B1 battle droid

"Roger, roger."

- Typical response of a B1 battle droid

B1 battle droids, also referred to as standard battle droids, were the most widely-used battle droids manufactured by Baktoid Combat Automata and Baktoid Armor Workshop. The B1 battle droid saw extensive service as the mainlines soldier of the Trade Federation's mechanized armies during the Clone Wars, where it served in the Separatist Droid Army of the Confederacy of Independent Systems. Following the defeat of the Confederacy, B1 battle droids were deactivated by the Galactic Empire along with the rest of the droid army, although they continued to see use on through Separatist holdouts and the black market during the Imperial Era.

Design
"Look, it's RB-551.''" "No wonder he got blasted. He's one of those older models programmed by a central computer." "Not us, we're independent thinkers." "Roger Roger." "''Roger Roger."

- Several B1s discussing how they were upgraded models from the older RB-551

B1 battle droids were humanoid fourth class battle droids measuring 1.93 meters tall. They were the direct successor to the OOM-series battle droid. Unlike early OOM-series and early B1 models, latter B1 models were able to operate without requiring a Droid Control Ship or Central Control Computer. Central Control Computers were used in early models because the budget-minded Trade Federation saved the production costs of thousands of individual droid brains, this move was avoided by the Confederacy of Independent Systems, and the droids received the brains. Despite the new model within the Separatist Droid Army there were still a small amount of older B1 models used, such as RB-551, a B1 battle droid who served as part as a droid patrol during the Battle of Ryloth. This unit was was destroyed with the rest of it's patrol by the Twi'lek Resistance.

The humanoid physiques of the B1 model were specifically commissioned by the Trade Federation for practical reasons. The humanoid form allowed B1's to operate existing machinery, vehicles, and weapons originally designed for organic operators and pilots, saving the Federation unnecessary production costs and retrofitting. B1's could pilot STAPs, AATs, MTTs, and Federation battleships, among other vessels. The B1 battle droids were also designed to be able to fold into a compact stowed configuration. One of the uses of this configuration was storage for transport, as in this configuration one hundred and twelve B1 battle droids could be stored into a Multi-Troop Transport. B1 battle droids could also fold into this configuration when they were low on power and needed to close down to recharge. B1 battle droids were also designed to resemble their Geonosian creators.

For protection, inexpensive yet durable metal protected the droid's signal receiver assembly. This metal did not protect B1 battle droids against blaster fire or lightsabers, which could easily destroy the units, however Clone Captain Rex would later state that the only true way to take out a B1 battle droid was to take out their head. Rex stated this was because the droids didn't even require their bodies to report intel back to command. Later into the Clone Wars, Separatist Duke Solha, as well as his brother and sister, operated a droid factory on Mokivj that created B1 battle droids, as well as B2 super battle droids, made from cortosis. The cortosis was from a nearby mine, and this metal made the droids more resistant to blaster bolts and even more resistant to lightsabers. This factory was ultimately destroyed in the Mokivj catastrophe.

Performance
The B1 was designed to be easily controlled, inexpensive to mass-produce, and designed to be unquestioningly obedient, however despite this being their design there were instances where B1s would questions their orders, and/or would comment on them. When General Grievous ordered that all fighters be launched to combat Anakin Skywalker during the Republic's mission to sweep the outer corridor of space, a droid stated that it did not believe every fighter was necessary to take out Skywalker, but ultimately followed its orders. Another example was during the Battle of Quell, in which T-series tactical droid TF-1726 gave the order to destroy Aayla Secura's Venator-class Star Destroyer. A B1 battle droid disagreed with this, and brought up that there still hundreds of battle droids on board the cruiser. These droids had sent to attack the Republic Star Destroyer earlier in the battle, but TF-1726 only responded that he didn't care, and the B1 followed it's orders to fire on the enemy ship. Another example of this was when a B1 questioned the hired bounty hunter Cad Bane's decision not to launch reinforcements to the vulture droids engaging Republic forces during the Battle of Devaron. Later during the battle two B1s panicked over their orders to defend the starship's bridge, knowing how only the few droids stationed on the bridge would be defending against incoming Jedi. During a storm in the final acts of the Second Battle of Geonosis, O.M.5 and another B1 battle droid questioned where Separatist Council member Poggle the Lesser was leading them, but the pair continued to follow him for as long as they could.

These examples of B1s questions and commenting on their orders   all additionally served as examples of the "banter" and other comments that the B1 battle droids would say. Other examples were when two B1 battle droids discussed getting maintenance due to the high amounts of moisture on the Battlesphere they were stationed on, Skytop Station, and when a group of B1 battle droids talked about how they believed they were superior models to the older RB-551. B1 battle droids also said other types of comments during duty, such as how one B1 battle droid commented on the beauty of the planet Hissrich, and how one B1 insulted Republic clone troopers during the Battle of Teth, calling the clones of Torrent Company "Republic dogs." One B1 battle droid seemly saw itself as being above the astromech droids of D-Squad, as it called them "stupid astromechs."

The B1 primarily relied on mass-assault tactics to achieve victory. Although later models were capable of independent thought, they had a limited intelligence compared to other soldiers and required a superior commander to lead them effectively in battle. Motion-capture data from highly trained organic soldiers allowed the B1 to demonstrate an array of combat stances, positions, and maneuvers. Despite their advantages, B1's were just as vulnerable to EMP weapons as other droids. The Gungan Grand Army used this tactic during the Battle of Naboo when they used boomas against the Trade Federation Droid Army. During the Clone Wars the Republic also used this advantage. Clone troopers used Electro Magnetic Pulse grenades, which were nicknamed "droid poppers" by the clones, and in 21 BBY the Republic developed the electro-proton bomb, which could short-circuit an entire droid army.

In the field, B1 droids often utilized E-5 blaster rifles and wore Comlink booster packs. The droids were also known to use electrobinoculars and thermal detonators in the field. B1 battle droids were programmed to never surrender, however despite this there were instances where they attempted to escape or surrender. B1 battle droids were also able to hold military ranks such as the rank of sergeant and the rank of lieutenant.

Origin
"Some of you gathered here today are old enough to remember when Baktoid Armor Workshop came to Geonosis and struck a deal with us to build foundries and produce battle droids and other automata for which we were handsomely rewarded."

- Poggle the Lesser to the Geonosians

B1 battle droids were manufactured by Baktoid Combat Automata and Baktoid Armor Workshop under contract from the Trade Federation. Based on the OOM-series battle droid, the first iterations of B1 battle droids were constructed in droid foundries on Geonosis, allowing millions of droids to be produced at one time.

Invasion of Naboo
"Finally the mackineeks gottin us surround, but mesa and the rest, we just looked at each other smiling. We was going to rush them. We didn't care about their flashers. We just had a feeling that we'd like seeing what we could be doing. And that's when the mackineeks switched off."

- Oma Prumba's account on the end of the Battle of Naboo

In 32 BBY, after Prop 31-814D made the Trade Federation eligible for taxation by the Galactic Senate, the Federation initiated a blockade of the planet Naboo. The Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui-Gon Jinn were sent to negotiate with the Federation, but the negotiations were thwarted when Darth Sidious contacted Neimoidian Viceroy Nute Gunray and ordered him to kill the Jedi. Although the two Jedi were able to escape, the Trade Federation sent an invasion force to Naboo in hopes of forcing Queen Padmé Amidala to sign a treaty which would legitimize the occupation. However, the droids were shut down when the Trade Federation's orbiting Droid Control Ship was destroyed.

Clone Wars
"You expect victory over Jedi, but all you give me to fight them is battle droids!"

- General Grievous to Count Dooku

In 22 BBY, ten years after the Battle of Naboo, the Federation provided B1 battle droid forces to the Confederacy of Independent Systems, a secessionist movement composed of wealthy industrialists and disgruntled citizens of the Outer Systems, and the Confederacy's Droid Army. The Separatist Crisis soon broke into full war at the Battle of Geonosis, and the Separatists officially waged war against the Galactic Republic and it's newly released clone army in a conflict known as the Clone Wars. During the Clone Wars, B1 battle droids were the most common form of battle droid, to the point where there were often one hundred B1 battle droids on a battle field for every one B2 super battle droid. However despite their numbers they were not as effective as the experienced Clone troopers of the Republic. During the war, many Separatist leaders voiced their anger at the failures of the B1, particularly the Supreme Commander of the Droid Army, General Grievous. The droids were used throughout the entire conflict, and when not used on the front lines this model of droid could be seen patrolling on Separatist worlds and military locations, such as ships and bases. In addition to their use against the Republic in the multiple battles and campaigns of the Clone Wars, the droids also saw action against other the enemies of the Confederacy, such as the Nightsisters at the Battle of Dathomir and Darth Maul's Shadow Collective during the Confederacy’s campaign against them.

Age of the Empire
"Send a message to the ships of the Trade Federation. All droid units must shut down immediately."

- Darth Sidious to Darth Vader

Battle droids were outlawed by the Galactic Empire, the totalitarian state that replaced the Republic, in the wake of the destructive conflict in 19 BBY. Orders were given to stormtroopers to shoot and destroy "clankers" on sight. By 2 BBY, the super tactical droid Kalani continued to command several battle droids and droidekas at a wrecked Separatist supply ship on Agamar. These droids had not received the shut-down code issued years prior. After the rebel group known as the Spectres made contact with the Separatist remnant, the two forces joined to fight off an Imperial attack. With the aid of two Jedi, Kalani and several of his B1 battle droids were able to escape the planet in a Sheathipede-class transport shuttle.

Legacy
"A battle droid? You wanted to show us... a battle droid? The most incompetent droid soldier in the history of both the Republic and Empire. A mechanical comedy of errors."

- Makarial Gravin, upon seeing Mister Bones

The wide-scale use of the B1 battle droid and its variants in combat led to an increase in anti-droid propaganda and rhetoric following the Clone Wars. When several thugs saw the modified battle droid Mister Bones deployed by Temmin Wexley in the last months of the Galactic Civil War, they laughed at the droid, due to the model's history of failures. However this droid was modified, and proved to be very effective.

Notable Individuals
"I PERFORMED VIOLENCE. ROGER-ROGER."

- Mister Bones, to Temmin Wexley

Some notable B1 battle droids included the OOM command battle droids OOM-9 and B1-268. During the Galactic Civil War, the modified battle droid Mister Bones served as a companion to Temmin Wexley. Following the Rebellion on Akiva, Mister Bones along with Temmin and his mother Norra Wexley joined the New Republic.

Specialized B1 battle droids
Fighting in uniformity, the B1 was only distinguished by numerical markings on the back of their comlink booster packs. Command structure and function was designated by distinct, colored markings on their armor. Blue denoted pilot droids, red denoted security droids, and yellow denoted command droids.


 * B1-series rocket battle droid&mdash;B1s that were deployed to hunt down and destroy escape pods. They donned rocket packs and were distinguished by their orange and black colored bodies.
 * B1 grapple droid&mdash;A B1 variant that were specialized in hand-to-hand combat and had white and green plating.
 * Firefighter battle droid&mdash;B1s designed to suppress and extinguish fires. Firefighter droids were positioned aboard the Malevolence during the Republic's assault on the vessel. Their bodies were mostly colored black with yellow stripes and a single red spot could be found on their heads.
 * Heavy battle droid&mdash;B1s designed to support heavy fire in battle. Armed with repeating blasters, these battle droids were capable of wielding heavy weaponry such as Z-6 rotary blaster cannons. They were identifiable by the overall gray body and dark red paintings.
 * Security Battle Droid&mdash;B1s designed for security, also known as Specialist Droids. These B1s were identifiable by the distinctive red markings on the back of the head and body. They were used in the Invasion of Naboo by the Trade Federation and were incorporated into the Separatist Droid Army, tasked to patrol prisons like the Citadel, guard the hangar bays and command bridge of the Invisible Hand and act as snipers and heavy infantry for assaults on Republic worlds.

Behind the scenes
B1 battle droids first appeared in the 1999 film Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace.

Back in the mid-1990s, Doug Chiang's earliest designs of the battle droids were a nod to the helmets worn by the stormtroopers of the original trilogy, suggesting the evolution of large-scale combat in the Star Wars galaxy. The finished droid's proportions are reminiscent of African sculpture. Early design had towering droids twice the height of humans, but subsequent iterations brought their height down to human size.

Non-canon appearances

 * William Shakespeare's The Phantom of Menace: Star Wars Part the First
 * Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes
 * LEGO Star Wars: Droid Tales Episodes I-III
 * LEGO Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures
 * LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens (DLC)