Author Topic: DS Troopers w/Rebel blasters...Why?  (Read 2920 times)

Offline David

  • Jedi Knight
  • *
  • Posts: 3317
  • EchoBaseNews.com
    • View Profile
DS Troopers w/Rebel blasters...Why?
« on: April 29, 2007, 02:23 PM »
I couldnt find a pic example, but today I was watching ANH and I noticed the DS troopers on the detention level carrying Rebel blasters. has anyone else noticed this, and why do you think this is? I personally have no idea.  ???
David Delgado
Owner
EchoBaseNews.com
Keeping Star Wars Cool Since 2008!

Offline Reid

  • Jedi Knight
  • *
  • Posts: 3255
    • View Profile
Re: DS Troopers w/Rebel blasters...Why?
« Reply #1 on: April 29, 2007, 03:10 PM »
I've noticed this for ages now. I'm guessing maybe they snagged them off some captured rebels, or, in addition to being the rebel's main sidearm, the DH-17 pistol is also in use in the Imperial military as well. Me being a stickler for accesories, it would've been nice to see a DH-17 packed in with the wave 2 DS Trooper, in addition to the E-11.

Offline Ryan

  • Retired Staff Member
  • Jedi Master
  • *
  • Posts: 5871
  • Destiny is all
    • View Profile
    • JediDefender
Re: DS Troopers w/Rebel blasters...Why?
« Reply #2 on: April 29, 2007, 10:27 PM »
I've noticed this for ages now. I'm guessing maybe they snagged them off some captured rebels, or, in addition to being the rebel's main sidearm, the DH-17 pistol is also in use in the Imperial military as well. Me being a stickler for accesories, it would've been nice to see a DH-17 packed in with the wave 2 DS Trooper, in addition to the E-11.

It'd be the other way around more than likely. The Rebels may use them but they would have stolen them, likely in very large numbers, i.e. raiding cargo ships or factories. Either that or the guns had been distrubted by the Imperials to local militias to help deal with what they deemed as terrorist threats, similiar to the US backing the Taliban and Osama back in the day, and that is why they use US Stingers against us. I've alaways kind of considered the Rebels as scavengers when it comes to weapons, escpecially during the early days. They'd take whatever they could get, especially when it meant taking from the Imperials.
"This is the way."

Offline Jesse James

  • Staff Member
  • Grand Master
  • *
  • Posts: 35448
  • Slippery When Poopy
    • View Profile
    • JediDefender.com
Re: DS Troopers w/Rebel blasters...Why?
« Reply #3 on: April 30, 2007, 04:06 AM »
I know the Vis. Dictionary has some details on the DH-17's use in the Empire and the Alliance...  My take goes something like this though.

Throughtout the ot we see a variety of sidearms for both militaries though...  Especially the rebels.  On Hoth they can be seen with the "DH-17" blaster pistol (I like to think of it as kind of a "heavy blaster pistol" in that it packs a bit of a punch, and thus it makes for something MORE than a sidearm, but less than an automatic weapon), but also they're seen with Ponda Baba's styled pistol pretty commonly with various "grips" too, some sloped ala Ponda's and some more curved like a regular pistol grip.  They also can be seen with a pistol based on a Mauser style handgun base as a sidearm I believe....  That's just on Hoth.

In ANH it seems the Rebels just have the DH-17, however the troopers we see using weapons are really only the opening scene Fleet Troopers and we never get a good look at the base rebels...  I think it'd be pretty likely these guys have a mix of weaponry for any given rebel detachment, and I think the big rifles we see on Hoth would be available to these men as well...  Maybe even aboard the Tantive IV for "away missions" (sorry for the Trek reference) but not fightin aboard ship like they were.

Anyway, the Imperials really aren't much different...  Especially in ANH.  If you look closely you can see them using E-11's, DH-17's, and yes, even a mauser-based pistol ala Han's DL-44.  However, I don't think that blaster is "close" to Han's, it's just similar, and I believe I've seen a still of it and it has a much snubbier nose/barrel to it than Han's and such. 

Now, why do they have the same weaponry?

I think some good points have already been brought up...  The rebels pilfer what they can, I think that's a pretty much given.  However consider this...  Weaponry, especially blasters, seem in no short supply in the galaxy.  Readily available, handy, used by, well, almost everyone we see to some extent it seems.  At least in places outside the core or outside a civilized area.  It's implied and shown though that even in the core worlds there are people wandering around armed all over the place.  Bounty Hunters roaming, people in nightclubs with sidearms on and visible, etc., etc...  So what's the point?

