Grand Army of the Republic/Legends

The Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), also known as the Grand Army, Clone Army, Army of the Republic or Republic Army, was a major branch of the Galactic Republic Military composed entirely of clone troopers, an army of elite soldiers created from the genetically altered template of the bounty hunter Jango Fett. Bred in secret within the cloning facilities of the planet Kamino, the Grand Army was officially formed by Supreme Chancellor Palpatine at the behest of the Galactic Senate in response to the Separatist Crisis which threatened to divide the galaxy between the Republic and the newly born Confederacy of Independent Systems. The members of the Jedi Order were commissioned as high-ranking commanders and generals in the GAR, second in authority only to Chancellor Palpatine, who held the rank of Supreme Commander. Under the leadership of their Jedi officers, the Grand Army engaged the Separatist Droid Army on many worlds during the Clone Wars, suffering heavy casualties for three years while restoring Republic sovereignty to numerous rebellious areas throughout the galaxy.
By the year 19 BBY, the Clone Wars were nearly over and the Republic was on the verge of a decisive victory. In the midst of the final battles, particularly in the Outer Rim Campaign, Chancellor Palpatine issued Order 66, an executive command calling on all clone troopers to neutralize their Jedi officers with lethal force in the event of a Jedi insurrection. The vast majority of clones, genetically engineered for loyalty and conditioned to obey all orders without question or debate, turned their weapons on the Jedi and promptly gunned them down. On Coruscant, the newly-anointed Sith Lord Darth Vader led the 501st Legion in an attack on the Jedi Temple, killing nearly all of its inhabitants within mere days before the Chancellor's Declaration of a New Order. Immediately following the Republic's transition into the first Galactic Empire, the Grand Army of the Republic was reorganized into the Stormtrooper Corps; its remaining clone soldiers composing the ranks of the reformed branch in addition to the millions of new clones engineered by Spaarti technology. Under the reign of Emperor Palpatine, the Imperial stormtroopers became a symbol of the New Order, most notably due to their unwavering loyalty to the Emperor. Likewise, what's left of the Grand Army of the Republic formed the basis of the Imperial Army, which acted as the surface warfare branch of the Imperial Military, with the human commanders being promoted to being the officers within the branch.
At the end of the Clone Wars, it was discovered that Palpatine was secretly Darth Sidious, a Dark Lord of the Sith who belonged to an order dedicated to the fall of the Republic and the destruction of the Jedi. As Palpatine and Sidious, the Dark Lord controlled both sides of the civil war, deceived both the Jedi and Confederacy, and used the GAR as an instrument to restore Sith rule to the galaxy while simultaneously purging it of the Jedi Knights. As a result, the GAR was remembered as a key factor in the Sith plot that brought about the era of the Dark Times and the subsequent Galactic Civil War between the Empire and the Alliance to Restore the Republic.
==History==
At the beginning of the Palpatine administration (32 BBY), the Republic had no standing armed forces, though the debate about the reinstatement of an army and navy had been ongoing for decades. The only military forces were the Jedi, which kept peace for generations. The Jedi were no army though. At one time, the Republic's military forces were considerable, but in the wake of the New Sith Wars (1000 BBY), a gradual process of down scaling began, in favor of increased support from the Jedi Order.Darth Bane: Rule of Two
More and more often, the Jedi were called upon to act as negotiators. But as crises piled upon each other, some within the Order began to sense a coming darkness, which their numbers alone would not be sufficient to fight. The creation of a clone army was secretly ordered by Jedi Master Sifo-Dyas without the knowledge or approval of his comrades, in response to the growing shadow in the Force. Sifo-Dyas had been manipulated into placing the order by Sith Lord Darth Plagueis, in his guise as Hego Damask, who used his own wealth and that of the Banking Clan to fund the army. Plagueis believed the Kaminoans would only accept the order if it came from a Jedi due to the Kaminoans' interest in them.
