Battle of Hoth/Legends

"We've got to hold them until all transports are away. Prepare for ground assault."

- General Carlist Rieekan

The Battle of Hoth was a conflict in the Galactic Civil War, during which the Rebel base on Hoth was destroyed.

Prelude
After the abandonment of the base on Yavin 4, the Empire didn't know the new location of the Rebellion. During an assault on Zaloriis City to punish the Zaloran separatists, Vader and Veers discovered archives of the library which showed the new location to be somewhere near Elrood system.

Darth Vader's personal Death Squadron fleet reached the Hoth system, following a discovery made by a Viper probe droid, which turned out to be the main base of the Rebel Alliance, located on the sixth planet of the system.

Lord Vader, and many of his top officers had planned a surprise attack with limited long-range orbital bombardment to destroy any spacecraft and defenses, followed by a sweeping ground assualt to capture any survivors. However, Admiral Ozzel made his own assault plan, and exited hyperspace close to the star system planning for a saturated bombardment. This tactical blunder allowed the Rebel's early-warning sensors to detect the fleet. The theatre shield protecting Echo Base was activated, which precluded any undesirable bombardment. Darth Vader executed the Admiral for his incompetence and promoted Firmus Piett, then chief fleet captain of the Star Dreadnought Executor, to Admiral.

Having assessed the situation, Vader ordered General Maximillian Veers to land beyond the range of the energy shield and begin a surface assault aimed at knocking out the Rebel defenses, while Death Squadron took up a blockade formation. The Imperial landing force, dubbed Blizzard Force, consisted of several battalions of cold-weather equipped Stormtroopers (known as Snowtroopers), some squads equipped with heavy repeating blasters. This infantry force was carried aboard AT-AT and A5 Juggernaut transports, which in turn were supported by AT-PT, AT-ST and AT-AR walkers, and with Viper probe droids providing extra sensory-support. This mechanized force was deployed by several Y-85 Titan Dropships, and larger landing assault craft.

The Alliance employed T-47 snowspeeders, light aircraft modified for arctic combat conditions led by the elite Rogue Squadron. Ground troops were armed with A295 blasters and several types of artillery emplacements, including DF.9/B anti-infantry laser batteries and the Clone Wars-era P-Tower anti-vehicle laser cannons.

A large ion cannon, the v-150 Planet Defender, provided fire-support for the leaving transports. To protect the interior of the base, Rebel troops employed small repulsorsleds, each armed with a blaster cannon.

The Battle
The Imperial assault was primarily aimed at destroying the Rebel's main power generators. This would shut down the theatre shield protecting the base from orbital bombardment. General Veers led the assault personally, commanding an AT-AT walker, and crushed the Rebel defenses. AT-ST walkers moved toward the Outpost Beta ion cannon to prevent any Star Destroyer casualties in the space battle. Snowspeeders flew in and destroyed the attackers before they reached the cannon. Blizzard Force came under harassing fire from the Alliance emplacements, but the walkers' armor plating was too strong for Rebel lasers. Only Rogue Squadron succeeded in toppling one assault transport, using an unorthodox tactic imagined by Luke Skywalker, which relied on magnetic harpoons and tow cables to entangle the walker's feet. Unfortunately, the tactic's success was minimal, and the AT-ATs downed many snowspeeders with deadly volleys from their blaster cannons. As the armored assault force reached the trenches, the Alliance soldiers, with most of their laser cannon emplacements destroyed, came under heavy fire and the the order to retreat was issued. With the other AT-ATs providing cover fire, Veers in Blizzard 1 broke through the defensive lines and proceeded to destroy the shield power generators. After the decisive victory move, the blockade in orbit began a piecemeal bombardment of the battlefield, taking out defensive emplacements and fleeing ships. Imperial forces then used airmobile tactics to deploy snowtroopers onto the surface.

Lord Vader personally led troopers of the 501st Legion into Echo Base, cutting down any who stood in his way. Alliance troops attempted to delay Imperial progress, but were swiftly overwhelmed by the mechanized assault. As the snowtroopers breached the icy bunker walls of Echo Base and entered close range combat with the defenders, Rebel personnel were forced to flee. Han Solo managed to escape in the Millennium Falcon with Princess Leia Organa, after a close encounter with an advance group of snowtroopers.

