Rogue One Stormtroopers, Shoretroopers, Death Troopers, and Hovertank Pilots (Tank Troopers) in Rogue One

At this point I can't remember if I've posted this before, but I view Scout Troopers as more of modern cavalry reconnaissance forces. Equipped lightly so as to be able to move quickly but still defend themselves, they are tasked with reconnaissance, surveillance, and target acquisition. Their light but fast vehicles should aid them in this task. They should avoid contact to the extent possible to accomplish their mission as well as to avoid having to have more heavily-equipped forces tasked to come bail them out of a scrap.

 

It's kind of weird how the action figures and similar collectibles keep referring to them as "Scarif Stormtroopers", since officially they are still called shoretroopers: http://www.starwars.com/databank/shoretroopers . Referring to them as stormtroopers is too generic, and specifically referring to the planet where we see them based is kind of odd too.

Also, that picture above indicates that the color of paint on their armor has rank indication. That's interesting, because we've only previously seen that from the Republic with the clone troopers. The Empire has always had everyone in all white, except for the color pauldrons of sandtroopers.

 

They will never be referred to as Shoretroopers in the movie so it does not really matter that much. At the end of the day they are all Stormtroopers with different armour.

 

Love the design and even being old school, I don't mind a little variety to my (our) OT.

I hope they do the Tank trooper for 3.75" figures.

 

Don't forget the "Sanitation StormTroopers!"

 

Deathtroopers - this is a very bad direction for Star Wars... these abominations look like they belong in some small budget sci fi like galactica (basically ripoffs of the tv show battlestar galactica's Cylon)... the armor looks gimmicky, the name is stupid... this is just a tacky, cheapening direction to take in both story and art direction.. I can understand young kids being excited over these, not the older teens/adults

Shoretroopers - I like the idea, but the name could have been better (maybe it will be?) and the armor does not strike me as anything a trooper would wear in a tropical climate.. Especially the cloth/synthetic fiber mid section.. no one wants to run around in 100% humidity, through a terrain which most likely contains wetlands with any sort of long cloth piece hanging from their armor. It would be soaked within a minute and then drag and whip around the armor. And the pants would be soaked and could lead to fungal or other infections and if insulated why bother with a cloth exterior?

I think the armor was designed badly once again. Should have been lean composite with Neoprene sections...have LESS composite pieces or less coverage, since there would be more cover from blaster fire in a tropical area (trees, brush, fall base basins etc). Also more heat, and more humidity and the need to run through water, where weight would be a burden. The sections that arent covered with composite armor could have been covered with Neoprene slip-on pieces or have a Neoprene suit underneath (Neoprene=material they make wetsuits out of)

 

Well, I've never heard from anyone complaints about the Death Troopers my self..

 

I dont know, I just don't like it...under the right lighting and background hue .. it looks horrible...

I would have prefered an all flat black or a flat grey for both Phasma and the deathtroopers, to add style you could have added colored insignias to the suits, rank stripes (simple lines) or colored recoil pads or a colored revebrace (bicep/tricep area) composite piece like the shoretroopers

 

The midsection is only fabric for the squad leader, and gets supplemented by armor for the other classes.

In terms of the equipment type, I would say they made the right decision. The beachhead environment requires a high level of mobility, which their armor provides. As a real-life reference, Navy Seals commonly wear standard BCUs in similar situations. A neoprene-type material would cause the wearer to overheat significantly when not in the water.

 

You mean BDUs? or if it were Army ACUs...

