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I noticed that while the original intent was an orbital bombardment the Empire just ends up with a ground assault. Why even bother with the generator?

The IMPS even go into the base that was supposedly to be orbitally bombarded

Valorum
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Lenie Lenape
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1 Answers1

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This boils down to Vader actually being quite a nice guy (shock horror!) or at the very least an effective leader who cared about his troops.

The original intention was a "clean" orbital bombardment of the base, something that would have resulted in zero Imperial casualties. When he found that the shields were already raised and the rebels were evidently planning an evacuation, Vader seems to have decided to go for more aggressive plan.

“He’s as clumsy as he is stupid,” Vader cut in, breathing heavily. “A clean bombardment is impossible through their energy field. Prepare your troops for a surface attack.” - ESB Novelisation

After (ahem) indicating his displeasure to Admiral Ozzel, Vader ordered the fleet be moved to create a blockade in space and he sent Veers to initiate a ground assault. The walkers would deposit a small number of ground troops and destroy the generators, followed by a swift aerial invasion of the Rebel base:

Through the cockpit window, Veers and his pilot can see the Rebel power generators in the distance.

A hologram of Darth Vader appears on a control panel screen.

VEERS : Yes, Lord Vader. I've reached the main power generator. The shield will be down in moments. You may start your landing. - ESB Script

Once the generators were down, the Empire was obviously able to land troops, including Vader's shuttle right on top of the Rebel base. This answers the immediate question of why the generators were such a choice target, not so they could start the (now largely irrelevant) orbital bombardment but so they could shuttle shock-troops onto the planet's surface.

Valorum
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  • So they got the first wave on the ground when the shield was down for a period of time? And when they succeed in closing the shield, and realize all the Rebel s are gone the just decide to loot the base? – Lenie Lenape Mar 08 '15 at 17:00
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    @LenieLenape - The first wave were inside the walkers, probably about a hundred troops assuming each walker can carry 20+ men. The second wave (Vader's assault troops + Vader himself) were in space (in shuttles?) waiting for the shield to come down. – Valorum Mar 08 '15 at 17:01
  • but the question still remains of why the first wave was sent down to prep for an orbital bombardment, or had the plans been changed to a partial bombardment, so as to raid the base? – Lenie Lenape Mar 08 '15 at 17:11
  • They wanted to approach stealthily and then blast the base out of existence. When that plan failed, they switched to a blockade and ground assault. The orbital bombardment was cancelled. – Valorum Mar 08 '15 at 17:13
  • Then how did Veer get boots on the ground if the shield was still up? So it boils down to was it really a planetary wide shield? And why did the decide to sack the base then? And according to Wookieepedia he went down to disable it for a bombardment succeeded and then a minor one occurred. – Lenie Lenape Mar 08 '15 at 17:19
  • Might be worth making it a little clearer that the orbital bombardment didn't happen largely because of Ozzel carelessly coming out of hyperspace too close to Hoth. – Ixrec Mar 08 '15 at 17:25
  • @LenieLenape The shield question is covered at https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/9439/battle-of-hoth-how-did-the-at-ats-manage-to-disable-the-shield-generator – Ixrec Mar 08 '15 at 17:26
  • @Ixrec According to Wookieepedia it did (of course that's legends). Secondly As I said it must not have been a planetary shield if Veers was able to land, possibly it was just protecting the base? – Lenie Lenape Mar 08 '15 at 17:28
  • @LenieLenape The question I linked discusses all of that. It has a quote from the script proving the shield only covers a part of the planet, not the entire planet. Though the question of why AT-ATs on the ground can get through it sadly has only speculative answers. – Ixrec Mar 08 '15 at 17:29
  • That clears it up for now hopefully we'll get better answers in New canon. – Lenie Lenape Mar 08 '15 at 17:33
  • Let us continue this discussion in chat. – Lenie Lenape Mar 08 '15 at 17:34
  • IIRC, the shield WA an umbrella-type that only covered against attacks from above, but the sides wear open. Could be misremembering. And yes, Vader in multiple CA was characterized as a leader who took care of his men, not carelessly spending their lives – The Fallen Mar 08 '15 at 17:51
  • except when he choked them Awesome, but he also wanted Skywalker dead. – Lenie Lenape Mar 08 '15 at 17:56
  • @LenieLenape - He chokes their leaders (when they're incompetent) not ordinary troopers. – Valorum Mar 08 '15 at 18:13
  • @Richard this brings the final hurdle-He knew Skywalker was with them, yet in the beginning he wants to destroy the Base altogether. Did he only wanna turn Luke afterwards? – Lenie Lenape Mar 08 '15 at 19:10
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    One point about the shield though. It is old AND new canon that slow moving beings CAN push through shields. This is seen on numerous occasions in the films (battle of naboo) and the clone wars series. And the shield generators used for the hoth base probably doesn't use a different technology there than every other ground shield used in the films and series. – Thomas Mar 09 '15 at 10:07