MovieChat Forums > Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983) Discussion > "An entire legion of my best troops awai...

"An entire legion of my best troops await them!"

posted 5 months ago by KingsRule (993)
11 replies | jump to latest

Lol what? If that's the Empire's best troops then it's absolutely no surprise the Empire crumbled.

[–] twinA (4921) 5 months ago

The Emperor completely ignored the wisdom to be gleaned from 'The Art of War' by Sun Tzu.

-The Empire underestimated the Rebels, especially their newfound Ewok allies

-Their supply lines got disrupted, making it harder to mobilize their troops

-While having plenty of soldiers and weapons, they split their forces up one too many

-Endor is an extremely harsh environment with unique dangers at every turn

-Most of their manpower got stuck fighting in narrow paths, eliminating their numbers advantage

-Close combat on the surface prevented direct [space] naval support (Mahanian Doctrine)

-Conventional blaster rifles without proper earthworks (entrenchment) or fortifications is useless

~~/o/

[–] Tam87 (1592) 5 months ago

Beaten by wicket and the ewoks, no less.

[–] millsey72 (10935) 3 months ago

The ewoks were tough and they had the home field advantage during the battle

[–] KingsRule (993) 3 months ago

But the Galactic Empire surely would have developed means to deal with stubborn badger-like creatures, such as ewoks, no?

Why were the ewoks allowed to exist within just a few miles of the Imperial colony? The Emperor selected this planet and specific region as the ideal location for the defence shield to be held. It just doesn't make sense.

[–] AnthonySocksss (1564) 3 months ago

Probably the same reason a colonial empire wouldn’t exterminate the local Pygmy population, because they don’t see them as a threat.

Also Ewoks are very good at hiding and disappearing when threatened, and using guerrilla tactics. The only reason the Ewoks helped the rebels was because Luke tricked them with the Force.

[–] KingsRule (993) 3 months ago

Doesn't the term "pygmy" denote a lesser species? I'm no Star Wars expert, but from what I could tell, ewoks were the dominant force in that part of Endor.

[–] AnthonySocksss (1564) 3 months ago

The Ewoks on their own aren’t much of a threat to an organized army, but combined with rebel firepower they were able to capture and destroy the shield generator. It’s not without precedent that under equipped forces have defeated more advanced militaries using their knowledge of terrain and unconventional tactics.

Although in the original script, the Ewoks were meant to be Wookies being used by the empire as slave labour.

[–] Theman (1254) 22 days ago

A lot of wars had elite troops involved and they still lost.

[–] arcticdragon (591) 22 days ago

By ewoks?!!!

[–] Theman (1254) 22 days ago

No. But by enemies that weren’t that technologically advanced. There were some rebel commandos on Endor also.

[–] KingsRule (993) 22 days ago

A rare example: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tauranga_campaign#Battle_of_Gate_P%C4%81