Not too long after Plagueis was betrayed and murdered by his apprentice Darth Sidious, who became the Dark Lord of the Sith, Sidious had his apprentice Darth Tyranus, the latter being the former Jedi Master Count Dooku, betray and orchestrate the death of Sifo-Dyas, and the two then took over the project. Sifo-Dyas had an inhibitor chip he wanted instilled in each Clone, which was to be a safeguard against rogue Jedi's. However, Tyranus and Sidious retooled the chips to brainwash the Clones into murdering the Jedi, in order for the Sith to reclaim control of the galaxy. Posing as a Jedi, Tyranus presented the Kaminoans the chip and tricked them into believing Sifo-Dyas's intention.
The GAR's first engagement would be at the Battle of Geonosis, where it successfully routed an unsuspecting droid army. However, this merely started off the much larger Clone Wars, in which the army took heavy losses.
However, some Jedi such as Bardan Jusik felt that the Jedi Order was actually using it as a slave army, since the clones were not allowed any leave or rest, and had to fight continuously. This eventually led to Jusik leaving the Jedi Order, disgusted by its actions in allowing the Republic to use an army in such a manner.
Though the clone troopers fought under the Jedi for most of the Clone Wars, Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, secretly Darth Sidious, wrested executive control over the army from the Jedi late in the warStar Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith novelization by issuing Order 66, which led to the inhibitor chips brainwashing the Clones into destroying the Jedi Order, and thus beginning the Great Jedi Purge. Palpatine created the Galactic Empire on the eve of the war's end. Having declared himself Emperor, Palpatine quickly transformed the clone army into the Stormtrooper Corps and integrated it into the military of his new Empire.
After Order 66 and the Jedi Purge, a number of clones deserted the Grand Army. Most of these clones were from the Special Operations Brigade, including the partial Omega Squad, Null-class Advanced Recon Commando and some Advanced Recon Commandos such as Captain Maze.
Before the end of the war, the Sector Governance Decree was issued, which placed governors on every world of the Republic, along with their own force of clone troopers. It also created the position of Moff or sector governor. Fearing for the future of democracy and the Senate's powers, this decision was one of several protested by the Delegation of 2000, but they were overruled. Governors and their clone regiments began arriving on their designated worlds soon after.Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith: The Visual Dictionary
The total amount of clones involved in the war is not known, as their ranks were bolstered by new stocks and volunteers as the fighting dragged on. With the formation of the Galactic Empire, the Grand Army of the Republic ceased to exist and was reorganized into the Imperial Army. All military personnel of the GAR were required to swear allegiance to the new government in order to remain on active duty and those that refused were branded as deserters and traitors after which they were hunted down and executed.Coruscant Nights I: Jedi Twilight
During the Galactic Civil War, clones of Jango Fett's lineage made up about 1/3 of all stormtroopers in the Galactic Empire, but it is not known how many were left from the Clone Wars by the start of the Galactic Civil War.Star Wars Insider 96 Due to the influx of non-Fett clones and regular humans into the army, the Fett clones, such as Commander Cody, viewed the Stormtrooper Corps as an embarrassment to the legacy of the Grand Army of the Republic.
==Organization==
===Headquarters===
The GAR and the entire Republic Military were constitutionally re-established after the Galactic Senate granted Supreme Chancellor Palpatine emergency powers during the Separatist Crisis, giving him the right to create a Republic army. The GAR was thus ultimately led by the Supreme Chancellor, who held the military titles of Supreme Commander and Commander-in-Chief.Order 66: A Republic Commando Novel The GAR and the rest of the Republic Military was administered through the Department of Defense. Other executive bodies with authority over the Grand Army included the War Council Advisory Panel.
Legislative oversight of the GAR was provided by the Galactic Senate's Military Oversight Committee.The Rebel Alliance Sourcebook
The senior military body in command of the Grand Army and the Republic Navy was Republic High Command,The New Essential Chronology led by the Chief of Defense Staff. GAR Headquarters—the central command for the Grand Army—was based at Coruscant Command HQ,Republic Commando: Triple Zero near the Jedi Temple.The Star Wars: The Clone Wars novel establishes the location of GAR Headquarters to be near the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. As Republic Commando: Triple Zero places the Headquarters at Coruscant Command HQ, it could be found that the latter structure was also near the Jedi Temple on Coruscant.
