Stormtrooper order of battle

[NoogDeNoog]

There is one on ebay (but it now), a first edition for $10.85 (free shipping).

http://cgi.ebay.com/Star-Wars-Imperial- ... 5634e3c1a4

[NoogDeNoog]

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss?url= ... &x=23&y=19

Paperback is cheaper on amazon.

[Ritterin Sophia]

What do the source books say about regular army order of battle? I understand the small numbers of shock troops, but I hope the army is bigger and has different organizational structure. A legion smaller or slightly bigger than a Roman legion looks absurd.

The Imperial Army uses the same structure up to the Legion level which is called a Battlegroup, it then goes as follows:

Corps (32,768 Troops): A corps is composed of four battlegroups commanded by a major general. A corps is deployed for major planetary operations.
Army (131,072 Troops): An army consists of four corps commanded by a general. The army can be scattered across many worlds, usually within the same system.
Systems Army (131,072-393,216 Troops): A systems army is primarily a bookkeeping designation. It can consists of as few as one army, or up to three, all operating within the same system.
Sector Army (262,144-1,572,864): A sector army consists of two to four systems armies, and includes all the troops operating in the sector. It is commanded by a marshal, sometimes referred to as a sector marshal.

According to the ISB only 1-80 planets NEED Imperial intervention, so I'm assuming this doesn't include local PDF which would obviously be coopted by the Imperial ranking officer if the situation crumbled to an all out war.

[NoogDeNoog]

What book are you using? my book says a line corps is 69,199 and a mobile corps is 74,794.
An army is 293,686.
A systems army is "more of a bookkeeping level of organization."
A sector army is 1,180,309.

I am using 1st ED 1989. I wonder if they are different.

[Ritterin Sophia]

What book are you using? my book says a line corps is 69,199 and a mobile corps is 74,794.
An army is 293,686.
A systems army is "more of a bookkeeping level of organization."
A sector army is 1,180,309.

I am using 1st ED 1989. I wonder if they are different.

I'm using the 2009 Rebellion Era Sourcebook. I guarantee they're different.

[Simon_Jester]

On the other hand, we then see General Veers who dropped directly on the planet without visible staff, although he was in an AT-AT. Perhaps a disconnect then? While the Clonetroopers featured a human run headquarters element, the Galactic Empire armies use extensive computer support and comns for their stormtrooper elements, while the Navy still rely heavily on humans?

Veers is Imperial Army, not Stormtrooper corps, but that's a detail. I'd guess that Veers was using his AT-AT as a mobile command station; it's certainly big enough and well armored enough to be considered survivable,* and the space in the belly normally used for infantry could easily be repurposed to hold a small HQ.

I believe there are precedents for commanders of forces operating in brigade or division strength leading from a command vehicle.

[ExarKun]

Thanks guys, good info, will look into it further

[Patroklos]

How do the divisible-by-five walkers fit into the conventional divisible-by-four force structure? Why does the repulsor- ridden army structure even apply to the Marines? Look at the sheer number of different types and loadouts even on the extremely small unit scale- isn't this taking diversity too far?

This really isn't as big a problem as you might think. Some of those hulls may be specialized themselves into command/medical/transport/communication roles. Being attached to warships intended to patrol for years without real support at times they may intentionally be over armed for the number of troops they carry to better handle vehicle attrition.

Where is their logistic train, anyway- is this a case of 'nobody quits, everybody fights' and even the admin personnel and quartermasters are expected to turn out with a rifle when the need arises? Is it more that the rear area personnel have to qualify as riflemen, or the front line marines are also trained to manage their own support structure?

I get the impression that the Navy or Army takes care of them depending on where they are stationed. The USMC has whole areas of support/logistics that are taken care of entirely by the Navy such as dentists/medics/doctors/nurses. No Marine fullfills those roles in the USMC, the stormtroops may have taken that to the extreme to include storkeepers and the like.

