Vader realizes the opportunity at hand for an end to the Rebellion. Vader’s Incoherent Strategy in Outer Space What follows next is a reminder of two military truths that apply in our own time and in our own galaxy: Don’t place unaccountable religious fanatics in wartime command, and never underestimate a hegemonic power’s ability to miscalculate against an insurgency. When Vader enters the Hoth System with the Imperial Fleet, he’s holding a winning hand. In essence, the Rebels built a shield that can’t keep an invader out and complicates their own escape. But the shield has two huge flaws: It can’t stop an Imperial landing force from entering the atmosphere, and it can only open in a discrete place for a limited time so the Rebels’ Ion Cannon can protect an evacuation. Its outermost perimeter defense is an energy shield that can deflect Imperial laser bombardment. An ion cannon is its main anti-aircraft/spacecraft defense. The single Rebel base (!) is defended by a few artillery pieces on its north slope, protecting its main power generator. The defenses the Alliance constructed on Hoth could not be more favorable to Vader if the villain constructed them himself. Huddled into the lone Echo Base are all their major players: politically crucial Princess Leia ace pilot Han Solo and their game-changer, Luke Skywalker, who isn’t even a Jedi yet.

Overconfident that they can evade Imperial surveillance, they hole up on unforgiving frigid terrain at the far end of the cosmos. But of all the Empire’s failures, none is a more spectacular military fiasco than the Battle of Hoth at the beginning of The Empire Strikes Back.įrom a military perspective, Hoth should have been a total debacle for the Rebel Alliance.

How did the Galactic Empire ever cement its hold on the Star Wars Universe? The war machine built by Emperor Palpatine and run by Darth Vader is a spectacularly bad fighting force, as evidenced by all of the pieces of Death Star littering space.

Star wars battle of hoth tanks