Do you use the Imperial Army at all? Or is it just Stormtroopers?

I've always said that the Stormtroopers are the elite special forces of the Empire, and have ran my games as such. If a squad of Stormtroopers show up, sit up pay attention and if you don't have the drop in them or 200+ exp..run.

I recently was spying on a thread that had become completely derailed, and it was brought up that Stormtroopers should be the rank and file of the Empire.. after reading a few thoughts on that thread, it got me doubting my current policy....

Not wanting to contribute to the derailing of that thread I am starting this one. What are YOUR thoughts on the Imperial Army being more prevalent in RPGs then they are in the movies, and Stormtroopers being the Marine's of the Empire, rather then incompetent boobs?

Rebels will face stormtroopers far more often than regular army simply because of the fields they operate in. The army garrisons pacified planets, ones where any thought of rebellion has already been wiped out. Planets where trouble is expected get garrisons of stormtroopers. This is according to the old WEG stuff and the new Imperial handbook that was recently put out. (a fascinating indoctrination if you can pick up a copy.)

http://www.amazon.com/Imperial-Handbook-Commanders-Guide-Chronicle/dp/1452145288?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=ox_sc_act_title_16&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Rebels will face stormtroopers far more often than regular army simply because of the fields they operate in. The army garrisons pacified planets, ones where any thought of rebellion has already been wiped out. Planets where trouble is expected get garrisons of stormtroopers. This is according to the old WEG stuff and the new Imperial handbook that was recently put out. (a fascinating indoctrination if you can pick up a copy.)

http://www.amazon.com/Imperial-Handbook-Commanders-Guide-Chronicle/dp/1452145288?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=ox_sc_act_title_16&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Why would the Rebellion try to match strength with the Empire? As a guerilla force, they should be making covert strikes against the less defended Imperial assets. Those assets are the ones where garrisons of Imperial Army are more likely than Stormtroopers (unless... It's a Trap! ).

It's a confusing topic - the material states that Stormtroopers are rare and dangerous, but the movies show them as otherwise. They aren't dangerous because movie tropes of the era (and today) demand enemies that try very hard to kill the good guys but still fail, and they're all over the place because the movies are about big important flashpoints where of course there'd be elite troops: securing stolen plans and rebel princess, searching for those plans, aboard the Death Star , anywhere Vader is, and in/around the secret bunker protecting a second Death Star.

The other canon sources kind of muck that up, though. Obviously, "pre-Stormtroopers" are the rank-and-file of the Clone Armies. Stormtroopers are all over Lothal, even before it gets categorized as a "Rebel Hotbed" (though there were those rebellious broadcasts...), and the academy in Rebels shown for a few episodes is for stormtrooper cadets. Hell, even the bulk cargo transport in that weird Season 2 Chopper episode has stormtroopers on board, despite being a barge . Maybe chalk that up to it being a "kids' show" and it being a bad idea to have Imperial soldiers (whose faces are shown) killed on-screen?

That said, I run a Force and Destiny campaign. I avoid the issue, for the most part, since almost every time the players encounter Imperials, it because they're looking for Rebels or looking for them, and stormtroopers are going to be there for that. I'd like to say I'd use Imperial Army soldiers for the mainstay of the baddies if I ran a full-on Age campaign, but it's hard to say. It's tempting to use stormtroopers, and more relateable for the Star Wars fans and players in my group that aren't as hardcore as I am, and who've maybe seen a handful of the movies.

Well I've said this before but I see the Stormtrooper Armor as something they break out for situations when heavy combat is expected. Why would a soldier wear that kind of armor while inside the walls of a garrison performing maintenance duties? Certainly when out among a not yet totally cowed population they would suit up for the protection as well as the faceless enemy quality mentioned in the book.

Now, the fact that often a group of troopers will be used as a minion group, which by the rules means not that much of a challenge for PCs, what I figure is the men inside are local police that were given the armor to perpetuate the idea that the Emperor's minions are everywhere. When I want a real fight I run them as Rivals with skills and such. Those are the REAL Imperial Army soldiers in their heavy armor spoiling for a good fight. Thus the players are never sure if they are going to fight the lesser goons or the real deal unless they succeed at a Hard Knowledge Warfare check to notice differences in the tactics and style.

Behold my evil!

Well I've said this before but I see the Stormtrooper Armor as something they break out for situations when heavy combat is expected. Why would a soldier wear that kind of armor while inside the walls of a garrison performing maintenance duties? Certainly when out among a not yet totally cowed population they would suit up for the protection as well as the faceless enemy quality mentioned in the book.

Now, the fact that often a group of troopers will be used as a minion group, which by the rules means not that much of a challenge for PCs, what I figure is the men inside are local police that were given the armor to perpetuate the idea that the Emperor's minions are everywhere. When I want a real fight I run them as Rivals with skills and such. Those are the REAL Imperial Army soldiers in their heavy armor spoiling for a good fight. Thus the players are never sure if they are going to fight the lesser goons or the real deal unless they succeed at a Hard Knowledge Warfare check to notice differences in the tactics and style.

Behold my evil!

