Everything Wrong with the Battle of Hoth

[@fuckingCOOL100]

Padme: if you have 10 children and 7 chairs what do you do? Obi-Wan: get 3 chairs. Anakin: kill 3 kids.

[@spartandud3]

" -Master Skywalker- I mean Council Member Skywalker, There's too many of them...."

[@selfloathinggameing]

*kill 10 children

[@DonChij]

Ridle stolen. I saw that meme 4 years ago

[@stephenfender5895]

That time... when General Veers meets Han Solo... and they look for the Holy Grail. Good times.

[@GenerationTech]

lol

[@tunguskalumberjack9987]

Haha- good call!

[@gabrieldjatienza6971]

Ozzel pretended to be dead from force choke...he secretly went to earth under a fake identity.... Adolf Hitler. General Veers however, also went to earth under a fake name... Walter Donovan... Who tried but failed to gain the Holy Grail. Fake Hitler was assassinated by Erwin Rommel... who got punished by real Hitler!

[@galaxianstudios8934]

AT-ATs are good ideas as long as you have anti-air. Blasterfire and blaster cannons can't take em down. Rocket launchers couldn't even take down the much lighter armored AT-ACT let alone the actual combat walker. Anti-air means that the AT-AT is unstoppable. Edit: Wow thanks for all the likes. Great to see so many people interested in these kinds of topics. AT-ATs ftw.

[@ommexyt]

Galaxian Studios Unless you happen to have a Jedi with a lightsaber along with your infantry. Just chop off two or three legs and then chop off the head.

[@TheLPRnetwork]

KerbalOmmex but the Alliance only had 1 barley trained and 1 lightsaber. Galaxian Studios when you think about it, a 4 or 5 AT-AT team could almost act as a fortress covering all angles of attack by forming a defensive perimeter around a small area. with maybe some Anti-air in the center. Add a mobile shield generator (like the ones from episode 1 and clone wars) and you got a moving fortress

[@ryl0_or934]

Galaxian Studios Orbital Kinetic Bombardment. That said, of course, you can't really defend against a tungsten rod dropped from space...

[@toadofsteel]

The original plan called for orbital strikes and air superiority likely provided by TIE fighters. Ozzel, however, is as clumsy as he is stupid. AT-AT's are designed for assault (it's the second A in the acronym). With their thick armor, armaments on the sides and rear are wasteful unless their firing arcs can face forward as well. They're not designed to operate as a standalone unit, but in battle lines as seen in Empire Strikes back.

[@Chase_1734]

TheLPRnetwork they've got no rear of side defence so to improve on what you said add a rear gun and some side and lower turrets

[@flyboymb]

The simple reason for the Rebel speeders attacking the AT-ATs head on was that if they tried to go around, they'd leave the borders of the battlefield and be given 10 seconds to re-enter before their aircraft spontaneously exploded. Ten years of playing Battlefront 2 taught me that much.

[@luciusiluvatar7357]

I've heard a fan theory that Ozzel was actually a Rebel-sympathizer and thus deliberately came out of hyperspace in a way the Rebels could detect to give them a warning. Notably, earlier in the film, when he's shown footage of the planet by Darth Vader who indicates that the Rebel base was on Hoth, he tries to deny it.

[@sslim29205]

Yes he was and that's why Vader killed him.

[@Battleship009]

No he's just clumsy as he is stupid.

[@locustzedicus2437]

Legend Mara Jade reported him as either a dimwit or a rebel sympathizer. He also hated Vader.

[@EternalGaming786]

He did it to win a bet to eat some chicken wings :x

[@cptgofer1acb377]

In the Legends-canon X-wing series it is said as proof that Ozzel was a sympathizer and Piette had informed on him to Vader.

[@Dhenz66]

Waiting for the AT-ATs to pass by before ambushing them wouldn't be a good idea either, there were AT-STs moving along side of them to prevent that from happening. Luke managed to do it because he was shot down and found himself behind the advancing walkers and inside the STs formation.

[@brandonlyon730]

But the snowspeeders could have just as easily shot all of them down and at a good distance.

[@ambasutori9053]

Brandon Lyon I thougt their weapons weren't strong enough.

[@sheevone4359]

Martin Baumgartner they are enough effective against AT ST's

[@jangustl_wt2358]

Can you make a tutorial with How to hunt Ewoks?

[@ComradeDragon1957]

Jan Gustl_WT Followed by some great ewok recipes

[@OryxTheMadGod3]

dont use AT-STs

[@Sylwing]

or storm/scoutroopers..

[@Nugcon]

Orbital Bombardment.

[@GenerationTech]

human meat for bait

[@Zoloft77]

The tactic of transporting a contingent of Rebel soldiers to destroy the AT-ATs from the vulnerable underside is a good idea.... until they realize those walkers are escorted by AT-STs. However, the airspeeders could have focused on them first beforehand.

[@Bryan-dr5qy]

Zoloft77 Well wasn't the idea to distract the Walkers so that the Troops can evacuate before the shields get blown up?

