Geonosis 6 - (First) Battle of Geonosis
Description:
Following the rescue of the surviving Jedi in Petranaki Arena, Republic Gunships commanded by Yoda and carrying Clone Troopers fresh from Kamino joined the larger battle on the plains of Geonosis. This marked the first conflict between the droid army of the newly established Confederacy of Independent States and the Grand Army of the Republic. The GAR featured Jedi leading clone trooper infantry supported by AT-TE's and SPHA-T's on the ground, while gunships, transport carriers, and Acclamator-class assault ships. They faced legions of battle droids, super battle droids, destroyer droids, homing spider droids, dwarf spider droids, hailfire droids, Geonosian starfighters, and various CIS capital ships. Begun, the Clone War had.
Reference:
Click for the full sized image.
Despite Padmé's nonsensical "Look!", a cool moment in AOTC was the arrival of the gunships at the arena.
Everyone loves a nice pair of ball turrets to slice through enemy infantry.
It's Yoda! Around the survivors, a perimeter he ordered created. Doubtless the clones were giggling under their breath at the bizarre lingo of their new commander.
The gunships touch down, and start picking up the last of the survivors.
Clones be chillin'.
I always enjoyed how the Jedi were swatting away blaster bolts like they were annoying flies.
Boba has a moment to reflect on his new status as an orphan. No problem, kid. That's a ticket to a life of fame and fortune in the Star Wars universe.
Mace Windu is probably thinking that as soon as they return to Coruscant, he's going to change his clones' armor to purple.
The Separatists bring out their own heavy ground forces to meet this Republic threat and to defend the fleeing capital ships.
The Seps seemed to be fans of the spider aesthetic.
The Rebel Alliance weren't the only ones to have a cool battlefield planning table.
OH SNAP! That's the thing from Episode IV!
I loved these Hailfire Droids. They could take out at AT-TE at range.
Clones fight through the fog of battle.
A close look at a Clone Pilot as takes orders from his new Jedi commanders.
Anakin probably wishes he hadn't wasted the last of the rockets on his brilliant fuel cell tactic. He probably could have gotten a promotion to Master right then and their if they were able to take out Dooku.
Dooku tries to make a getaway on his fancy bike, and orders his Geonosian escort to do an end around on the pursuing Republic Gunship.
Padmé forgot to put on her seat belt. She falls to her death. Nah, just kidding. She was totally fine.
Yoda feels a disturbance in the Force. This Anakin guy is really a pain in the ass.
Figure Photos:
Click for the full sized image.
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Notes:
1. Hasbro's gunships (and the many repaints) were among the most beloved vehicles ever released in the modern line.
2. The ball turrets that were released in the ultra-popular battle packs were not nearly as readily available as they should have been. They now go for millions of dollars on the secondary market.
3. Posing the clones in this fashion results in one of the more satisfying action figure displays. I gave this VC20 Yoda a different robe, because I felt it was cleaner than the more battle-worn version that came with that figure.
4. Your surviving Jedi can now begin boarding in rows 4-6.
5. The main trio stick together. The Ball Turrets do hang low, so when displaying your gunships this way, you'll need to support them off the ground a bit. Works for the sitting clones nicely, though.
6. Mace shows off his fancy lightsaber. The Clones don't care.
7. This young Boba figure was never really that good even when it was released (although the accessory load out was nice). But by now, the figure has crossed into the categroy of "horrendous tragedy."
8. A Clone Commander meets Mace in the assembly area. You can use any Clone Commander here, but there is actually a named Commander Ponds figure that exists specifically for this scene.
9. Hasbro gave us many of the droid infantry and mobile artillery units that we see on the battlefield.
10. The Homing Spider Droid is a nice item, and the wind-up dwarf spider droid is adorable.
11. We have two halves that make up the war room table. It's definitely undersized, but is nevertheless a nice centerpiece that pulls together the various Separatist leaders in your display.
12. Hasbro also gave us a small holoprojector of the top secret super weapon.
13. The Hailfire Droid prepares to unleash hell. Hasbro actually repainted this later on in a Clone Wars color palette. They also released a super cool remote control version, which not only rolls around at your command, but fires off a bunch of rockets.
14. Crappy photoshop skills aside, we have tons of clones to flesh out these scenes across the wide-ranging battlefield.
15. The Clone Pilot fits nicely in the 2-seater cockpit of the gunship. There are many iterations of this character, with some being better than others.
