Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (Pre-release)

I hope his suit filters out smells because it's got to be full of some Vader stank...

It's entirely possible that all of these various different troopers that we see aren't really different types, they could all be just be Stormtroopers and wear different armor depending on where they operate, just like how modern militaries simply wear different uniforms depending on the environment they're deployed but don't operate exclusively in those environments. With the exception of Scout Troopers, we never actually see the different types operate together, so Sandtroopers could be just regular TKs who wear desert armor because they're operating in a desert but revert to regular armor when aboard a Star Destroyer on some other non-desert planet. Same with the Snowtroopers, we never saw them operate along side normal TKs so there's nothing that definitively says that they're a specialized force for snow & ice planets only, aside from stuff in books.

^ Treadwell just said that a few posts above, and I've maintained that for years -- more or less. I think Stormtroopers are trained in all terrain and climate types, and have specialized kit to optimize operations in said environments. I don't think there was a contingent of "Sandtroopers" sitting around on the Devastator hoping they might run across a desert planet so they'd get a chance to stretch their legs. Commander Praji was told to "see to [the search] personally", so he had his detachment report to the quartermaster to break out the "Stormtrooper Armor, Phase IVA, Extreme Environment Optimized, Arid Heat" and head down.

I do think there are specialist 'troopers in addition to the infantry, though, who get equally specialized kit. Stormtrooper Scouts, for instance, probably get identified and tapped during basic for advanced training in force recon. ROTJ showed us their standard armor, the EU gave us cold-assault versions (Snow Scouts), and the Scarab Troopers in Rogue One might be the desert version (we won't know until December or closer to it). EVO Troopers, Commandos of the Republic, Imperial, or Storm variety... There is undoubtedly an assortment of high-focus troop types in the Stormtrooper Corps, but also a generous palette of options available to the standard infantryman to do their job in just about any conditions.

And regarding the new Stormtrooper armor in Rogue One, I have no problem with them going for a more idealized costumes that clean up a lot of flaws and errors in the originals. I have no problem with them basically presenting these as what the Stormtroopers in ANH (at least) and probably ESB were "supposed to look like", even if I disagree on a few minor details and my own ultimate build will likely be a gestalt between an idealized original ANH suit and a Rogue One suit.

--Jonah

Inquisitor Peregrinus said:

^ @Treadwell just said that a few posts above, and I've maintained that for years -- more or less. I think Stormtroopers are trained in all terrain and climate types, and have specialized kit to optimize operations in said environments. I don't think there was a contingent of "Sandtroopers" sitting around on the Devastator hoping they might run across a desert planet so they'd get a chance to stretch their legs. Commander Praji was told to "see to [the search] personally", so he had his detachment report to the quartermaster to break out the "Stormtrooper Armor, Phase IVA, Extreme Environment Optimized, Arid Heat" and head down.

I do think there are specialist 'troopers in addition to the infantry, though, who get equally specialized kit. Stormtrooper Scouts, for instance, probably get identified and tapped during basic for advanced training in force recon. ROTJ showed us their standard armor, the EU gave us cold-assault versions (Snow Scouts), and the Scarab Troopers in Rogue One might be the desert version (we won't know until December or closer to it). EVO Troopers, Commandos of the Republic, Imperial, or Storm variety... There is undoubtedly an assortment of high-focus troop types in the Stormtrooper Corps, but also a generous palette of options available to the standard infantryman to do their job in just about any conditions.

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I agree, like I said previously, aside from the Scouttroopers in RotJ, we never see more than one type of Stormtrooper at one time. In ANH, we only saw the Sandies on Tattooine, and in Empire we never saw a regular TK work along side a Snowtrooper, so there's no reason why they can't be just normal TKs in different armor to suit the environment. When you think about it, esp. in context of Empire, it makes a lot of sense, as large as they are there's still only so much room on a Star Destroyer and carrying contingents of various types of specialized Stormtroopers would take up a lot of barrack space and would greatly the number of troops you could deploy. Vader's fleet was wandering around looking for the Rebels, right, so that means he had no idea where they might hiding so why would he have troops specifically for cold environments on hand? It makes more sense that his ships had a full compliment of regular TKs that had access to cold weather gear and desert gear in addition to their normal armor so that they'd be prepared for any planet they might find the Rebels on.

Why not just have contingents of specialized troops you might ask, simple, having say, 10,000 (making the number up) troopers each with spare armor for specialized environments means that you can deploy up to 10,000 troops anywhere at any time. If we go by the notion that Snow & Sandtroopers were specialized units then that means you can only deploy a third of your total available manpower at any one time because only 1/3 of your troops have the equipment and/or training to operate in any given environment.

And regarding the new Stormtrooper armor in Rogue One, I have no problem with them going for a more idealized costumes that clean up a lot of flaws and errors in the originals. I have no problem with them basically presenting these as what the Stormtroopers in ANH (at least) and probably ESB were "supposed to look like", even if I disagree on a few minor details and my own ultimate build will likely be a gestalt between an idealized original ANH suit and a Rogue One suit.