===Administration===
Command HQ maintained a number of branches to administrate the Grand Army. One of these was the Republic Defense Procurement office, which was in permanent contact with the GAR's field logistics battalions. Research and development into new technologies was carried out by the Army Weapons Research Department.
One particularly visible branch of the GAR was Homeworld Security Command, responsible for the security of the capital planet of Coruscant. Homeworld Security controlled the Coruscant Guard, whose distinctive, red-armored clone shock troopers had broad discretionary powers to stop and search Republic citizens. When the Declaration of a New Order established the Galactic Empire, clone shock troopers were stationed in the Senate Building and Republic Executive Building to intimidate the Senate into ensuring a smooth transition of government.
A number of GAR facilities were constructed by Kaminoan droids, especially during the Decimator campaign.
===Tactical organization===
The army was split into separate Orders of Battle (ORBATs). These were regular forces and special forces. Most of the structure of the regular forces was unchanged through the Clone Wars and was even used by the Galactic Empire. The special forces were highly independent clone commandos that had specific objectives and required very little help from Jedi commanders.
====Command structure of regular forces====
*Grand Army—10 systems armies (3,000,000 troopers) led by Supreme Chancellor Palpatine. The number 3,000,000 was Sifo-Dyas' initial order, as the number of total clones increased during the war.
*Systems Army—2 Sector Armies (294,912 troopers) led by a High Jedi General (Jedi High Council Member).
*Sector Army—4 corps (147,456 troopers) led by a Senior Jedi General (Jedi Master).
*Corps/Division—4 legions (36,864 troopers) led by a Marshal Commander and a Jedi General (Jedi Knight or Master).
*Legion/Brigade—4 regiments (9,216 troopers) led by a Senior Commander and a Jedi General (Jedi Knight).
*Regiment—4 battalions (2,304 troopers) led by a Regimental Commander and a Jedi Commander (Jedi Padawan).
*Battalion—4 companies (576 troopers) led by a Battalion Commander and a Major.
*Company—4 platoons (144 troopers) led by a Captain and a Lieutenant.
*Platoon—4 squads (36 troopers) led by a Second Lieutenant and Sergeant-Major.
*Squad—9 troopers led by a Sergeant and Corporal.
The rate of casualties greatly reduced the Grand Army's numbers throughout the Clone Wars. Prior to the Battle of Coruscant, many of the original Kamino clone troopers were dead or unable to continue fighting. However, the Republic military enhancement bill—passed by a majority vote in the Galactic Senate midway through the war—authorized the funding of five million additional clone troopers. During the waning days of the Clone Wars, millions of Spaarti-grown clones were deployed to supplement their Kaminoan-created counterparts in the fight against the still numerically superior Separatist Army.
====Command structure of special forces====
*Special Operations Brigade (SO BDE)—20 groups (10,000 troopers), commanded by Jedi General Arligan Zey, made up of 10 Commando Groups by one year after the Battle of Geonosis.
*Commando Group—5 companies (500 troopers), the equivalent of a regular army battalion.
*Company—5 troops (100 troopers) led by a commander.The Clone wars Campaign Guide
*Troop—5 squads (20 troopers).
*Squad—4 troopers led by a sergeant.
==Equipment==
Due to the near-identical nature of the Grand Army of The Republic's soldiers, manufacturers could adopt a one-size-fits-all approach. That was not to say that non-clone or even non-Republic personnel were necessarily equipped with the items below, a humancentric design approach was taken due to the presence of ever increasing numbers of clone units.
