A tactical analysis of the Battle of the Naboo Plains

It's always nice to see the Trade Federation/Separatist droids as a major threat rather than ineffective comic relief. This is illustrated best in The Phantom Menace in the Battle of the Naboo Plains. I really hate how these battle scenes were ruined by Jar Jar's putzing around. In this post, I will be analyzing the forces, tactics, and maneuvers in this battle which, while diversionary, had major implications in the overall Naboo campaign.

Background

The year was 32 BBY. In response to the Galactic Republic's taxation of trade routes, the Trade Federation, at the secret behest of Darth Sidious, launched a full invasion of the peaceful planet Naboo. While they were able to quickly occupy the planet, Queen Amidala and her entourage were able to escape offworld to try to seek support from Coruscant.

With no support forthcoming from Coruscant, Queen Amidala and her Jedi bodyguards had no choice to return to Naboo and seek support from the Gungans, the native people of Naboo. Forming an alliance with the Gungans, the Naboo formulated a plan to liberate the planet: the Gungans would engage the Trade Federation's main army in a diversionary battle, the Royal Naboo Security Forces would engage the remaining droid forces in Theed, and Queen Amidala, a small RNSF detachment, and pilots of the Royal Naboo Starfighter Corps would infiltrate Theed Palace and launch a starfighter attack against the Droid Control Ship orbiting the planet.

As the Naboo-Gungan alliance was formulating its plans, the Trade Federation was making plans of its own. After receiving rumors of underwater villages, Federation scouts attempted to capture the inhabitants, only to find the villages deserted. Soon after, the Federation learned that Amidala had returned to Naboo and that an army of "primitives" had mustered. The droid army then mobilized to engage the Gungan army.

Forces

The Gungan Grand Army, under the command of the once-exiled Jar Jar Binks, numbered roughly the size of a regiment - around 2,000 strong. These forces were equipped with rather primitive weapons compared to the droid army. Personal weapons included spears, atlatls, slings, personal energy shields, and "boomas" - electrically charged plasma spheres. Also included in the Gungan Grand Army were 1,000 animals - kaadus serving as two-legged cavalry mounts; falumpasets serving as draught animals for battle wagons, and fambaas, large creatures that served as carriers for equally large shield generators.

The Trade Federation forces were considerably larger than the Gungan army, numbering in the thousands. It was a highly mechanized force; the infantry B1 battle droids were carried in folding racks on Multi-Troop Transports and Platoon Attack Craft. Accompanying the MTTs and PACs were a sizable armored contingent of Armored Assault Tanks (AATs) and a cavalry complement equipped with Single Trooper Aerial Platforms (STAPs). Finally, the Federation's forces included a unit of Droidekas for rapid maneuver. In command of the Federation army was OOM-9, an OOM-series battle droid specially programmed for command. All droid forces were controlled by a Droid Control Ship. While this arrangement allowed for greater command, control, and coordination, all forces would lose signal and deactivate if the Control Ship were destroyed.

Objectives

The Gungan Grand Army's strategic objective was to create a diversion - draw the droid forces away from the capital city of Theed. Doing so would allow a small strike team to infiltrate Theed Palace and launch starfighters. Tactically, the Grand Army hoped to hold the droid forces off as long as possible. To achieve this, they would set up a large energy shield and force enemy infantry to march through the shield. This way, the enemy would not be able to fire on the Gungans without putting themselves in range of Gungan booma weapons. To protect the Booma throwers, catapults, and shield beasts, the Gungans would position a wall of plasma shield wielders in front. These shields could deflect incoming blaster fire back at an attacker.

The Trade Federation believed that the Grand Army was the queen's main force; therefore, the Federation's objective was to neutralize enemy resistance and locate the Queen. To achieve this, they needed to knock out the shield generator. If they succeeded, the armor and cavalry could break through enemy lines and rout them.

Battle

Binks' Gungan forces chose to make their stand at the Great Grass Plains, located roughly 40km from Theed. They assembled their troops there and deployed fambaa shield beasts to fully shield the army. Shortly thereafter, the Federation army arrived. OOM-9 ordered a bombardment by the AATs to test the shield but, seeing no effect, soon ordered the tanks to cease fire. The tanks could not penetrate the enemy shield, and an armored charge through the shield would force the tanks to engage the Gungan infantry on their own terms. OOM-9 then ordered the MTTs and PACs to deploy and activate their infantry.

Thousands of B1 Battle Droids activated, unfolded, and assembled in seconds. Ordering a full forward assault, OOM-9 had the infantry march through the Gungan shield and engage the enemy infantry. The Gungan weapons, while devastating against individual droids, did not have enough of an effect against massed troops. Despite heavy fire from Gungan booma catapults and booma-throwing infantry, the droid infantry soon broke the Gungan ranks and turned the line battle into a melee. General Binks was thrown from his Kaadu mount and began to panic, further damaging command and control.

With the Gungan lines broken, OOM-9 had the Droidekas rush through the breaches, flank the Gungan troops, and assault the shield generators. This maneuver was to be decisive. Concentrated fire from the Droidekas' heavy repeating blasters destroyed one of the shield generators. The Gungans' only protection against their enemy's armored forces was now gone. Captain Roos Tarpals ordered a full retreat, but the Federation's armor and cavalry soon turned that retreat into a rout, killing over 500 Gungans. While the panicking Gen. Binks managed to accidentally destroy a number of tanks, his forces were easily overrun by the droid forces. Seeing that the battle was lost, General Binks surrendered his forces - much to the embarrassment of Tarpals.

Aftermath

Although the Trade Federation army defeated the Gungan forces, their victory was but a fleeting one. By defeating the Gungans, the Federation played right into the Naboo alliance's hands. The RNSF succeeded in infiltrating Theed Palace and captured Viceroy Nute Gunray. The Starfighter Corps also managed to destroy the Droid Control ship with help from an unlikely hero - the 9-year-old Anakin Skywalker, who had accidentally flown himself into the battle. With the Control Ship destroyed, all droid units deactivated, liberating the Gungan army.

Analysis

OOM-9's tactics seem to have been quite sound given the situation and the limitations of the B1s' programming. By identifying the Gungans' key defensive strength and eliminating it, OOM-9 was able to use his own trump card to full effect. However, the Trade Federation made a critical strategic error. By mis-identifying both their own objective and that of the Naboo-Gungan Alliance, the Federation overcommitted its forces to the battle against the Gungans. This overcommittal reduced their defenses in Theed and allowed the enemy to penetrate those defenses. The result was a decisive defeat and the arrest of Viceroy Gunray.

The Gungans, for their part, had some errors of their own. They made a major tactical error by placing their forces in a low lying plain surrounded by hills. This allowed the Federation to fire down on them after the shield was disabled. Additionally, they made an organizational mistake. General Binks was appointed for political reasons, not because of military prowess. The placement of an entire army under a political appointee severely limited their leadership. Predictably, as soon as Gen. Binks started panicking, all command and control was lost. While Capt. Tarpals' leadership prevented further casualties, his ability was limited by his role and rank.