Much of the action in Star Wars occurs deep in space among asteroids, the debris of lost ships, and incredible celestial horizons. Some of the greatest battles in the Star Wars universe occur planetside, however.
During the Galactic Civil War, the Empire invested heavily on powerful ground vehicles and highly trained troops to suppress dissident voices and maintain their authoritarian control. Some of these vehicles, with their unforgettable designs, have become cultural icons.
All-Terrain Scout Transport: AT-ST
The AT-ST Walker was a bipedal walker commonly used by the Imperial Army to screen the flanks of larger assault walkers during major ground operations. Their major function was conducting quick reconnaissance and infantry support.
The Empire would regularly use AT-STs to scout and eliminate resistance along planned invasion routes. Two AT-ST drivers were required to operate the walker.
The AT-ST, sometimes derisively called “chicken-walkers”, was equipped with two chin-mounted MS-4 twin blaster cannons with a range of two kilometers. Their armaments also included a cheek-mounted DW-3 twin light blaster cannon and a cheek-mounted DW-3 concussion grenade launcher.
All Terrain Armored Transport: AT-AT
The AT-AT was a behemoth, quadrupedal combat walker standing at nearly twenty-three meters used by the Imperial Army. Its size was an incredibly effective psychological tool against enemy ground forces that the Imperial Army took full advantage of when necessary.
The AT-AT was primarily used to transport troops and military equipment as its name suggests but it was also a formidable piece of artillery. Although the AT-AT was incredibly large, it only required three crew members to operate: a pilot, gunner, and the commander.
Heavy armor plating made it incredibly difficult to damage the walker with small arms fire. The armament included two chin-mounted Taim & Bak MS-1 heavy lasers cannons and two temple-mounted Piperii-Cerlurn R-90C medium blasters.
74-Z Speeder Bike
The iconic speeder bike of the Imperial Army was known as the 74-Z. It originally saw service during the Clone Wars and was then used by the Imperial Army in a variety of roles.
During the Galactic Civil War, Imperial scout troopers were the primary pilots of the 74-Zs and used them for reconnaissance and combat. The 74-Z speeder bikes were designed with as few additional components as possible to maximize the speed.
Many were known to call the 74-Z a “death trap” because of the incredibly high speeds the bikes were capable of achieving. In order to assist the scout trooper riders, the 74-Z was equipped with terrain sensors that scanned for upcoming obstacles and geographic features. This information would then be fed directly to a HUD in the scout trooper’s helmet, alerting them of what was ahead.
The 74-Z speeder bikes were equipped with a jammer that could interfere with local comlinks. The main armament on the 74-Z was an Ax-20 blaster cannon that was effective against infantry units.
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