Can the new AT-M6 resist against the Snowspeeder tactic?

Question

After investigating the new model, I discovered a couple of things ... He has more weaponry and protection, is inspired by a gorilla and has a greater psychic impact to instill fear.

It seems to be more stable than the old AT-ATs and that the new front legs would protect them of the Snowspeeders.

But do those front legs really provide something that defends them from using the same technique again to knock them down?

As far as I'm aware, there's nothing to prevent the legs from being wrapped up. — Edlothiad, Dec 18 '17 at 09:26
I try to find a logic to those legs, it would be normal for me to have some defense against that tactic, right? But i don't found nothing about that... — Gawey, Dec 18 '17 at 09:29

score 18 · Accepted Answer · edited Jun 16 '20 at 09:31

18

Yes, according to the film's Visual Dictionary the modified AT-M6 has specific defenses against the cable-wrapping attack seen in Empire Strikes Back. The front of the leg has lifting (sharp) cutting edges.

_{^{"Foot Mechanism ventilation gates also double as cable cutters"}}

This issue was also addressed in an interview with the film's Design Supervisor Kevin Jenkins.

One of the questions that tied us up a lot is the fact that they’d been taken down by snowspeeders in The Empire Strikes Back, and it felt like everyone else is trying to avoid the problem of a four-legged version of a walker because they had been defeated on Hoth. So I sort of took that on board and I suggested to Rian, “Well, instead of a dog, what about a gorilla?”

...

The front legs are very heavily armored, and you can see almost up to the forearm. And again, that’s my take on, “You can’t take these down with a snowspeeder.” They’ve armored up the front or maybe they just cut the ropes because they are too big now. Also, the way they are balanced now is like a gorilla, because their knuckles are turned backwards and they’ve got very high shoulders. They are a completely different poise. Maybe they could even sort of kneel down or something.

StarWars.com: I’m glad to hear that they finally figured out how to defend against tow cables.

Kevin Jenkins: Well, it was more of a thought process of trying to base the design not upon something random but to move it forward.

_{^{INSIDE TWO NEW FIRST ORDER VEHICLES FROM THE LAST JEDI}}

edited Jun 16 '20 at 09:31

Community

1

answered Dec 18 '17 at 09:38

Valorum

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The cables could just avoid that point and boom, down she goes... – Edlothiad Dec 18 '17 at 09:40
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@Edlothiad - Those vent covers go all the way down the leg to the bottom. Wrap it any higher up and the cable attack would be ineffective – Valorum Dec 18 '17 at 09:41
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Yes, tawsome answer. thanks for the img and the source. – Gawey Dec 18 '17 at 11:31
You'd think it'd be much simpler just to lower the centre of gravity.... maybe with wheels or repulsors. – Gusdor Dec 18 '17 at 17:50
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Or treads. Like an actual tank. – Valorum Dec 18 '17 at 17:56
I can definitely see some benefits to the legs. We never see it on-screen but they'd potentially be useful for bridging gaps, and they could certainly handle much rougher terrain than a conventional wheeled or tracked vehicle. They might also have some advantages over repulsors (e.g. not sure how well a repulsor would handle swampy land/water/deep snow, would they sink or throw a lot of liquid up into the air?), but yeah they also seem to come with a lot of drawbacks too. – delinear Dec 22 '17 at 16:10
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@delinear Relevant question: What is the benefit of an AT-AT walker over a conventional tank? – Engineer Toast Jan 09 '18 at 19:13
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@EngineerToast - Because the walker looks frikking awesome. – Valorum Jan 09 '18 at 19:14
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@Valorum Exactly. That is covered by the last points in each of the top two answers: But, mainly, it looks badass and As part of an overall fear & intimidation design objective. – Engineer Toast Jan 09 '18 at 21:32

Can the new AT-M6 resist against the Snowspeeder tactic?

1 Answers1