What do Imperials do for fun on Star Destroyers?

[Zwinmar]

From my experience:
For ground pounders who don't have a job on ship: Job Training/Cross Training, Cards, Dice, D&D, Working Out, Class Time, Movies (really same movie on repeat for that week), , Reading, and looking forward to a Liberty port where you inevitably get drunk. Of course, at some point, you will get bored, then things can get stupid.
If you have a job on ship, and aren't hot bunking, you would have a work shift, then do the above when you where off. Aboard ship the jobs are very similar to what is done elsewhere.

[Patroklos]

For ships with a significant troop compliment and no pressing tasking I would bet a lot of COs would land there regiments on uninhabited rocks for a few days to let the ground powders play soldier for a few days. Meanwhile the ship will go blow up some asteroids to keep their own rates busy.

I'd say swim call but that's probably not such a good idea in a vacuum...

[Zwinmar]

sure it is, good zero g training.

[Patroklos]

True True. That's probably why ISDs are so nice and white, they have plenty of board stormtroopers who get slapped with extra duty after putting marbles in the COs overhead to wash hull plates I MEAN ZERO-G TRAINING. Gotta check off that monthly training requirement for the squadron commodore.

[Galvatron]

I wonder how much of the mind-numbing busy work is reserved for bored troops and how much is delegated to droids. I would think that any tasks that could, if done in some half-assed or incompetent way, negatively affect the ship in some way would be assigned to droids simply to prevent human-error.

[Patroklos]

I would bet normally droids do that kind of work, you just make exceptions when you need to invent a punishment. I am not saying you replace the droid cleaning tibanna has relay filters, but you can swap the janitor droid with our pranksters without fear of any combat repercussions.

[Guardsman Bass]

It seems like recreation on a Star Destroyer would be easy. The ship would already have gyms for PT, simulators for training, mess halls/canteens for meals, and holoprojector/video rooms for briefings. For off-duty soldiers, these would double as places to play pick-up sports, buy credits for time to play video games (maybe), somewhere to eat meals and play card/board games, and rooms to watch the showings of Hero: The Anakin Skywalker Story.

. . . I would also not be surprised if they're allowed to bring tablets and/or mobile computers on board, as long as they have no non-wired connectivity. Instead of the above, a crew member could hang out in their bunk, close the curtain, and do things like reading e-books, watching holo-videos, playing games, or watching porn (lots of the latter - the stories I heard from a guy who did a stint on a US submarine and their miniature DVD players . . . ).

[Simon_Jester]

I wonder how much of the mind-numbing busy work is reserved for bored troops and how much is delegated to droids. I would think that any tasks that could, if done in some half-assed or incompetent way, negatively affect the ship in some way would be assigned to droids simply to prevent human-error.

You can always have the droids go over the work after the stormtroopers on punishment detail have done it. That would (in the rather anti-droid culture of the Empire) add an extra layer to the punishment: "Seriously, you're such a fuckup we have you doing droid work. And failing. And we're going to let this dumb droid lecture you on your failures."

[Lord Revan]

I wonder how much of the mind-numbing busy work is reserved for bored troops and how much is delegated to droids. I would think that any tasks that could, if done in some half-assed or incompetent way, negatively affect the ship in some way would be assigned to droids simply to prevent human-error.

You can always have the droids go over the work after the stormtroopers on punishment detail have done it. That would (in the rather anti-droid culture of the Empire) add an extra layer to the punishment: "Seriously, you're such a fuckup we have you doing droid work. And failing. And we're going to let this dumb droid lecture you on your failures."

And honestly a lot of the busy work (like cleaning your room in the barracks or making your bed) in modern militaries (at least when I served) wasn't something civilian workers couldn't have done but it was left to the enlisted (and presumebly officers as well) because of displine reasons, there was other duties that could be assigned to servicemen as well as actual punishment and then there's ofc guard duty (aka getting bored while sitting of standing in one place).

[Zwinmar]

On ship we were cleaning up shit he Navy never touched because, bored NCO's are not so bored messing with the non-rates.

[Commander Veers]

Star Destroyers are big, even small ones like the Victory or Venator. There's a lot of room for recreational facilities including full-up movie theaters, sports arenas, parks, malls, public pools...

Room? Yes. But the Imperial designers might want that room for more equipment, more guns, ammo, shields, armor, etc.

My question is, does the Empire take human comfort into consideration with their ships?

Afaik, yes, the systems required to generate such power as the ships use take up an enormous amount of room. Then there is space for the fighter and ground-force complements that ships tend to carry. That leaves some space for the crew, and their essentials as well as - less importantly - creature comforts.

Been reading Lost Stars lately - it's a good story so far, but imo there are some idiotic statements in there. Among them, the idea that a dozen ISDs could do any sort of damage to the DS1 (the thing has the volume of millions of ISDs, a dozen aren't going to begin to scratch the surface.)