[@dawnknightx]

Something that I was surprised was overlooked was that Luke needed his lightsaber to open up the underbelly to destroy the walker. Something tells me that the evacuating rebels might not have had enough time to set up speeders with cutting equipment to sneak around back of the walkers to disable them.

[@elliottbarth]

Great vid! The AT-AT problem for snowspeeders reminds me of the first rule to every video game where you play in the battle of Hoth: Rule #1: keep your speeder behind the AT-AT, _or else you're going to _*_die_*

[@forrestbyrnes8452]

TIE strikers would be perfect on Hoth. They could pick off snow speeders, fight X wings and bomb turrets.

[@GenerationTech]

+Micah Griffiths the problem is they would need to be walked into the shield

[@TacSon]

Easy. Just let a few imperial ground transport toll them inside the shield, then take off and assist the AT-ATs.

[@Ultraelectromagnetic]

Wouldn't the TIE Strikers need to be modified for the extreme climate of Hoth, like the Alliance T-47s had to be? Maybe they didn't have the time to do that? That might also be the reason why they didn't send in TIE bombers/fighters after the shields went down; maybe TIEs can't handle the climate (though X-Wing engines don't seem to have that problem).

[@DarkLordAzagthoth]

You only see the X-wing's fly away from Hoth. They did not engage in battle (only in space). Flying away on cruise speed might require less of an engine than combat flying.

[@jasonbarber5885]

Diego Magallona also the early TIE series of fighters were not pressurized and pilots had to wear suits that protected them in space and allowed them to breath. The rebels ships are pressurized and I'm assuming heated so they could operate on Hoth with some adjustments. Mostly the shield would make it difficult to get ships in and would have delayed the assault even more. At-At's going straight for the generator was the quickest plan of attack.

[@radiofreeutah5328]

3:20-Darth Vader being uncharacteristically cautious makes sense. He was still in the dog house for failing to protect the Death Star.

[@anthonydivon5571]

The comparison between General Veers and Field Marshall Rommel is excellent

[@OscarGarcia-kv2en]

Anthony Divon I thought I was the only one that thought so! 😶

[@Areanyusernamesleft]

Obviously Luke or some officer on Hoth read Veers's book. :p

[@TheLordoftheRavens]

Not really. Veers always had more men than his enemy, had virtually unlimited reinforcements, and was backed by an empire that had significantly greater industrial capacity than the rebels. Rommel, on the other hand, was outnumbered, had little assistance, and had to face opponents who could produce way more planes, tanks, etc. than his own country could. In Veers's position, it's pretty easy to win. In Rommel's, it's almost impossible.

[@amodsinyan.2151]

Anthony Divon instead of the desert fox he is the snow fox.

[@bjmccann1]

First of all, how did you know that I was wearing a black t-shirt???!!!! Secondly, while I don't blame writers and directors for not having military experience, I do fault them for not doing the research. (I guess that they devoted most of that time to thinking up a cute name for their ice planet.) A modern day battalion of combat engineers would've put up a much better defense of Hoth than the Rebels did. Hell, the Rebels had pick and shovel technology. A few wider and deeper trenches would've done wonders to slow down the Imperial assault. Keep up the good work.

[@daanwiemers7937]

bjmccann1 you shouldnt forget that the rebels had Just arrived 3/5 Months ago. They probably didnt had enough time

[@uniquelydavid]

I have to agree. Tank traps would have worked nicely against walkers if you dug them deep enough and concealed them by putting a facade over them that could support a few soldiers, but not armored walkers. This would not have taken too long for engineers to have done.

[@daanwiemers7937]

uniquelydavid what I also would Argue is that this battle might be the first time that the Rebels fight the ATAT's. In rebels we see an older model that CAN be damaged by heavy Cannon fire, and in rogue one we see the atct a version that is vulnerable to ion weaponry

[@uniquelydavid]

The fact they had seen the earlier versions of these shows they knew the empire had the capability. And you could make the traps I described by the dozens in a few days with limited manpower and equipment. Also, in Star Wars, most of the equipment, vessels, and vehicles used by everyone is vulnerable to ion weaponry as these weapons in Star Wars play hell with electrical systems. Which is actually what an EMP weapon would do. Not an Ion weapon as ion weapons are really charged particle beam weapons (i.e. the particles in the stream of the particle beam are ionized to make them punch thru an atmosphere better).

[@bjmccann1]

Daan Wiemers When I was an infantryman, we used to do something called a "24 hour defense". Most of the work was done with explosives, axes, picks and shovels. Serious tank traps, like those necessary to be an obstacle to AT-ATs, would require earthmoving machinery. Within that 24 hour period, a NATO Infantry battalion was supposed to create a defense capable of stopping three times their number in Warsaw Pact forces. I'm not saying that they could've stopped the Imperials, but with Star Wars tech, and three months, they certainly could've built far more sophisticated defenses than we saw in the Battle of Hoth.

[@Battleship009]

Battle of Hoth for the Rebels was like the Battle of Dunkirk for the Allies.