Stealing this one...brilliant!

Well I've said this before but I see the Stormtrooper Armor as something they break out for situations when heavy combat is expected. Why would a soldier wear that kind of armor while inside the walls of a garrison performing maintenance duties? Certainly when out among a not yet totally cowed population they would suit up for the protection as well as the faceless enemy quality mentioned in the book.

Now, the fact that often a group of troopers will be used as a minion group, which by the rules means not that much of a challenge for PCs, what I figure is the men inside are local police that were given the armor to perpetuate the idea that the Emperor's minions are everywhere. When I want a real fight I run them as Rivals with skills and such. Those are the REAL Imperial Army soldiers in their heavy armor spoiling for a good fight. Thus the players are never sure if they are going to fight the lesser goons or the real deal unless they succeed at a Hard Knowledge Warfare check to notice differences in the tactics and style.

Behold my evil!

Stealing this one...brilliant!

Ditto

10 Stormtroopers rolling 2 Green and 3 Yellow who need to take at least 31 damage before the dice pool is reduced... thats not a simple adversary.

Minions are definitely not all easy, they are just the easiest to scale the difficulty of.

Agree with Richard, don't underestimate minions. As it stands, my current Stormtroopers are terrifying on the battlefield even if they are minions. My thought is, if I run "Escape from Mos Shutta" Should I have Stormtroopers there, or the local Imperial Garrison army? And then only break out the Stormtroopers if the PCs fail to be subtle?

I would go with Garrison, plenty of them to bring in reinforcements as needed. There may be a very small number (20-30?) of Stormtroopers on the planet with a role similar to SWAT, they make an appearance in PC's bring the heat!

IMHO the main reason Stormies where all over Tatooine in ANH is because they where brought there on a Ship that had Darth Vader in charge... if that doesn't scream elite then i don't know what does.

Agree with Richard, don't underestimate minions. As it stands, my current Stormtroopers are terrifying on the battlefield even if they are minions. My thought is, if I run "Escape from Mos Shutta" Should I have Stormtroopers there, or the local Imperial Garrison army? And then only break out the Stormtroopers if the PCs fail to be subtle?

The question is whether there is a permanent garrison on Tatooine or if the only troops there are from visiting Imperial ships. If the former, go with Imperial Army. If the latter, then Stormtroopers make more sense.

The stormies are on leave. They heard Tatooine has stellar sand castle competitions. Bad luck they ran into a bunch of loonies with guns.

Quantity is a Quality all it's own...

I really dig MrMxyzptlk's idea too though...

Every member of the Imperial Military, from the lowliest clerk to the highest Grand Admiral, has a personal footlocker with a set of Stormtrooper armor in it.

Rifleman first.

I used Imperial Army troops against my players when we ran the begineer game, but since then I have used only Stromtroopers. Fighting stormtroopers is just more fun for my players. They get exicted about taking out stormies. Plus I like using the Imperial Assault stormtroopers I have painted as combat aids.

Why would the Rebellion try to match strength with the Empire? As a guerilla force, they should be making covert strikes against the less defended Imperial assets. Those assets are the ones where garrisons of Imperial Army are more likely than Stormtroopers (unless... It's a Trap! ).

Because, unfortunately, the worlds with important assets are the ones which rate permanent stormtrooper garrisons. Farming world Back-end-of-nowhere IV will have a few squads of imperial army, but unless you're just trying to kill them, or blow up the office of the one fairly cheery and ineffectual imperial bureaucrat assigned to the place, why would you be there?

Lothal, by comparison, has a massive Sienar Systems fighter works - not just a production plant for a key Imperial asset (TIE fighters) but also a research and development facility too (they built the TIE Advanced v1 there), as well as hosting an imperial training academy. Having assigned stormtroopers to such an important world, even if it's peaceful, makes sense.

The question is whether there is a permanent garrison on Tatooine or if the only troops there are from visiting Imperial ships. If the former, go with Imperial Army. If the latter, then Stormtroopers make more sense.

I always figured they were from Vader's ships, to be honest.

Why would the Rebellion try to match strength with the Empire? As a guerilla force, they should be making covert strikes against the less defended Imperial assets. Those assets are the ones where garrisons of Imperial Army are more likely than Stormtroopers (unless... It's a Trap! ).

Because, unfortunately, the worlds with important assets are the ones which rate permanent stormtrooper garrisons. Farming world Back-end-of-nowhere IV will have a few squads of imperial army, but unless you're just trying to kill them, or blow up the office of the one fairly cheery and ineffectual imperial bureaucrat assigned to the place, why would you be there?

Lothal, by comparison, has a massive Sienar Systems fighter works - not just a production plant for a key Imperial asset (TIE fighters) but also a research and development facility too (they built the TIE Advanced v1 there), as well as hosting an imperial training academy. Having assigned stormtroopers to such an important world, even if it's peaceful, makes sense.

The question is whether there is a permanent garrison on Tatooine or if the only troops there are from visiting Imperial ships. If the former, go with Imperial Army. If the latter, then Stormtroopers make more sense.

I always figured they were from Vader's ships, to be honest.

