-2.
 * You actually don't have to enter the Humvee in the convoy, but you do need to reach the squad in order to end the mission.
 * During the mission briefing the Operator from Vandenburg Air Force Base mentions "heavy sunspot acitivity" and "solar interference" as possible reasons for the radar malfunction. This might be a geek-cultural reference to the Bastard Operator from Hell who maintains an excuse sheet that actually features "Increased Sunspot Activity" as excuse #390.

Suburbs

 * Mixed in with the radio chatter in the level can be heard references to vehicles that don't actually appear in the game, like the BTR-60 and the F-35 Lightning.


 * In the same radio chatter, "broken arrow" is mentioned. This is a code phrase for either an accidental event involving nuclear weapons that does not cause a nuclear war or, in the context of a battle, the codeword used to bring in all available aircraft or artillery fire on a friendly position that has been overrun by the enemy.


 * In the Humvee in the beginning, there are four people inside; Dunn, Foley, Ramirez, and Pvt. Morgan. Morgan will always carry an M240 machine gun with a different sight or no sight every time the mission is played.


 * If the player looks up while riding in the Humvee, it is possible to see the predator drone that later assails the patrolling Rangers.


 * At the beginning of the level, a Russian paratrooper will land on the roof of a house. The Humvee in front will enable it's minigun to fire at the paratrooper. From the rate of fire and the time it lasted for them to stop, 200 rounds will have been used against the Russian. Almost 3/4 of these seem to hit him, but he seems to only be affected by two shots, one in the back and one in the head.


 * The men that escape from the first Humvee will disappear through the floor for some reason.


 * After the Humvee in front is destroyed, the player can move up and find either a SCAR-H with an ACOG sight or a SCAR-H with a shotgun attachment.


 * On Veteran difficulty, the BTR at the beginning of the level will fire only at the player after destroying the Humvee, and not at Cpl. Dunn or Sergeant Foley.


 * The only logic behind why the enemy BTR would be firing at random civilian houses is if they wanted to deliberately kill civilians who haven't evacuated or to prevent American forces from using those houses as cover.

Business district

 * After going down the alley next to the BTR there is a Russian soldier tangled in his parachute cords next to the diner. Needless to say he's an easy kill.


 * The gas station is called Nova, which is the same name of the gas station on the "Derail" Multiplayer mission.


 * If the player were to look closely at one of the white cars, it is possible to find an Arabic (presumed Kuwaiti) license plate. It might be remodeled from one of the cars in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.


 * In the containers that have newspapers, it is possible to see a picture of a soldier along with the headline Call of Duty 2, (if it hasn't been shot up).

Nate's

 * If the player enters the financial building and kills everyone there before talking to Foley at the car, Foley and the other Ranger will shoot at the financial building as if people were still there.


 * There is a small chance for a glitch to occur in this level. If the player wishes to take the sentry gun with them to the next restaurant but they fall down with the sentry gun equipped there is a small chance that the gun will disappear but you will still have it equipped. When this happens you will not be able to change your gun, but you will still be able to move.
 * Weirdly when Cpl Dunn goes to check on Raptor at the begining, occasionaly the door may be closed, even though the door to the meat locker is closed, he will walk straight through it.

Retrieving UAV

 * The restaurant with the Predator Missile uplink is the same design used in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare in the level "The Sins of the Father".


 * If done correctly, the player can take the sentry gun from the roof of Nate's along with the claymores, and with proper positioning, when the event of obtaining the Predator drone, the sentry gun and claymores will automatically kill the enemies inside of the diner, leaving the Predator drone unguarded.


 * After entering the restaurant to get the uplink, two Russians soldiers will break through the backdoor, and some more will appear in the gas station parking lot. Even if the player were to make sure the area around the restaurant is clear, those Russian soldiers are scripted to appear the moment the player gets inside the restaurant.


 * When securing the Burger Town, it is possible to fire a predator missile through the front door/windows to kill enemies inside. This is especially helpful on Veteran.

Moving "Raptor"

 * If the Predator is at the right angle the player can see a stinger missile heading straight for it, prior to the arrival of the gunships. There is no way to save the Predator Drone, even if you kill all enemies in the area.


 * A Ranger with an RPG or Stinger may occasionally spawn when the Russian gunships arrive. He will shoot one of them down if the player doesn't do so.


 * Sometimes the convoy shoots the last Mi-28 if the player doesn't destroy it.


 * Sergeant Foley refers to the MiG-29s as "fast movers". It's strange that the bombs they drop on Nate's Restaurant don't completely destroy it.


 * If the player goes into the Taco Togo and looks at the tray, it says "BT" on the wrapper, which refers to Burger Town.


 * The highway that the convoy arrives from is blocked off by barriers and barbed wire. Although if you actualy watch the convoy arrive you can see that the vehicles actually 'hop' over the barricade.


 * It is possible to take the sentry gun onto the Humvee at the end of the level.

Pop references

 * "Wolverines!" is a reference to the movie Red Dawn, which depicts a Communist invasion of the United States. The "Wolverines" are a makeshift guerrilla force formed by American high school students. The paratroopers in the mission and planes flying over are also homages to the movie.


 * Another reference to Red Dawn is contained within the mission. The Xbox Achievement/PS3 Trophy for completing this level and Exodus on Veteran Difficulty is actually called "Red Dawn". This same achievement's picture is three Russian helicopters flying next to each other, yet another reference to the movie.


 * The level and the others following also bear similarity to another game, World in Conflict, set in an alternate timeline where the Soviet Union invades the USA in 1989. World in Conflict also appears to have been influenced by Red Dawn.


 * The "Burger Town" fast food restaurant is an obvious parody of Burger King. There is also a Burger Town in the airport in No Russian. The Burger Town logo looks very similar to the (old) Burger King logo.


 * Other parodies of American restaurant chains are Taco Togo (Taco Bell and Togo's ) and Nate's (which closely resembles the T.G.I. Friday's structure and sign, but could also be influenced by Applebee's, Chili's, etc.)


 * At the start of the mission it is possible to see a can of Choal in the jeep, an obvious parody of Skoal chewing tobacco. There will also be a picture of a girl taped to the dashboard—the same picture can be seen in any Humvee the player gets into as the Humvee model at the beginning of the level is the same as the one at the end of the level.


 * The achievement/trophy unlocked after completing this mission on any difficulty is called "Royale with Cheese" which could be a loose reference to the movie Pulp Fiction. Another theory would be that "Royale" refers to the fact that this is a large fight (Battle Royale), and 'With Cheese' is a clear reference to the multiple fast food restaurants in the level.


 * In the Humvee at the start of the mission there is a packet of 'CANDY' which is based on Charms, and Tootsie rolls, which sometimes are part of a U.S Soldier's/Marine's Ration Pack.

IW references

 * If you look closely on the ground at the beginning of the level, there is a newspaper named "Infinity Ward Times."


 * There are some signs near some houses that read "IW Realty,".


 * Right after throwing a smoke grenade near the BTR and when entering the alley on the right, near a dumpster is a black graffiti of Infinity Ward´s logo.


 * The Infinity Ward logo is visible behind the diner.


 * Another Easter egg is in the postboxes, there are cards advertising Infinity Ward, these can be stabbed out.


 * If you look at the license plate on most the cars it stands Infinity Ward.


 * In the bank, the cubicles are labeled with names of Infinity Ward employees.
 * In this mission and in all other missions in the U.S., there are taxis that have "IW Cab" printed on the doors.