===Weapons===
*Rifles
**DC-15X sniper rifleStar Wars: BattlefrontStar Wars: Battlefront II — Weapon of choice for marksman of the Republic military
**DC-15S blaster carbineStar Wars: The Clone Wars film — Standard issue blaster carbine
**DC-15A blaster rifle — Standard issue blaster rifle
**DC-17m ICWS — Modular blaster rifle design carried by clone commandos
**Shotgun — Utilized primarily for close quarter combatStar Wars: Battlefront II
**WESTAR-M5 blaster rifle—Used by elite forces like the ARC troopers
**DC-19 carbine "Stealth" —Limited to shadow troopers.
*Pistols
**DC-15s side arm blaster — Used exclusively by clone commandos
**DC-17 hand blaster — Standard issue military sidearm
*Plasma disruptor and electric weapons
**"Phoenix II" plasma disruptor — Pushed into combat service by the GAR
**"DN bolt caster" plasma disruptor — Highly popular anti-droid weapon
**Electromagnetic pulse launcher — Carried by jet troopers of the Grand Army
*Repeating blasters
**Chaingun — Used extensively by Galactic Marines of the 21st Nova Corps
**Z-6 rotary blaster cannonGalaxy at War — Carried by clone troopers and ARC heavy gunners as an man-potable as heavy repeating blaster cannon
**EWHB-12 heavy repeating blaster — Tripod mounted heavy fire support platform
**Reciprocating quad blaster — A heavier alternative the Z-6 blaster cannon
*Melee weapons
**Knuckle plate vibro blade — Equipped on all clone commandos' Katarn-class commando armor
**Baton — Used for non-lethal combat
**Shield
***Riot shield — Provided to riot troopers for non-lethal combat
***Blast shield — Used by infantry for defense against blasterbolts.
**Electrostaff — Issued to riot troopers in republic prisons
*Explosive Devices
**Thermal detonator tape
**Detonation pack
**Ribbon charge
**EMP grenade
**Ion grenade — Electronic disruption device
**Class-A thermal detonator — Used by Republic grenadiers and many other clone troopers
**Baradium-core code key thermal detonator — Equipped on all clone troopers' battle armor
**V-1 thermal detonator
**Fragmentation grenade
**Reverse-polarity pulse grenade
**V-6 haywire grenade
**HX2 antipersonnel mine — Area denial explosive
*Projectile launchers
**Grenade launcher
**RPS-6 rocket launcher — Anti-Vehicular and anti-infrastructure weapons system
**MiniMag PTL missile launcher
**PLX-1 portable missile launcher
**PLX-2M portable missile launcher (Prototype) — Only saw limited service before the reorganization
**Clone mortar
*Flamethrowers
**BT X-42 flamethrower — Carried by clone flametroopers and used against inflammable targets like Geonosians or buildings.
*Others
**F-187 fusioncutter — Cutting tool used by clone engineer
**Macrobinoculars — Used for long range visual reconnaissance
===Armor and clothing===
*Combat Armor
**Phase I clone trooper armor — Protective armor issued by to combat personnel during the early stages of the Clone Wars
**Phase II clone trooper armor — Lighter and stronger replacements during the later stages of the Clone Wars.
**Katarn-class commando armor — Reserved for Clone Commandos
**ARC trooper armor — Used by ARC Troopers
**Clone training armor — For training only
*Attachments
**Pauldron — Located on one or both shoulders
**Kama — Flexible protective kit
**Rangefinder
***Helmet Mounted Rangefinder
***Handheld Rangefinder
**Ammunition pouch
**Pistol holster — Belt mounted carrying pack designed to fit standard issue blaster pistols mentioned above
**Metal bandolier — Used to carry additional equipment.
**JT-12 jetpack — Lightly modified variant used by clone jet troopers
Throughout the war, standard designs were modified and adapted for specific mission profiles.
===Suppliers===
Blastech Industries provided large quantities of state-of-the-art weapons for the Republic, and would later provide numerous replacements postwar.
The main designer and manufacturer of personal defense suits and body armor was Kaminoan Armorsmiths Ltd. A Kamino based company from the same planet as most of the Republic's cloned personnel.
==Personnel==
====Recruitment====
Although the clones created on Kamino form a capable fighting force for the Republic, the vast scope of the war requires additional manpower from more traditional volunteers.
The military commanders of the time recognize that the reserves of available clones are limited, so they increase recruitment across most core and Mid Rim worlds. Stringent recruitment quotas are set throughout the Republic's loyal systems. Human-dominated worlds are heavily targeted for recruitment, even though many of the Republic's strongest supporters come from non-Human species. Worlds and systems that fail to meet recruitment quotas are initially subjected to draft lotteries, but these eventually give way to conscription drives, which involve the forced recruitment of able-bodied men and women.
