Cold weather assault trooper

This article is about the snowtroopers deployed by the Galactic Empire.
You may be looking for the Clone cold assault troopers or the variant used by the First Order.

For other uses, see Snow.

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"Anything?"
"No. No signs of Rebels."
"All right, let's keep moving."
"Yeah, at least walking will help keep us a bit warmer."

―Imperial snowtrooper chatter^[8]

The cold weather assault troopers, or snowtroopers and referred to as "snowies" by the troopers themselves, were the elite stormtroopers of the Galactic Empire trained and equipped to operate in frigid environments.

History

Snowtroopers were trained to use a variety of weapons.

The Galactic Empire's cold weather assault-class of stormtrooper was a descendant of the clone cold assault troopers, whom had fought in the Clone Wars in frigid environments such as Orto Plutonia, Rhen Var, and Toola.^[9]

Snowtroopers accompanied normal stormtroopers to investigate the wreckage of the Venator-class Star Destroyer Tribunal,^[10] in 17 BBY,^[11] where their commanding officer, the Sith Lord Darth Vader, found the lightsaber of his former Padawan, Ahsoka Tano.^[10] Later in 14 BBY,^[11] snowtroopers of the Imperial garrison on Ilum encountered the Jedi Cal Kestis.^[5] In 0 ABY,^[12] Snowtroopers serving under Captain Magna Tolvan pursued the rogue archeologist Chelli Aphra at the Citadel of Rur.^[13] At a later date, snowtroopers serving under Commodore Kurtruk fought alongside Range troopers against Alliance to Restore the Republic Commander Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia Organa on Banas.^[14]

When the Empire located the Alliance to Restore the Republic's base on Hoth three years after the Battle of Yavin, the elite Blizzard Force, led by General Maximilian Veers, were involved in the Battle of Hoth. The battle became a major Imperial victory and a major blow to the Rebel Alliance.^[15] Shortly later, at least one snowtrooper took part in the invasion of Ison.^[16]

Equipment

Snowtrooper armor was well insulated to protect against extreme cold, with a suit and heated breather mask powered by a battery pack that could last up to two standard weeks. For greater survivability, it also included ice boots, an insulated belt kama,^[17] polarized snow goggles, grappling hooks, ion flares, and a homing beacon. Snowtroopers were often equipped with E-11 medium blaster rifles and E-Web heavy repeating blaster cannons.^[9] Some could be trained to handle either flamethrowers or T-7 ion disruptor rifles.^[18] Rank insignia plaques were placed within snowtrooper armor to designate their commanding officers, as was the case for^[19] Captain TS-4068.^[20] Snowtrooper commanders and lieutenants were known to not wear helmets despite operating in cold environments.^[21]