Starfleet Jedi

Look what SW.com gave us, a sneak peak at one of the battles in The Clone Wars.

Hold R2 to zoom in.

Obviously that bridge is made of Neutronium or the Sphat-T's (or whatever they are) would have obliterated it :P

But, looks like it'll be pretty good.

Alt Link:
http://www.starwars.com/video/view/000657.html

*** Numerous Dialled-Down Yields! ***

I couldn't help but giggle. Not only are there massive, voluminous cannons with the output of pea-shooters (come on, guys, where's the earth-shattering kaboom?), but they constitute such a threat to Separatist forces that a retreat is issued. And, there are so many atrocious tactics here that I scarcely know where to begin.

****

But just as a first rough pass, let's look:

1. No air support: There are at least five jetpack-laden clones, but the jetpacks get only brief use in a cavalry-style raid. And even then they don't do it right . . . they just land on the ground in the open beside the enormous walker and start running and shooting like morons.

2. No use of high ground: With the quasi-exception of the cavalry raid, everyone is parked on ground level.

3. No perimeter scouts or spotters: Despite the presence of tall buildings useful for spotting, it appears that the Separatists, with dozens and dozens of droids and multiple ubertall walking weapon platforms, surprised the Republic forces by walking up the road to within half a mile before anyone really got wind of their attack.

4. No sensors: Carrying on from the above point, a tricorder would've been pure awesome here, since it seems that neither side knew what the other had even when they were within line of sight and half a mile away. The Separatist leader seemed astonished to learn that the Republic forces had those pea-shooter cannons, for instance.

5. Inconsistent use of cover: Multiple Republic AT-ST-style walkers just go meandering toward the Separatists right in the middle of the line of fire . . . little surprise that we see two of them blow up. Later, Obi-Wan orders a charge, and a group of clones go running right up the line of fire. The extraordinary thing is that some of them live, only to walk right up to droids and start smacking them around while the other droids scarcely notice. It's like fighting Civil-War-era Borg or something.

****

But surely it is I who must be mistaken. I mean, SW forces are all uber-elite, y'know, with kiloton-yield hand weapons, making them more than capable of spanking the pants off pajama-clad UFP hippies.

More seriously, there are instances of clones being flung backward by weapon hits, which speaks well for SW firepower . . . but it appears that those shots came from the big Separatist walkers anyway, which returns us to the "awful" category.

I think I'm going to like this show.

http://www.starwars.com/video/view/000636.html

Walkers pull a neat trick in this. apparently they can walk up walls.

Hmm. Anakin deflecting weapons fire from large vehicles without trouble. Minimal momentum transfer. Yet a lot of momentum transfer when these bolts hit something solid.

...I don't think these are pure energy beams.

The most impressive stuff is how Anakin does indeed easily deflect those bolts, able to smoke a tank in one shot, with utter ease.
However, it seems like he was wasting time, instead of cutting through the armour or the legs, or deflecting bolts towards the big meany machines from the get go. So bad for the nameless clones dying at the same time.

I don't want to look at this video from a versus opint of view.
My concern, if I should have any, is what is that movie supposed to bring?

It seems to lack a shitload of mystique or something. I'm like looknig at a boring cutscene sequence in the PS3's next Star Wars game.

It's totally empty. You know what the characters are about, and I don't know how I'm going to get attached to them anymore than I was in the prequels, that is, very littlely.

Give me another KOTOR, really. Or Jedi Knight. I can't care less with that new stuff from Lucash. His brain has melted.

Apparently there are going to be several prominent and distinctive clones. watch the video, "Here come the Clones"

SPOILERS



OK, apparently there's a sequence involving several Munificent-class ships going through an asteroid field.
In order to do so and move in easily and be sufficiently protected from frontal impacts with asteroids, they divert energy towards the frontal shields, leaving their sterns unprotected, which several AT-TEs, hanging to asteroids, exploit by shooting their cannons at the CIS ships and dealing critical damage.

Let's remember that those same ships are supposed to have the ability to generate enough power to melt a 1,000 km wide ice moon in one shot, according to the ICS.

Now, could that be a hint as to why that dear Imperial captain was afraid of entering the asteroid field?

That's not going to be in the movie though (AFAIK). Perhaps we should create a different section for the series as a whole?

Interesting. Where did you get that spoiler from? If true, regardless of whether or not it's the movie or the series proper, it really does put a significant damper on the ICS numbers, especially given that the Clone Wars movie will apparently be of a higher canon standing than the EU.
-Mike

Can't tell head and tail from what's in the Clone Wars movie, or the Clone Wars series. Considering that the spoiler comes from a book which is titled "The Clone Wars, The Visual Guide" (scans provided by Ender, from SDN), it could be anything.
The book in question features stuff that's largely seen in the trailers. Now, did those trailer show stuff from the episodes, or only the film?

I wouldn't pay too much attention to the details present in that book for the moment, since the material itself has some flaws, but it shows 4 of such ships going through some random asteroid field.
It's called the battle of Bothawui.

Can you link to Ender's scans?
-Mike

Sure thing sweetie: clicky.
Many details are impossible to read (although I spotted the hyperspace = another dimension thing again)...

Thanks.

You can tell that the Warsies are not happy when their wank is spanked. The only time Ender seems somewhat happy is when the book contradicts Karen Traviss' writings at a couple of points. He is right in that the DK books are regurgitating their previous material. I found a similar thing in the Star Wars Blueprints booklet. But that's for another review, which I'll get around to later.

- Very interesting in that the relatively low-yeild weapons on a Republic walker are able to threaten capital class starships. So once again so much for the AoTC and RoTS ICS numbers...

- For all the Warsies claims about SW tech, why don't we see the walkers using repulsor lifts to carry them up along that sheer wall instead of wasting time dangerously climbing up it?

- Looks like there are a couple new ships in the Republic fleet that we haven't seen before.


The only other things that this book has worth any mention is the highlighting of poor tactics on both sides of the Clone Wars.
-Mike