16. The Black Series Anakin figure is excellent, although some collectors might ask for new upgrade. Obi-Wan isn't bad at all, but is getting a little long in the tooth.
17. Dooku is definitely deserving of the TVC treatment. While the best existing version is quite good, rocker ankles and ball jointed wrists are definitely needed. The speeder bike and Geonosian starfighter are quite nice. The Geonosian pilot however...
18. Padmé from the Black Series is also a nice figure, but a few tweaks could make it almost perfect.
19. This is the 5POA Yoda (gasp!) from the Solo line. It's probably the best looking Prequel-era Yoda figure, which is a travesty. Just don't tell anyone you're using it in your displays, and nobody will make fun of you.
Action Figures/Items Used:
The following figures were used in the above photos. These figures represent what the Bantha Skull staff
considers as the best version of the respective characters. Click through on the following entries
to go to that figure's full gallery. If that figure was part of a multi-pack, you will be brought to
the gallery for just that figure. From there you can click through to the parent set.
* Bantha Skull is compensated for any purchases made through any Ebay links that may appear below.
Name: SAGA P1 - Republic Gunship
Definitive?: Close
No Ebay link provided
Name: SAGA P1 Deluxe - Spider Droid
Definitive?: Definitive
No Ebay link provided
Name: Super Battle Droid
Definitive?: Surpassed
No Ebay link provided
Name: SAGA 02-11 - Battle Droid (Arena Battle)
Definitive?: Surpassed
No Ebay link provided
Name: Battle Droid
Definitive?: Surpassed
No Ebay link provided
Name: Clone Captain Deviss
No Ebay link provided
Name: Clone Commander Ponds
No Ebay link provided
Name: CW 03-50 - Clone Trooper
Definitive?: Close
No Ebay link provided
Name: Colored Clone Troopers (w/out Battle Damage)
Definitive?: Close
No Ebay link provided
Name: Colored Clone Troopers (w/ Battle Damage)
Definitive?: Close
No Ebay link provided
Name: White Clone Troopers (w/out Battle Damage)
Definitive?: Close
No Ebay link provided
Name: White Clone Troopers (w/ Battle Damage)
Definitive?: Close
No Ebay link provided
Name: TLJ - Yoda
No Ebay link provided
Name: Geonosian Pilot
Definitive?: Needs Resculpt
No Ebay link provided
Name: Geonosian Starfighter
Definitive?: Definitive
No Ebay link provided
Name: Darth Tyranus
Definitive?: Other Value
No Ebay link provided
Name: Geonosian Speeder Bike
Definitive?: Definitive
No Ebay link provided
Name: Super Battle Droid
Definitive?: Close
No Ebay link provided
Name: Battle Droid
Definitive?: Close
No Ebay link provided
Name: SAGA - Geonosis Battle Arena
Definitive?: Close
No Ebay link provided
Notes:
Your choice of Yoda and Dooku may vary, as different figures are better for different scenes. But otherwise, the sheer volume of clones and droids allow any collector to set up an impressive Battle of Geonosis display.
Your choice of Yoda and Dooku may vary, as different figures are better for different scenes. But otherwise, the sheer volume of clones and droids allow any collector to set up an impressive Battle of Geonosis display.
The Missing:
These are characters that belong in this scene for which Hasbro has never made a figure. These characters are all
featured in our Unproduced Character Guide which we
have affectionately nicknamed Missing In Action Figure or M.I.A.F. for short. Clicking
through on the following entries will bring you to the M.I.A.F. entry for that character.
Yep, that's right! This battle scene has pretty much all of the figures. We've got Phase I clones of all ranks (as well as gunship pilots), all the Jedi that can be made out on screen, and Padmé. We've also got Dooku, the rest of the Separatist Council leaders, and just about every manner of droid shown on screen. There are a few that could use an update, like Ki-Adi Mundi and young Boba Fett. But for the most part, the figures are pretty good, or at a minimum still worthy of display. Hasbro has done a great job filling out this battle over the years.
Even aside from figures, we've got just about all the vehicles that we could reasonably expect (noted that this section is meant specifically for figures, but still...). We're missing some extra-large sized vehicles like the Republic's SPHA-T artillery and the LAAT/c carrier. A Republic Command Center where Yoda meets the Clone Commanders would also be neat to have. On the CIS side, we seem to only be missing the Trade Federation and Techno Union capital ships. I think we could bet the house that these items will never see the light of day.