Ideas for stormtrooper tactics?

[Violet Octopus]

I'm GMing a Rebellion-era Star Wars SAGA Edition game, and I could use some help coming up with cunning tactics for stormtroopers to use (their CO is an intelligent scoundrel). I'm passable at running combat, but I really want to create an enjoyable encounter that makes the party think twice before underestimating stormtroopers again.

The party (2nd level Jedi, Soldier and Scout, 1st level Noble, with 3 nonheroic* NPC scouts they control) attempted a raid on a food factory that's fueling the Imperial war machine. The factory guards are stormtroopers (1st level nonheroic soldiers), with a few patrol leaders (2nd level). The overseer is a 3rd level heroic Scoundrel/Soldier. They also have two attack dog-like creatures.

The party is currently on the run after a shootout turned sour, several are badly wounded, they have 30 minutes left to secure the facility (reinforcements arrive by airspeeder in 1 hour, but they need to load the ship and escape). They do have a complete map of the factory though.

The enemy have 8 stormtroopers, 2 patrol leaders, 2 attack dogs and the overseer. One trick they've pulled so far is to wire a door into the power supply, electrifying it. There are also some noncombatant factory workers with intimate knowledge of how the systems work.

So, any ideas?

*Because the nonheroic class is bland and a bit too fragile, we houserule that nonheroic combatants get normal class levels, with 1/2 HP at 1st level and one less starting feat. Noncombatants get their own class, with RP-oriented talents and feats.

[Myiven]

E-web repeating blasters + choke points + heavy cover and you have standard defensive small-unit infantry tactics that have worked amazingly well since World War I.

If they're on the attack, lead with stun grenades or thermal detonators, and have them use leapfrogging as they advance tactics. A standard SWAT 4-man team (vanguard, two flankers, rear guard) is also a good setup as they can cover all four main approaches as they do a sweep.

Do their helmets have fancy comm gear and sensors? If so, you could have them communicating with each other while your PCs hear nothing. I would find that unnerving in the same situation.

[elliott20]

you could have them all do a suicidal charge the PCs in neat two line files while blast erratically and random stuff that somehow inexplicably misses the PCs at every turn. And they'll always shoot right in the open so they'll get no cover what so ever.

[Malacode]

Perfect coordination. Seriously, if you're the type of GM who roleplays monsters/enemies, that is, has them act and react as if they were living beings with limitations, this will freak out your players no end. Pretty much everything Myiven said was great advice too, and I'd make much use of these tactics in massed battle.

[elliott20]

I do have one serious question regarding storm troopers though.

In one particular EU book I read, stormtrooper training was brutal and has an extremely high casualty rate. Supposedly, one of the things you learn in stormtrooper training is that your companions are nothing but bullet shields, and your objective is the most important thing, regardless of who gets sacrificed to take it.

anybody know anything about this?

[Lysander]

The ship is in some kind of hangar bay I assume? Perhaps the stormtroopers, rather than fight their way to the ship inside the building, exit and climb on the roof outside to come in the port used for the ship. Imagine your PCs spending all that time and effort to boobytrap and block the door, then suddenly have laser fire coming in from the other direction.

[Myiven]

The ship is in some kind of hangar bay I assume? Perhaps the stormtroopers, rather than fight their way to the ship inside the building, exit and climb on the roof outside to come in the port used for the ship. Imagine your PCs spending all that time and effort to boobytrap and block the door, then suddenly have laser fire coming in from the other direction.

Lysander's idea is great. In fact, you could take it a step further and have the stormtroopers zipline down from the roof. Death from above is something the human psyche seems to never expect.

[Person_Man]

You could always have them cut off all power to the factory. It's been a year since I played SWSE, but IIRC the stormtroopers have IR equipment in their helmets, and you could always give them heat tracking equipment or something like that. And without power, every single door will have to be cut open by the PCs. Then have 2 stormtroopers catch up to them, and let the PCs make a Perception check to overhear them saying that "the heat tracker has found the rebel scum, send reinforcements!" If the PCs are smart, they can blow something up in the factory to throw off the trail, or create some sort of other distraction, and run away. If they're dumb, then in 1 minute the rest of the enemies show up, all armed with stun weapons and grenades, gas, etc.

[pendell]

Is there backup available? If I were the Stormtrooper commander I'd be attempting to do one of two things: A) Bunker around the most critical assets B) pin the team down.

While this is happening, I'd be hollering my head off for a trained response team to come in and eliminate the problem. Once the Empire answers that distress call .. overwhelming odds. Game over. PCs must retreat or be destroyed.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

[Kylarra]

you could have them all do a suicidal charge the PCs in neat two line files while blast erratically and random stuff that somehow inexplicably misses the PCs at every turn. And they'll always shoot right in the open so they'll get no cover what so ever.That's what I was thinking.


Also "die horribly despite superior numbers".

[Violet Octopus]

Thanks everyone for these ideas. I think the power is definitely going to be cut, the party will have to get it back on in order to use the loading equipment. The stormtroopers can lay a trap in the power room, while another patrol group hunts for them. I'm not sure if there's a decent spot in the factory for some stormtrooper abseil action, but I'll keep it in mind in case the opportune moment arises.

Any other ideas?


