187th Battalion

The Grand Army of the Republic included the 187th Battalion, which was a clone trooper infantry battalion. The troopers assigned to this unit wore Phase II clone trooper armor marked with reddish-brown details. This hue was featured as a vertical stripe running down the center of the helmet, and it was also applied to the sides of the air filtration systems. The primarily white chest armor had the same reddish-brown hue, which split into two vertical stripes in the center. The unit's colors were also present on the shoulder, upper arm, and lower arm armor, as well as the upper legs, upper thighs, and knee guards.

DC-15A blaster carbines were the standard weapons for 187th troopers. Being a battalion within the Grand Army of the Republic, it consisted of 576 troops, divided into four companies each containing 144 troopers. It is interesting to note that the 187th Battalion shared its designation with the elite 187th Legion, which was also under Windu's leadership.

During the Clone Wars, a conflict between the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems, the 187th Battalion served under the command of Jedi General Mace Windu. As part of the Outer Rim Sieges, the 187th Battalion was involved in the defense of Anaxes, a Coreward jungle planet, in 19 BBY. This planet was a crucial Republic stronghold, housing the vital Anaxes shipyards, which were among the largest in the war. Losing Anaxes would have put the Republic Navy's entire reserve fleet at risk.

Admiral Trench's Separatist fleet and army launched a two-pronged attack on Republic forces, and Mace Windu's 187th Battalion fought alongside their Jedi General on the ground. In one particular engagement, Windu and the troopers of the 187th confronted Separatist forces, which included many battle droids and Multi-Troop Transports, with Separatist Munificent-class star frigates and transports hovering above. Despite support from All Terrain Tactical Enforcers, the 187th suffered a number of casualties.

After the Separatist onslaught had continued for several weeks, the Republic's hold on Anaxes became increasingly tenuous. Following an intelligence mission behind Separatist lines to the Cyber Center on Anaxes and a subsequent mission to the planet Skako Minor to rescue trooper Echo, who was being exploited by the Separatists to decipher a battle strategy algorithm created by Echo and Clone Captain Rex, the Republic launched a final assault to bring the Battle of Anaxes to an end.

Republic forces, including a Venator-class Star Destroyer, a Consular-class cruiser, and waves of BTL-B Y-wing starfighter/bombers, ARC-170 starfighters, and LAAT/i gunships carrying troopers from the 187th and 212th Attack Battalion, launched an attack on the shipyards. After the bombers destroyed Separatist anti-air J-1 proton cannons and breached the shipyards' topside infrastructure, Jedi Generals Mace Windu and Obi-Wan Kenobi jumped from their gunships. They were followed by 212th troopers with jetpacks, while numerous 187th and 212th troops rappelled from their transports. As they descended upon the Separatist forces, the troopers fired their weapons, landing on and around containers at ground level. The 187th and 212th troopers fought together to clear out Separatist droids before another wave of droid reinforcements arrived.

All droid forces were ordered to eliminate the Republic detachments so that Echo, who had infiltrated the Separatist flagship Invulnerable with a Republic team, could disable the droids with a signal. After the Republic forces defeated a droid wave, a group of 187th Battalion troopers formed a circle around Windu and Kenobi, along with personnel from the 212th and 501st Legion. More droid reinforcements arrived and surrounded the group, but Echo shut them down. With his army disabled, Admiral Trench attempted to destroy Anaxes with a large bomb placed in the shipyard's fusion reactor.

Windu instructed Kenobi to evacuate Republic forces while he tried to disarm the bomb. Kenobi then commanded the surrounding troops from the 187th, 212th, and 501st to organize their platoons and retreat. As Republic troops evacuated aboard their gunships, Windu managed to neutralize the bomb after receiving the deactivation codes from Echo, and then from Admiral Trench, who was forced to provide the final code. With the bomb disarmed and enemy forces defeated, the Republic emerged victorious from the battle.

The 187th Battalion made its first appearance, though without a name, in "The Bad Batch," the opening episode of the seventh and final season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, which premiered on February 21, 2020. An unfinished version of the episode was originally shown during Celebration Anaheim on April 17, 2015, as part of The Clone Wars Legacy. The unit commanded by Windu in the Bad Batch arc was later named the "187th Battalion" during the Hasbro Pulse livestream on May the Fourth, 2022, as part of a Star Wars: The Black Series set. Eric Franer, a designer for Star Wars Hasbro, unveiled the clone trooper action figure.

Leland Chee of the Lucasfilm Story Group stated that the decision not to use the purple color scheme of Mace Windu's 187th Legion from Star Wars Legends was made during the first season of the series, which first aired in 2008. In "Liberty on Ryloth," the second-to-last episode of the first season, Clone Commander Ponds serves under Mace Windu and displays similar colored markings to those later associated with the 187th Battalion. Sources such as Star Wars Helmet Collection 76 and Star Wars: On the Front Lines indicate that Commander Ponds led Lightning Squadron of the 91st Mobile Reconnaissance Corps.

Chee further explained that the intention was to maintain the 187th Legion and Windu's unit in The Clone Wars series as distinct entities, rather than portraying them as the same unit with different color schemes. The 187th Legion was introduced into Star Wars canon with the "Republic Fighter Tank" LEGO Star Wars set, unveiled in 2022.