[Eleventh Century Remnant]

Hulls? What hulls- what are you on about? Transport ships? That isn't the problem. The problem is a pentagonal insert rammed into a quadrilateral structure, that's the problem. Not as bad as a square peg in a round hole, but the principle's the same.

Actually there's a serious problem here too. Going by the movies to start with, LAATs and speeder bikes and, well, what other Imperial and late- Republic repulsorlift vehicles can you name? Any? 'TIE fighters in atmosphere' doesn't count.

Oh, they exist, I'm sure they exist, but you have to look as far as the Kenner toy lines and the early-80's Marvel comics to find some of them including what should be the bedrock of the army, a decent IFV- an equivalent of the heavily armed troop carrier AT-TE, even.

Which would actually be futile, as they're no place for it in the Imperial Sourcebook structure- look at the listed squad and platoon types. There are no armoured infantry. Repulsorlift squads operate out of, and I quote "Light transport vehicles"- and Heavy Weapon Repulsor Squads operate out of light transport vehicles with guns mounted on.

This sounds disturbingly jeeplike to me, if not reinventing the humvee. Also, the only walker equivalent of that is the legged heavy infantry fighting vehicle AT-TE, so, again, mismatch- there's no walker type that could be called an equivalent light transport vehicle, not one I've seen anyway.

Oh, and I've found the field medics. In the Imperial Army, it's a subspecialty of combat engineering. Seriously. "There is no such thing as standard equipment for an engineering squad. They usually have an ample supply of explosives and thermal detonators, as well as medpacs and portable sensor units".

The basic layout is of specialist subunits, compounding to form slightly less specialised units, compounding to form more broadly based higher level units, which worries me. Some of the specialties get missed out. Like those combat engieers- there is no mobile version of them, so armour and armour support units (a tank company includes three armour platoons and a heavy weapon repulsorlift platoon, which is actually a good idea to me) have no embedded medics.

Also, as a general principle, there are too many separate types of vehicle and not enough variations on a theme- separate job, separate chassis, seldom a variant of a standard chassis. The LAAT is about the best example of how it ought to be done that I can think of, existing in cargo, infantry and vehicle drop versions- but it doesn't spread far enough.

Is the variety an inescapable consequence of a galactic market, having to use military production contracts to serve political- economic ends and ending up with a huge, hugely diverse collection of kit, some of which completely defies the existing OOB? I think that it is.

[Captain Seafort]

The problem is a pentagonal insert rammed into a quadrilateral structure, that's the problem. Not as bad as a square peg in a round hole, but the principle's the same.

Not a problem - four rifle sub-units plus an HQ/weapons sub-unit.

Actually there's a serious problem here too. Going by the movies to start with, LAATs and speeder bikes and, well, what other Imperial and late- Republic repulsorlift vehicles can you name?

Oh, they exist, I'm sure they exist, but you have to look as far as the Kenner toy lines and the early-80's Marvel comics to find some of them including what should be the bedrock of the army, a decent IFV- an equivalent of the heavily armed troop carrier AT-TE, even.

What would you call Floating Fortresses and Juggernauts then? Or even Chariots if you wanted to push the definition.

[Eleventh Century Remnant]

I'm actually talking about combat walkers- and that is good for the first echelon, but the walker complement of an Imperator destroyer is twenty-five AT-AT, fifty AT-ST. If it was four plus one, there would be twenty-one heavy walkers- four platoons (or more properly armoured companies, with each AT-AT a platoon equivalent?) of four plus command, plus one batallion command vehicle.

This in itself may be wrong- I believe it is in the sense of 'inappropriate', not that it is non- canonical, because it is. Drop time; how long does it take to get that many heavy walkers to surface? The longer it takes, the longer the enemy has to react and defeat them in detail, and the more shuttle runs it takes, the greater the likelihood of accident or enemy action causing the loss of a dropship and screwing up the whole process. It may be true, I don't see how it's good.

