The AT-ATs had no rear weapons, were slow to turn around, and only had a field of fire of maybe 40 degrees....why didn't the rebels just circle around and take them from the rear?

10/12/2010 1:39:37 PM

I like to circle around and take your mom from the rear!

10/12/2010 1:42:17 PM

I like to circle around and take your mom from the rear!

10/12/2010 1:44:50 PM

*NERD ALERT*
*NERD ALERT*

10/12/2010 1:46:12 PM

I like to mom around and take your circle from the rear!

10/12/2010 1:46:48 PM

Carrie Fisher was coked out of her mind during the filming of the Hoth scenes

10/12/2010 1:49:16 PM

you say that like its a bad thing

10/12/2010 1:50:13 PM

I like to circle back in time to 1980 and take a coked out carrie fisher from the rear!

10/12/2010 1:50:32 PM

I like to circle jerk

10/12/2010 1:51:49 PM

LLLEEEEEERRROOOOYYYYYYY JENKINS

10/12/2010 1:52:57 PM

THEY CALL ME REAR ADMIRAL AKBAR AROUND HERE

10/12/2010 1:55:39 PM

Ok for reals:

ATATs are frontal assault vehicles that are basically impervious to enemy fire. Yes they can only fire forward, but that's all they need I guess since they are assaulting a base.

And the bigger question that you should ask yourself in order to properly nerd out, is why would an advanced civilization built an assault vehicle that can easily be tripped and made ineffective.

10/12/2010 1:57:30 PM

those shields were too strong for those blasters

btw

Quote :

"Phil Tippett, the stop-motion animator who was responsible for the sequence says that the original vehicles actually looked nothing like a container crane, and more like a garbage truck. “At one point in the design they were going to be big and kind of radio controlled,” he said. “More like big armored vehicles with wheels.”"

sounds like it was just a trench tank battle from WWI, like the way the space battles were just WWII dogfights

10/12/2010 2:04:14 PM

10/12/2010 2:06:39 PM

There were AT-ST's running around out there too.

10/12/2010 3:26:58 PM

10/12/2010 3:30:55 PM

And if you want to get way into overanalysis land, why do the AT-TE and Juggernaut, which were both the precursors to the AT-AT, have rear-facing weapons when the AT-AT doesn't? Imperial engineers were like "eh, we don't need rear guns on our newer, larger, more easily trippable walking tank."

10/12/2010 3:32:33 PM

I always thought they looked like dogs. Given that (as someone pointed out) there were AT-STs as well as Snow Troopers any rear assault would have been useless anyways. The thing that gets me is that Luke took off in an X-wing, now pending some kind of cold weather effects on the weapon system why the hell didn't they just use a handful of those and proton torpedoes (if the blasters are the same as on the Snowspeeders). Speaking of limited targeting area, you mean to tell me that their ion cannon can shoot into space and disable a freakin' Star Destroyer yet can't angle down to hit a few AT-ATs?

10/12/2010 3:41:49 PM

Why didn't the Imperials have any air support for that matter?

10/12/2010 3:48:46 PM

That's a good point since the cold wouldn't be an issue given how they fight in space!

10/12/2010 3:51:50 PM

^ That's not how space works.

10/12/2010 3:59:01 PM

furthermore,

Quote :

"I always thought they looked like dogs."

10/12/2010 3:59:31 PM

To clear up a few things as most of you dont follow the SW universe in the books...

First the Imperials didnt operationally know that the AT-AT could be tripped. An AT-AT operator discovered this in training but it was hushed up.

Rebels didnt have a lot of ammo. Thus they didnt want to waste firepower of the X-Wings on the AT-ATs. And the X-wing lasers were stronger but again about ammo. This strategy is actually used on another planet, except its AT-ATs trying to shoot X-Wings attacking, not defending.

Also and this is said, there was an energy shield which is what the Imperials blew up (the generator) so that Darth Vader could land. The AT-ATs landed outside the shield a far way away and marched in. Thus no air support. And Imperial air support was the Star Destroyers gunning the place from space.

With the ion cannon shooting, it wouldnt have done much, plus it was away from the base slightly. Also look up how modern artillery is fired/used. Doesnt work the same way, things that shoot up shoot up, things that shoot across shoot across. Ya if you know military history the Germans did it with 88s in WWII but since then its normally never used.

Last, there was only 1 AT-ST, and the snow troopers were being carried on the AT-ATs.