[@fred5406]

No they evacuated themselves

[@Battleship009]

@@fred5406 Hence the "Was like"

[@fred5406]

@@Battleship009 aha well played

[@diamondeye3952]

Just like you said at the beginning of the video, tear away the childhood nostalgia and look at it without the rose colored glasses. Again, I never realized just how tactically stupid the maneuvers were on both sides for the battle. It's interesting to see how things could have gone more successfully with a small change in plans.

[@georgelooney6826]

If you think about it...ray shields are like oobleck...

[@Nugcon]

yep

[@nerdherd1819]

Oobleck as in the history professor from RWBY?

[@Irobert1115HD]

they work like water. if you moving slow water is liquid but over a certain speed mark (45 km/h) it changes propertys. if you fast enough it is like concrete (most tsunami victims didnt drown, they get crushed by a concrete hard waterwall).

[@OwenWanKenobi]

I'd give myself salmonella if it meant having the force any day.

[@GenerationTech]

no obi wan there must be another way

[@iam_darthk]

Generation Tech I believe there are better ways to attain Force-sensitivity than eating frozen Jedi

[@bthanbeethan5590]

eating cooked Jedi

[@chrismartindale9737]

The AT-AT's weren't completely impervious to ground fire, just mostly. Their legs and neck are the only spot's you can hit that do damage. Remember when they brought one down and the T-47 destroyed it? It targeted the severely damaged walker in the neck.

[@BladeValant546]

It depends, two different shields deflector and Ray shields

[@theodorekennedy143]

That's just what I was thinking!

[@zacharyzier314]

Well there are some things the analysis missed. Ozzel was going for a surprise short-ranged engagement with a Rebel defense fleet. The fleet is the key. Kill that the Rebellion is far more weakened than it would if you killed a bunch of foot soldiers. So he was counting on a tried and true tactic to defeat the more dangerous strategic threat, the Rebel fleet. The problem was that their recon was incomplete and there was no Rebel fleet. It was probably for this lack of orbital recon that Vader killed Ozzel. Next is the lack of Imperial air support. They couldn’t get their fighter craft into the combat zone until after the generator was down. Another is more of a theory but the Rebel speeders we’re taking head-on passes for two reasons: the walkers’ weakness (if any) was the command bridge and a lucky shot through the front window could disable it. A second reason was that the longer the walkers were shooting at the speeders the longer they weren’t shooting at the generators and the more time the Rebels could buy in their evacuation. It was a selfless act of high risk bait and switch.

[@andrewshaughnessy5828]

Good comment. As I understand it, Attack Pattern Delta has the snowspeeders attacking in line astern. They then break off to the left and right. Whichever way the AT-AT's head turns to try to shoot them down, it exposes the weaker neck section to the next speeder in line. I'm guessing it was unsuccessful on Hoth because General Veers was too experienced to fall for it, ordering his crews to ignore the decoys and fire straight ahead.

[@michaelsaumure7697]

The Alliance also could have deployed large explosives as mines to disable or at least toss the walkers off balance. Thermal Detonators, or field gun power supplies could have been used, or even the Proton Torpedoes from the fighters, and all that is assuming they didn't have any anti-armor mines. You only need to disable one or two walkers with that tactic to make Veers reconsider his approach, thus buying more time.

[@bradleycalvert8630]

While a terrible tactic, I always thought the T-47's came in from the front deliberately to distract the AT-AT's from the trench line that behemoths were hitting pretty hard and because the Speeders were potentially fast enough to evade majority of the laser fire, which is ground orientated. Taking attention off of the trench and ground troops so they could either reorganize and/or retreat.

[@Datch99]

Do a battle of Geonosis!!

[@Grizabeebles]

+Darth Vader -- Geonisis was one of the dumbest military blunders by *both* sides in all Star Wars. starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Battle_of_Geonosis The Clones land better than a mile away and attack over an open plain with no cover and rather than hole up and gun them down the CIS sends their droids out to delay them (also over open ground) so Dooku and the transports can escape. Shortly after the evacuation is complete, Geonosis surrenders because their factories have already shipped millions of droids off-world and there are no strategic objectives other than enemy attrition. Which would cost too many Geonosian lives to be worth it with an "unknown" number of clones coming off the assembly line later that year. The Republic ships didn't have the firepower of later Star Destroyers to they couldn't dig the Separatists out with orbital or artillery fire meaning the CIS could have inflicted *enormous* casualties by forcing the clones into tunnel fighting. Dooku was correct in predicting _eventual_ defeat due to the quarter-million clones surrounding the capital citadel. However, if the choice was between defeat in a day vs bleeding the Republic for a *_month_* I think choice was less clear cut than he made it sound. However, what he did *not* know (but should have given the fact he *commissioned* the Clone army) was that the bulk of what would be later known as ARC troopers and Republic Commandos were fighting using standard equipment as regular ground units. Decimating these elite clones during the battle would have had an enormous effect on the rest of the war. Maybe even going so far as preventing the 501st from having enough ARC troopers to withstand Anakin Skywalker's suicidal frontal assaults (I mean, "signature strategy"). Without the 501st as the Republic's spearhead force, many decisive battles simply would not have been attempted, and the war would have dragged on even longer. Meanwhile, as Yoda clearly shows by rescuing the Jedi strike force, the Clones had achieved Total Surprise and could have landed units directly onto the capital citadel and/or captured Dooku before he had a chance to leave the area, let alone flee the Capital spire and reach the spaceport. And while we're on the subject, the Republic had *twelve* Acclimator-class assault ships, 400 landing craft and almost 200,000 clones. Are you *seriously* telling me they couldn't have secured _every_ spaceport within fifty miles of the Spire, or held a reserve units in orbit to intercept Dooku rather than rush into a frontal assault? This is where the battle of Geonosis is most interesting. All of the decisive moves were made during the first two hours of the battle. Republic troops were still deploying when Dooku escaped. Important mistakes were made when these two rookie armies and their "green" Commanders (haha, puns.) neglected important aspects of troop deployment in favour of getting as many units into battle as fast as possible. By committing most of his ships to deploying troops rather than intercepting transports, Yoda missed a major opportunity to deliver a strategic blow to the Separatists early war efforts. Communications and Command structure were also compromised, with Clones simply obeying the last order given to them by _any_ Jedi because the Clones were conditioned to obey the Jedi but hadn't the slightest idea of *which* Jedi were in overall command. This led to situations like Obi-wan and Anakin breaking off their transports to go after Dooku despite communications being jammed -- meaning Yoda and central command continued taking *enormous* casualties in order to capture CIS leaders who had already escaped rather than fall back and concentrate on destroying the transports. These are the kinds of mistakes we've been training generals not to make since ancient Babylon FFS!

