Alliance Walker Corps

[CRMcNeill]

I've had an idea for a while about the Rebel Alliance using upgraded Clone Wars era walkers for rough terrain hit-and-fade campaigns, but I'm still working on the details. A few of my initial thoughts...

1) Switching out the Mass Driver cannon on the AT-TE for a Heavy Laser, and the Heavy Mass Driver on the AT-AP for a Light Turbolaser. The idea being that it's a lot easier to supply blaster gas for energy weapons than the specific ammo types used by the mass drivers.

2). Using the freed-up space from removing the mass driver magazines to mount stealth equipment to help conceal the relatively slow-moving walkers from Imperial sensors. The idea being that, since they can't run, they can at least try to hide. Walkers would normally only operate in heavily forested or mountainous terrain where they can get in among cover that interferes with sensors.

3). Upgrade the AT-OT to an AT-UT (Utility Transport) as a support vehicle, replacing the open cargo / passenger area in the rear with containerized support modules. Maybe also used as a platform for artillery and air-defense support weapons (although those might be better suited to modified AT-TEs).

The idea would be that the walkers would avoid stand-up fights and would instead utilize sniping tactics, with the AT-APs firing their turbolasers at targets spotted and designated by AT-AVs, with artillery and air defense walkers operating from concealed supporting positions.

Thoughts?
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"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.

The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index

[garhkal]

Walkers and the like are not something i see the rebels getting their hands on, let alone wanting to use.. Just too cumbersome, bulky and noisy..
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[Dredwulf60]

I'm sure you can figure out a way to make it work in your own game, but in my way of thinking it's probably not practical for the rebel alliance to employ even old walkers with anything approaching frequency.

If they did...I would suggest they also use the LAAT/c or something similar for mobility. So they have the option of trying to get away...even if its very slim.

Hiding from sensors would be a short term survival tactic IMO, not a method for conserving the force for multiple deployments. If they can't get out of the battlespace, they are going to be found sooner or later.

So it would seem that they, if used, would probably be a one-trick pony...and the crews, if lucky would be able to slip away, leaving the machines behind.

[CRMcNeill]

Walkers in Alliance service would certainly be a niche application, but I see them being useful under certain circumstances, especially when operating in tight quarters and/or rough terrain. They certainly wouldn't be capable of mobile warfare, but might prove useful for area denial on less-developed worlds with vast forests or rugged mountains to hide in and force the local government / Empire to come to them. Sure, if the Empire were to muster enough resources, they could likely eliminate a walker formation, but that only works in a microcosm if the Empire is willing to divert enough resources from other places where the Alliance is causing trouble.
_________________
"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.

The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index

[CRMcNeill]

[RyanDarkstar]

The only way I'd see this working would be in a throw-everything-at-the-enemy strike. To me, walkers are far too slow to work with hit-and-fade style attacks even with LAAT/c support. They would better utilized in defense forces.

It could make for an interesting SpecForce unit, though, especially commanded by a Clone Wars veteran.
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Currently playing D&D 5E and painting an unholy amount of miniatures.

[garhkal]

[Ray]

The major issue about Walkers is maintenance. Time and parts required for them. Especially as complex a Walker as the AT-TE or the AT-OT.

Although I've seen Minis of Rebels on AT-Recon Transports where they customized the weapon loadout, which is able to move fast and hit hard enough to be worth the logistics of them. As seen in Clone Wars cartoon, they were used on Ryloth, and are able to be used in mountainous terrain, although they probably have a major range limitation (AT-STs use big @$$ batteries to operate rather than generators, AT-RTs are even smaller and might have a lot smaller "gas tank".).

I'd see the Rebels using the weapons from AT-TEs for either static defenses, or mounting them on larger speeders, much like how Anti-Tank/Anti-Aircraft cannons were mounted on halftracks in WWII. Better speed and logistics at the expense of armour and ability to operate as a heavily armed APC.

Rebels might use AT-OTs in certain places to haul logistics goods, especially on planets that have weird gravity that makes speeders inoperable. Even more so if there isn't a local species that they could use their native vehicles to do the same. Those would likely be stripped down and having their motors customized, making them something similar to the Y-Wing on the ground.

Finally, with the Empire phasing out the AT-Defense Pod (as seen in Rebels) for the AT-ST, I'm sure more than a few got into Rebel Hands to be stripped for spare parts, and those nasty ball cannons to mount on other vehicles or, again, static defenses.

My group in particular stole a pair of AT-Defense Turret Walkers (Artillery Walkers from Solo), although they wrecked them in the midst of their mission. They did fly over and stripped the cannon off of one of them, and stole as much ammo as was in the magazines. They mounted it to the top of their starship's hull, kludged together a targeting program, and also gone out of their way at every Imperial base to see if there's more ammo for it that they can steal.

[CRMcNeill]

[Naaman]

Just responding to the original post here.

FWIW, I see walkers as being more mobile and faster (if having less absolute agility) than infantry.

The WH40K imperial guard sentinel squadrons come to mind. The guard have two basic formats: the standard "chassis" sentinel, and the armored sentinel. Each is employed for scouting type missions, with the lighter chassis sentinels being a bit more mobile.

They can be equipped with a large variety of kit, including anti-personnel, anti-materiel and even route clearing equipment (giant chainsaw blades on an articulating arm that works kind of like a machete).

TO ME, it seems that walkers (especially the bipedal variety) work best in conjunction with infantry. Wherever the infantry are operating, the walkers can bring firepower that is not man-portable.

If mobility is a concern, I would modify them with shield generators or some such, in order to maximize their opportunity to maintain fire superiority.

In effect, intelligence reports would dictate whether walkers are a viable solution to the tactical problem. They are no good against cloud cars or air speeders (or TIE fighters, for that matter), but against other walkers, troop transports, fortified positions, and masses of infantry, they may be quite valuable.
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SpecForce Combat Elements
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[Ray]

[garhkal]

[Dredwulf60]

Just a general observation about walkers.

I designed a set of tabletop rules for tactical combat where a hex on the mat represented 250m. 4 hexes to a kilometer....about 36 second turns.

So one hex per turn is a speed of 25 km/h.

It was a generic system, so it could be used for anything, modern to sci-fi genres (though I had the world of the novel I was working on in mind)

I statted-up a lot of Star Wars units for instance.


One thing that came into very clear focus... walkers are not very mobile.
I mean it *seems* like they should be when you are just watching them on the screen...walking...shooting...guys running along beside...

But on a battlefield that is a mere 5km across...they are all but static when they can only move a hex at a time. (at 25 km/h !)

Infantry are worse off. In the game system they are granted the ability to move a single hex in a turn, but only if the unit forgoes shooting...they are hauling @$$!!

At least walkers get to move a tiny bit faster and can shoot on the move.

Now the game system was geared and scaled for mechanized warfare; If your situation in question is an infantry-scale engagement, where the entire battle takes place within a kilometer, then the walker movement is going to have a big plus.

But engagements like that often have a larger battle going on around them, or at least a lead-up and and aftermath where the mobility issues come up again.

It was after designing this system that I decided that in *my* vision of battlefield walkers...they definitely need to be airmobile or they are not much better than static guns.

Photo from a Clone Wars era game, using AT-TE walkers.
https://i247.photobucket.com/albums/gg155/dredwulf60/IMGP2050.jpg

[CRMcNeill]

[CRMcNeill]