===Ranks===
====Jedi ranks====
*High Jedi General—Jedi High Councillors in command of one of the ten Systems Armies.
*Senior Jedi General—Jedi Masters in command of one of the twenty Sector Armies.
*Jedi General—Jedi Knights in command of corps or legions.
*Jedi Commander—Jedi Padawans in command of regiments and battalions.
====Non-clone ranks====
*Brigadier General—A rank desired by Meebur Gascon. They either commanded brigades or performed headquarters assignments and staff functions, including heading non-combat departments.
*Colonel—This rank was held by Meebur Gascon, a hero of the Battle of Geonosis.
====Clone ranks====
*Marshal Commander—The highest rank a clone soldier could attain. Like all commanders, their armor was color-coded yellow. The rank indicator HUD glyph was eight dots, arranged in two parallel horizontal lines of four. Each marshal commander was in command of a corps.
*Senior Commander—The second highest rank attainable by the clone forces. Their armor was color-coded yellow and the rank indicator HUD glyph was two horizontal rows of three dots running parallel. Each was in command of a brigade or legion.
*Regimental Commander—Also indicated by yellow armor. HUD glyph was arranged in two parallel rows of two dots. Each was in command of a regiment.
*Battalion Commander—the lowest commander rank of the clone forces. Also indicated by yellow armor, HUD glyph was that of two dots, stacked vertically. Each was in command of a battalion.
*Major—Their armor was color-coded red. HUD glyph was four vertical lines running parallel. Each was second in command of a battalion.
*Captain—Captain's armor was also color-coded red, with an HUD glyph of three vertical parallel lines. Each was in command of a company.
*Lieutenant—Indicated by blue armor. Rank was indicated by an HUD glyph of two vertical parallel lines. Each was in command of a platoon.
*2nd Lieutenant—Indicated by blue armor. Rank was indicated by an HUD glyph of one vertical line. Each was in command of a platoon.
*Sergeant Major—Indicated by green armor. They were second-in-command of platoons and had an HUD glyph of four chevrons.
*Sergeant—Also indicated by green armor, was in command of a squad and had an HUD glyph of three chevrons.
*Corporal—The second lowest rank of clone forces. They were second-in-command of squads and had an HUD glyph of two chevrons.
*Trooper—The lowest rank in the clone forces and had an HUD glyph of one chevron.
*Cadet—This rank was even lower than trooper. It was used by new clones. These ones had not passed their final trial and therefore could not yet be considered soldiers.
==Behind the scenes==
The Grand Army of the Republic is the second "grand army" to appear in a Star Wars film, after the Gungan Grand Army in The Phantom Menace.
In the Expanded Universe the terminology for Grand Army is similar to that of the British Armed Forces, as Karen Traviss, who wrote multiple books about the GAR, is British.
===Numbers===
When Obi-Wan Kenobi went to Kamino in Attack of the Clones, the Kaminoan prime minister, Lama Su, informed him that 200,000 troops (sometimes referred to as units) were ready for deployment and a million more were on the way.
The figure of 1.2 million soldiers was accurate according to the novel Shatterpoint (written by Matthew Stover). Six months after the Battle of Geonosis that amount of troops would be reached by the cloners. In Guide to the Grand Army of the Republic and the novel Republic Commando: Triple Zero (both written by Karen Traviss, with Ryan Kaufman as co-author on the Guide…), there were 3,000,000 clones one year after the Battle of Geonosis.
In a later discussion on TheForce.net's literature boards, statements were made by Kaufman denying that this was treated as a definitive figure for the total army:
Additionally, most stories made since Attack of the Clones have shown dozens of battles, during many of which the clones sustained massive losses, casting doubt on arguments that they represented a "small, elite, special operations force" compared with regular battle droids. The Cestus Deception states that a million clones have died, and this is only as of 21 BBY, at most a year after the Geonosis invasion.