More relevant to the discussion at hand, the author posits that eating normal food is seen as 'weakness' in the Imperial Navy, which is used as a social pressure to reduce the need for storage of actual food, which is replaced by 'blue milk', this mediocre-tasting nutritive substance. I can half buy this. But if we assume that SW tech is immensely superior to modern day tech, which it obviously is, then it also stands to reason that their understanding of human psychology would at least be on par with our own. I'd have thought that they'd provide at least some creature comforts, just to keep crew morale up. That means real food, even if it takes up more space and a lot more catering crew/droids. I understand that 'a better understanding of psychology' doesn't necessarily mean that their philosophy on keeping a crew's spirits up would be that different, but you have to assume that if a Navy wants to get the most out of its crew then it's going to treat them with some respect and give them things to do.

So as with a modern ship, I expect you'd find rec spaces - like 'common rooms', with Space-Snooker tables (hmmm... zero-G snooker anyone ?), and televisions. There would also be cinemas, and certainly some places to spend money. Gyms would be a must. Iirc, Lost Stars mentions shooting ranges and cafeterias aboard Star Destroyers. I also think that libraries would be a good thing to have aboard any moderately-sized starship. When crew are off duty, which assuming a 3 or 4-shift watch they will certainly have, it is only reasonable that they'd be provided with facilities which improve their utility to the Empire. That means exercise and educational facilities, hence my idea of libraries. Crew could generally increase their knowledge and cultural capital by reading about whatever suits their fancy. Maybe there would be facilities for taking 'online courses', which could help train them on additional ship systems and other facets of the empire and its forces.


Oh yeah - this is slightly more off-topic, but kind of related. Would there actually be female personnel in the Imperial Navy? If so, you have to construct different facilities for them - toilets, barracks, etc. Why bother with that when you can just restrict entry to males only - just like they've done with most navies for most of history? Personally, I don't buy the whole 'female stormtrooper' and 'female officer' narrative which has been introduced over the years. Every single Imperial we saw in the OT was male. I'm sorry if I'm derailing the thread lol, it's just a thought that came up.

[Commander Veers]

I wonder how much of the mind-numbing busy work is reserved for bored troops and how much is delegated to droids. I would think that any tasks that could, if done in some half-assed or incompetent way, negatively affect the ship in some way would be assigned to droids simply to prevent human-error.

Yes - regarding maintenance of essential systems, the DS Owner's manual talks about how there are droids which are tasked with maintaining the thousands (more like millions) of miles of pipes and conduits and trunking and so on; checking for faulty welds and cracks and things like that. The same would probably apply on smaller ships. Maybe a corps of maintenance droids would be overseen by a handful of human officers who would allocate the droid's tasks and make sure they were all working properly - and then the droids would go on their way doing the mind-numbingly boring job of scanning endless welds.

[Galvatron]

Would there actually be female personnel in the Imperial Navy? If so, you have to construct different facilities for them - toilets, barracks, etc. Why bother with that when you can just restrict entry to males only - just like they've done with most navies for most of history? Personally, I don't buy the whole 'female stormtrooper' and 'female officer' narrative which has been introduced over the years. Every single Imperial we saw in the OT was male.

Maybe the Empire simply ignores gender and employs unisex facilities like Starship Troopers or Battlestar Galactica did. It wouldn't be unprecedented.

[Commander Veers]

Possibly. But I don't think that 'post-gender society' is a description which would fit the Empire. Empires of old seldom enlisted women, so why would the Galactic Empire? The female physiology isn't as well-adapted to combat as the male physiology, and I don't see why an ostensibly 'patriarchal' space-faring civilisation would overlook this obvious scientific fact. If they did enlist women, it seems just as unlikely that there would be 'gender-neutral' facilities, given that this isn't an idea befitting the ethical and social codes that we are supposed to expect of the Empire. I thought that they're supposed to be like 'space nazis'. Space nazis wouldn't construct mixed showering facilities. Space Democrats, maybe. But not space fascists. Traditional gender roles and all that.

[Galvatron]

If they did enlist women, it seems just as unlikely that there would be 'gender-neutral' facilities, given that this isn't an idea befitting the ethical and social codes that we are supposed to expect of the Empire.

Then what about the rebellion? The only women we ever saw were Leia and Mon Mothma.

[Khaat]

Space nazis wouldn't construct mixed showering facilities. Space Democrats, maybe. But not space fascists. Traditional gender roles and all that.

They did in Starship Troopers.

[The Romulan Republic]

If they did enlist women, it seems just as unlikely that there would be 'gender-neutral' facilities, given that this isn't an idea befitting the ethical and social codes that we are supposed to expect of the Empire.

Then what about the rebellion? The only women we ever saw were Leia and Mon Mothma.

I think their was one working in the base on Hoth too.

And of course, Rogue One and Rebels added a whole lot of female Rebel characters.

Its just a product of the OT being made forty years ago, unfortunately. You just have to kind of assume that by a strange fluke, all the female Rebels are just off-screen.

