The Official Alpha, the ARC Troopers and the Commandos Thread

Ive been wondering if the 501st Legion, 327th Star Corps and the 41st Elite Corps are roughly all the same kind of organisation, just with different names, or each of those two Corps is part of a legion, because presumably a Legion is the largest Clonetrooper organisation. I do hope someone eventually goes into detail about the organisation of the GAR.

I also wish they'd done (or will do) an individual databnk entry on the 41st, seeing as theyre by far the coolest troopers Ive ever seen in Star wars, plus they're obviously not just Clonetroopers with different markings, as they have completly different armour, I'm guessing they're light infantry of some kind, who gradually evolved into a pure scouting force. Oh and finally, going by the markings on the vehicles (and the Venator thats landed there) the 41st are presumably part of the Open Circle armada. Though reading Gree's entry ("the Elite Corps stationed on Kashyyyk during the Clone Wars") and considering their armour, I wonder if they havent been there sometime and Yoda just "borrowed" a Venator and it's compliment of armour from the Open Circle Armada to reinforce them.

 

The Visual Dictionary states that clones are identified by legion (colour markings), so all clones with the same colours are part of one legion. I'm guessing that the Star Corps is part of the 'Felucia' Legion, and the Elite Corps are part of the 'Kashyyyk' Legion - hopefully we'll get official names soon.

On the subject, do we have an official name for the proto-scout troopers seen on Kashyyyk? The Databank only refers to them as 'clone troopers', and, 41st Corps aside, they don't have any other designation. Concept art notes them as 'swamp troopers', but is there an actual canon designation?

And, still on the subject of trooper legions, something I've been wondering about recently; are the stormtroopers we see in the Tantive IV assault in ANH part of the 501st? I'd assume that Vader's troopers would all be culled from the Fighting 501st. Any sources to back this up or shoot it down?

 

The camo scout-look like clones are just "usual clones" with different armor.
The canon description is "clone trooper"...

In times, the legions have suited to their enviroments...
The snowtrooper-like clones on Mygeeto just havbe those armors, `cause Mygeeto is full of ashes and I quite cold world, too.
The camo-scout-like clones on Kashyyyk have specialized camo armor, 'cause Kashyyyk is mostly green, and they need each advantage against the CIS they can get...

 

"The camo-scout-like clones on Kashyyyk have specialized camo armor, 'cause Kashyyyk is mostly green, and they need each advantage against the CIS they can get..."

Then they should all just be wearing armour like Commander Gree, I very much doubt theyre just normal clone troopers (although they are presumably jangos) if they wear completly different armour. I mean if we didnt know of Scout troopers we wouldnt even been able to tell for certain they were republic if shown in isolation, theyre that different. I read someone describe them as the clone equivalent of Rangers, which is an idea I like. There has to be some reason they wear much lighter armour than most clones.

 

Well, that might be possible...

In fact, Gree groups calls itself 41st Elite Corps, so it's really likely that they're some sort of special. But until there's no ifno from offcial sources, we have to wait...

 

As I've said, Id like to see them considered light infantry already on Kashyyyk supported by an armoured force redirected from the open circle Armada, but we'll probably end up with them actually being described as scouts or something stupid like that.

 

The storm troopers of the Empire have specializations that are little more than regular infantry with various armour designs/augmentations, yet they're all given individual designations (Cold Assault Troopers, scout troopers, radtroopers, Zero-G troopers, storm commandos etc). Hopefully the EU will expand upon the new clone spec ops.

 

I've always wondered, was there a difference between the Stormtroopers and the Imperial Army? Or were they one in the same?

Because it always seems that in everything I read, the stormtroopers are thought of as elite soldiers, that are seperate from the true infantry. But if that's the case, how come we never see any other soldiers fighting for the Empire?

 

Stormtroopers are basically marines. The Imperial Army is a different branch entirely. The reason we primarily see stormtroopers in the films is that we ususally see detatchments from ships and 'amphibious' assaults. The reason we usually see stormtroopers in the EU is lack of imagination from many authors.

 

Someone has probably already mentioned this but the 1138 reference in ROTS is actually Commander Bacara. His number is 1138 before he is called well commander bacara.

 

Thanks for clearing that up for me.

Do you know if there are pictures of infantry from the Imperial Army, then? I'm curious to see what they'd look like.

 

Imperial Army troops look like the AT-ST drivers in RotJ or Veers in ESB; Veers is wearing a battle dress uniform while the AT-ST drivers aren't.

There are a couple of pictures in one of the sourcebooks (I think Imperial)-- I post them when I find them.

 

So which is Commander Cody's Legion?

 

Oh and about the trooper we see on Utapau, with a kind of red slash marking on his helmet. Some people think he's a medic, since he's leaning over a wounded trooper.

However, I do NOT think he's a medic.

One, and this has been pointed out before, he seems to be CALLING for a medic for the wounded trooper, not attempting to administer first aid.

Two, later he makes a report to Commander Cody in regards to the search for General Kenobi. I doubt a medic would make reports on a "search and destroy" mission.

