Battle of Hoth question?

My question is this.....didn't the rebels know that AT-AT's were imprevious to speeder blasters before the battle?? Also, they had X-Wings in the snow cave...Why not use them and their proton torpedoes??? Just wondering...And why did the 1 AT-AT blow up after being tripped if blasters were ineffective?

 

They should've known about how AT-ATs because the guy who first saw them told the base that "Imperial walkers" were coming as if the rebels knew about them. He didn't say something like "What are those?" I think the X-wings hadn't been adapted to fly in the cold yet. Also, the part where the walker that tripped explodes from blaster fire always annoyed me. That's what I think.

 

My question is this.....didn't the rebels know that AT-AT's were imprevious to speeder blasters before the battle??

Maybe not. The speeders were relatively new craft, I think. And you never really know until you try, right?

Also, they had X-Wings in the snow cave...Why not use them and their proton torpedoes???

X-wings were needed for escorting the transports in space, I figure. Also, they're much, much larger and make bigger targets for the walker guns, and each is too valuable to risk in a losing battle. Remember, the whole fight is only a holding action to help the evacuation.

Just wondering...And why did the 1 AT-AT blow up after being tripped if blasters were ineffective?

The blaster shots ignited the ATAT's gas leak!!! Or the walker was already blowing up from the inside, and that speeder pilot thought he was SUCH an ace because of it. (He's the one who gets casually shot down by General Veers' walker. I just BET it's him.)

 

The real reason why they didn't use X-Wings is that back in 1980, all of us already had our X-Wing toy and George knew we might not want to buy another one, so he added a new toy

 

maybe they know about the imperial walker and maybe not, this guy that say "imperial walkers" maybe just invent a name, because you know, they are from the empire and they walk, so they are "imperial walkers"...

 

I would think they know about imperial walkers. The Republic had walkers. They weren't exactly new technology.

I did read an article a while back (might have been in the SW Technical Commentaries) that had some good stuff about the Battle of Hoth. Like were the Rebels surprised to see walkers, or just AT-AT walkers? Was the AT-AT used for combat, or for control once the Empire took control of a planet? Where was the air support? Did the rebel shield prevent the use of TIE fighters?

 

luke says "amor's too strong for blasters" but he did not say this until the first couple of runs had already happend.

as for the x-wings, i would go with the escorting and that they were too expensive.

as for the AT-AT exploding after being toppled over, i think that the pilot hit a weak spot or a kink in the amor.

 

I have to wonder about the effectiveness of an AT-AT as a weapon. In modern day combat, tanks do quite poorly against aircraft (think Iraqi tanks vs A-10's). An AT-AT is 5-6 times the size of a tank and can only fire in a small arc facing forward. The only reason they were able to kill so many Snowspeeders was because those pilots thought it'd be fun to fly into that arc of fire.

However, if you were to arm a small aircraft with missiles/torpedoes and have it fly around in that big area where the AT-AT can't hit you...well let's just say it's a shot even Jar-Jar Binks can't miss.

 

didn't the rebels know that AT-AT's were imprevious to speeder blasters before the battle??

We have no way of knowing. But then again, neither did the rebels. Their speeders are new, maybe they would work.
On the other hand, do you know what is effective and what isn't at penetrating an M1A Abrams skin? Are you sure?

they had X-Wings in the snow cave...Why not use them and their proton torpedoes???

There are already a thousand threads on this. Look them up.
The most common answers are:
1) the Shield prevented them from working, or being effective. They may simply move too fast to function well under the shield. The same reason the Empire didn't use TIEs.
2) The X-wings aren't able to function well within the icy atmosphere.
3) All the fighters were needed for escort.
4) They could have, but why? Destroying the walkers is spiffy fun, but it accomplishes nothing. The Empire is still going to overrun them.

why did the 1 AT-AT blow up after being tripped if blasters were ineffective?

The tipping ruptured it's power core. The T-47 shots hitting as it exploded is a coincedence.

 

I think the X-wings hadn't been adapted to fly in the cold yet.

Although SW is clearly far from actual science... this is a little silly considering that X-wings fly in the coldness of space.

I think the shield explanation works best. The Infinities comic even shows how different the outcome of the battle could have been had the Empire been able to use TIEs in the battle.

 

Why the speeders didn't attack from the huge arc where the AT-ATs guns couldn't get them is indeed a mystery. Though the walkers were somewhat staggered in their formation, perhaps to cover each other. Even so, the movie shows almost every speeder attacking from the front. Only Luke seems to catch on to the fact that attacking from the side would be a good idea. Anyone remember the old Empire Strikes Back Atari game? Every kid figured out that it was easier to strike from behind where the walker couldn't shoot at you. The Nintendo ESB game actually gave the walkers a gun on the back to keep you from performing that little tactic quite so easily.

