All Terrain Armored Transport/Legends

''This article is about the AT-AT vehicle. You may also be looking for the AT-AT Star Wars Miniature Set''.

The All Terrain Armored Transport (AT-AT) walker, was a major part of the Galactic Empire's army.

Details
AT-ATs were large, four-footed machines resembling great mechanical beasts. Their primary purpose was transportation of more vulnerable units across the battlefield, but the Empire would also use them as weapons of terror. It could carry either 40 Imperial stormtroopers and 5 speeder bikes, or 2 AT-ST units (which were presumably carried disassembled, due to the otherwise prohibitive size of the AT-ST). The stormtroopers could be deployed via rappeling cable, but the heavier ordinance could only exit after the slow and comparatively awkward process of the AT-AT kneeling and extending its ramps. AT-ATs and AT-STs were deployed from orbit by Y-85 Titan dropships. One of its few shortcomings was a weak point in its neck, which, when attacked, could bring easy destruction to the walker.

The arsenal of the AT-AT was also devastating, as they possessed two chin-mounted heavy laser cannons to destroy slow, bulky targets and two temple-mounted medium blaster cannons which could engage lighter targets. The armor plating was too thick for blasters to penetrate, and they could walk over&mdash;and thereby crush&mdash;people and equipment.

History
They were assembled by Kuat Drive Yards, and evolved from the AT-TE walkers first employed in the Battle of Geonosis. The first-generation AT-AT walkers saw their debut during the Battle of Jabiim, later on in the Clone Wars. During the time of the Galactic Empire, Maximilian Veers resurrected the idea, bringing the AT-AT into full Imperial service.

At the Battle of Hoth, the Empire used walkers to land beyond the limits of the Rebel Alliance's shield. General Maximilian Veers commanded the ground forces and advanced on the shield generator. Faced with such forces, Luke Skywalker employed a strategy earlier devised by himself and strategist Beryl Chiffonage to disable the walkers: his team of snowspeeders would use their magnetic harpoons and tow cables to entangle the walkers' feet, causing them to fall. Wedge Antilles and his gunner Wes Janson managed to disable one walker this way. Luke destroyed a second by cutting a hole in it with his lightsaber and tossing in a concussion grenade, and a third was destroyed when a speeder crashed into it.

Despite these small successes, they were ultimately insufficient to turn the tide of the battle, and the Battle of Hoth was one of the most devastating losses for the Rebels in the entire Galactic Civil War.

AT-ATs later patrolled the garrison base on the forest moon of Endor, but were limited by the dense foliage of the moon; as a result, AT-STs saw far more use.

Sometime after the Battle of Endor, the Empire replaced the AT-AT's lasers and blasters with light turbolasers, easily capable of defeating many hardened defensive weapons emplacements.

Behind the Scenes
The AT-ATs used in The Empire Strikes Back and the brief appearance in Return of the Jedi were created with the use of stop-motion animation.

While Expanded Universe sources based on West End Games' Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game list the AT-AT at a height of 15 meters, the Inside the Worlds of Star Wars Trilogy factbook uses measurements from the movie to place it at a larger size, 22.5 meters.

Appearances

 * Star Wars Republic: The Battle of Jabiim
 * Empire at War
 * Dark Forces: Soldier for the Empire
 * Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
 * Shadows of the Empire
 * Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
 * Star Wars: Rogue Squadron
 * Star Wars: Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader
 * Star Wars: Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike
 * The Battle of Cadinth
 * Dark Empire
 * The Unifying Force
 * Star Wars Battlefront
 * Star Wars Battlefront II