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Was Darth Vader's attack on the rebels at Hoth a complete military blunder?

Was Darth Vader's attack on the rebels at Hoth a complete military blunder?

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AT-AT fail
AT-AT fail

The Galactic Empire may have tried to strike back in Star Wars: Episode V, but according to new analysis from Spencer Ackerman at Wired, Darth Vader's attack on Hoth may be one of his biggest strategic failures. "Of all the Empire's failures, none is a more spectacular military fiasco than the Battle of Hoth," Ackerman writes. Was Vader's strategy in outer space completely "incoherent?" Did those AT-ATs win the ground war thanks only to a misguided Rebel retreat? And did Vader's own hubris help the Rebel Alliance to escape mostly unscathed? "It's a classic fiasco of overconfidence and theology masquerading as military judgement," Ackerman says. "Don't place unaccountable religious fanatics in wartime command, and never underestimate a hegemonic power's ability to miscalculate against an insurgency."