Flight of the X-Wing

Going by the film I was under the impression that it's not so much that the Rebels couldn't afford decent weapons, but that they had only recently moved to Hoth. They had a cannon that could knock a Star Destroyer out of space, so they clearly had weapons with the range and potency to make a real mess of an AT-AT. Quite aside from the fact that the Snowspeeder's blasters were plenty powerful enough to destroy the tied AT-AT.

17Km, not miles. What would I rather equip my military with for an attack, a tough assault vehicle that could be seen 17km away or a tougher assault vehicle the other side had to wait till 5km to directly engage?

What would your morale be like as a Rebel if at 17Km you see a short a barrage from an Ion cannon into an AT-AT formation, as I said it knocked a Star Destroyer out of orbit, it's surely got the range and power to kill an AT-AT. Yes, the AT-ATs have the range to hit back, but what's going to be easier to see?

I think I'll have to agree to disagree on this, I simply can't see military walkers making any practical sense (To be honest they don't really make sense in the Battletech universe either but that's beside the point).

They make sense from the point of view of what looks good on the big screen, and I can go along with the Suspension of disbelief happily when playing a game of Mechwarrior or Battletech, or watching the AT-ATs on Hoth, but there's no way they make any practical sense beyond a "We came up with the idea because walkers/mechs look cool".

 

I actually agree with you on this - I was just trying to find any positive features

 

No argument from me, I'd accept in a heartbeat.

And just to be clear, I think AT-ATs, Battlemechs and all other combat-walker types generally look great and really fire up the imagination, I'm definitely not in the "Hate" crowd.

Most of the positives (Such as listed in the article) kind of rely on more than an element of wishful thinking or factors that in real combat vehicles designers desperately try to avoid though.

 

As we don't know anything from the star wars unviverse (because i think it's not real...duh) it is not impossible to assume the AT-AT has repulsorlift capabilities and uses those legs for movement and as support for firing heavy weapons only....
Why does it crash down when the feet are bundled together?
Because it feet and the Repulsorlift work on the same power thing-a-ma-jing (obviously a real design flaw just like that huge shaft in wich you can Destroy a completed Deathstar with one shot)!!
Another problem for the Rebels is that their huge ion cannons are not groundtarget capable and can only fire at targets in orbit...firing an Ion cannon against ground target will unfortunatly only damage the cannon.
(This will all be explained in Episode VII: the Search for Leia's Underwear)

Regards,
George L.

 

as ive said before the tall walkers are very intimidateing .an atat is much spookier than a stuart tank ,which it sorta resembles .

the martian walkers in the last remake of the h g wells classic, stareing tom cruise were somehow more terrifieing on long legs ,than if they were just hovering like flying saucers ...

in the age of swords and arrows being high up in a tower was an advantage .gunpowder artillery made all fortifications LOWER . if infantry cannot find a hole ,they lie down and shoot prone .the grant tank was found to be too high ,lower is better when it comes to gunfire .at at s would be useless in any wooded or brushy terrain as they would trip and fall forward ,they have no arms to push thenselves back upright either .a completely useless design except for in scifie movies .