Defense nerds and “Star Wars”: A symposium on the battle of Hoth
Many took issue with my argument that Hoth represented a military debacle for the Galactic Empire. …
My responses are less interesting than those that others can provide. So we at Danger Room widened the aperture and brought in six military nerds — soldiers, academics, bloggers — with a similarly abiding love for Star Wars. Some agree with me, most disagree with me, and all add keen insights, except for when they disagree with me. In any event, check out their thoughts on Hoth, for the Force is strong with them.
Vader Lost Bigger at Bespin
If Hoth was a defeat for Darth Vader, as Spencer Ackerman contends, it was a short-lived one at best. Thanks to well-conceived contingency plans, and a judicious use of nefarious private military contractors, Darth Vader was still well along the path to achieving his ultimate strategic objective: turning Luke Skywalker to the Dark Side of the Force, and finally overthrowing the Emperor. Of course, Vader’s agenda only tangentially marries up with that of the Imperial Forces at large, and is cross-purposes with that of the Emperor. Thus, Vader’s true objective in the attack on Hoth is not the destruction of the Rebel Alliance, but rather, capturing Luke. In many ways, Darth Vader is a one-man shadow government, who seeks to find and shelter the religious extremist responsible for the greatest terrorist act ever perpetrated against the Empire — all to further his own personal political agenda.
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Major failure for the Empire: Operation Winter Storm led by Hermann Hoth‘s 4th Panzer Army. Coincidence?
forest on February 14, 2013 at 1:35 PM
I remember as a kid seeing this movie and wondering basically the same thing. If the Walkers could land and attack, why did they need to destroy the shield generator before Vader could land.
Whatever, back then it was still a pretty cool scene.
Bishop on February 14, 2013 at 1:40 PM
Yeah, I never quite understood the point of destroying the shield generator. It obviously didn’t cover the entire planet, just the rebel base. And Vader was within the base in what seemed like mere seconds after General Veers took out the shield generator. Was it there just to protect against blasts from the Star Destroyers? If so, why didn’t they just blow it to smithereens the moment the shield was no longer up?
Doughboy on February 14, 2013 at 1:55 PM
Why didn’t Attackerman just smash their [sic] through a plate glass window?
ramesees on February 14, 2013 at 1:58 PM
What always bugged me was why the ‘speeders charged the walkers head-on…when the only place the AT-ATs have guns is on the front. Did the terrain make it THAT impossible to do an end-around since the speeders are repulsorcraft (ie; not truly flight-capable) or what?
1. Shields in the SW universe are energy deflectors (hence them being called “deflector shields”), not physical object barriers, which are more properly called forcefields.
2. You (usually) don’t bring in your Big Kahuna until the enemy forces have been pretty well pacified.
Well duh. Even if the Rebels had the resources to shield the planet, nowhere but Hoth’s equator was anything but an even WORSE ice-wasteland, utterly worthless for anything.
And remember the situation at Hoth was a fighting withdrawal while they were trying to evacuate. The energy shield was to keep Star Destroyers from blasting their transports and space-capable fighters with their space-to-surface batteries before they could even get off the launchpad.
By the time the base was pacified to the point Vader was walking down the hallway, there was no point in long-range bombardment any longer. Basically everyone that could leave had done so and the only reason to melt the base would be out of spite.
MelonCollie on February 14, 2013 at 2:28 PM
I thought that the battle of Hoth was the biggest victory by the Empire against the Rebels…
mnjg on February 14, 2013 at 2:45 PM
One of my favorites in this vein: Tarkin orders the Death Star to fire on and destroy the entire planet of Alderan with one laser pulse.
Boom. Whole planet wiped out by the dudes in the freaky black bike helmets.
So, why is it that when the Death star catches up to the rebels hiding on a moon orbiting the planet Yavin, the Death star must wait for the moon to clear past Yavins orbit to take their shot?
Star Wars might have ended a full half-hour early, and final scene is not the medal ceremony but a close up of Luke and the Gang looking up to see the Death Star cut Yavin in 2 and dropping a Nevada-sized chunk of Yavin right onto the rebel base.
Sacramento on February 14, 2013 at 3:26 PM
Well an Imperial victory of some kind was inevitable. The Rebels didn’t have the force to destroy the invasion fleet, and not even all of their ‘speeders (which were converted civilian craft) were battle-ready. Their lone surface-to-space weapon could only disable the Destroyers’ weaponry long enough for SOME of the evacuation fleet to escape. Without that or their base shield it would have gone from “victory” to “curbstomp”.
A good thought, but what Vader wanted was the confirmed obliteration of their moonside base. “Blow up the planet and hope they all get smacked by a chunk of Yavin-rubble” is simply not his style.
MelonCollie on February 14, 2013 at 6:59 PM