[@jthibb7103]

Grizabeebles Well for a galaxy that hasn't had a major war in years the Jedi weren't actually good strategist it wasn't until later on in the years they actually had good tactics and the clones modified their fighting style to fight beside the Jedi.

[@Grizabeebles]

+TheAnime Warrior -- That's one of the reasons why making the Jedi the commanders of the war makes so little sense. They were an apolitical police/peacekeeping force. It makes *much* more sense to have the members of the Republic donate military commanders or even pull a full on "Ender's Game" scenario than drafting the Jedi.

[@stevengreen6614]

That is why Palpatine did it.He knew the Jedi were not soldiers or generals.Mace Windu said it plain as day.We are keepers of the peace not soldiers.We can help protect the republic but we cant fight a war for you.Palpatine knew the war would kill off many of the most experienced Jedi.The knights and the masters.Then order 66 would deal with whomever was left towards the end of the conflict.While it did not work out exactly as planned.It did pretty much cripple the Jedi and they were completely caught off guard.All the Jedi and padawans were slain at the temple.The council was all but dead save for Yoda ( & Anakin ) The remaining veterans were scattered across the galaxy running and hiding unable to organize a cohesive resistance.Although in the comics i think a few did try to fight back.

[@DarkLordAzagthoth]

Palpatine made sure the Jedi were appointed to the military. War drives a Jedi to the dark side and the less light side Jedi were left, the less mess it gave when Order 66 was given.

[@brandynblea7253]

We also see on scariff that X wings were capable of destroying the at act models, as well as luke escaping Hoth inside an X wing. You could argue another mistake is the rebels not repeating this tactic as it had proved effective and were familiar with the strategy

[@williams.813]

Lol I just finished your last video, and as you said "we'll be heading to Hoth" this video came out!

[@GenerationTech]

+Wailyem S. Haha good timing

[@PhantomSinger1]

If you do find a way to fit through my screen, you'll have to fight the cat for room on my desk.

[@GenerationTech]

lol

[@MundiaLizm]

"...its NOT like Jello and you die" Fucking. Classic.

[@GenerationTech]

YES!

[@ViperGhost68]

Do the battle of endor and scarif, two of my favorite space battles

[@Reliavl]

There are three types of shields: Armor: Blocks forms of lasers, but lets fighters through to land. Ray Shields: Blocks solid objects and everything else. Gravitational Shields: Prevents you from being sucked out into space.

[@preshlock]

I would think an X-Wing or Y-Wing with proton torpedoes {?} could easily destroy an AT-AT.

[@GenerationTech]

yea it rogue one they were pretty effective, but i believe the majority of the xwings were being used to evacuate the base

[@kksmith244]

I would have at least quickly fired all torpedoes at the closest target (since the ISDs would be disabled and pose no threat) then escort the transport.

[@Grizabeebles]

+Kyle Smith -- Tactics vs strategy. The Speeders were getting left behind either way. Every Starfighter lost on Hoth wouldn't have been available to fight at Endor. The goal was never to win at Hoth, the goal was to get everything that you could carry _off_ Hoth. That's what makes a fighting retreat so agonizing. You're getting good men killed now so the rest can get killed _later._ Read up on the battle of Dunkirk or check out the movie coming out this summer. The rearguard fighting there was _tough_ to read about if you can keep it in your head that these were our grandads fighting that war.

[@kksmith244]

I understand that retreat was the main objective. My observation was how the rebels waisted their advantage of air superiority while under the shield- head on snowspeeder attacks and not using more heavily armed starfighters. A blunder that terrible could compare to if air strikes weren't called on german tanks, after the weather cleared during the Battle of the Bulge!