 

Er, we already cleared that out, that he is NOT a medic, so for what do you mention it again?

And still I guess, the battalion of the second Utapau Commander looks just like himself, as it is with Bly's Star Corps (all look equal, except Bly has this rangefinder on that mission - he hasn't it always)

 

"So which is Commander Cody's Legion?"

We don't have an official legion designation, but in Labyrinth of Evil, Cody leads Squad Seven - a group of commandos - into battle on Cato Neimoidia. A number of these clones are killed, but this squad is likely part of his Utapau battalion.

Commander Odd Ball also commands a Squad Seven, but this is referred to as Clone Fight Squad Seven in the script, and is comprised of pilots rather than troopers or commandos.

 

So since we have Squad Seven in the movie, might it be possible, that those three troopers (maybe they're more) I saw as the second battalion actually is Squad Seven?

 

If he is the leader they would probably still be under his command unless there are alot of them, (which would justify splitting them up), which there aren't.

 

"The camo scout-look like clones are just "usual clones" with different armor.
The canon description is "clone trooper"..."

I've come to the conclusion that the proto-scout troopers are BARC troopers.

BARC stands for 'Biker Advanced Recon Commando', and Gree's troops are of course the predecessors of the biker scouts (and 'Recon Commando' is basically a variation of 'scout trooper'). Also, the BARC speeder toy comes with a scout trooper figure labelled as a BARC trooper. Course, it's only Neyo's troops we see riding BARC speeders, but still, I'd assume these guys are the actual BARC troopers.

 

Its a possibility, but I dont really get why they'd be shown in a more standard infatry role if this was the case. Also that picture of a heavily camoflaged trooper riding an enormous bright white speeder bike just doesnt look right. Id think if those troops were to ride bikes they'd be riding the lighter ROTJ version, like the one Stass Allie was riding, it would just suit them better.

I hope they hurry up and release a standalone figure of the camo-scouts because not only would we then know something about them, but I'd actually buy my first star wars toy for about a five years.

 

"Also that picture of a heavily camoflaged trooper riding an enormous bright white speeder bike just doesnt look right"

Yeah, but then neither does a bright white scout trooper riding a brown speeder bike.

And yeah, Biker troops really should be seen riding speeders, but they're also apparently part of the ARC line - and would thus operate as infantry units and elite commandos in addition to vehicle-mounted recon.

 

This is a good idea, but we've seen other BARC troopers on Felucia (not in the movie...) too. And don't forget Neyo's BARCs. And if they were BARCs, why no entry in the database?

Here a pic to the Felucia one: [image=http://img34.echo.cx/img34/4237/barcspeeder5rx.jpg]

 

Trooper designs differ from world to world. That clone from the Trading Card Game is a BARC, just not in the same armour as the supposed BARCs on Kashyyyk. Neyo's BARC troops are also noticably different to Bly's BARCs and Gree's maybe-BARCs. All the variations are grouped under 'BARC trooper', as all clone commander variations are still designated as 'clone commanders'.

EDIT: And as to the BARC's ommission from the Databank: you'll notice that the OS doesn't add every element from the movies in the Databank - it's more of a mainstream thing than, say, TFN'S CUSWE. Thus, stuff like specialized clones and the various legions and squads will likely be left out, and only referenced in related entries. For example, one of the recent updates grouped the Eta-2 Jedi Interceptor in with the Delta-7 Jedi starfighter, whereas more in-depth databases differentiate these models with separate pages.

 

Ok, ya right...
If we take the 41st Elite Corps as a sort of BARCs, and Neyo's "real" BARCs as an other sort of BARCs, and so with Bly's, than it's possible, but why do only the 41st have proto-scout amror? That is the part I don't really understand. My opinion is still that BARCs are just the Biker Scouts of each legion, not in general terms as with the Empire.

 

"Yeah, but then neither does a bright white scout trooper riding a brown speeder bike."

My only explanation for that is that the stormtroopers on endor (quite understandably) werent expecting a fight, and so didnt paint their armour.

"And yeah, Biker troops really should be seen riding speeders, but they're also apparently part of the ARC line - and would thus operate as infantry units and elite commandos in addition to vehicle-mounted recon."

Possibly, but on kashyyyk there seem to be hundreds of them, and theyrre the only clones (besides vehicle crews) there.

"My opinion is still that BARCs are just the Biker Scouts of each legion, not in general terms as with the Empire."

I seem to recall reading something or someone saying that BARC's are just anyone riding a BARC speeder...I cant quite recall where though, so it might have just been someones opinion...

"And as to the BARC's ommission from the Databank: you'll notice that the OS doesn't add every element from the movies in the Databank - it's more of a mainstream thing than, say, TFN'S CUSWE. Thus, stuff like specialized clones and the various legions and squads will likely be left out, and only referenced in related entries. For example, one of the recent updates grouped the Eta-2 Jedi Interceptor in with the Delta-7 Jedi starfighter, whereas more in-depth databases differentiate these models with separate pages."

The databank features at least a dozen different entries for the many stormtrooper variations, I think it would be consistant to do the same for the clones, especially considering these are actual movie designs.