10/12/2010 4:07:23 PM

Quote :

"why would an advanced civilization built an assault vehicle that can easily be tripped and made ineffective."

the same civilization that created assault vehicles that were relatively easily overtaken by friendly 3-foot tall Ewoks using primitive weapons, like throwing rocks and shit

10/12/2010 4:09:05 PM

i always thought that the AT-AT design was meant to instill fear and terror upon the enemy, first and foremost.

10/12/2010 4:11:39 PM

Quote :

"The AT-ATs landed outside the shield a far way away and marched in. Thus no air support."

That makes no sense.

10/12/2010 4:12:10 PM

Yeah most of those explanations are just as weak as the plot holes in the first place.

10/12/2010 5:49:27 PM

Quote :

"To clear up a few things as most of you dont follow the SW universe in the books... First the Imperials didnt operationally know that the AT-AT could be tripped. An AT-AT operator discovered this in training but it was hushed up. "

How could you not realize it could be tripped? The Rebels acted like it was common practice to trip them with their speeder.

Quote :

" Rebels didnt have a lot of ammo. Thus they didnt want to waste firepower of the X-Wings on the AT-ATs. And the X-wing lasers were stronger but again about ammo. This strategy is actually used on another planet, except its AT-ATs trying to shoot X-Wings attacking, not defending. "

The X-Wings weren't actually fighting anything...the Imperials didn't launch a single TIE fighter. 2 X-Wings could have easily taken the AT-ATs.

Quote :

" Also and this is said, there was an energy shield which is what the Imperials blew up (the generator) so that Darth Vader could land. The AT-ATs landed outside the shield a far way away and marched in. Thus no air support. And Imperial air support was the Star Destroyers gunning the place from space. "

So AT-ATs can walk through the shield, but air support can't fly through it?

Quote :

" With the ion cannon shooting, it wouldnt have done much, plus it was away from the base slightly. Also look up how modern artillery is fired/used. Doesnt work the same way, things that shoot up shoot up, things that shoot across shoot across. Ya if you know military history the Germans did it with 88s in WWII but since then its normally never used. "

Why not have a couple horizontal cannons?

10/12/2010 5:55:35 PM

the real question is, if the Snitch is worth 150 points, why does anyone even bother with the Quaffle

10/12/2010 6:23:35 PM

I've asked that question a lot, quidditch is dumb

10/12/2010 6:30:08 PM

Because you can still catch the snitch and not win.

10/12/2010 6:32:06 PM

ah that is a good question...

a theory... perhaps the snitch has an intelligence which makes it appear in a more favorable position for the team with better scoring...

however in one of the books it does describe a game of quidditch where the team who caught the snitch ended up losing by points.

10/12/2010 6:33:09 PM

Yes, if you get tired of losing and think theres no chance for your team to win so you catch the snitch just to end the game...LAME

[Edited on October 12, 2010 at 6:33 PM. Reason : .]

10/12/2010 6:33:17 PM

You just don't understand. You need to read the books to understand how exciting the game is.

10/12/2010 6:36:02 PM

I have read the books, the game is seriously flawed and obviously invented by a woman with little understanding of how sports work


just throw out all the quaffle nonsense and make it a game of catch the snitch

10/12/2010 6:37:45 PM

Quote :

"And if you want to get way into overanalysis land, why do the AT-TE and Juggernaut, which were both the precursors to the AT-AT, have rear-facing weapons when the AT-AT doesn't? Imperial engineers were like "eh, we don't need rear guns on our newer, larger, more easily trippable walking tank.""

This actually happened, kind of, in real life. The Bradley fighting vehicle was started as a scout vehicle.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0144550/plotsummary

10/12/2010 6:45:48 PM

But if your Seeker sucks then your team could still win matches.

10/12/2010 6:45:59 PM

I don't buy it, that means you would have 5 other players good enough to manhandle their team by way more than 150 points. If the other players are that good then they would just make one of them the seeker.

10/12/2010 7:03:39 PM

I really honestly don't think you understand the game.

10/13/2010 10:12:33 AM

^ The game concept is flawed. Why would a seeker on a team down over 150 points catch the snitch?

Also just because a game is exciting doesn't make it a well designed sport http://www.gametrailers.com/user-movie/futurama-blernsball/60025

[Edited on October 13, 2010 at 10:25 AM. Reason : ]

10/13/2010 10:20:09 AM

They could be unaware of the score. They also need to know where the snitch is so that if they see the opposing seeker going for it and cause the other team to win they need to be there to distract them long enough for the other seeker to lose it again. While they don't want to catch it yet they really don't want the other team to catch it yet.