[Galvatron]

Well, the new EU is making up for that. Rae Sloane and Norra Wexley are basically the main characters of the Aftermath storyline. If that wasn't enough, Princess Leia, Jas Emari and Mon Mothma are also very prominent.

[The Romulan Republic]

Possibly. But I don't think that 'post-gender society' is a description which would fit the Empire.

The evidence for this is scant and highly ambiguous, to the best of my knowledge.

The Empire in the old EU was misogynist, but the new canon seems to be moving away from that interpretation, with various new high-ranking female Imperials.

Empires of old seldom enlisted women, so why would the Galactic Empire?

I could turn that question around and ask why the recruitment practices of antiquity would be copied by a futuristic space-based Empire.

The female physiology isn't as well-adapted to combat as the male physiology,

This is true as an average (as long as you remember that it is an average), but their is a hell of a difference between Bronze age combat, which involved being able to swing pointy pieces of metal quickly and accurately, and spacefaring combat, which involves knowing how your technology functions and which buttons to push.

In what way is even a physically average woman unfit to man a Star Destroyer bridge station?

and I don't see why an ostensibly 'patriarchal' space-faring civilisation would overlook this obvious scientific fact.

See above.

Also, I'm not sure the Empire as a whole is ideologically "patriarchal" in the new continuity, unless you count simply having a male as head of state as patriarchal, which would be a bit silly. Their are probably individual Imperial officers who were, however.

Frankly, though, Palpatine doesn't strike me as someone who greatly cares about things like gender, but as someone who divides people into three categories: himself, those who are useful to him, and those who are to be tortured/killed.

And traditional patriarchal values in our world are generally holdovers from conservative religious values, of religions that do not exist in the Star Wars universe. Indeed, the only galaxy-wide religious practices I'm aware of in Star Wars lore are those of the Jedi and the Sith. The Jedi clearly have no problem with female warriors, and I'm not aware of any evidence that the Sith do either. This might be due to the fact that Force sensitivity doesn't appear to be clearly stronger in either gender, but in the absence of a widespread religious/cultural tradition of patriarchy, I see no reason to assume that the Empire would be likely to be patriarchal if the canon evidence is ambiguous on that point.

If they did enlist women, it seems just as unlikely that there would be 'gender-neutral' facilities, given that this isn't an idea befitting the ethical and social codes that we are supposed to expect of the Empire.

Again, what evidence of such codes is their? They are authoritarian, yes, but that doesn't necessarily mean that their authoritarianism checks all the same ideological boxes as a given form of Earth authoritarianism.

I thought that they're supposed to be like 'space nazis'. Space nazis wouldn't construct mixed showering facilities. Space Democrats, maybe. But not space fascists. Traditional gender roles and all that.

See above.

It wouldn't surprise me to see the Empire employ said gender roles, but their's not, at present, unambiguous proof that they do.

[Shroom Man 777]

I am sure some short stocky female from some high grav world will beat the shit out of some lanky hollow-boned male from some space colony.. unless the lanky hollow-boned male has a posthuman anatomy that allows him to pull of Plastic Man levels of bullshit and wrap around the stocky high-gravworld female... like some python. So his flexible skeletal system might also allow him to unhinge his jaws.

I presume this is what Kaminoan combat is like. Kaminoans must be incredible grapplers in Teras Kasi. Imagine a Kaminoan just going elastic and wrapping himself around a Wookie, choking the Wookie out before unhinging his jaws to swallow the Sasquatch whole.

[The Romulan Republic]

Didn't even think of that. Space travel will likely do interesting things to the future diversity of human biology.

[Lord Revan]

Joking aside there's no clear evidence that the Galactic Empire (or the Galactic Republic before it) had any clear gender preference for positions of authority, in EU several imperials in high positions in the hierarchy are female, also the head of the Stormtroopers in the First Order was female and made no attempts to hide her it really, Phasma's voice(also her behaviour is suppose to have femine traits according to her actress but I didn't notice those in the film) is clearly femine in TFA and the First Order is suppose to be even more radical then the empire.

[Abacus]

I also imagine that the stormtrooper cadre onboard most ISDs will, from time to time, take over one of the hangar bays and turn it into a battlefield for training purposes.

[Shroom Man 777]

If we go with the whole, ISDs unlike real life ships don't have to spend months sailing because hyperdrive allows them to go from one side of the galaxy to another in hours... then rec facilities on board can be relatively sparse since the ISD can just park over at Scarif or wherever and the troops can goof off while the ship is restocked and maintained.

[Lord Revan]

If we go with the whole, ISDs unlike real life ships don't have to spend months sailing because hyperdrive allows them to go from one side of the galaxy to another in hours... then rec facilities on board can be relatively sparse since the ISD can just park over at Scarif or wherever and the troops can goof off while the ship is restocked and maintained.

the thing is however that an ISD can be stationed for months in what ever as end part of the galaxy it's needed at time and having some (most likely rather spartan) rec facilities onboard means your troops can be ready at moments notice and also you don't have to rely on your long range communications to know when and where you're needed as you can all ready be there.