I would just chalk it up to movie writers/storyboarders who don't have any concept of military strategy. They would be the same ones who oversaw how the Imperials would react to the Ewoks attack in ROTJ, the troopers on the Blockade Runner preparing to fight an Imperial boarding party by standing out in the open with zero cover, or the rebels insane tactics in the trench runs in ANH.

 

Although SW is clearly far from actual science... this is a little silly considering that X-wings fly in the coldness of space.


True. However, they are also designed to fly in the dryness of space. They may have had issues with extended flight in the Hoth atmosphere due to ice forming on the wings or in the engines.

I agree though that the shield explination is the best one, and I go with that.

As for the walkers having no backward guns, I guess it shows the Empire's thoughts on strategy. Which would be Attack. Always attack.
Also remember that the AT-ATs aren't full blown war machines, they're just troop transports.

 

1) the Shield prevented them from working, or being effective. They may simply move too fast to function well under the shield. The same reason the Empire didn't use TIEs.
2) The X-wings aren't able to function well within the icy atmosphere.
3) All the fighters were needed for escort.
4) They could have, but why? Destroying the walkers is spiffy fun, but it accomplishes nothing. The Empire is still going to overrun them.

Well, considering that AT-AT's have that miniscule arc of fire, you don't even need the whole X-wing to kill one of them. You just need the repulsorlift, and the torpedo launchers, which should work fine in the weather. As for #3 and 4, the Rebels didn't launch all their transports at once, so X-wings are still hanging around doing nothing. Why not let them have some fun with the Imperial ground forces?

 

True. However, they are also designed to fly in the dryness of space. They may have had issues with extended flight in the Hoth atmosphere due to ice forming on the wings or in the engines.

That's true, it seems it's more a question of the snow and ice rather than the actual temperature.

Does anyone think it weird that they to adapt the snow-speeder for cold-weather conditions?

 

>> Does anyone think it weird that they to adapt the snow-speeder for cold-weather conditions?<<

They were adapted AIRspeeders.
They were never Snow-speeders first.

 

I suppose the reason the fighters attacked from the front was so they could destroy the walker cockpit 'heads'.

The x-wings were needed to defend the transports.

The rebels had probably encountered AT ATs before, but never stuck around long enough to know exactly how strong the armour was.

As for the walker blowing up, I've heard three explanations
-The fall cracked the armour of the walker so the blaster fire was able to hit the power generator.
-The pilot was able to hit the neck when the walker was lying on the ground at that angle.
-The power generator was already damaged from the fall and the blaster fire just sped up the process of it exploding.

 

Everybody missing a big point with this question, Why oh Why would a spacecraft(I dont think snowspeeders are meant for space, because luke switched over to an x-wing and just as well went to yoda's hut in the snowspeeder) or atmospheric craft have a harpoon gun, going fishing? Someone needs to explain this to me, obivosuly they wasn't meant just for the at-at, or more of the snowspeeders would have done it in the beginninng, and you do not make a snowspeeder just for a chance that the empire will use at-at's in a battle.


another thing i dont know why vader was upset when they appeared to early in the planet's system. once the star destroyers appeared closer to the planet and fired a few shots, i dont see why they cannot turn on the shield's right away, anyway. That still doesnt make sense to me.

the whole precurser of the battle doesnt make anysense to me. but it is just amovie.

 

Well, what if the snow speeders were built as atrol craft, and included harpoons to pick up anything interesting they might find...? fter all, the snow speeder was built exclusively for Hoth. I mean, the rebels won't have much use for it on Yavin.

 

From what I know, Echo base was pretty scattered around. They had the main base, and then several outposts surrounding it. So if one of those outposts needed re-supplying they could probably have one of the Snowspeeders pick up a cargo barge and drag it out there.

 

I have a question, off the subject, but still a Battle of Hoth question. At the end of the battle when the Imperial Walkers are getting closer to the base, one of the Alliance yells "retreat!" Then I'm sure I hear one of them yell out "Oh,God" Does anyone hear this too? Is there a God in Star Wars?

 

I think the snowspeeders had the harpoons and towcables so they could skim over the surface of the ground and tow cargo behind them, like a boat or a U-Haul trailer. The trailer would maybe have repulsors of its own so it could hover, or have wheels, or on Hoth maybe was a sled.

 

The X-wings were needed to protect the transports from the Imperial fleet. They just couldn't be used because if they did, the transports would have been easy pickings for the Fleet. Someone needed to the transporters and X-wings were all they had.(Though you can use them in the video game against the AT-ATs.)