Floating Fortresses and Juggernauts, I can call them a lot of things- including 'what a beautiful strafing/artillery target'- but let's start with a white elephant that doesn't actually fit the Sourcebook- published OOB any more than a proper IFV does, despite actually being detailed in the same sourcebook that contains the OOB.

Actually, do Floating Fortresses turn up in the Clone Wars cartoon? I don't recall them in the movies. I did not say that Imperial repulsor vehicles don't exist, that would be silly; what I did say was that you have to look as far out as some very secondary canon to find most of them, including what should be one of the most important. Closer in, on a more direct path through the foggy window, mainly walkers.

And the big boys really do not fit. Look at the vehicle description, then look at the order of battle for the unit and subunit type that does that, and it isn't there. There's inadequate provision for superheavies in the standard unit layout- no real provision at all, I'd say. Oh, another thing I can call juggernauts; wheeled.

LAVr-QH7 Chariots...yes, but. Good idea, they're definitely repulsorcraft, they look right, somebody managed to think of it and realised the job neded doing- but they're slugs. Listed speed is 100km/h, which sounds good until you recall that the S-1 FireHawke MBT does four hundred and twenty. A good idea badly written up, I'd say.

[fractalsponge1]

Well to be fair I believe the ISD does have the ability to put its AT-ATs down in a single drop using its single-AT-AT barges; while I'm not sure there has been a final barge count, there is definitely space for 20.

[Patroklos]

Hulls? What hulls- what are you on about? Transport ships? That isn't the problem. The problem is a pentagonal insert rammed into a quadrilateral structure, that's the problem. Not as bad as a square peg in a round hole, but the principle's the same.

Ships are not the only things with hulls, tanks/IFV also have hulls. And you seem to be hung up on everything fitting snuggly in a perfect way, which is not uncommon for laymen when looking at things militarily. Like I said, the difference between troops and spots on AT-ATs can be explained by any number of things, any one making perfect sense.

Actually there's a serious problem here too. Going by the movies to start with, LAATs and speeder bikes and, well, what other Imperial and late- Republic repulsorlift vehicles can you name? Any? 'TIE fighters in atmosphere' doesn't count.

Why do we assume every army unit has every possible Imperial Army vehicle available to it. In WWII most armies fielded several different AFVs of the same role. Some German armored divisions fielded Panthers, some fielded PzIIIs, some had nothing but assault guns.

We don't really see much of the battle of Hoth. There are a dozen reasons we can make up for why we didn't see repuslor vehicles in the tiny snap shots we viewed, any of them would be valid. (There are of course real life movie reasons for this too, which is the real reason).

Oh, they exist, I'm sure they exist, but you have to look as far as the Kenner toy lines and the early-80's Marvel comics to find some of them including what should be the bedrock of the army, a decent IFV- an equivalent of the heavily armed troop carrier AT-TE, even.

The AT-AT is an IFV.

Which would actually be futile, as they're no place for it in the Imperial Sourcebook structure- look at the listed squad and platoon types. There are no armoured infantry. Repulsorlift squads operate out of, and I quote "Light transport vehicles"- and Heavy Weapon Repulsor Squads operate out of light transport vehicles with guns mounted on.

Remember that when you are discussing the Imperial Sourcebook it is NOT an Imperial reference. It is the observations of a provincial Rebel discussing what he has encountered in what is for the most part the backwaters comprising the least important areas of the Empire. There is a whole lot left out of that book. There could be full scale heavy stormtrooper armored divisions as far as we know, just because Hexephon (sp?) didn't know about them proves nothing.

But I really don't see your objection. If the stormtroopers really need heavily armed armor support they simply have to attach themselves to an army unit that has them.

This sounds disturbingly jeeplike to me, if not reinventing the humvee. Also, the only walker equivalent of that is the legged heavy infantry fighting vehicle AT-TE, so, again, mismatch- there's no walker type that could be called an equivalent light transport vehicle, not one I've seen anyway.

Yes, not that you have seen.

