Do you think an AT-AT would have trouble crossing a large river? Would it slip or sink into the mud too far?
Presumably the Empire has engineers who can rapidly deploy bridges for such situations just as our own modern armies do.
Well, I don't think AT-ATs are meant to be deployed on forested or jungle areas. Maybe open plains or flatter regions like Hoth. The Empire is too advanced to put all their military emphasis on the AT-AT for planetary assaults.
Given repulsor technology, the AT-ATs never made any sense to me in military terms other than the sheer terror they might inspire in ground troops. If something like Luke's battered old landspeeder can float, then a traditionally-proportioned floating tank makes a lot more sense IMHO. Try wrapping a little cord around that, bitch!
Well by movie logic, an AT-AT would fall to it's knees and explode if it stepped on a rock in said river.
I could have made a fortune with the Empire just suggesting better ideas for armaments. Instead of an AT-AT, try one of these beasts, called a Bolo: http://img40.imageshack.us/img40/186/12174767.jpg And instead of stormtroopers in plastic armor, how about Mobile Infantry: http://www.lanceradvanced.com/Illustration/FanArt/Images/Armor.jpg You wouldn't NEED a Death Star with better ground weapon systems...
They would probably just pull a prequel R2. Sprout rockets and fly over the water, land and saunter off.
It's the Empire. Impractical, unwieldly and cumbersome technology easily felled by vastly inferior forces is part of their design strategy at every single level. We're talking about the guys who build an exposed bridge on all their starships, had a vent for which a single shot could destroy their entire space station.
Secret plans were required to know about the ray shielded vent. The Stormtroopers are like redshirts-they are required to fail by the script. I think the Imperial Stormtroopers should be at least as competent as the Clone Troopers are allowed to be. I consider the entire Endor battle to be a real weak point of the first trilogy. If no Imperial engineers were available do you think an AT-AT has a chance at walking through a river like the Mississippi? They have a walking pattern modeled after an elephant. How deep does river mud get? If the AT-AT was constructed of materials as heavy as steel would it just completely sink into oblivion?
Guess that depends on the size of the river, doesn't it! Did you have a particular example in mind? I expect there would be a limit to what would be considered practical (if not safe) for AT-ATs to cross...
I'd bet an AT-AT would get stuck on pretty much any terrain, actually. But assuming it doesn't sink into the mud, most rivers wouldn't be so deep as to submerge it, and even if it did, no reason to believe submerging the AT-AT would damage it.
Well, they designed the MT-AT Spider Walker for difficult terrain; I don't doubt they have an amphibious version as well.
Of course, so? Yeah, they totally blew up the Millennium... I mean none of the AT-ATs were easily felled by a plucky... Okay, they got the Rebels to withdraw. Hooray! I think people oversell Empire as the movie where the Empire wins, really. It's more the movie where the heroes don't win but the Empire isn't exactly sweeping the deck either - it's an inconclusive second act.
AT-ATs and AT-STs are like Jaffa staffs: designed for intimidation but completely stupid as military weapons.