The ship is in some kind of hangar bay I assume? Perhaps the stormtroopers, rather than fight their way to the ship inside the building, exit and climb on the roof outside to come in the port used for the ship. Imagine your PCs spending all that time and effort to boobytrap and block the door, then suddenly have laser fire coming in from the other direction.

The factory is specially designed for producing goods for export. Hovertrucks come in from surrounding farmland carrying unprocessed foodstuffs. They dock at ground level in recesses to offload. Factory output is loaded onto cargo starships for export. The starships land on the roof. The party plan is to load their ship, and the NPCs aiding them take a couple of hovertrucks and leave by road. So I might be able to use your idea, if the PCs decide to get the NPCs sorted out first.


Is there backup available? If I were the Stormtrooper commander I'd be attempting to do one of two things: A) Bunker around the most critical assets B) pin the team down.

While this is happening, I'd be hollering my head off for a trained response team to come in and eliminate the problem. Once the Empire answers that distress call .. overwhelming odds. Game over. PCs must retreat or be destroyed.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

Reinforcements have been notified, they are 1 hour away by airspeeder. The party has about 30 minutes to start loading their ship and the trucks, or reinforcements will arrive before they can get away. This is a food factory far away from city centres.

[Lysander]

What if the stormtroopers leave one of their helmets on a table for the PCs to find, looking like someone was too in a rush to get it when the attack started. They can hear faint sounds coming from it and if they put it on they can hear the stormtrooper commander issuing commands to his men over the radio. They can listen on exactly how the enemy is planning to ambush them. Of course this is a ruse - the helmet was deliberately left out for them to find, with one soldier given a script of things to say that will give your PCs false information and leave them overconfident and unprepared for the real ambush.

[hamishspence]

Timothy Zahn did stormtroopers quite well, in Allegiance and Survivor's Quest, small teams, working together, not a horde.

[sofawall]

I was going to say you have to make them die easily, and never hit anyone, but that's been said.

[herrhauptmann]

I do have one serious question regarding storm troopers though.

In one particular EU book I read, stormtrooper training was brutal and has an extremely high casualty rate. Supposedly, one of the things you learn in stormtrooper training is that your companions are nothing but bullet shields, and your objective is the most important thing, regardless of who gets sacrificed to take it.

anybody know anything about this?

That fits with what was stated in the novels years ago (9 years ago specifically), but generally stormtroopers are treated as mooks in novels.
However, even if the mission is all, and the lives of your men are unimportant, that doesn't mean the commander will sacrifice his men stupidly. It does mean that a stormtrooper would continue setting up demolitions even as he vomits blood due to radiation poisoning. But he won't use one of the last men he has as a one-shot trap detector.

edit: If a player encounters a stormtrooper in closequarters, one on one. You could give the stormtrooper high physical strength, and make him be a grappler. Which would make more sense, a trooper and a rebel shooting at each other when they're 5 feet away (when the rebel has already proven teh ability to shoot through stormtrooper armor), or the trooper using his combat training to grapple the rebel and crush him with physical power?

[Caewil]

Use coordinated fire. A squad of five stormies with one heavy weapon can be deadly. Four of them use aid another, succeeding automatically thanks to coordinated fire, the last opens up a full-autofire spread on the party. If he braces beforehand, it's a very accurate and high-damage attack. A few squads with an Imperial Officer will be very deadly, even at higher levels. (The officer has that talent that makes aid another give +3 instead of +2)

[ColdSepp]

I do have one serious question regarding storm troopers though.

In one particular EU book I read, stormtrooper training was brutal and has an extremely high casualty rate. Supposedly, one of the things you learn in stormtrooper training is that your companions are nothing but bullet shields, and your objective is the most important thing, regardless of who gets sacrificed to take it.

anybody know anything about this?

Sounds a bit like the Crimson Empire series, though there are a few other Stormtrooper focused short stories. Also, Stormtroopers are about as effective as their leader.

Empire of the Hand Stormtrooper where better then Imperial troops, at least up till the end of Invincible, when Jana Solo (likely as a shoutout) comments on how these "Aren't her mothers stormtroopers"

[chiasaur11]

Have two of the troopers be Tag Greenly and Bink Otauna in disguise.

You know you want to.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Here's a nasty tactic:

A couple of patrolling Stormtroopers encounter the party. They promptly turn tail and run around the corner. Party chases them right into an ambush with tripod-mounted vehicular repeating blaster. Have a nice day.

[mistformsquirrl]

E-web repeating blasters + choke points + heavy cover and you have standard defensive small-unit infantry tactics that have worked amazingly well since World War I.

If they're on the attack, lead with stun grenades or thermal detonators, and have them use leapfrogging as they advance tactics. A standard SWAT 4-man team (vanguard, two flankers, rear guard) is also a good setup as they can cover all four main approaches as they do a sweep.

Do their helmets have fancy comm gear and sensors? If so, you could have them communicating with each other while your PCs hear nothing. I would find that unnerving in the same situation.

This is pretty much *exactly* what I was going to suggest; so instead I'll just say "What he said."

[Kaun]

if they have wired the buildings power into a door the buildings more then likely going blow out all of its electrical safety devices the second somebody touches that thing anyway. So they will probably be in the dark whether they like it or not.:smallwink: