187th Battalion

This article is about the unit present during the Battle of Anaxes. You may be looking for the 187th Legion, Mace Windu's Attack Battalion, or the regiment of Galactic Marines led by Mace Windu.

The 187th Battalion was an infantry battalion of clone troopers that^[2] served under the command of Jedi General Mace Windu.^[3] The unit was equipped with standard Phase II clone trooper armor with maroon markings.^[1]

General Windu's clone troopers participated in the Battle of Anaxes alongside other Galactic Republic units, such as the 7th Sky Corps and the 501st Legion.^[1] Initially during the battle, the unit fought against Separatist Alliance ground forces with the support of All Terrain Tactical Enforcers,^[4] and later attacked the Anaxes shipyards after the Republic mission to Skako Minor in a final attempt to turn the tide of the battle. The engagement was successful, and the army of Separatist Admiral Trench was defeated by the Grand Army of the Republic.^[1] The 187th Battalion shared the same unit designation as the 187th Legion, another unit led by Windu.^[5]

Behind the scenes[]

"The decision not to use the purple color scheme in Clone Wars goes back to CW Season 1, though I can't speak to why. It's a conscious decision to try [to] keep them as different units rather than the same unit that uses two different color schemes."

―Story Group member Leland Chee^[6]

The 187th Battalion first appeared, albeit unnamed, in "The Bad Batch," the first episode of the seventh and final season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars that aired in February 21, 2020.^[4] Originally, the episode aired during Celebration Anaheim on April 17, 2015 in an unfinished format as part of The Clone Wars Legacy.^[7] According to Lucasfilm Story Group member Leland Chee, the decision to not use the purple color scheme^[6] of Mace Windu's 187th Legion from Star Wars Legends was made in the first season of the series,^[6] first airing in 2008.^[8] In "Liberty on Ryloth," the penultimate episode of the first season, Clone Commander Ponds serves under Mace Windu and sports similar colored markings to the unit.^[9] Sources including Star Wars Helmet Collection 76^[10] and Star Wars: On the Front Lines^[11] clarify that Commander Ponds served as the leader of Lightning Squadron^[10] of the 91st Mobile Reconnaissance Corps.^[11]

MaceWindu91stReconBadBatch — Mace Windu leads his clone troopers into battle in the unfinished version of "The Bad Batch."

Chee further elaborated that it was a conscious decision to try to keep the 187th Legion and Windu's unit in The Clone Wars series as different units rather than the same unit that uses two different color schemes.^[6] The 187th Legion debuted in Star Wars canon in the LEGO Star Wars "Republic Fighter Tank" set that was revealed in 2022.^[12] Windu's unit within the Bad Batch arc^[4] was later named the "187th Battalion" on the Hasbro Pulse livestream for May the Fourth, 2022 as a Star Wars: The Black Series set.^[2]