Fun topic (and a genuine one, thinking of it) : are stormtroopers really...

[sarahtasher]

such bad shots ?

Withstanding that the stormtroopers are spot on accurate when it's time to fire at a Jedi with a lightsaber (thus allowing bolt reflect) and that it's true than in the movies, they are under standing orders to let the rebels escape (but not at Endor...), are they such bad shots ?

-They seem to have a weapon (the blaster rifle) akin to an assault rifle or maybe more a submachine gun considering the ranges involved (as in most franchises, everyone fights at incredibly close range...), not a weapon especially made for precision firing.
-Depending on the fluff version, a blaster rifle ''power pack'', rechargable,, have enough power for 100 shots, so presumably accuracy is even less needed than in real firefights
-Except in some episodes of the Clone Wars, they never seem to actually aim (but some fluffs lampshade that the helmet allow hip firing with genuine accuracy-a HUD with a sight, for instance), which make the question of their accuracy moot (but not of their actual tactical competences).
-When not firing helplessly and haplessly at dignified teddy bears, stormtroopers seems to have been used mostly for ship to ship combat or base assault, where narrow spaces (except near bottomless pits) are common and presumably where spraying the corridor with blaster fire is a perfectly valid tactic.

(The boring answer is, of course, that the stormtroopers are very good at shooting red shirts and extras and/or heroes at very dramatic moments, but will hit something only when the plot demand it. Thank you, that was obvious)

[kasuke06]

well, what I heard from a friend was that the storm troopers are not the clone troopers, the empire, after assuming power got a second batch, but cheaped out, and as such their storm troopers kinda got a little... off in the process.

also, blah blah, force stuff, blah blah. and at least according to the games, the standard blasters seem to have relatively infinite shots, but do suffer a cooldown period from over-use. but that could just be game mechanics.

[Mormolyce]

They're crack shots, they just can't see a thing in those helmets.

[Dextroden]

A fan theory I like is that Vader was basically powerful enough to make them miss his kids without realizing it.

[Lorgar Aurelian]

well, what I heard from a friend was that the storm troopers are not the clone troopers, the empire, after assuming power got a second batch, but cheaped out, and as such their storm troopers kinda got a little... off in the process.

also, blah blah, force stuff, blah blah. and at least according to the games, the standard blasters seem to have relatively infinite shots, but do suffer a cooldown period from over-use. but that could just be game mechanics.

The empire stopped using clones after they got into power and shuffled most clone troopers off to crappy out of the way jobs.

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A fan theory I like is that Vader was basically powerful enough to make them miss his kids without realizing it.

That's a pretty horrible fan theory.

[Radaney]

There isn't a in-universe, out of script explaination for why they miss so much.

Outside of Rogue One which suggests the Force itself might be saving the heroes because the Chirrut Imwe says so and shows it himself by being protected by the Force. Sounds a bit ridiculous though.

Even Obi-Wan says they have a good shot in A New Hope.

[LiiLoSNK]

Couldn't this be said about any movie involving henchmen that try to shoot at a good guy?

What a genuinely unique and fun topic that nobody has ever brought up!

[Milchshake]

Because George Lucas is really bad at writing. He made them shitty marksmen to cover his gaping plot holes. He abused legions of stormtroopers like a Harvey Weinstein.

No one was brave enough to call him out on this. So he made those robot armies equally bad to cover an even worse script in The Phantom Menace. It's an insult to all fans that they missed Jar Jar Binks.

Better writing would have made better stormtroopers and much more dramatic tension.

[LiiLoSNK]

Because George Lucas is really bad at writing. He made them shitty marksmen to cover his gaping plot holes. He abused legions of stormtroopers like a Harvey Weinstein.

No one was brave enough to call him out on this. So he made those robot armies equally bad to cover an even worse script in The Phantom Menace. It's an insult to all fans that they missed Jar Jar Binks.

Better writing would have made better stormtroopers and much more dramatic tension.

You clearly don't understand Gungan agility or star wars in general if anything you typed is what you actually think.

[Nazrark]

In Rebels, Rex says that he can't see out of the new stormtrooper helmets. Which says two things. The supplier for Clone Trooper equipment was superior but probably more expensive. Replacing the aging clones with regular citizens probably forced them to make cuts. Considering the rapid expansion of the military following the fall of the Republic. There probably is a lot of areas where they went the cheap route. Star Fighters were another area.

