I come not to bury AT-STs, but to praise them. Because they rock in Star Wars.

3 years ago
4

The video to which I am responding is found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zi571K1Vl4

And they do raise some valid points. I simply contend that their perception of the platform is exclusively based on its performance on Hoth and Endor, and, well, that's not the best look ever, but it's also not the entire picture. As comments there point out, the murder chicken's performance in Battlefront, Rogue One, Allegiance, and so forth indicate these are truly effective combat vehicles.

And the simple fact is that if these 'companies' that Cara Dune references didn't have anti-armor weapons, they'd be utterly hosed, regardless of the situation on Endor. (Yes, trees can count as "anti-armor weapons", but given Star Wars' single-biome planets, not all planets have those.)

Also, the thought struck me after I was done recording: "companies of men" is a number strictly less than 1000, and possibly even less than 300, given that's the range in size of the next-size-up military unit, known as a battalion. Again, if she'd meant that many people, Cara Dune probably would have said so - she doesn't exactly mince words.

Additionally, it occurs to me I didn't do a great job of articulating why the AT-ST is much more an infantry-squisher than a scout vehicle. Put simply, its sensor suite is below-par (especially in comparison to any of a number of droids), and its visibility is even worse. On the other hand, it's fast, lightly armored, and bristling with weaponry, which puts it in the "skirmisher" category, but it doesn't have any dedicated anti-vehicle weapons itself. Ergo, it's generally designed to annihilate job lots of infantry, and do a little forward probing on the side.

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