Oh, and I've found the field medics. In the Imperial Army, it's a subspecialty of combat engineering. Seriously. "There is no such thing as standard equipment for an engineering squad. They usually have an ample supply of explosives and thermal detonators, as well as medpacs and portable sensor units".

This could simply be a result of superior technology. Why waste a front line position on a dedicated medic when you can just scan him with a magic technobabble dohicky and have everything readily explained to you in detail?

The basic layout is of specialist subunits, compounding to form slightly less specialised units, compounding to form more broadly based higher level units, which worries me. Some of the specialties get missed out. Like those combat engieers- there is no mobile version of them, so armour and armour support units (a tank company includes three armour platoons and a heavy weapon repulsorlift platoon, which is actually a good idea to me) have no embedded medics.

If making a direct comparison between our current militaries this becomes worrisome, but we need to guard against applying our standards to the Imperial military. Their technology and unique operational requriements make direct comparisons problematic at best.

Also, as a general principle, there are too many separate types of vehicle and not enough variations on a theme- separate job, separate chassis, seldom a variant of a standard chassis. The LAAT is about the best example of how it ought to be done that I can think of, existing in cargo, infantry and vehicle drop versions- but it doesn't spread far enough.

Again I suggest you look at the units of the WWII combatants. Pretty much every side had a half dozen independant designs performing the exact same function.

Is the variety an inescapable consequence of a galactic market, having to use military production contracts to serve political- economic ends and ending up with a huge, hugely diverse collection of kit, some of which completely defies the existing OOB? I think that it is.

I agree. It is also a matter of scale.

And the big boys really do not fit. Look at the vehicle description, then look at the order of battle for the unit and subunit type that does that, and it isn't there. There's inadequate provision for superheavies in the standard unit layout- no real provision at all, I'd say. Oh, another thing I can call juggernauts; wheeled.

The lack of a good fit for super heavies in the normal OOB is not surprising. In most militaries where they existed they were almost always considered specilized brigades attached to Corps level HQs as opposed to being inserted directly into normal line units.

[Captain Seafort]

I'm actually talking about combat walkers- and that is good for the first echelon, but the walker complement of an Imperator destroyer is twenty-five AT-AT, fifty AT-ST. If it was four plus one, there would be twenty-one heavy walkers- four platoons (or more properly armoured companies, with each AT-AT a platoon equivalent?) of four plus command, plus one batallion command vehicle.

I'm not just talking about within companies, but at battalion level as well - mortars, medical, equipment support, supply, admin, etc.

Oh, another thing I can call juggernauts; wheeled.

Which certainly makes them less mobile, but it allows them to penetrate shields while being far less complex than walkers.

LAVr-QH7 Chariots...yes, but. Good idea, they're definitely repulsorcraft, they look right, somebody managed to think of it and realised the job neded doing- but they're slugs. Listed speed is 100km/h, which sounds good until you recall that the S-1 FireHawke MBT does four hundred and twenty. A good idea badly written up, I'd say.

IIRC Chariots were never intended as APCs/IFVs, but as command vehicles - they're too lightly armoured for combat.

[Eleventh Century Remnant]

In reverse order then- the Chariot, where does 'lightly armoured' come from? The writeup for the thing states "It is more heavily armoured than the usual military landspeeder, but it is slower and more lightly armed". Actually, the illustration looks not unlike an Ubrikkian skiff as used by Jabba's guards, from the waist down- look at the shape of the bow.

It's a pure command carrier- there isn't even room for staff. In fact, it has worryingly little internal room for something nearly twelve metres long. And it is, painfully, slow. It's not a combat command vehicle- it's second line, the description explicitly states "used...during routine occupations and proxiity to assignments where actual combat is not a threat".

It's good that the thing exists, but we've got a Chariot and what I wanted to see was a Merkava.


Why do you pick up on that bit about Juggernauts? The point I'm trying to make here is that the order of battle is full of things you have to look in obscure places to find details about, and the movies are full of things that don't fit into the order of battle, and they...go a long way to proving that point, actually.