If you know where the snitch is then you can follow the other seeker and make sure they don't get too close to finding it to end the game.



[Edited on October 13, 2010 at 10:25 AM. Reason : ]

10/13/2010 10:23:27 AM

Quote :

"You just don't understand. You need to read the books to understand how exciting the game is."

I'm not a Harry Potter fan but I do know how the game works somewhat - even though I too think it is kind of lame...

Anyway, he saps852 is right to say that based on the rules the author presents, it is in the best interest of a team who is losing very badly (with likely no chance to close the gap in points during the current game) to catch the snitch anyway to stop the bleeding since individual games don't matter as much as the total scores in their league (at least the way I understood)...

And, if you are playing a single game (ie not a season with a running total) then AndyMac is right in that the seeker wouldn't even want to catch the snitch if his team was down more than 150 points.

Then again, I didn't even like the few HP books I read when I was younger, so I guess it isn't a surprise that I think Quidditch is stupid

and I don't think that

Quote :

"They could be unaware of the score."

is a good argument for any athlete

[Edited on October 13, 2010 at 10:30 AM. Reason : .]

10/13/2010 10:29:50 AM

Quidditch would be the second most popular game in the country if all the fictional rulesets were in place, but the fact that flying brooms aren't practical and personal jetpacks haven't become mainstream limits the reproductions of the game to lame ground-based attempts, thus seriously lowering the game's appeal.

Football will always be number 1, but quidditch would surpass basketball and baseball as a spectator sport. Imagine Lebron on a broomstick and tell me you wouldn't be transfixed.

10/13/2010 10:33:00 AM

Quote :

"Imagine Lebron on a broomstick and tell me you wouldn't be transfixed."

I just lol'd

10/13/2010 10:34:02 AM

Shaq or Ming on a broomstick would be much more entertaining than Lebron

10/13/2010 10:34:56 AM

I could sort of picture Shawn Bradley playing. He sorta looks like a HP fan.




[Edited on October 13, 2010 at 10:43 AM. Reason : .]

10/13/2010 10:42:31 AM

Quote :

"and I don't think that "They could be unaware of the score." is a good argument for any athlete"

If I recall correctly there was a game where Harry caught the snitch but he wasn't sure if he should have caught it yet because they were down a good amount. It was more of a either I catch it or he catches situation. When the seeker is on the chase then often times they don't know what is going on during the game.

10/13/2010 10:46:56 AM

Quote :

"The X-Wings weren't actually fighting anything...the Imperials didn't launch a single TIE fighter. 2 X-Wings could have easily taken the AT-ATs."

A full scale evacuation was underway-the rebels weren't trying to win the battle, but merely delay the advance via a combination of ground forces and close air support (i.e. snow speeders). Treating the two sides as equals who have the same military might to throw at one another misunderstands the very basic story that undergirds everything else that's going on:

The rebels are a rag tag group that has to scrounge, scavenge, and scrape for every piece of equipment they have. Their goal in setting up any given base is merely to facilitate quick strikes before retreating to the next position, not to establish some impenetrable fortress that they defend at all costs.

They knew their base would eventually be discovered, and when it did, the ejection seat would be pulled, and they'd move on to their next strike point (i.e. the rendezvous point with the fleet).

As soon as the Imperial fleet entered the system, it was over.

There was no fleet backing the base on Hoth, nor should there have been. Sticking around to waste precious resources in order to knock out 3 or 4 armored transports when there was a near limitless supply of them (and troops) orbiting just above the planet would have made absolutely no sense. The ion cannon was no offensive weapon, but merely a grand, boob-like, delaying mechanism meant to give the unarmed transports and fighters a chance to get by the heavily armed capital ships. Adjusting it to fire at ground targets would mean sending the unarmed transports out to slaughter.

Most importantly, the scene shouldn't be given more weight than it's due. It's supremely badass, but it was never meant to be part of the story originally, but was added later when Lucas wanted to have something equal in scale to the Death Star assault in Ep. IV.

/end geek rant.

10/13/2010 12:32:28 PM

also, why do X-wings shoot out ropes with suction cups on them?

10/13/2010 12:34:59 PM

i dont even remember any X-Wings during the Hoth battle until they escape, I thought it was all A-Wings during the battle

10/13/2010 12:39:09 PM