[@Grizabeebles]

+Kyle Smith -- again, the goal was to pull the starfighters out, exposing them to enemy fire is the exact opposite. Using them in battle was a non-starter from minute 1. I've tried to find excuses about the speeders drawing fire off the infantry or setting up the cable attacks but yeah, Luke was a total fail as squadron commander at Hoth. If I want to get seriously meta I'd suggest that Veers didn't deploy the walker's AA guns because doing so would draw power from the engines. But I have nothing to back that up.

[@shaalis]

I read in the old STAR WARS tech manual that there are 2 kinds of shields: Ray shielding which stops energy weapons, and deflector types that block solid matter. But they don't work the same way so you can have a ray shot go through a shield meant for blocking physical objects, while ray shields get damaged by solid physical objects.

[@johns5638]

Shallibodhran The books, comics and manuals don't count

[@Alexcarter27]

You forgot some other things: 1. The amount of Star Destroyers the empire had to enforce a blockade was insufficient. In the movie you only see 6 of them. One of them was disabled by the Ion Cannon and then the Millennium Falcon managed to somehow fly into the path of three destroyers but managed to get away. Luke Skywalker manged to escape unharassed which showed the empire's blockade was not effective. 2. The Ion cannon which was the Rebel Alliance's sole means of protecting the transports, could only provide a limited corridor of protection, so all the empire had to do was position their ships near this corridor and destroy the incoming rebel ships. Instead the empire spread themselves too thinly and most of the Alliance escaped. 3. The AT-AT's had no air cover. The empire could have sent TIE fighters and bombers to take out the rebel airspeeders and transports and ground troops. From what I saw in the movie the Rebel Alliance did not provide any air cover apart from the airspeeders. 4. Vader led the ground assault on Echo Base. This prevented the orbiting Star Destroyers from bombarding echo base as Vader was their. by the time he captured it, most of the rebel alliance leaders had fled. If Darth Vader had stayed on his Super Star Destroyer, his ships could have just bombarded Echo base once the shield was down and killed the alliance personnel and/or forced the rest to try and evacuate. The empire could have then waited at the choke point mentioned earlier and destroy the remaining alliance forces. In summary though I do agree it was merely a 'tactical victory' for the empire. It was not the decisive victory it could have been. At best, all it did was scatter the remaining Rebel Alliance forces so they survived and formed up later. The worst mistake was letting soon to be Jedi Luke Skywalker escape as well as key Alliance personnel which included Princess Leia as well as Han Solo and Chewbacca.

[@picnicplays2331]

Really liking this series!!

[@ArkaSaurusRex218]

4:24, that's because as luke said, the at-at's armor was too thick for the snow speeder's laser to penetrate

[@gandhithegreat328]

1:20 I was wearing a black shirt in my bedroom when I watched this!😄

[@Jaris84R]

another factor that should have been taken into account is the Executor. With 5000 weapon systems, 4000 of whom were turbolasers, why didn't Vader focus, let's say 2000 turbolasers on a single point (the shield generator) and open fire. How much damage could that thing take? This tactic was successfully used by Jacen Solo at the battle of Kashyyk to start massive forest fires. Another thing he could have done was to focus the same number of lasers in a concentric circle and shoot until the ground collapsed, pulling the base into a sinkhole.

[@jooot_6850]

So shields are basically a big mass of disconnected ooblek? good to know

[@othmaneatmani8924]

I just watched the first part of rebel tactics and 10min later I see part 2 lol.

[@joneal246]

Love this series Allen. Please expand in to the Clone Wars!

[@GenerationTech]

+James O'Neal well take a break from this series but we will definitely do it later on!

[@samuelhughes]

Generation tech love your vids you are my favourite youtuber as I am a huge Star Wars and battle fan 😀😀

[@GenerationTech]

thanks glad you're enjoying our videos!

[@mikevanroy9356]

Remember that Vader's goal wasn't to decimate the Rebels per se. It was to capture Luke alive. To do that he had to keep the Rebels that were fighting relatively contained. If Luke was on one of the transports this wouldn't have worked but Vader gambled Luke would be one of the ones fighting and would eventually fly an X-Wing away.

[@StreakedSilver]

One thing you need to consider, and we saw in movie but not extensively, is that ..typically.. the AT_AT also had its flanks guarded by the AT-ST, which are perfect for shredding infantry trying to board the AT-AT

[@JackTGreat]

I was worried for a moment you were going to force choke me, but I was wearing a red shirt. Anyway, beaming down to the planet with the captain, doctor, and science officer. Wish me luck!

[@johncipriano3627]

Your doing a Great Job at Gen-Tech , keep up the good work. The battle of Horth was one of the Most Interesting ground battle scenes of the first Three Movie , The Empire Strikes Back is My all time favorite movie of the Star Wars saga to date.

[@GenerationTech]

+John Cipriano thanks yea I was disappointed we didn't get to see more epic ground battles like that in return

[@CuppaTeaExe]

Um, I removed my tape so I could face time my friends, I have not put ut back since. And I was In my room wearing my black FNAF shirt......Allan, you are the NSA!