The 501st moved through the base and into the back hangar and landing area. There, the last of the Rebel troops were loading onto a last transport. The elite shocktroops led by Vader pushed them back, but took several casualties at the hands of DF.9 Anti-Infantry Batterys and E-web heavy repeating blaster encampments. An orbital strike beacon was placed underneath the ship. As the 501st and Rebels were engaged in firefights, a Star Destroyer descended into the atmosphere and commenced bombardment. Most of the Rebel infantry was destroyed, though stragglers remained.

One other Rebel, Dash Rendar, was trapped inside Echo Base in the hangar bays. His YT-2400 Light freighter, the Outrider, was on the other side of the base, where the power was out. He used the station's supply of captive Wampas as an advantage, setting them free to slaughter the Imperial infantry. After restoring the power allowing the rest of the rebels to escape, his troubles got worse; a lone AT-ST walker managed to slip behind the base's defenses and penetrated the base. Rendar nevertheless managed to destroy it and he escaped in the Outrider.

As Rogue Squadron pushed into the atmosphere and defended the fleeing transports. As TIE Bombers moved in, the X-wings swooped in and pushed back the attackers. The remaining transports fled, but the battle was not yet over.

Asteroid field escape
The battle continued in orbit around the planet in the Hoth asteroid field. Han Solo, with TIE Fighters on his tail, retreated into the death zone. Most of the attackers were destroyed by asteroids. After Solo took refuge in an asteroid, TIE Bombers shelled the surface with proton bombs.

Another skirmish occured concurrently around the same time in another region of the belt, where Dash Rendar attempted to make an escape. As TIE Bombers distracted him and damaged his ship with energy bombs, TIE Fighters shot at his ship. Rendar, with his excellent marksmanship, managed to hold off most of the attackers long enough for his ship to enter a hyper-space jump safe region.

Aftermath
Approximately thirty Rebel GR-75 Medium Transports managed to take off along with a number of other lighter craft. Despite the cover provided by the KDY v-150 Planet Defender, the Imperial naval squadron blockading the planet managed to destroy seventeen Rebel Medium Transports. The ion cannon crew, made up of Alliance troops from Alderaan, were among the last to leave, blowing up the cannon to mask the sensor reading of them escaping. Despite the escape of most senior personnel, the loss in material and men proved a disaster for the Rebel Alliance, and was a terrible blow to its war effort. The battle was not without loss for the Empire: at least one Star Destroyer was temporarily placed out of commission by the orbital-range ion cannon and several AT-ATs were destroyed by Rebel defenders, with more being lost to the treacherous ice flows giving way. Despite forcing the Rebels to flee, the Imperial forces were unable to destroy all of the transports, while Lord Vader failed in what he considered a primary objective, namely capturing Luke Skywalker.

Rogue Squadron
These Rogue pilots are known to be assigned during the battle (pilot/gunner):


 * Rogue Leader: Flight Commander Luke Skywalker/Dak Ralter
 * Rogue 2: Zev Senesca/Kit Valent
 * Rogue 3: Wedge Antilles/Wes Janson
 * Rogue 4: Derek "Hobbie" Klivian/Kesin Ommis
 * Rogue 7:Jaras Starfire/Doran Las
 * Rogue 8: Zev Kabir/Unknown
 * Rogue 10: Tarrin Datch/Unknown
 * Rogue 11: Tenk Lenso/Unknown
 * Rogue 12: Dash Rendar/Robotic Gunner
 * Tycho Celchu/Unknown
 * Samoc Farr/Unknown
 * Nala Hetsime/Unknown

It is probable that Tarn Mison, who flew escort for Bright Hope, the last transport to leave Hoth, was also a snowspeeder pilot or gunner.

By this time, Kasan Moor had left Rogue Squadron and was working as an aide to Alliance High Command.

The cross-section of Echo Base seen in Inside the Worlds of the Star Wars trilogy shows 15 T-47 airspeeders, 9 in Hangar 7 and the rest in the transports hangar. Whether or not all of these participated in the battle or not is known.

Behind the scenes
The Battle of Hoth is featured in several Star Wars video and computer games as a playable mission from a variety of perspectives. Shadows of the Empire places you in the seat of a snowspeeder against the armored Imperial force, while Force Commander allows you to take the place of General Veers and command the mechanized assault. Star Wars Battlefront and Galactic Battlegrounds lets one play in the Battle of Hoth as either the Rebels or the Empire.

Appearances

 * Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
 * Force Commander
 * ''Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire
 * Star Wars: Rogue Squadron
 * Star Wars: Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader
 * Star Wars: Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike
 * Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds
 * Star Wars Battlefront
 * Star Wars Battlefront II
 * Entrenched