The New Republic’s rise reduced the once-mighty Empire to a rump state hemmed in by strict disarmament treaties and punishing reparations. But in the galaxy’s Unknown Regions, former Imperial officers, nobles and technologists plotted a return to power, building fleets and armies in secret. This movement became the First Order, ruled by Supreme Leader Snoke, and is now ready to reclaim the Imperial legacy.

Clad in distinctive armor of salvaged chromium, Captain Phasma commands the First Order’s legions of stormtroopers. A tough veteran commander, she has no use for fancy titles or complex war rooms, preferring to lead her troops in battle against the First Order’s enemies. A determined survivor, Phasma betrayed the First Order on Starkiller Base. She managed to conceal her treachery, but fell in battle against Finn, one of her former soldiers.

Deep in the Unknown Regions, the First Order constructed a superweapon that used an entire planet as its weapons platform. The deadly Starkiller harvested energy from its system’s star, contained it within magnetic fields inside the planetary core, and then converted that energy into an ultra-powerful beam that blasted through hyperspace, able to sterilize the worlds of a distant star system with a single shot. Starkiller Base’s first shot obliterated the New Republic capital of Hosnian Prime. The planet was then destroyed in a daring Resistance raid.

Now uninhabited, Crait is a mineral world dusted by a layer of white salt, reflecting the planet's sunlight. It was once the site of a Rebel Alliance outpost, and has become a haven for the fleeing Resistance forces.

Snowtroopers are stormtroopers trained for operations in arctic conditions and equipped with specialized gear to protect them against cold. When deployed, snowtroopers wear breath heaters and protective hoods, insulated suits and belt capes, rugged boots, heating units and survival backpacks. During the Battle of Hoth, snowtroopers under General Veers’ command were deployed from AT-AT Walkers and quickly and ruthlessly took control of Echo Base.

The First Order’s infantry units wear stark white armor derived from that worn by the Republic’s clone troopers and the Empire’s stormtroopers. Members of this new generation of stormtroopers are trained from birth, growing up with unit designations instead of names and fed a steady diet of First Order propaganda to ensure absolute loyalty. Where the Empire opted for numbing routine, the First Order’s training simulations and live-fire drills encourage improvisation on the battlefield, making these stormtroopers more dangerous than their Imperial predecessors.