Armored Assault Tank (AAT) - CW - Vehicles

Begun the Clone War has!" – Jedi Master Yoda
On the remote planet of Geonosis, the growing conflict between the Republic and its foes explodes into all-out war. The Republic's Jedi Knights lead a massive Clone Army into battle on hundreds of planets. The Separatists, led by the powerful Dark Lords of the Sith, fight back with their own formidable droid armies. As this terrible conflict rips across the galaxy, Anakin Skywalker, Padmé Amidala and Obi-Wan Kenobi are swept into the turmoil of war and the rising shadow of the dark side.

The marriage of repulsorlift and heavy armor has resulted in formidable floating tanks known as AATs. These assault tanks form the frontline of Trade Federation armored infantry divisions. A crew of battle droids drives the battle tank and operates the array of laser and projectile weaponry carried by the vehicle.

Although we got our task of them in The Phantom Menace, the Armored Assault Tank (AAT) vehicles also played an important part in Genndy Tartakovsky’s Clone Wars micro-series. Making their debut in Volume 1: Chapter 3, ARC Trooper Fordo and his team encounter the Separatist Droid Army in a violent battle for the city’s control. Colored similarly to the Armored Assault Tanks we see in Episode I, this time the B1 battle droids that pilot them match the color of the battle droids seen during the Battle of Geonosis. Because of this, Hasbro changed the color of the B1 battle droid utilized here as the “exploding” action feature here to represent the droids featured in the micro-series. With a different deco and a differently colored battle droid pilot, the Clone Wars Armored Assault Tank (AAT) is another fine addition to the toy line, and it will likely be a focus for inclusion in your collection. Hasbro didn’t make any tooling updates to the Trade Federation Armored Assault Tank (AAT), but as mentioned, the paint job on the vehicle is changed, and for most collectors, that’s enough reason to warrant a repurchase. It doesn’t take much to generate interest in Star Wars collectors.

The Armored Assault Tank (AAT) is primarily cast in a light tan plastic. But it has a mix of colors too. Certain contours of the vehicle are painted in different colors to help define its shape better. And other motorized parts are a different color too to help show that as well. The Armored Assault Tank (AAT) lacks spray-on applications and washes to give the vehicle a battle-worn look and texture, but there did add some “soot” where the projectiles fire and the deco looks great. The Armored Assault Tank (AAT) is mostly shiny, also as if the vehicle just entered the Clone Wars for the first time. But in all honesty, that’s how most of them look in the Clone Wars micro-series. Hasbro did a great job at copying its appearances from the animated shorts. Hasbro carried forward the same play features forward to help keep things consistent. The Armored Assault Tank (AAT) comes with a main articulated cannon, two rotating side cannons. And then there are four projectiles that fire from the platform area of the vehicle when the button on the back is pressed. Missing is a Confederacy of Independent Systems insignia on the vehicle’s exterior, but unless it’s a close-up shot in the Clone Wars show, details like that aren’t visible.

The cockpit has the potential to house a B1 battle droid of your choice. With all of the fantastic Battle Droid action figures Hasbro made for us throughout the years, we have a variety of options from which to choose. They all function well with this design of the Armored Assault Tank (AAT), and we’re happy to see great interaction between figures and the vehicles they pilot. As Hasbro develops better sculpts of pilot figures, the vehicles will look better outfitted with them for obvious reasons. More articulation means greater interaction with the other things Hasbro produces in the toy line. We’re not crazy about the damaged battle droid action feature. It’s a lot of wasted space that could be used for better things like a piloting chair, or a console area. The Clone Wars Armored Assault Tank (AAT) is a simple update to the classic modern Prequel Trilogy vehicle. We imagine more are imminent in the toy line for the future, working them into the video games and other Expanded Universe sources. We’re happy to see that Hasbro is making Armored Assault Tanks (AATs) for the toy line. They’re a core necessity for Separatist versus Republic play. And they look great as vehicles.