Well I mean to say that blasters aren't necessarilly "Rebel" or "Imperial" at all...  Ponda Baba's blaster for instance, is seen drawn on the heroes in the Cantina.  Flash forward to Hoth, and the Troopers defending Echo Base clearly have this blaster in varying styles with them, and other blasters too (their rifle armaments are REALLY diverse.  Much more so than folks realize).  The DH-17 could be a commonly used blaster pistol throughout the galaxy, manufactured by, uh, whoever I guess, and sold...  Maybe it's a good knockdown blaster and the military appreciates it for accuracy, rate of semi-auto fire, durability/reliability, and power...  If it's a readily available weapon to the public though, neither the Empire nor the Alliance has a claim to the weapon obviously and it would be popular with BOTH militaries in the conflict and beyond I'd assume.

Now, I think some weapons probably ARE exclusive to a single military...  The E-11, the Sandtrooper style rifles...  These seem, to me, to be IMperial exclusives...  Now, that's not to say Rebels don't steal them and make use of them.  It's just something I like to think of as "tailor made" to the Empire's needs as a military with good financial backing.  They of course can get things done by the manufacturers with some level of exclusivity, it makes some sense.  But theft of these, and subsequent use by the Alliance makes complete sense to me...

Also though, the Alliance is just smaller by comparison, so I can see them having their own weapons plants cranking out blasters for their troopers.  These would maybe be based completely on existing weapon designs though, so they'd be copies of course, but I don't see the Alliance stealing EVERYTHING they use...  Just some, and generally for either assimilation/ammo or to be given to smaller Rebel Cells on worlds not under the greater Rebel military umbrella...  Like Dresellian Commando teams on their home planet for instance, or perhaps a hypothetical Mustafarian resistance force maybe...

Another interesting thing is ammo...  I really look at Star Wars as a very modular fictional galaxy in some ways...  A galaxy where one ammo pack can be hooked up to a completely different weapon and it'll work for instance.  Like an E-11's ammo pack would fit a DH-17, or a DL-44, and charge it on up.  The movies don't give good ideas of ammo/reloading though, and many games didn't either...  Dark Forces really took the most time with that at first, and it gave loads of Ammo to the user.  I think that works for weapons like the E-11 and fits with the films though...

DF/Jedi Knight also were the first games to establish WHY Stormtroopers aim sucks as it does...  It doesn't suck so much as the E-11 is an eratic, "spray and pray" type weapon...  The Stormies have other weapons at their disposal though,a s we see on the Death Star, Tatooine...  I think Tatooine is the best single example in the films of Stormtroopers "in the field", showing what their regular day-to-day gear would be for actual combat situations as opposed to ship/instillation security jobs.

You see their modular packs on Tatooine, their rank identification system for the field, and you see their weapons that are better for open terrain as opposed to close-quarters combat. 

Anyway I talked enough about this...  In short, I think the "Rebel" blaster as it's come to be known, is really nothing more than a widely available blaster to the public as well as the military.  Rebels get them however they can, possibly even producing them in safe world factories (copies of the blastech design).  The Empire would obviously likely be contracting theirs from Blastech though, and just enjoy the blaster for the same reasons the Alliance does, and thus both use them extensively.
2011 Rebel Fleet Trooper Gets My Seal Of Approval!  But Where's The Friggin' Holster On Him!?
Jedi Defender.com Contributing Editor, Twitter @JediDefender & @Jesse_James77

Offline EpicGon

  • Jedi Padawan
  • *
  • Posts: 697
  • The life so short, the craft so large to learn.
    • View Profile
Re: DS Troopers w/Rebel blasters...Why?
« Reply #4 on: July 13, 2008, 02:16 PM »
this scene was shown on a wotc card.
This event can proof the circulation of a particular model of blaster among rebels, imperials and fringe

Offline Darth_Anton

  • Jedi Sentinel
  • *
  • Posts: 10672
  • Whatever
    • View Profile
Re: DS Troopers w/Rebel blasters...Why?
« Reply #5 on: August 14, 2008, 10:03 AM »
I always think of the more practical reason:

That when the movie was being made, they weren't paying attention to continuity that closely. That, and I'd guess that the prop department never in a million years would suspect that 30 years later, people would be analyzing what kind of guns each trooper was using.
Please subscribe to my YouTube Channel - The Imperial Communique -https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyEfCtMv1lWhxSH-B1Scr4g
"Snark is the idiot's version of wit."