[@andyb1653]

Most of the Imperial ground assault kit was poorly designed. But then, they didn't have to be that good, most of their gear was designed to put down insurgencies and armed civilians. By the time the battle of hoth happened, the rebellion was a proper military, albeit small. The AT-ATs at hoth barely held their own against snowspeeders and light cannon. If the rebels could have spared even ONE x-wing for ground support, the ATs would've been blunted completely.

[@coreydonaldson3303]

Awesome video Generation Tech !

[@brknglasses2734]

"...but if you go too fast, it's NOT like jello;and you die!" Damn, Allen CAN read my mind!

[@jeremiahanderson614]

Never forget the guy on the computer looking at his boss choke..look at the screen and just go back to work like.."I need a transfer"

[@erynncollier8672]

In this case, I'm offering not a defense of rebel tactics, but an indictment of them, surprisingly. While I agree with your assessment of the battle for the most part, excluding those sitting duck paratroopers who would never reach the ground alive, I saw, just watching the movie, a gigantic flaw with the rebels' tactics. A snowspeeder, targeting the neck of a downed walker, caused it to explode. The moment I saw this, as I would imagine any soldier present would think, I thought to myself, "Maybe we ought to be shooting at the neck, specifically here." The failure of rebel troops to identify this weakness cost them the battle. The fact that nobody thought to radio the snowspeeder pilots and shout "Aim for the neck!" astounds me. Had this weakness been identified with the downing of thw first walker, rebel snowspeeders could have immediately begun targeting the weak point and made exceptionally quick work of the AT-AT walkers. Without the imperial walkers providing the armor support and the firepower required to eliminate the shield generators, the rebel defensive positions would actually hold, with their weapons emplacements and air support decimating the imperial attackers into retreat. Hoth could easily have become an embarrassing defeat for the empire, with the rebellion managing to evacuate ALL assets from the main base. Hell, with the base not in danger of being overrun it could even become possible for the rebels to begin ionizing multiple star destroyers above and beyond those required by their plan to evacuate base personnel and assets. It seems laughable to consider, but Admiral Ozzel actually placed the Executor itself within range of the rebels' ion cannon. Imagine the fury that would be incited if the Dark Lord of the Sith were to find himself stuck aboard a suddenly fried super star destroyer. Altogether, a nightmare scenario for the empire that could have gone much much worse than it actually did.

[@deinonychus1948]

"I ate some frozen Jedi left over from Order 66, all I got was Salmonella" -Allen Xie, Generation Tech - May 26, 2017

[@brainplay8060]

One thing that people tend to forget is that in the movie we see at least two AT-STs. These fast mobile armored units are what will cover the flanks of the AT-AT's. These are what would engage slow moving air ships who try to drop off troops or just engage the troops directly. George Lucas must have had some advice from a military person because this is basic armored doctrine since WWII and really showcased during Desert Storm except instead of AT-ST's the US used Bradley Fighting Vehicles. There wasn't much need for side guns on AT-AT's although some anti-air would be beneficial.

[@arnie24070127]

As a former soldier who fought in iraq, Im curious about where you acquired your tactical knowledge. its usually spot on.

[@donovanbradford8231]

Fun breakdown you can't play and Rogue Squadron game and not realize that a lot if battles fought by the Rebellion were poorly executed. But I put a lot of that to Lucas not having the greatest handle of his story telling abilities at times. Battle of Yavin is the same story.

[@kawh8719]

omg please do all of those. I'd LOVE to see your perspective of Rouge 1!

[@GenerationTech]

we will!

[@christophereason9076]

Attack from the rear- I have used this tactic myself in many versions of Hoth for decades- I am Generation Tech

[@GenerationTech]

they came from behind

[@christophereason9076]

+Generation Tech you think they would learn

[@highlordlaughterofcanada8685]

"It's not like jello and you die!" Best T-Shirt since Humanity First.

[@maarvin2092]

75k? damn, I subbed you when you had 4k! But sure, you god damn deserve it.

[@arohk1579]

As a former soldier and military buff the biggest issue with the battle of Both was the rebels should have used a combination of Y-Wings and snowspeeders as air defense. I am sure this wasn't the only time they ran into walkers so they would have known how strong they were.

[@Sraye]

Not an issue with the battle per se but how do tow cables work? One per speeder? Where do they attach to and how do you reload if you can fire more than one? And when not used against AT-ATs, what are the tow cables normally used for in peace time? I know the name suggests towing but how does it tow? I would like to see a visual presentation of it in action.

[@Huttser17]

Ha! I'm watching youtube while playing a game and I've got a drink right here!

[@nickvinsable3798]

Two things: #2: AT-STs were also Deployed &, based on the new Battlefront series, they served as Decent Anti-Air & Anti-Infantry support for the AT-ATs. AND #1: If you Seriously want to have Powers that are actually Similar to a Jedi's, though I admit it may not actually be that Powerful, then for a VERY Short Time, Purposely Place yourself in Situations where you're not allowed the Option of Fight-or-Flight. My 'Force Powers' were initially Unlocked at a Sheltered Workshop that wasn't so Sheltering; when Staff weren't around, Clients threatened me; when the Clients weren't getting their way, they got Staff to start Scolding me.