They were in the Sourcebook, they made it into the EU, and from there into Episode III reaching C-canon, and there is no unit structure in the sourcebook order of battle that can accomodate them.

The obvious conclusion being that the Imperial Sourcebook's order of battle is patchy and incomplete, and needs a lot of working- around and accomodation to square it with all the known equipment and available evidence.

Still, I would rather try to make that accomodation than throw it out and go from whole cloth, as you would ahve to do to- actually, I'm not entirely certain what it is that you do want to do. Referring to the soviet omotor rifle regiment order of battle posted for comparison purposes, there are four front line batallions, twelve companies- and they are actually outnumbered by their supporting units, fifteen companies to twelve. That's more than just 4+1, and I don't even see how that relates to the statement that star destroyers' walker complements- the front line element- comes in groups of five.

[Captain Seafort]

In reverse order then- the Chariot, where does 'lightly armoured' come from?

The name - Light Assault Vehicle - along with the write-up in the EGtVV. Albeit this is going on memory as I don't have my copy at the moment, but I remember a statement that SOPs if it came under serious fire was to withdraw.

In fact, it has worryingly little internal room for something nearly twelve metres long.

Lots of comms gear maybe?

Why do you pick up on that bit about Juggernauts?

Simply because they strike me as the best of both worlds as an infantry transport - they can pass through theatre shields and simpler than walkers. They're far from perfect, but they're better than the alternatives.

The point I'm trying to make here is that the order of battle is full of things you have to look in obscure places to find details about, and the movies are full of things that don't fit into the order of battle, and they...go a long way to proving that point, actually.

In which case the TOEs must be either a) wrong or b) ignoring all the important stuff.

Still, I would rather try to make that accomodation than throw it out and go from whole cloth, as you would ahve to do to- actually, I'm not entirely certain what it is that you do want to do.

I'd rather go directly from the highest-canon structures (the five-vehicle units AT-ATs deploy in, the AotC parade-ground clone units, etc) and derive orbats from them, rather than using an RPG sourcebook that is demonstrably either incomplete or flat-out wrong.

Referring to the soviet motor rifle regiment order of battle posted for comparison purposes, there are four front line batallions, twelve companies- and they are actually outnumbered by their supporting units, fifteen companies to twelve. That's more than just 4+1

How many of those are attached at regimental level rather than battalion?

I don't even see how that relates to the statement that star destroyers' walker complements- the front line element- comes in groups of five.

I'm not entirely sure what question you're asking here, but the assumption of five-vehicle blocks is based on Blizzard Force's lead element, as someone else said earlier.

[Eleventh Century Remnant]

The Chariot is designated a light vehicle because, well, nothing else fits. It certainly isn't intended to go into heavy combat- the armament is a single medium weight, limited traverse antivehicle blaster. It's not intended to provide heroic leadership, it is a rear area vehicle by the Sourcebook, and running away is entirely appropriate.

Front line command vehicles tend to be modified tanks, as far as I can tell- for armour, a version of the Imperial Standard repulsortank with secondary weapons removed to make room for command and control gear. By that comparison, the Chariot really is a lightweight.

Juggernauts worry me- I mean, yes in principle, the armour and the firepower are right and the method of locomotion has a lot to be said for it, but the sheer size of target they present to things like the SPHA-T, and to TIE Bombers who have to be equipped with proton bombs for a reason, seems dangerous.

The problem with throwing it all away and starting again is that there's a lot to throw away, and once done leaves not much other than questions behind. Because the description was always quadrilateral, a lot of the EU was written assuming quadrilateral.

Demonstrably incomplete? Yes. Flat out wrong- I wouldn't go that far, because that just leaves a gaping hole as to what actually is the case, and speculating about it has even less canon status than a West End sourcebook. What I would say is that the in- universe authors of the Imperial Sourcebook were blinded by the spit-shine, and gave the official doctrine minus all the actual localisms, adaptations, organisational oddities and temporary units that make up the "Real" Imperial Army.

Also, most of what we see on screen are Marines, and we do know the Imperial Starfleet is more free-thinking and improvisational, more prone to ad- hockery and local accommodation than the Army.

I thought you were arguing for 4+1, not pentagonal? Hm. it actually gets more complicated than that; According to Wookiepedia which is citing Inside the Worlds of Star Wars, Blizzard Force was composed of nine AT-ATs, plus other vehicles including juggernauts and AT- ST. That sounds like three by three, actually- a triangular layout. Only five made it to Echo Base, the rest lost to terrain- climbing mountains in those things cannot be easy.

Which tells us that Veers had more courage than sense, managing to inflict on his men 44% casualties before he even made it to the battlefield. And also that Blizzard Force was a complete ad- hockery that fits no established force pattern at all.

The five by five assumption comes- and I think this is the third time I've brought this up- from the walker complement of the Imperator class mainstay star destroyer, twenty- five strong, and supported by fifty AT-ST.

What gets attached at what level? Actually, this turns out to be a doctrinal matter. Each of the Motor Rifle batallions has an organic battery of mobile, automatic mortars. That's it. The rest is held at regimental level. The rationale for this is the rigid agressiveness of tactical doctrine; the motor rifle units would be used to engage the enemy, apply pressure, and wherever there was success, the support units would follow- coordinated at the regimental level.

What do you think the thinking is in the Imperial Army- nd are the Marines any smarter? Can a unit of stormtroopers that has taken a pounding and is falling back call on artillery support, or are they on their own? Never reinforce failure, hold everything in readiness to support the attack?

[fractalsponge1]

What gets attached at what level? Actually, this turns out to be a doctrinal matter. Each of the Motor Rifle batallions has an organic battery of mobile, automatic mortars. That's it. The rest is held at regimental level. The rationale for this is the rigid agressiveness of tactical doctrine; the motor rifle units would be used to engage the enemy, apply pressure, and wherever there was success, the support units would follow- coordinated at the regimental level.

What do you think the thinking is in the Imperial Army- nd are the Marines any smarter? Can a unit of stormtroopers that has taken a pounding and is falling back call on artillery support, or are they on their own? Never reinforce failure, hold everything in readiness to support the attack?

Isn't that level of attachment similar to modern NATO armies? Rifle battalions only have heavy weapons up to ATGM/mortars/HMGs, and all heavy 105mm+ artillery is organic to brigade/regimental level?

[Simon_Jester]

Which tells us that Veers had more courage than sense, managing to inflict on his men 44% casualties before he even made it to the battlefield. And also that Blizzard Force was a complete ad- hockery that fits no established force pattern at all.

I'd call it an "ours not to reason why" scenario. The AT-ATs were needed to deal with the heavy Rebel installations, and Darth Vader was calling the shots. If that meant two or three (or four) AT-ATs ended up stuck in the snow because they broke an ankle on an unusually durable boulder or something, so be it.

[Eleventh Century Remnant]

I reckon that Veers pushed his men and machines to their limits climbing a mountain on their way to the battlefield, in some cases clearly beyond their limits, because he wanted to demonstrate the capacity of the hardware. He had associated himself and his career with them, and wanted to show them off- so he deliberately took the hard option, with a composite force that was partly snowtrooper and partly drawn form an armour school unit. I agree that it was a strategic victory, and that it was worth the price- but I don't think he tried very hard to minimise that price.

Meanwhile, back in the real world for comparison purposes...I'm ashamed to admit I'm not entirely certain, not about modern practise in the post cold war army.
I think that as battlefield communications improved, fire support units moved further up the chain of command, basically more centralised for the adantages of that but more able to react freely and support whoever called for it, so most of the artillery and air defence assets were carried at divisional level and assigned as needed, but I could be wrong.

