Mudtroopers, also called swamp troopers, were a specialized division of the Imperial Army trooper under the Galactic Empire, operating independently from the main Stormtrooper Corps.
While the Imperial Naval Academy on Carida focused on training Imperial cadets to become Imperial Starfighter Pilots, these cadets also received swamp trooper training, which included navigating swamps and trenches, as well as mountain climbing, while wearing swamp trooper armor. Cadets at the Imperial naval academy who were considered to be disobedient, such as Han Solo, were frequently reassigned to serve as infantry, becoming swamp troopers.
During the Mimban Campaign, the swamp troopers of the 224th Imperial Armored Division participated in combat on the swamp planet of Mimban. This campaign involved the Empire fighting against the Mimbanese Liberation Army for control of the planet and its crucial resources. Before deserting with the Wookiee named Chewbacca to join Tobias Beckett's gang, Solo was a swamp trooper.
The swamp troopers were a division of Imperial Army trooper that operated separately from the Stormtrooper Corps. Troopers in the standard infantry were identified by a red band worn on their bicep. Medics fought alongside the regular swamp troopers and were identifiable by a white band on their right bicep.
The equipment of swamp troopers included helmets and chest plates that were similar to the battle armor used by Imperial officers. Due to the dangerous conditions of many worlds that the Empire conquered, the troopers wore goggles to protect their eyes and oxygen masks to filter out any potentially harmful substances, though the swamp troopers did not always wear their masks during combat. Swamp troopers were armed with SX-21 pump-action scatter blasters, E-10 blaster rifles, E-11 medium blaster rifles, E-22 reciprocating double-barreled blaster rifles, DLT-19 heavy blaster rifles, and EC-17 hold-out blasters.
Entertainment Weekly first revealed the swamp troopers on February 7, 2018 during their coverage of Solo: A Star Wars Story. Inaccurately, Star Wars: Battles that Changed the Galaxy describes swamp troopers as a combination of Army troopers and stormtroopers, when in reality, the stormtroopers involved in campaigns like the war for Mimban were a distinct variant: the wet-weather gear stormtrooper.