[@roguelead72]

Couple things here. 1. The movie didn't show it very well but the AT-AT's had AT-ST's covering their flanks and rear. 2. The T-47 was not originally built as a combat vehicle, it was actually a utility vehicle that they slapped some underpowered lasers on. It was like putting a machine gun or recoiless rifle on a Toyota Hilux. 3. The lasers on an X or Y-Wing would've made easy work of the AT-AT's

[@rafaelaosta8815]

When you talked about the camera thing I had a black shirt on and I am thinking about playing Star Wars battlefront 2 Creepy

[@SpiderMan-gv2gd]

Oh my gosh I never thought of that! You're right Veers is totally Rommel!

[@JediAcolyte94]

+Generation Tech Do you plan on doing in of these kind of videos for the Battles of Jabiim(Clone Wars), Deepspace Besh(Star Wars Legends), Kamino(TFU2), and Ebaq 9(YVW)?

[@GenerationTech]

+JediAcolyte22 will probably do some clone wars stuff later on

[@josephcason5039]

I enjoy the Tactical videos very muchi'd like to see more if that's possible keep up the good work. Plus I would also think that the rebels could have scrambled some X-Wing's if they weren't already in use that would've helped tremendously with the snow speeder's and bought a little more time for the base defenders to evacuate

[@sgt.pepperjones970]

May I just say he predicted exactly what I was thinking. Wearing a black shirt and looking at my TV thinking about playing skyrim. Damn

[@simpsonfan13]

They didn't flank the AT-AT's due to the AT-ST's. They were designed specifically to cover the at-at-'s flanks and were lighter and faster, which means they could track the speeders more easily.

[@GeneralBays]

Hugs from here!!!!!!! Keep up the awesomeness!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@williamhardway6436]

"Hi, Allen! Thanks for another episode of Generation Tech!" Lmao i say that at the start of every video

[@itambor]

Holy shit. Everything when you were talking about watching through the camera was what I was doing. Your a sith😉

[@masonhoffman5653]

Star Wars shields act like water, go slow enough and you'll pass right through, but go to fast and surface tension will cause it to act like solid concrete

[@NiraSader]

this battle was the only thing about episode 5 that I liked, but it was reason enough for me to watch the movie multiple times

[@theramblingbrit4431]

Really cool vid, but I'd recommend changing it from part 2, to episode 2 or something similar, I thought I'd missed part of the video until I gave up searching and started watching

[@GenerationTech]

ah gotcha

[@Fusako8]

Rather like the Tactics series thus far.

[@Chief_Hiccup]

Hey Allan, I love this series because of my love of war history. But when are you going to finish up the Earth vs. CIS series.

[@GenerationTech]

+HiccupHH3 Tripple H the CIS earth series finished with episode 4 but we're working on another Star Wars vs earth

[@Chief_Hiccup]

Thank you. I just have one more question. When the Wat Tambor's ship hyperdrive activated it caused the control ship to break and be destroyed. I am correct in this assumption?

[@NYG5]

The Rebel trench system was extremely rudimentary with only one line that soldiers had to walk across open field to get to. There should have been an in depth defense, with trenches leading back to the base so defenders could fall back with cover. We also should have seen a combined arms Imperial attack on the trenches. AT ATs aren't perfect, and their underbellies should be very weak. Stormtroopers should have dismounted the transports at a certain range and stormed the rebel trench system and then the base, as the AT ATs support from the rear.

[@ukmediawarrior]

Always loved the Battle of Hoth:) I did used to wonder why the Rebellion couldn't mount stronger gun emplacements around their one and only HQ though. I mean the AT-AT's were the standard heavy ground attack transports, the Rebels knew if any fighting on the ground happened they would be there. If they could manage to get ships and fighters from allies I would of thought a few heavy cannon that could take down a AT-AT could have been forthcoming? We see in Star Wars Rebels in one episode that a Republic era tank's gun can bring down an AT-AT after all.

[@ukmediawarrior]

We've never really seen much in the way of anti-aircraft weaponry have we, not like as fixed emplacements or mobile stuff. I think, obviously, lol, it just comes down to what we see in movies these days and logically what would appear and then what Lucas could do on screen back then. I am sure if he had what we have today at his disposal it would be an even cooler battle;) As to loading the rare and expensive anti tank weaponry first ... I don't see that. I mean it only has one purpose, to kill armoured transports. Why go through all that bother of digging trenches in frozen tundra and setting up the turrets and guns emplacements they did have if you've got something more appropriate back in the locker room but don't want to put it out there because it cost to much That's basically saying we don't mind losing the lives of soldiers to try and stop the Imperials, but we're not putting our shiny nice big gun/tank out there which would stop them dead because it costs to much. That's more an Empire way of thinking;)

[@aolcom-nl9qb]

Even if the shield generator was up ; air cover should have been used and that even means the slow tie bombers with eschorts. Infrantry support should have still been used in main assault.

