Droids Vs Clones: Which Is The Better Army?
In Star Wars, the Galactic Republic stood for thousands of years during a period of unprecedented peace, but all good things must come to an end. The disenfranchised masses threatened secession from the Republic, and after being manipulated by sinister forces, declared war, thus plunging the galaxy into the Clone Wars. The conflict three long years as both armies butted heads. During that time, both forces were locked in a stalemate with neither side holding a significant edge over the other.
The Republic had its eponymous clones, and the Separatists had their army of droids, but behind the scenes, both sides were being played by the sinister Palpatine. The mastermind behind the entire war, Palpatine ultimately decided the outcome of the entire campaign. In a bid for power, the Sith Lord stoked the fires that would start a war and secure his ultimate victory. And as we all know, the clones emerged on the other side as the victors of the conflict. In a way, the game was rigged from the start, so we’re left to wonder if the mightier side won. With that in mind, let's find out which army was superior, the droids or the clones.
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When building an army, the first thing to consider is the logistics behind your fighting force. How will you arm them? How will you feed them? And so on. In this area, the droids have a distinct advantage. By virtue of being robots, droids require nothing to sustain themselves beyond a power supply and an adequate storage area. Clones required much more upkeep. As living beings, clones required food, medical care, and living quarters. They were subject to the many needs humans have to survive. It was also exponentially more expensive and time consuming to clone new soldiers to bolster the ranks. By contrast, the droid army pumped out thousands of droids daily, combat-ready the moment they left the assembly line.
It’s clear that the droids had the numbers advantage, but which is better, quality or quantity? Your average clone is unquestionably more combat effective than the standard battle droid. As humans, the clones were able to think tactically and improvise on the fly, a quality droid programming struggled to keep pace with. They also bonded with their brothers in arms, which improved group cohesion and effectiveness. It was these qualities that made the Grand Army of the Republic a force to be reckoned with, winning them many battles throughout the conflict.
Clones may be superior combatants when compared to droids, but oftentimes war is a numbers game. The Clone Wars were no different, and often became a battle of attrition. Despite lacking the advanced training of their opposition, droids possessed average competence in battle and were easily supplemented with reinforcements. If a droid was destroyed in battle, it essentially became spare parts for its imminent replacement. The clone army wasn’t so fortunate. A fallen clone was a massive financial loss that could devastate group morale. And despite their accelerated aging, clones still took years to fully mature into effective soldiers, so every trooper lost was years lost as well.
Both sides had their merits, but in the long run, it’s hard to overlook the advantages the droids had over their clone counterparts. Clones were almost unmatched in their skills, but the Separatist war machine was able to effectively mass produce nearly limitless waves of droids to overwhelm their enemies. Factories could be easily constructed on any separatist world with ease, whereas clones were limited to Kamino. If left to its own devices, without the interference of Sith Lords and Jedi, the Clone Wars may have very well ended in a victory for the Separatist Alliance.
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Source(s): EckhartsLadder, Geetsly's