Star Wars Essential Guide to Warfare

[General Mung Beans]

This came out last April so has anyone seen a copy of this yet and if so what's it like?

http://www.amazon.com/Star-Wars-Essenti ... 0345477626

[Juubi Karakuchi]

I have a copy, and I have to say I liked it on the whole.

In terms of scope, it goes right from the Rakata through to the current timeline, with a little bit on Legacy at the end. Much of it is narrative in form, with the greatest depth being on the movies, but there is some analysis of ship types and technological developments also. Ground/planetary combat doesn't get that much of a look-in except for the movie parts, where they include the organisational systems for the Clones, the Confederacy, the Imperial forces, and the Rebel Alliance. The most interesting parts for me covered some of the pre-movie eras, including the Rakata, Xim the Despot, and the Pius Dea crusades. Here are some amusing spoilers.
Spoiler

The Rakata were a slave race of the Celestials, before they revolted, reverse-engineered some of their technology, and built their own empire.

Xim the Despot's forces get some in-depth description for the first time. His battle droids are well known, but he also used substantial numbers of biological troops. Many of these were janissaries recruited from conquered worlds, a practice he adopted from the Livien League after he conquered it. Elite units included the Duinarbulon Star Lancers, known for their black armour and their beam tubes. His forces are also described as using tracked tanks, armoured groundcars, and 'floaters' armed with beam tubes.

Xim's warships were frigates and corvettes by 'modern' standards, though he had a small number of cruiser-scale ships including the Queen of Ranroon and his flagships, the Eibon Scimitar and the Deathknell. They tended to be armed with missiles, torpedoes, and 'pulse cannons' which are described as melting hulls and disrupting circuitry with blasts of radiation. Warships were armoured with kilirium, a superconducting alloy capable of resisting energy weapons of the period. Mytag crystals were used in the creating of EMP-resistant communications and sensor equipment.

A favoured Hutt weapon from that era was the 'Planechanga' - a giant railgun that could 'accelerate space rocks to planet-cracking velocities'. There is also a rather amusing picture of a Hutt carrying a battleaxe. There is also a mention of Hutt 'cavaliers' who went into battle aboard multi-legged iron shells.

There is an account of the first Jedi schism and the rise of the Legions of Lettow by Lyn, second-in-command to Xendor. Lyn complains that the nascent Order was starting to become doctrinaire shortly after she joined it (she was previously a Follower of Palawa), under the influence of the Caamasi, developing a code that denied individuality in favour of collectivity. Lyn seems to have regarded Xendor's eventual split with the Order as an attempt to defend the right of force users to study the Force in ways other than those which the Jedi 'hierarchs' considered appropriate.

The Republic saw some serious expansion during the Pius Dea crusades, when it was effectively controlled by the Pius Dea religion. This happened as a result of Contispex I, a Pius Dea fanatic, became Chancellor on a (sincere) anti-corruption manifesto. They made use of gigantic generational cathedral ships, and established the Ordnance/Regional Depots (ORD), such as Ord Mantell, to support their conquests and control. The Pius Dea Republic ended after the Caamasi persuaded the Jedi to intervene, which they did by masterminding a heresy within the Pius Dea ranks, assisted by Caamasi and Alskani (a substantial star empire that had seceded from the Republic a while back and was resisting by armed force) agents. The Bureau of Ships and Services also helped by sabotaging the navicomputers of many Pius Dea warships, causing them to randomly jump into hyperspace upon reciept of a preset code. The Jedi overthrew and imprisoned the Chancellor, Contispex XIX, and their Grand Master became the new Chancellor. Yes, for a while the Republic became a not-Imperium of Man.

The Anaxes War College system is the most commonly-cited system of ship classification, superceding the system used by the Judicials and Planetary Security Forces following Ruusan. It goes thusly;

Corvette - 100-200 metres long
Frigate - 200-400 metres
Cruiser - 400-600 metres
Heavy Cruiser - 600-1000 metres
Star Destroyer - 1000-2000 metres
Battlecruiser - 2000-5000 metres
Dreadnought - 5000 metres and above

Ion cannons are described as firing a burst of EM energy amplified by ion accelerators. It works by overloading electrical systems, tripping circuitry protectors, and sometimes melting fuses. Ironically, it seems to work by forcibly activating a target's protective mechanisms, in that machinery tends to automatically shut down to avoid damage.

More on request.

[Darth Hoth]

Anything interesting on the Exar Kun period/Sith War stuff? I always used to like the old Tales of the Jedi comics.

[Juubi Karakuchi]

Anything interesting on the Exar Kun period/Sith War stuff? I always used to like the old Tales of the Jedi comics.

There isn't much on that period unfortunately (considering how much they did on the movies). It appears briefly as part of a history of the Mandalorians.
Spoiler

Mandolorian involvement occurred as a result of a Taung religious reformation, the Taungs still being the dominant force among the Mandalorians at that point. This reformation caused them to worship war itself, with predictable results. Mandalore the Indomitable reputedly had a vision to that effect on the planet Shogun. They exterminated at least two races in this period, including the Nevootans and the Basiliskans, the latter poisoning their own planet in an attempt to hold the Mandalorians backs. The Mandalorians acquired Basilisk war droids, Lagartoz War Dragons (dragon-esque flying mounts), and Basiliskan warships. Stealing military equipment they liked seems to be a common feature of Mandalorian crusades, and of their warfare in general. The crusade was led by Mandalore the Indomitable until the Battle of Onderon, whereupon his mask was found in the Dxun Jungle by Mandalore the Ultimate.

Mandalorian society changed substantially as a result of the Sith War. Previously they were a nomadic coalition of Taung (or Taung dominated) tribes (they had a not of non-Taung vassals). Under Mandalore the Ultimate they started accepting non-Taungs into their ranks and actually holding the territory they conquered, creating their own empire. Their social structure consisted of warriors on top, support personnel who accepted their place in the middle (farmers, artisans, manufacturers), and slaves and those without honour on the bottom.

The Republic took a serious beating in the Sith War, to the point where it's authority was 'theoretical beyond Centares' (Mid Rim).

[Ire]

I still wish it had more stuff on TOR

I wanted to know more of the ranking Structure and the importance of the Executor rank