They invested heavily into heavy support. In the form of vehicles and Capital ships.

[Chinese Bootlickers]

I think it has something to do with the force.

[PACOX]

The troops that killed the Jedi were clones specifically raised to be soldiers. The order was part of their DNA, ones that couldn't shoot were discarded, they have the element of surprise on proximity on their side.


Stormtroopers were regular grunts of a relatively peaceful era where training and quality gear was traded for numbers and appearance. Quality was traded for quantity and looking scary.

[Egomaniac]

There isn't a in-universe, out of script explaination for why they miss so much.

Outside of Rogue One which suggests the Force itself might be saving the heroes because the Chirrut Imwe says so and shows it himself by being protected by the Force. Sounds a bit ridiculous though.

Even Obi-Wan says they have a good shot in A New Hope.

To be fair, Obi-wan may have been working under the assumption that the Storm Troopers in A New Hope were of the same stock as The Clone Troopers in Revenge of the Sith.

[Jakexe]

Laser rifles just arn't that accurate. Show me an accurate laser rifle and i'll recant.

Should've stuck with ballistics.

[Schattenlied]

-They seem to have a weapon (the blaster rifle) akin to an assault rifle or maybe more a submachine gun considering the ranges involved (as in most franchises, everyone fights at incredibly close range...), not a weapon especially made for precision firing.

Both Assault Rifles and SMGs can be very accurate when fired in semi-auto, which the Blaster Rifles almost always are... Assault Rifles especially are basically required to be able to effectively engage a man sized target at or beyond 300 meters, and a SMG like an MP5 could accurately put shots on a target at 100m.

-Depending on the fluff version, a blaster rifle ''power pack'', rechargable,, have enough power for 100 shots, so presumably accuracy is even less needed than in real firefights

I'm getting the feeling you've never handled or fired a gun before.

Accuracy is always of extreme importance, that's why the military stresses it in training, Marines have to hit targets at 500m with iron sights on an Assault Rifle during qualification, not by spraying bullets at it, but with as few shots as possible.... Just slinging shots wildly won't accomplish much if the guy you're slinging them at can actually aim, and downs you with 1.

-Except in some episodes of the Clone Wars, they never seem to actually aim (but some fluffs lampshade that the helmet allow hip firing with genuine accuracy-a HUD with a sight, for instance), which make the question of their accuracy moot (but not of their actual tactical competences).

If Republic Commando is to be believed, and that technology carried over from Clone Trooper armor to Storm Trooper armor, yes, they have a heads-up display.

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Laser rifles just arn't that accurate. Show me an accurate laser rifle and i'll recant.

Should've stuck with ballistics.

The Vanu Sovereignty would like a word with you.

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Outside of Rogue One which suggests the Force itself might be saving the heroes because the Chirrut Imwe says so and shows it himself by being protected by the Force. Sounds a bit ridiculous though.

And then it promptly let him get shot ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[yetgdhfgh]

All bad guys cant shoot shit unless its at a red shirt or UNIT soldier then suddenly they know how to aim!

I think mythbusters did a episode where they said it would be nearly impossible to dodge a lazer blast like they do in the movies.

[Blamblam41]

Laser rifles just arn't that accurate. Show me an accurate laser rifle and i'll recant.

Should've stuck with ballistics.

Considering laser and plasma-type rifles in real life would have pretty much no recoil, gonna have to go with go look at a real life laser.

Secondly, you could technically achieve laser accuracy with ballistics using electromagnetism (invisible lasers, pretty much.)

[Mormolyce]

Dear everyone: blasters aren't lasers.

They're totally different. How and why? Don't ask.

That's a pretty horrible fan theory.

So like 99% of fan theories.

[Jakexe]

The Vanu would like a word with you.

I had too look up this reference, bravo on that alone.

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Considering laser and plasma-type rifles in real life would have pretty much no recoil, gonna have to go with go look at a real life laser.

Secondly, you could technically achieve laser accuracy with ballistics using electromagnetism (invisible lasers, pretty much.)

Is there a real life laser gun? I've seen various projects that create a cutting beam but nothing close to the sci fi equivalent.

[Eldar45]

Rex is a crack shot but can't hit anything in Stormtrooper armor.