[Transbot9]

On another note (referring back to an earlier post), why would a separate legion be necessary for desert/snow/etc troopers? I see no reason why an ISD couldn't just carry the necessary load out to equip stormtroopers for most environments. Maybe a specialized legion of EVO troopers (far more specialized equipment) would make sense (sure, they are introduced in Force Unleashed for game play reasons, but the fluff reason for their existence seems practical enough) for the really nasty environments, but I suspect that they would be assigned only to sectors where such hazards were prevalent.

[NoogDeNoog]

On another note (referring back to an earlier post), why would a separate legion be necessary for desert/snow/etc troopers? I see no reason why an ISD couldn't just carry the necessary load out to equip stormtroopers for most environments. Maybe a specialized legion of EVO troopers (far more specialized equipment) would make sense (sure, they are introduced in Force Unleashed for game play reasons, but the fluff reason for their existence seems practical enough) for the really nasty environments, but I suspect that they would be assigned only to sectors where such hazards were prevalent.

I often thought the same thing, but the absolutely "wrong" WEG sourcebooks say otherwise. so I made one battalion out of every legion a specialize one.

BTW, you would think the Stormtroopers carried some camo.

[Transbot9]

See, that sort of thing fails the Stupid test.

[Simon_Jester]

I reckon that Veers pushed his men and machines to their limits climbing a mountain on their way to the battlefield, in some cases clearly beyond their limits, because he wanted to demonstrate the capacity of the hardware. He had associated himself and his career with them, and wanted to show them off- so he deliberately took the hard option, with a composite force that was partly snowtrooper and partly drawn form an armour school unit. I agree that it was a strategic victory, and that it was worth the price- but I don't think he tried very hard to minimise that price.

Also possible. Chalk it up to a combination of showing off and political pressure, I guess.

On another note (referring back to an earlier post), why would a separate legion be necessary for desert/snow/etc troopers? I see no reason why an ISD couldn't just carry the necessary load out to equip stormtroopers for most environments. Maybe a specialized legion of EVO troopers (far more specialized equipment) would make sense (sure, they are introduced in Force Unleashed for game play reasons, but the fluff reason for their existence seems practical enough) for the really nasty environments, but I suspect that they would be assigned only to sectors where such hazards were prevalent.

At a guess: the snowtrooper/sandtrooper/blahtrooper legions are normally divided up into battalion sized units as you describe, but maintain a unified chain of command and administrative structure. That way, if for some reason you need to invade an ice planet, you can just say "Pull together the units of the 4323rd Snowtrooper Legion from the Whozit Sector" instead of saying "I want a scratch force assembled from the snowtrooper battalions of the 239th through 257th Legions."

In terms of the number of boots on the ground, that doesn't make much difference, but it does mean that the 4323rd will have a preexisting chain of command and staff (insofar as stormtroopers have those things), rather than having to nail together such a system ad hoc. That gives you the advantage of a large unit with specialist training, equipment, and experience, without the drawback of having to assemble a new chain of command for all ranks above major every time you need large numbers of specialist troops in one place.

[fractalsponge1]

On another note (referring back to an earlier post), why would a separate legion be necessary for desert/snow/etc troopers? I see no reason why an ISD couldn't just carry the necessary load out to equip stormtroopers for most environments. Maybe a specialized legion of EVO troopers (far more specialized equipment) would make sense (sure, they are introduced in Force Unleashed for game play reasons, but the fluff reason for their existence seems practical enough) for the really nasty environments, but I suspect that they would be assigned only to sectors where such hazards were prevalent.

Presumably the specialist legions have, well, specialist skills and training for operations at that level, which would be slowly lost during the course of regular operations on destroyers. At first blush it would make more sense for them to be retained at Sector (or even higher), and parceled out as necessary. That way they can train together for legion-scale deployments, and have central access to staff and logistics used to working with their particular needs. I'm not sure why you'd bother diluting the skills of such units when hyperdrive is as fast as it is.

A roving command as large as Death Squadron probably has space for all possible variations at legion strength anyway.