The Clone Wars before the prequels

[groda]

Hey all,

I was wondering if WEG ever did anything dealing with this time. I have some ideas about the Clone Wars from the perspective of OT canon. Just looking for further content. Here is my version of the Clone Wars era (basically just loose assumptions):

1. The events loosely correspond to our own timeline. If we begin with Star Wars in 1977 and pin that to The Battle of Yavin, we then have a timeline for the events and feel for those conflicts. That is, WWI begins in 1914 and WWII ends in 1946. The Clone Wars end 31 years (1977-1946) BBY; and they start 63 years BBY (1977-1914). This seems consistent with how GL saw the relation between these conflicts. It also gives us some ideas about the Clone Wars.,

2. Based on the above, we have a 30+ year conflict, with the intensity of the conflict being uneven. It starts with brutality, then settles into a stalemate; followed by a tense peace before an ultimate destructive war.

3. As mentioned many times on this forum, I think the original Clone Wars era was also a series of conflicts, at first between various sectors in the Expansion region and Mid Rim; then eventually drawing in the Republic, Jedi, and Mandalore. The Cloning tech, much like AI in our own world, begins largely unregulated and somewhat benign. Clones are used for hard labor, then security forces, then mercenary forces. So, the first phase of the war involves Barons trying to expand their holdings, then frantically making alliances, which then leads to broader conflicts. This all being an unintended consequence of a new technology.

4. Mandalore was a society of powerful warriors who often, like the crusades or ancient mercenary companies, kept the peace outside of the Republic territories, not due to their benevolence, but due to their relative military strength combined with their non-imperial (warrior honor maybe) intentions. That is, there was always the threat that someone paid the Mandalorians to settle a conflict, and they were honor bound to fight on only one side.

5. Well, with 4 being true, the emergence of Clone Armies would greatly disrupt this equilibrium, causing Mandalore to oppose large Clone Armies and the alliances of powerful barons. I think this is the escalation of the second phase of the Clone Wars, Mandalore taking it upon it self to destroy the Clone Barons one by one. The Republic (and/or Jedi) eventually enters to protect its members from Mandalore and likely the Clone barons.

I have other ideas about the Cloning, Spacers, and Banking Guilds involvement, but I can save those if people are interested.

How does this square with your ideas about this era? Did WEG ever write anything relevant to the "original" Clone Wars?

Best,
Groda

[garhkal]

From what little we heard in the OT, and novels BEFORE ep 1-3, i always thought the Clone wars were a GOOD 2-3 decades BEFORE the events of ANH, not barely 17 years. AND that the clones were the BAD GUYS, not fighting for the galactic republic.
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[Whill]

Welcome, groda! That is an epic time between registering for the site and first post!

Fall of the Republic as per WEG Star Wars

This is the only fairly recent thread I could find that touched on what you are going for. I was thinking there was an older thread but I'm tired and haven't found it yet. Sorry I couldn't help more at the moment.
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[pakman]

A lot of that either did not exist - or was very different based upon the assumptions they made at the time.

I did a lot of work in two campaigns about the clone wars and the period leading up to it - and one book that was useful was the FFG Rise of the Separatists and another was a book - Collapse of the Republic.

Regardless of some small examples of game mechanics - I found these to be really helpful in working in those eras.


Best of luck in your game.
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[ThrorII]

1998 Official Star Wars Souvenir Manuel gives the following dates:

35 BSW4* End of the Clone Wars
29 BSW4 Palpatine becomes President of the Republic
18 BSW4 Empire is formed; birth of Darth Vader; birth of Luke and Leia

*BSW4 means ‘Before Star Wars 4’ (similar to BBY)

So, as of 1998, the Clone Wars were 35 years before "Star Wars".
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[groda]

Hi All,

Thanks for responding. I hope this didn't come off as Prequel bashing. I had just imagined a very different story in my mind for so many years, the prequels almost "rewrote" Star Wars for me (even though I understand that was partly the intent GL was going for). It is just a project I've always wanted to complete: reconstructing the version I imagined as a kid with the logic skills of an adult.

[Mamatried]

I always was a little off with the actual tiemline, however the clones WERE the badguys.

yes at a time they fought FOR the republic, but when the same republic became the empire the fist soldiers were clones, and now they fought AGAINST the the ideals of the "fallen" republic and fought FOR the ideals of the "new" empire.

To me the timeline was 2 - 3 decades, with what I assumed was the conflict leading up to the actual clonewars and that the clone war DID CONTINUE under the empire, though renamed with the various "campaigns"

So I belive we should look at this as yes both, but not at the same time.

When did the clone wars start and when did it actually end.....
It BEgan when the INITIAL conflict began, meaning many decades before ANH with the establishemnet of CIS and then the subsequent conflict of this, in which the Clone wars was a "phase".

WW2 fighting began in 1940, the war began in 1938, and we can even argue it began earlier....with the annecxations done by Garmany at the time.

Back to the galaxy far far away, we have the same, a "war" thaty is cold, and then develops as it did in our world, with the blockade and attack on naboo, and from there 3 years of war with the republic and CIS only to be transitioned without the war ending into a war against the CIS and the "new" Empire, which the latter won. and wich in turn turend the previosu bad guy CIS into the victim and heroes

[CRMcNeill]

IIRC, Lucas explicitly forbade WEG from exploring or fleshing ou the Clone Wars, likely with an eye toward eventually doing the prequels

As far as an alternate timeline, I’ve always thought the Mesan Alignment from the Honor Harrington series makes for a great crossover Clone Wars concept.

In a nutshell, the Mesans front as a collection of galaxy-wide corporations, in particular one called Manpower, which produces genetically tailored clones (slaves) for specific purposes, which in turn is used as a front for developing human bio-ware enhancement techniques. They’re also hugely embedded in the galactic government insofar as bribing and manipulating political and military figures. At its core, however, is a plan to overthrow the galactic government and replace it with themselves at the top. To that end, they use their influence to start proxy wars and the like.

It’s way more detailed and complicated than that, but the series is worth the read if you’re looking for crossover fodder.

EDIT: Link: Article from the Honor Harrington Wiki
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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.

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[garhkal]

[pakman]

Regarding the timing - yeah, the game designers only had so much to go on.

That and we all have to remember lucas was a story teller first - designer of a consistent universe .....well.... not even second.

Personally - I think his obvious motivation for placing the clone wars so close to the empire was that he wanted the big moment to be with Order 66, the clones going from the defenders of the republic and working with the Jedi - to one of the instruments of their destruction.

Anyway...we each work on what makes sense for our game....

[garhkal]

How many were in that "we are all jedi who escaped order 66" game?
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[Whill]

[pakman]

[Whill]

[garhkal]