The Empire is out actively hunting the Rebellion. That means that Stormtroopers are largely going to be used as an offensive tool, and Imperial Army pulls garrison duty. If the Empire had the resources, I'm sure it would love to garrison with Stormtroopers, but I don't see them as having unlimited means. Consider that, according to the FFG books, the Empire controls far less of the Galaxy's systems than it might appear. There's a lot of systems out there that Rebels could be hiding in, and pulling in and going defensive just gives the Rebellion time to grow in numbers and skill. So the Empire pushes the offense, even if it means lashing out blindly and leaving the rear echelon lightly defended.

Rogue One looks to be another nail in the coffin of the "Imperial Army". More stormtroopers and only stormtroopers.

Rogue One looks to be another nail in the coffin of the "Imperial Army". More stormtroopers and only stormtroopers.

Good point. I think Rogue One will be a good deciding factor. If any movie was to feature an Imperial Army beyond Stormtroopers, it should be this movie.

I tend to think it of it more abstract terms, which helped me align the appearance of troopers in the movies.

The temptation is to compare the Imperial Military to a modern military - which (while logical) is inaccurate. Soldiers are generally numerous, and perform a wide variety of functions from base guards, to Military Police, to firefighters and emergency responders. Then you have the elite special forces units which are few in number and only do crazy hard-core stuff. I see the Imperial Military as the opposite. For the most part, The Imperial Army has guard duty, filling duty stations, guarding doors, piloting ground vehicles, maintaining and outfitting the mess/chow halls. The only time we actually see the gray uniforms of the ground troops, was in the AT-AT on Hoth (Major Veers), the Maintenance crews (on the Death Star) and the AT-STs on Endor. The rest of the time we saw the black uniforms of the Imperial Navy Trooper (all over the Death Star and on the bridges of Star Destroyers). In the totalitarian world of the Empire, they are the police forces, firefighting brigades, and security guards of the Empire, fulfilling these roles in the pacified cities of the Empire. Aboard bases and starships, they are the cooks, maintenance crews, janitorial staff, and clerical workers. They are combat ready, but their duties rarely see them in positions where it was necessary. The AT-AT drivers, Imperial Gunners on the Death Star (the beakie helmeted ones), TIE Pilots and Maintenance crew were all Imperial Military Troopers.

The Stormtroopers are the combat personnel - their primary responsibility is the pacification of threats to the Empire. Anytime an organized assault is staged against the Empire, the shock troops of the Imperial war machine are unleashed. They are elite, with gear and training far above the average mercenary or security force. Most of all though, they are countless. When pacifying an entire galaxy, the Empire would want as many elite combat troops as possible. In our modern military, we consider "elite" to mean "expensive and rare." This is perfectly logical based on our world, but in terms of Star Wars, money really means nothing to the Emperor. Through power and subjugation, what he needs he gets. That means if he wants elite soldiers to be his rank and file enforcers, then he has them.

That would depend on whether or not somebody wants to use Rogue One in their game or not.

Solid explanation Kyla.

That would depend on whether or not somebody wants to use Rogue One in their game or not.

Theoretically true, but I guess I, at least, felt like the discussion was about "how does Star Wars handle this, and how does it influence what you do." Rogue One will be the ultimate test of how Star Wars itself handles the "less important" military stuff... though, since it's about Death Star plans and evidently Vader, we might be back at square one with that.

How I would look at it from a "how does this game want us to handle it" perspective would be the published Age of Rebellion adventures. Granted, I haven't read them all yet, but Whisper Base would be an example of what I would say an Imperial installation is like, and I'd say that Onslaught on Arda I (which I'll admit I only skimmed at a book store while bored) is representative of how FFG thinks the Empire would respond to a major Rebel threat.

Beyond that, I enjoy Kyla's interpretation of the situation (though her bright pink text and fun font continue to be kind of off-putting in a charming way ).

Personally, I think that the Stormtroopers simply fill the infantry unit role within the overall Imperial Army. Other personnel would be used to fill the other roles typically seen in an army command (mechanized armor, logistical support, etc.)

Personally, I think that the Stormtroopers simply fill the infantry unit role within the overall Imperial Army. Other personnel would be used to fill the other roles typically seen in an army command (mechanized armor, logistical support, etc.)

But if you read all the official material, it makes a big deal about how the Stormtrooper Corps is totally separate from and not accountable to the Imperial Army. I get a very "SS" and "Wehrmacht" kind of vibe from it, if I'm understanding my history right.

The black clad "Imperial Navy Trooper" is seen several times down on the surface of Endor.

I've changed my opinion more then once, but I currently just lop it all together under "Imperial Military" instead of "Navy" and "Army". The black cad troops are the mook security guards. They can be found guarding ships and installations or doing other mundane security work. Expect a few of them with a customs officer during a routine inspection in my campaigns. The Stormtroopers (of varying sorts) are the infantry, offensive troops when compared to the defensive security troopers.

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=sites&srcid=ZGVmYXVsdGRvbWFpbnxzdHVybnNzdHVmZnxneDoyMWZmNWIwYTk3NDEwZTYx