[@TheQuyman]

I love the meta narrative of "allen will eat everything

[@christophercisternino832]

Have you done a series on the various speeders? Land, combat, snow, etc

[@gammaechofoundationproductions]

You made an excellent point about the snow-speeders make a horrible tactical mistake by flying right in front of the AT-AT's firing range. That was very stupid! LOL! And as cool as AT-ATs and AT-STs are, they are badly designed due to being way too slow, cumbersome, and clumsy. Still, it does not take away it's coolness factor! :)

[@ruvenjunge4403]

It seems there are several kind of shield. In EP4 the rebels' fighters could pass the Death Star's shield without slowing down very hard. And the shield from Rogue One (forgot the planet's name^^) was most likely an shield focused on stopping solid material.

[@Avi_Imperator]

I was wondering if after you cover the battle of endor you could do a video about the battle of scar If?

[@ruthsafonova2820]

2:13 not really, it deflects energy weapons and not physical objects, (as long as it's not a particle barrier)

[@KrisHandsome]

I wonder if the AT-ATs would've been toast if the rebels invested in turbolaser towers throughout their defensive line. They had control of several planets so I'd think they'd have the resources to protect their most valuable command centers better.

[@jacobhowson5501]

love the tactics examination

[@VaqueroCoyote]

Love these videos! Subscribed. Could you do Tactics: Blockade/Battle of Naboo (The Phantom Menace), or Battle of Kashyyk? (Revenge of the Sith)

[@AnakinSkyobiliviator]

Actually, I believe the Gungans used _energy_ shields while Scariff uses _particle_ shields, hence the droid walking through and the starfighter crashing.

[@jrny20]

So, going through the shields is like water. You slowly go in, and the water shifts around the body. Go in fast enough, you would have to jump from a high enough altitude; thus increasing speed, and it is like cement.

[@shadowchaser8786]

iirc, Imperial air support on Hoth was virtually non-existent because of the shield. Ships being deployed from within the shield had no such limitations. I'm willing to bet that air support was forthcoming once the shield came down though.

[@stevewoodford4844]

What I took from this was not to eat frozen Jedi or you will get food poisoning. Please don't crawl through my tv screen. I saw that happen in the movie The Ring and it freaked me out!

[@GenerationTech]

yea the ring gave me nightmares

[@tonydarby9096]

Rebels should have dug a few wide disguised anti tank trenches. And added mine fields. Even used some decent barbed wire. Or heck it's an ice world, spray some water to make sheets. Let's see them walk through those.

[@VengeanceMkII]

Hoth is an amusing demonstration of the axium that all best laid plans never last work in the face of the enemy. Ozzel's derp, Hoth's conditions rendering X-Wings incapable of deploying properly, and the rebels still getting away with a lot of transports. Not all but a good number. In Legends it was said that to counter Rogue Squadron's attack the AT-ATs had to spread farther apart in order to cover each other with long range fire. Still no reason why the Rogues went in head first though if at all anything, Snowspeeders are repulsar craft, not actual aircraft. It might be entirely possible that Hoth's higher altitude winds were way too strong for the speeders. Otherwise there aren't really excuses to run in from the front.

[@mihajlo961x]

Contradiction Alan: at 2:26, you say even the SSD's firepower couldn't get through the shields. Yet, you then immediately inform that the original plan (according to legends) is to take out the shield generator via an orbital strike (2:37). Is this correct? And if so, can you explain the discrepancy? is the shield generator not shielded?

[@GenerationTech]

good question so essentially because they came out of hyperspace extremely close to the planet the rebels were able to detect them before they even arrived in system which gave the rebels enough time to start their shields. The imperial plan was to come into the system undetected and essentially snipe the shield generator before the rebels even realize they're under attack. I don't know exactly if it would've been successful, it would probably have to be an extremely long shot and a turbo laser's energy dissipates over long distances. They could be several miles from the actual planet and also the atmosphere would most likely have absorbed a lot of the impact.

[@mihajlo961x]

Ahh, ok, that makes sense. Thanks for the clarification! I'm happy to be a Patreon supporter too. Keep up the good work :)

[@GenerationTech]

+Michael Oghia No problem! thanks for your support!

[@mihajlo961x]

Generation Tech My pleasure! Check out the comment I left on the Yavin video as well. The trench is actually north-south.

[@Battleship009]

I think it was get into orbit and the bombard the base to bits.

[@jackphilipsen452]

Amiral Ozzel. Is an Rebel. Thats why he went out lightspeed late. And thats why he said that the rebel base was not on Hot when the scouting drone found the base.

[@alejandroleal9443]

You can fight this battle in Star Wars: Galactic battlegrounds. It's a very close view to the tactics used in this battle.

[@yomaster12345]

When the rebels lacked in this engagement was anti-armor rounds. Thin, high velocity plasma round designed to punch through armor. They only used generic, cheap blast bolts and thus couldn't penetrate the armor, but if they had used proper weaponry, non-high explosive rounds, they would have beaten those walkers easily. Unfortunately, they did not.

[@johns5638]

yomaster12345 Or, they could have used their X-Wings and Y-Wings against the walkers.

[@loganwalker9475]

Love the vids keep it up!