--Jonah[/QUOTE]

Lear60man said:

I like Stormtroper variants as much as the next guy. But based on the trailer, they messed with the base armor and thats wrong. Its iconic and doesnt need to be tweaked just because some costume designer wants to mix things up..

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And that is exactly the point I was trying to make.

Any militaria collector (or hell, the likes of us here, trying to find the perfect Obi-Wan grenade or Indy MK VII gas mask bag) will tell you, the "same" equipment will have variations between contractors, plants, and even runs within the same plant.....all of them ostensibly within the government specs.

In an organization as vast as the Empire, the "same" armor is bound to have its variations.

p51 said:

And that is exactly the point I was trying to make.

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That's all fine and good but I think numerous people have demonstrated why that point is pointless.

Bryancd said:

That's all fine and good but I think numerous people have demonstrated why that point is pointless.

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It's only pointless because some fans always want to see new stuff and the people make movies have to make the new stuff, even if it doesn't make much sense.

p51 said:

It's only pointless because some fans always want to see new stuff and the people make movies have to make the new stuff, even if it doesn't make much sense.

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But we have had multiple posts as to why it makes sense both in story and out.

Inquisitor Peregrinus said:

^ @Treadwell just said that a few posts above, and I've maintained that for years -- more or less. I think Stormtroopers are trained in all terrain and climate types, and have specialized kit to optimize operations in said environments. I don't think there was a contingent of "Sandtroopers" sitting around on the Devastator hoping they might run across a desert planet so they'd get a chance to stretch their legs. Commander Praji was told to "see to [the search] personally", so he had his detachment report to the quartermaster to break out the "Stormtrooper Armor, Phase IVA, Extreme Environment Optimized, Arid Heat" and head down.

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Right. I think that's how Lucas always intended it to be, and like someone else said, the fans labeled them in separate ways. I'm just imagining the "Snowtroopers" sitting in the barracks when an announcement comes on saying they are entering orbit. They're all going "Come on snow planet!" :lol

Bryancd said:

But we have had multiple posts as to why it makes sense both in story and out.

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Not really. The same basic ST armor was used for all three SW movies (Edit, the same basic armor was used for the basic troopers, not including, biker scouts, snow troopers etc). There were only detail changes like detail paint, hand guards or trim. They have reshaped the basic armor, made funky sidecuts etc that were not necessary. It only makes sense if the story line is set years pre or post ANH. Otherwise its just bedazzling flair.

Well, in action, nobody will see the difference. They did it to allow the actors to perform actions scenes way better than in the OT.
Being a huge fan of the movies, having armors which will not fall appart during action is, for me, a great thing. I always found it awfull to see the broken legs or other parts on our beloved ST.

p51 said:

Frankly, I don't need (or even care) to see Vader or any of the other primary characters in this film at all. I love the idea of showing that the reality of Episode 4 was so much larger than we were shown in that one film. I just got a little disappointed form the trailer that the design people simply had to create a bunch of stuff you never saw in any of the original films. Modified stormtroopers in black, different spacecraft and all that? Is it even possible for a new movie to be made where someone doesn't create a whole bunch of new stuff that leads to the question, "Why didn't they have that in the previous movies?"

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That's what absolutely annoys me the most about all the new Star Wars stuff sent in the original trilogy era range.

You didn't see lambda shuttles or snowtroopers or AT-ATs or Biker Scouts or Super Star Destroyers during ANH, but presumably they all existed.

A lot of equipment existed before a new hope and the Empire is huge so what we saw back then was a small part of it,also some of the ships are hundreds if not thousands of years old so you know there's probably a unit out there somewheres using clone war era stuff.....

I know some people would hate it, but I'd actually like to see a story where a Rebel unit has some mothballed/salvaged Republic star destroyers. Maybe even have Rebels with Clonetrooper armor parts or something. That stuff is probably littered all over the place.

Sluis Van Shipyards said:

I know some people would hate it, but I'd actually like to see a story where a Rebel unit has some mothballed/salvaged Republic star destroyers. Maybe even have Rebels with Clonetrooper armor parts or something. That stuff is probably littered all over the place.

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Exactly.

I would like to see other factions like pirates or bounty hunters using old republic ships

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I'm going to have to pull my copy of ANH out. Did the star destroyers in ANH have that extra piece on the top of the bridge like these do? I know by ESB that part was gone.

The part was there for TESB as well, just laid flat.

Sluis Van Shipyards said:

I know some people would hate it, but I'd actually like to see a story where a Rebel unit has some mothballed/salvaged Republic star destroyers. Maybe even have Rebels with Clonetrooper armor parts or something. That stuff is probably littered all over the place.

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I would like to see something like this. Make it real feel like the originals.