Above the battalion level, between it and the regiment, there was a so-called vanguard, designed to break through fortified defensive lines and, as the name suggests, be first to land on the surface of planets. The vanguard consists of 1,232 combat droids; in terms of vehicles, eleven MTTs and a company of eighteen AATs, plus 112 STAPs — CIS speeders. A regiment has 4,368 droids, organized into four battalions and one vanguard, and that was the total number of troops and vehicles carried aboard a single C-9979, the Trade Federation's main landing craft. Usually such a unit was commanded by one of the OOM droids.
Next came some truly wild numbers. A division consisted of 21,840 droids in five regiments, while a corps consisted of 109,200 combat droids — five divisions. Twenty-five C-9979 transporters were required to land it. The largest tactical unit was an army consisting of 218,400 combat and support droids, divided into two corps. The total number of vehicles was 550 MTTs and 6,250 AATs. In addition, this was the maximum number of troops that could be deployed on one old-model Lucrehalk.
The army was usually commanded by the captain of the battleship or by one of the OOM droids. Well — now it was a T-series tactical droid. Yes, during the conflict on Naboo the number of combat droids aboard the LH-3210 was not that large, and the central sphere of the ship was not designed to transport droids, but now, during the war, when the factories were running at full capacity and the transporters were upgraded to battleships, the CIS was not concerned with economy. Given that the loss ratio between clones and droids hovered around fifteen to twenty B-1s per clone, with a maximum load of 329,000 B-1–series droids this was considered acceptable. However, such a load would be inefficient given the B-1's shortcomings as a combat unit. The Separatists had to load other combat droids that take up more space and weigh more. Although the latter is insignificant given the Baryshnik's carrying capacity of five million tons.
And now, drum roll — the CIS fields about three dozen more types of combat droids. This means two transport ships can carry completely different numbers of troops. So the average number of combat droids on one Lucrehulk fluctuates around 180,000. For example, I loaded one of our battles into the simulator. Now, with a general understanding of the principles, it was much easier to navigate.
So, what do we have? First, there are the B-2–series combat droids. On average, a B-1 company has between eight and forty-eight B-2 combat droids. Then there is the family of spider-like combat vehicles, such as the DSD-1 and the OG-9, which usually operate in groups, complementing one another. One OG-9 is accompanied by up to six smaller "spiders." And let's not forget about the droideks, of which there can be as many as twenty in the same MTT — much more formidable than the B-1 company. Terrifying for infantry.
As for droid tactics... Napoleon's wars and ancient Greek phalanxes are the first things that come to mind. However, with their sheer numbers and intelligent employment, even such tactics bear fruit. Losses are replenished very, very quickly. Damaged equipment and droids are either repaired, cannibalized for parts to fix less damaged machines, or melted down. Often DUM-series repair droids scurry across the battlefield in the heat of battle, paying no attention to anything else and focusing solely on repairs. It's practically waste-free production.
That's the picture for ground forces. In space the situation is more modest, but no better. The Lucrehulk with their darkness of "Vultures," hordes of "Munificent," and now "Recusant" have appeared. And the "Providence" are on their way — as far as I remember, they came off the production line at the same time as the "Venators."
So, what can I oppose them with? The Republic Army is more organized. The structure is simple and not so jarring to the eye. A squad consists of nine clones. Four squads make a platoon. Four platoons make a company. Four companies make a battalion. A regiment has 2,304 clones. A legion has four regiments. A corps has almost 37,000 clones. That's not counting vehicles, which often has its own assigned clone units. For example, in addition to AT-TE units are typically assigned two platoons.
My forces will be more modest: fourteen full-strength line regiments and one remnant with three battalions. Oh — I completely forgot about the droids: almost five thousand units. Hmm. Still, there is a corps. Plus a regiment from Lantilles, though their numbers are more modest and equipment is lacking. We're in the red when it comes to armored vehicles and other equipment: only seventy-eight AT-TEs and the same number of AATs. About 150 light walkers and 500 speeders. That's about half the usual number — except for the speeders; there seem to be more of those than usual.
Despite the abundance of heavy weapons, losses can be kept relatively low only by playingdefensively, using prepared positions such as my base. But when attacking... losses increaseexponentially.
What can be done in this situation? No — there is already a first step: six-barrel rotary blaster cannons on mounts — a good weapon against columns of droids, but it's too risky to rely on them alone.
Carpet bombing — that's what comes to mind. It's perfect against columns of droids. But high-explosive bombs are clearly not the answer here, and I don't have any decent bombers. If only they had been assigned to the troops — then we could consider it. An image from a flight simulator spun in my head: an IL-2 dropping a cluster of small bombs on a tank column... how were they called... oh, PTABs. But it's unlikely proton bombs can be made that small. And you can't just throw grenades...
Think, you damn Jedi... A bomber. Droids. Lots of droids. Grenades. Stop. Boom-booma! I mean those blue glowing things the Gungans threw at the droids — they melted them completely, short-circuited them, destroyed vehicles in an instant. I can't even imagine how this "Wunderwaffe" works. The word "plasma" kept turning in my head, but I had no idea how to implement it. Still, the result should be impressive. Load a couple thousand of those spheres into a special disperser, and hello. I need to ask our engineer about this — it's too tempting. Damn! Hutt! Armor, swords!
I looked around for the astromech droid, but naturally didn't find it. Looking for that engineer again. What irony.