Some fans point to the existence of Spaarti clones, and the massive number of recruits as possible explanations for high troop figures. Recruitment was mentioned in The Story of General Grievous: Lord of War and The New Essential Chronology, and non-clone forces were seen in Jedi Trial. Along with recruiting, one notable Jedi General Rahm Kota had his own serving Militia, as he saw the clones as unfit for battle. Spaarti cloning technology did not become available to the Republic until eight months after the Battle of Muunilinst, however, and the entire need for the clone army arose from the fact that the Republic had no central military organization to organize and carry out a war against the Separatist forces.
From sources like Star Wars: Jedi Starfighter and "Nomad," and even through various Star Wars: Republic comics and the novels Labyrinth of Evil and Jedi Trial, there are several instances before and after the Battle of Geonosis showing non-clone soldiers serving as the majority of forces in military conflicts and being actively recruited by various military organizations. The reliability and quality of mercenaries and bounty hunters would not be high, and having large numbers of non-clone troops available from the outset of the war would have eliminated the need for a clone army and ended/prevented the controversy over the Military Creation Act. However, the sources that depict non-clone forces prior to Geonosis are all referring to small-scale conflicts and minor battles.
Additionally, the non-clone military forces in the Battle of Praesitlyn in Jedi Trial were largely non-Republic volunteer forces. The Sons and Daughters of Freedom volunteer group, which contained 50,000 infantry troops and thousands more serving as armored unit and starship crew members, had its number of active members reduced to fewer than 2,000 operatives by the end of the battle. Moreover, the non-clone Praesitlyn Defense Force is entirely wiped out by the droid invasion force, with its own commander stating that non-clones are far less capable at combating battle droids. Likewise, while the Republic force sent to Praesitlyn consisted of only 20,000 clones, as well as additional non-clones, the only non-clones described in the novel are members of the command staff, starship crews, or support personnel. When that force faced off against the Separatist force of over one million droids, the clones took extremely heavy casualties and would have lost the battle had it not been for two successful suicide missions undertaken by the commanding Jedi General against the Separatist leadership.
Most of the initial clones would go on to fight in the Battle of Geonosis, with 192,000 clone troopers deployed on the battlefield there,Star Wars: Complete Locations, p. 88 and an unknown number serving as crew aboard the twenty Acclamator-class assault ships that landed troops on the surface and/or stayed up in space or the additional "thousands" of Republic ships descending upon the grounded Confederate fleet.Attack of the Clones novel
The ground troops suffered heavy casualties; reports on the ships arriving at the medical facilities stationed at Ord Mantell listed 12,000 in need of triage, 8,000 walking wounded, and 72,000 combat-fit troops (Republic Commando: Hard Contact). General Grievous personally killed "entire clone trooper companies" or at least 288 troopers plus officers according to Unknown Soldier: The Story of General Grievous. The 100,000 missing troops in the Ord Mantell report indicates either the use of multiple bases, that 100,000 was considered an appropriate garrison force (since one was established after the destruction of the Geonosis foundries in Star Wars: Complete Locations), or that the Grand Army suffered over 50% casualties in its first victory.
The Revised Core Rulebook states that the Republic immediately ordered 1,000 more Acclamators, indicating an army of at least 16 million troops, though whether they were intended for use by clones or non-clones is still in contention. Additionally, Traviss's own Triple Zero states that (at least up to that point of the war) all Acclamators are fully crewed by clones; combined with the twenty Acclamators present at Geonosis, that would mean that around 720,000 clones (or 24% the entire fighting force of the Republic) were tied up as largely noncombatant ship crews.
Labyrinth of Evil describes clones being an omnipresent force on Coruscant, acting as security and anti-terrorism forces. Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith: The Visual Dictionary also states that clone troopers are "ubiquitous" on Coruscant and other worlds.
The Sector Governance Decree, individual governors were assigned to every planet in the Republic with regiments for their "protection." (Revenge of the Sith novel). These actions were occurring at a time when the Republic forces were stretched thin and to the point of being pushed out of system after system (Revenge of the Sith novel) as well as conducting the lengthy Outer Rim Sieges (Star Wars: Clone Wars, Revenge of the Sith).
It is not surprising that Lama Su stated that all clones take this long in Attack of the Clones, as the Kaminoans were businesspeople, and they were known to boast that their advanced model clones were the same as the stock units, just renamed to encourage higher sales (The Clone Wars: The Pengalan Tradeoff).
The largest figure given for the Grand Army, so far, was millions of clone divisions, which were undergoing intense combat evaluation at the start of the war. This information was stated in Inside the Worlds of Star Wars: Attack of the Clones (written by Simon Beecroft and Curtis Saxton), a book dealing directly with the worlds presented in the film. It was later restated in Star Wars: Complete Locations, which gathered information from the previous three Inside… books, as well as new pieces of information.
As to the disparity with the numbers of battle droids, the short story Odds suggested that the CIS only had hundreds of millions of battle droids, with the larger figures being chalked up to propaganda on the part of Palpatine. This directly contradicts the article The Story of General Grievous: Lord of War, which stated that Grievous commanded several quintillion droids. Any Republic propaganda directed towards its own people would have had little impact on the enemy's supreme commander, who had actual access to his own troops. On the other hand, the numbers given in The Story of General Grievous: Lord of War are somehow flawed by the huge disparity between the number of its various mechanized war machines (battle droids, Vulture droids, tri-fighters, tank droids, Hailfire droids, etc.), said to be only in the billions, and the quintillions that Grievous commanded. Standard battle droids are produced much quicker and are more dispensable than droid vehicles, however, and the "quintillions of battle droids" could also include CIS droids not used in battle (such as OOM pilot battle droids). Also, in Star Wars: The Clone Wars: "Ambush," Count Dooku told King Katuunko, "Our droid armies outnumber the Republic clones 100 to one," which, if taken literally, would put the numbers of clones in the quadrillions. However, although in most (if not all) major ground battles seen in The Clone Wars series, the CIS outnumbers the Republic significantly, there is almost always a similar number of Republic and CIS capital ships pitted against each other, although this could be partly explained by the fact that the Munificent-class ships (which are the main ships used by the CIS in the show) carried 15 times the number of troops as the Venator-class. This still leaves a huge number of droid ships that are not seen in use against the Republic (which goes against the standard CIS tactic of overwhelming numbers).
Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith Incredible Cross-Sections also noted that, because of millions of Separatist warships being locked up in battles with Republic fleets, only a few thousand frigates and destroyers could assault the galactic capital towards the end of the war, accompanied by dozens of battleships. The Revenge of the Sith novelization states (from the out-of-universe perspective of the narrator) that the CIS had pursued the war to that point through sheer force of numbers, with its droids outnumbering the clones, and even implies that the Confederacy was winning at several points.
With the Dorling Kindersley line of books (which first mentioned specific droid numbers), being written from an out-of-universe perspective, high droid numbers would have been stated matter-of-factly, and any deception would have been noted (as it was with the mention of Invisible Hand trading places with its sister ships, in DK's Revenge of the Sith Incredible Cross-Sections).
Additionally, a battle droid is not directly equivalent to a clone trooper; standard B1-Series battle droids were cheap, expendable units, often used for foot patrol in civilian areas. They were typically deployed for combat in massed units that lacked the initiative and versatility of real soldiers, relying instead on sheer numbers to overwhelm opposition, although elite droids like B2 super battle droids and droidekas were both numerous and relatively intelligent. Odds also depicts extensive sabotage of droid production lines. According to the story, the weakened droids are significantly easier for the clones to destroy, although clones have been shown being gunned down with similar ease. However, it is doubtful that the Republic managed to sabotage all major droid foundries.
Additionally, from the 501st Journal, it seems even elite units held a negative view of relatively small odds:
That only a few dozen ships were seen on-screen in the Star Wars: Clone Wars cartoon bears little meaning, as many battles in Star Wars are often fleshed out in different sources. The same series also showed hundreds of Providence-class carrier/destroyers in the Battle of Coruscant.
Another possibility is that the troop numbers Lama Su mentioned could have referred to only those troopers being trained in Tipoca City, although this conflicts with Obi-Wan Kenobi's statements during the Battle of Kamino:
It is also possible that Lama Su did not intend the term "unit" to refer to an individual soldier. If a "unit" referred to a battalion of 576 troopers (as Lama Su spoke of later in Obi-Wan's visit), then 200,000 of these would render 115,200,000 clones and the 1,000,000 others spoken of as 576,000,000. This grand total of 691,200,000 would be far more suitable for the core of a galactic army. A "unit" being a 2,304-clone regiment, the largest military division classified as a unit instead of a formation, would amount to 2,764,800,000 clones. Furthermore, if a "unit" refers to a legion, the closest formation in size to a real-life British division of 15,000 men, the 1,200,000 units would have more than 18,000,000,000 clones, a truly "grand" army, suitable for defeating the huge numbers of droids under the Confederacy.
However, the number of clone soldiers which can be seen standing in each formation at the end of Attack of the Clones amounts to 624 (26 per column and 24 per row), showing a disparity with the numbers presented in the Guide to the Grand Army. If a unit indeed amounts to one battalion, this would mean that the grand total of clones was 1,728,000,000, considering the 3 million units that many sources state, and counting a unit as a battalion of 576 clones. This is reasonable since Lama Su referred to the clones with both "units" and "battalions," which could imply that both terms are merely ways of stating 576-man units/battalions. It seems logical that the Kaminoans would have their smallest available package of troops be made up of several hundred men. Since cloning was a 10-year process and (since the training and feeding would also have to be taken into account) an expensive one, it would make no sense that anyone would want to buy a couple of men and have to wait for 10 years when they could come by ten times as many droids for a fraction of the cost, with a wait of perhaps a week.
Furthermore, all planetary and judicial forces loyal to the Republic were folded into the Grand Army, allowing the Republic, which enjoyed a large population advantage over the CIS to make up for the number of battle droids with possibly hundreds of trillions of organic, non-clone soldiers in all-out combat. However, a statement by Chancellor Palpatine implied there was no conscription of civilians, due to potential political consequences. But this implication is contradicted in The New Essential Chronology by the following statement:
Thus is it is likely that the Grand Army was combination of clones, draftees, and troops from local planetary armies.
In addition, the Confederate battleship Malevolence made at least fourteen attacks, of which at least two occurred against three-ship task forces. Assuming that the other twelve were assaults on single ships, which seems unlikely, and that the ships were Venator Star Destroyers, which would fit with their prominence in this era and the relative importance of the Malevolence, there must have been at least 88,800 clone casualties in crews alone. If these vessels were fully loaded, the casualty count rises to 112,800, almost a tenth of the supposed number of combat-ready clones. As the chief concern over the Malevolence was its ability to destroy the ships without any indication of its nature and not the casualties, this would seem to indicate a much larger clone army than stated in certain sources.
In Attack of The Clones, Count Dooku stated that there were too many clones for the droids to combat. This is supported by an estimate given that, at the beginning of the war, the casualty ratio for members of the CIS versus the GAR is 20 to 1. Since there are supposed to be around 3 million droids present at the battle, and approximately 200,000 clones, the clone army there would have, by that estimate, easily been able to handle the droid army.
However, Count Dooku made this comment in reply to Nute Gunray's suggestion to "send all available droids into battle." Dooku desired a long, difficult war. Dooku needed the war to facilitate his rise to power with Palpatine. In Star Wars: The Clone Wars video game, an order is given to destroy the Droid Core Ships, as "each one houses enough firepower to threaten an entire planet." A similar description is given through Obi-Wan's thoughts in the novelization of Episode II. The CIS forces had a fair chance of holding out against the Republic longer, which may have led to a shortage in troops later in the war.
One million planets were contested in the war, so with a million troopers per world, the army would need to be one trillion strong.
==Appearances==
===Non-canon appearances===
*LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game
*LEGO Star Wars: Revenge of the Brick
*LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga
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*LEGO Star Wars: The Quest for R2-D2 film
*LEGO Star Wars: The Quest for R2-D2 game
*LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars
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==Sources==
==Notes and references==
Category:Galactic Republic military units