Regardless if the cloth is for grunts or Squad leaders, I just don't see it as efficient or viable in combat or terrain with dense growth (prone to snagging)

Neoprene can be insulated in many different ways, some with the re-radiation of heat in mind. Neoprene garments/battle dress can also come perforated to allow heat to escape, and still be more durable than any type of cloth (especially in Star Wars where it would be some super space age Neoprene)

but the main thing is... the Neoprene would look cleaner and more in line what an imperial soldier should be wearing in combat... the cloth with mini "waist-cape" sarong looking thing, aside from having no purpose, reminds me of something Dengar or some hutt hired bounty hunter would wear...or just keep it cloth, and remove that flap... either way this is no where near a "deal breaker" for me, it wont affect my enjoyment of the movie

But again.. to each their own.. I'm sure a lot (maybe the overwhelming majority) of Star Wars fans have no complaints

 

I'd venture a guess to say that the waist cape is there just to harken back to the ARC Trooper design. To your point, one would think that protecting the femoral artery with thigh pads would be more beneficial than protecting the hips.

 

New troopers are designed mainly to look cool not to really be realistic in any way but how much sense does stormtrooper armor even make in the first place?- It is white and on planets like Endor you would really need camouflage- also does plastic armor really protect you enough to be actually useful in battle? Considering how much it hinders your movements all protection it gives may not be worth it really.
If star wars- armors would be more realistic and actually useful they wouldn't look like in original trilogy- they would probably look more like real battle gear and less interesting and sci-fi in many ways.

But that said I really like stormtroopers and these new guys look quite nice. I especially like the way shore troopers remind of clones with kamas and insignias that are much like Neyo's clone troopers in ROTS. Death Troopers look badass and I really hope that both dudes are much better than stormtroopers in general and actually prove that not all imperials are dumb, useless and inaccurate. After seeing so many episodes of rebels it would be nice to see a land battle where rebels actually have some losses....

 

The Shoretroopers are personally my favourite design as far as troopers go in Rogue One. Love the helmet.

 

I actually like the new editions. I don't mind the different names for troopers. Death trooper sounds like fun. I don't get the criticism. I am 46 and I like it.

now if you are stationed at Scarif full time, having a different trooper designation and having a variant of the typical trooper outfit makes sense. It should be climate based. It has been in the past. Snowtroopers, jungle troopers though they look the same as a regular Stormtrooper. ( that needs fixed too).

 

It's a nice break from the authoritarian white as well. One of the things the prequels/Clone Wars did right were the different trooper designations; wouldn't be surprised if we see a camo stormtrooper show up at some point.

 

Super elite storm trooper with all black armor... yep that's awesome.
Troopers stationed on a planet that is 100% beach that are like scout troopers but sand colored... yep that's awesome.

 

Thread title updated (added "Hovertank Pilot", the tank troopers) for completeness. The Empire is keeping us busy with all these trooper variations.

Edit: And speaking of pilots, we haven't seen anything new about TIE pilots or AT-ACT drivers / pilots, have we? I guess they must be the same as the OT versions. I do know that the TIE Striker toy comes with a TIE pilot figure that looks the same as before.

 

what's the source of this pic?

 

comic-con.

 

I would have preferred camo and the scout trooper above to the deathtrooper look...or they could have completely redesigned the deathtrooper armor but make it camo (even a north Grey/white/black camo)

to me this scout trooper looks incredibly cool

And I dont dislike the shore troopers, they look cool as hell.. my comments earlier in this thread are from a "functional efficiency" perspective

Yep and in the "look cool" department Shoretroopers to me do look cool..again was merely sharing thoughts about design...

Although again, for me personally? dont like the deathtrooper look

 

The Deathtroopers (for me) are the best Imperial design since the Red Royal Guards were introduced in Jedi! The only design I don't like so far is the Scarif Stormtroopers with the multi colours - Gives me bad memories of the AOTC troopers... (The ones with red, yellow, green, blue arms etc) Ugh

 

The AT-ACT drivers look more like the hovertank pilot if the Hasbro AT-ACT driver figure is accurate (and I assume that it is).

 

Oh OK, do you mean this guy?



It's weird, he's kind of a combination of a shoretrooper and a hovertank pilot. Either way, a lot different from the AT-AT drivers in TESB for some reason.