Rebel Alliance organization - am I off base?

[Brother-Captain Gaius]

I was browsing the SWG forums, and I came upon yet another post by some in-game Rebel who thinks the Alliance was some huge military or something, and for once I felt like trying to beat it into people's skulls that Empire > Rebels. So, I made a relatively lengthy post describing what, from what I've gathered, the Alliance organization was like during the Galactic Civil War. I'm asking here if I was totally wrong or not. As one cannot view the SWG board unless one has a SWG account, I'll quote the posts:

the ragtags aren't really that ragtag... they don't have as big a bankroll... but they have money and knowledge and a lot of other stuff. I mean yes compared to most imperial units the rebels aren't that great... but they are better then the pirates and crooks you try and make them look like.

The "core" Alliance forces, sure. The guys we see in Episodes IV, V, and VI are obviously equipped reasonably well and appear to have enough resources for standard issue equipment (e.g., the DH17s and blast vests and helmets for the troops on board the Tantive IV). But the squad defending the hatch during the beginning of Episode IV was easily routed and quickly mopped up, with very few Imperial casualties, despite the fact that the Imperial troops had the notable tactical disadvantage of being forced to assault single-file through only one hatch. This is indicative of vastly superior training and equipment on the Imperial side, but I digress.

But until the time of Episode VI, the Alliance was forced to operate covertly; any open support for the Rebels was quickly stamped out by the Empire. They made a base on Dantooine, and promptly evacuated it before the Empire could find it and finish them. Their base on Yavin 4 would've been completely screwed and the Alliance dealt a mortal blow were it not for the actions of Luke Skywalker and Han Solo. They relocate to Hoth; again, found and stamped out by the Empire. Even the large and well-defended Echo Base was utterly annihilated by a relatively small Imperial task force (an Executor-class and a handful of Imperial-class Star Destroyers with their ground force components - not exactly a large military presence).

A faction that is not even powerful enough to hold its own is not going to last long by itself against a galaxy-spanning Empire. So, you set up a network of "cells" - small guerilla units, easily recruited and spread throughout the galaxy. Each of these cells has bare minimum communication and connection with others, including the "core" cell as described in my first two paragraphs. In the event that one cell is compromised, which is very likely against afore-mentioned Empire, it will not be able to give up information on any of the other cells. This network, by its nature, is fragile and does not allow much in the way of central government from the core cell. The core cell is not often able to coordinate and control the other cells in an effective manner, so the other cells pretty much do what they want. Since these cells are often recruited from dissidents, anarchists, and anyone else who wants to hurt the Empire, terrorist actions and similar chaotic disturbances often result, not the coordinated military action the core cell is capable of. Consequently, they are labeled (very rightly so) terrorists, anarchists, etc.

So until I see Rebels ingame who are wearing some kind of uniform and are all 100% overt and acting like a military, I will treat them as ragtag terrorists, pirates, and crooks (which is what they are, essentially).

[Stofsk]

No, you're dead right. Terrorists are just what the big army call the little army. Some rebels would probably be crooks and pirates (hell, Han Solo was a smuggler and he was one of the rebel's heroes!)

Tangent: I always thought the crew on the Tantive IV were just glorified security personnel, capable at protecting against pirates and so on but hardly capable of standing against Stormies. I never really considered them standard Rebel soldiers from, what you call, the core cell.

[Brother-Captain Gaius]

Tangent: I always thought the crew on the Tantive IV were just glorified security personnel, capable at protecting against pirates and so on but hardly capable of standing against Stormies. I never really considered them standard Rebel soldiers from, what you call, the core cell.

I'd be inclined to agree, however, we see one with the same uniform and gear IIRC on Yavin 4 as the X-Wings are scrambling.

[Stofsk]

Like I said, security personnel. Their presence on Yavin still fulfills the same function as light infantry/security.

[Knife]

Tangent: I always thought the crew on the Tantive IV were just glorified security personnel, capable at protecting against pirates and so on but hardly capable of standing against Stormies. I never really considered them standard Rebel soldiers from, what you call, the core cell.

I'd be inclined to agree, however, we see one with the same uniform and gear IIRC on Yavin 4 as the X-Wings are scrambling.

It is my opinion that we follow the Alderanian cell through out the OT. The blue clad troops on the T4, IMO, were Alderanian security forces assigned to Princess/Sennator Leia's transport.

The fact that the Alderanian cell on Yavin IV uses Alderanian uniforms should not be unexpected.

My take on it is, that durring the time of the old Republic, each system was capable of having it's own security forces (both space and ground). When opposition to Palpatines Empire started flaring, various planetary forces dropped into the emerging revolutionary cells. For the most part, each cell was the creation of the individual planet or goverment that opposed the Empire.

Leia ran Alderaan's and though appearently she recruited outside Alderaan for leadership (ref General Reikeen ((sp?)), most of the personel in the group were from Alderaan and its security forces, hence the blue uniforms and perhaps the orange flight suits.

Ibis is another good example, IIRC most of his personel were Corellian. And so on and so on. This is what makes the Alliance so important. When Mon Mothma and her group unified the various revolutionary groups, they created a larger (if still not quite big enough group) group.