Illuminatus Primus wrote:
The Gungans' lances were crowd-control shock devices.
Really? First I've heard of it. And yet they carried and used them in a war against the Droid Army. In fact, the novelization and script both suggest that such spears were in fact thrown at the droid army!
The Royal Guardsmans' lances are stated to be ceremonial. Functional anti-armor lances are not with precedent.
Stated where, exactly? If we drag the EU into it, they're actually weapons (which they are admittedly quite adept at using. Of course, if we pull the EU in they use more than just the Force pikes.)
You'd be better off pointing out that perhaps the Royal Guardsmen are not standard infantry or even troops, but elite warriors dedicated to protecting Palpatine. That actually is a better counterpoint (at least regarding the Royal Guardsman.)
Then again, I can just point out that the Gungans and Royal Guardsman certainly do not represent conventional warfare as a whole (and these droids appear to be in a minority compared to the vast number of droids they typically DO use.) These are by no means main-line troops but rather a design resulting more from personal interests, some sort of cultural influences, or someone's mistaken idea of military practicality. They are still vastly outnumbered by the Droidekas, Super Battle Droids, and even conventional battle droids that use more practical weaponry. Its certainly not the firs ttime we've seen stupiditiy in design on the part of the Trade Federation or droid armies.
Regarding the "Anti Armor lances" all I have to do is point out lightsabers attempting to melt his way through over a meter of blast door (and Qui-Gon apparently intended to literally cut his way through the door with just his saber) does in fact suggest there ARE melee weapons of significant power (they just don't have to be conventional.)