Stormtrooper armor

What is the point of it?
It seems to offer 0% protection against blaster bolts.

I realize ther is a psychological aspect, and I'm I know the helmet has multiple uses, but what about the armor itself?
Battle Droids, Rebels; everyone shoots straight through.

 

The kevlar armor we issue out to our troops won't always stop a direct hit from an assault rifle or a sniper rifle. Doesn't mean it isn't great against shrapnel, smaller caliber rounds, or glancing hits.

 

Stormtrooper armor probably works well against civilian strength weapons, but from what we've seen in the films I doubt it.

 

Stormtrooper armor is immune to bullets, low powered blasters, and shrapnel. And it provides full Nuclear-biological-chemical weapon protection, enough survival gear to operate in space for 20 minutes, a heads up display, communication gear, and air conditioning.

Overall a handy little thing to have.

For comparison's sake, look at the first battle in all of star wars: stormies die when they get hit, true, but rebel troopers die when the blaster hits the wall next to them.


And this is all assuming that they always die when they fall down. Judging by TCW and a few other sources, many stormtroopers are still alive after taking a blaster bolt in the chest, just knocked unconscious by the impact.

 

Stormtrooper gear is actually a downgrade from Clone Trooper Armor. It has less damage protection, but is far more technologically advanced.

 

Well, according to Star Wars: The Visual Dictionary those boxes on the belt are energy-sinks to siphon power from blaster bolt strikes, and the armour itself is described as being completely impervious to impact and ballistic weapons, though of course, DH keeps insisting on having the armour physically shattered by the latest monster-of-the-week (Amanin, Rakghouls, Kaye Galfridian, etc, etc)...

 

Well, let's not forget that stormie armor was no match for Ewoks either.

 

But what if you have to, you know, water the dewback?

Yep, it'll stop a bullet but not a stone tipped arrow. At least I don't think the Ewoks had any metal working capabilities.

 

Stormtrooper armour seems have a lot of different variations. Some suits have high tech HUDs, while others make do with eye lenses ("can't see a thing in this helmet, indeed) according to one of the old dictionaries.

And it can and does stop military-grade blaster fire or near misses as long as it's not to the chestplate. Even AT-ST level bolts that don't directly hit scout troopers have been known not to cause injuries beyond minor burns. (Allegiance)

Jokes aside, stormtroopers in-universe are a sign that the Empire is serious about something.

 

1. This is fiction. You never have to do that.
Or maybe it has that built into the armor as well.

2. Actually if you pay attention, arrows never penetrate stormtrooper armor. In the inertial barrage of arrows downs several officers and guards, but the stormtroopers are unhurt. There is evena scene where you can see several arrows bounce harmlessly off a scout trooper.

Course, the body gloves aren't so weapon proof, and no armor can stop repeated blows to the head with a rock.

 

I'm pretty sure you see a stormtrooper being killed by an arrow pretty early on, though it doesn't really hit his armor, more the neck-area. So while the armor protects against arrows in the big picture, it has its weak spots where it can be beat.

 

So does any form of body armor that allows for some level of movement. Personal, non-powered armor (in this, stormtrooper armor isn't that far ahead of what we have these days, besides the environmental-suit aspect) can only provide so much protection before personal mobility goes down the drain.

The concept behind current body armor isn't absorbing dozens or hundreds of shots, it's allowing you to take a hit and then seek cover:

US Army soldier takes a hit

You can pile only so much armor on a man before he just can't move anymore, and that's when you'll start taking significant casualties as your slow-moving, physically exhausted solders lose the ability to fight.

FWIW, we never see the stormtroopers lose a fight because they're taking casualties from small arms. Leia and Chewie drop lots of them on Cloud City without making a dent in the stormies' freedom of manuever; the only time they clearly and distinctly lose is when they're massively outgunned on Endor by Chewie in an AT-ST.

 

Good point. I always assumed they died, but it could be the force of the blaster bolt hitting them is just knocking them backwards.

 

Armor has always been one step behind weaponry. Men ran around in loincloths and sandals killing each other with bronze and stone weapons, so they made chainmail or some type of scale or lamellar armor. Newer swords, spears and arrows went through it, so they upgraded to plate armor. Crossbows and longbows still punched through it, and hammers and maces crushed it, even though it offered more protection against spears and swords.

Eventually they just ditched it all because of rifles. By the time of the Civil War and Napoleonic Wars, it was just a fabric outfit and a cap, and stayed that way for a while. Then because of shrapnel, they wore steel helmets and flak jackets. Now, advances allow soldiers to stop a 7.62 round right in the chest, so it looks like armor is coming back. But we'll eventually create some hyper-kinetic pulse rifle rail gun plasma burner whatever that is handheld, and cuts right through armor. And the bad guys will get some, eventually. And we'll see what happens from there. By then I suppose troops will be using those shield projector things from Dune lol.

As for the Stormies, by the time they improve armor to the point of stopping Han Solo's pistol, everyone will be carrying more powerful rifles and pistols, so it never ends.

 

My question isnt why do they have it but rather why Haven't they changed it in over a 100 years . The stormtroopers in legacy comics look conspiciously like the ones of ANH.

 

The armor may look similar, but i'd guess they tweaked it over the years.

 

The helmets are slightly different in Legacy. That's just a visual difference.

 

So, to be clear...
Stormtrooper armour doesn't stop blaster bolts
Stormtrooper armour doesn't stop lightsabers
Stormtrooper armour doesn't stop primitive weapons wielded by care-bears
Stormtrooper armour restricts vision

yet I still want it

 

I had this view.

1. Stormtrooper armor can't stop point blank shots from blaster pistols, farther shots it can.

2. Stormtrooper armor can't stop Stormtrooper rifles, which are extremely stronger rifles.

 

Hopefully not. Those things don't respond well to lasers...

Stormie armor is sufficient for most civilian grade weapons, shrapnel, and environmental problems. It also works against knives and sharp sticks, but at close range or in volume, hitting the body-glove at the joints will allow it to get through.

As for military grade weapons, it may not stop the round, but it does make it survivable, as we see in Rogue Squadron.

 

Hilariously, the Empire seemed to thrive on buying cheap **** that worked against most people but failed miserably against most advanced weapons.

 

I always wanted to know why they wear armor they always die from first hit??

 

I guess beacuse they look awesome

 

for the discussion on this class we will watch this educational video. here
there will be a test next class...