TIE bombs? at Hoth asteroid belt.

Murazor · Post by **Murazor** » 2005-01-11 04:30am

Upon seeing TESB again recently, I noticed that when the Millenium Falcon is inside the big asteroid, the TIEs were using some kind of blue weapon against the asteroids that didn't seem to do any surface damage but rocked the inside of it. What are those blue bombs and what are they exactly used for?

2000AD · Post by **2000AD** » 2005-01-11 04:31am

IIRC the card game called them proton bombs, but that's very low level canon (if any)

Lord Revan · Post by **Lord Revan** » 2005-01-11 04:36am

2000AD wrote:IIRC the card game called them proton bombs, but that's very low level canon (if any)

IIRC they also called that in "Battlegrounds" and "Battlefront" (PC games) and Y-wings use them also and from the way that they are used I would say that they're anti-trooper bombs.

Post by **NecronLord** » 2005-01-11 04:41am

Jedi Knight I (Dark Forces II) also has them down as photon-bombs in the programmer's comments.

One thing that game taught me is that you don't want to be hit by those things.

Of course, it begs the question how common seismic charges are, because if the Ties were equipped with them, their job would have been much easier. Presumbaly Seismic Charges are pretty bloody expensive.

Karza · Post by **Karza** » 2005-01-11 04:44am

Lord Revan wrote:IIRC they also called that in "Battlegrounds" and "Battlefront" (PC games) and Y-wings use them also and from the way that they are used I would say that they're anti-trooper bombs.

So why would they use them to try to shake a starship out of hiding? Death Squadron couldn't afford seismic charges?

If it wasn't for that asteroid dragon (in the absence of a better name) that tactic would've taken ages to drive the Falcon out of hiding.

Rogue Squadron (pc game) presented them as general purpose bombs. Problem is that's just as unreliable as any facts that come from games.

EDIT: Some serious editing, because of my initial moronicity (is that a word?)

Murazor · Post by **Murazor** » 2005-01-11 04:55am

Karza wrote:
Lord Revan wrote:IIRC they also called that in "Battlegrounds" and "Battlefront" (PC games) and Y-wings use them also and from the way that they are used I would say that they're anti-trooper bombs.
They were also seen in Rogue Squadron, although there they were used for blasting buildings to pieces. Some sort of general purpose bombs if we go by the games. By the movies, they seem like anti-personnel bombs.

So why the hell would they use them to try to shake a starship out of hiding?

Perhaps it was the best thing avalaible. Small enough not to outright destroy the asteroid and threatening enough for a light freighter to make the Falcon run from its hideout.

Or maybe [loony idea] they were making the asteroids vibrate in an attempt to find the Falcon that was somehow hidden from their sensors and that would have vibrated differently than the rock of the asteroid[/loony idea].

At any rate, thanks to everybody who has answered my questions.

Karza · Post by **Karza** » 2005-01-11 04:59am

Sorry, didn't refresh before I submitted the edited version of that post.

Lord Revan · Post by **Lord Revan** » 2005-01-11 05:06am

Karza wrote:
Lord Revan wrote:IIRC they also called that in "Battlegrounds" and "Battlefront" (PC games) and Y-wings use them also and from the way that they are used I would say that they're anti-trooper bombs.
So why would they use them to try to shake a starship out of hiding? Death Squadron couldn't afford seismic charges? If it wasn't for that asteroid dragon (in the absence of a better name) that tactic would've taken ages to drive the Falcon out of hiding.

Rogue Squadron (pc game) presented them as general purpose bombs. Problem is that's just as unreliable as any facts that come from games.

EDIT: Some serious editing, because of my initial moronicity (is that a word?)

Well biggest problem is getting the Falcon outside with out destroying it since a Proton torp or spacebomb (from X-wing:Alliance) would have been an overkill they are both weaker then seismic charge (well spacebomb may have the same firepower as seismic charges, as I know only their in-game firepower)

Karza · Post by **Karza** » 2005-01-11 05:15am

Lord Revan wrote:Well biggest problem is getting the Falcon outside with out destroying it since a Proton torp or spacebomb (from X-wing:Alliance) would have been an overkill they are both weaker then seismic charge (well spacebomb may have the same firepower as seismic charges, as I know only their in-game firepower)

I know, but with these proton bombs it would've taken ages to force the Falcon out. They just lucked out because they awakened the asteroid dragon. Otherwise the bombs seemed to have negligible effect (the quakes inside the asteroid were probably just the dragon's bowel movements).

Comosicus · Post by **Comosicus** » 2005-01-11 08:46am

Maybe the seismic charges are just another exotic weapon deployed by Jango Fett, much like the Kamino saberdarts. Thus they didn't find place in the Empire arsenal.

Luke Starkiller · Post by **Luke Starkiller** » 2005-01-11 09:31am

Since they specifically wanted to capture the Falcon, it seems reasonable that they wouldn't use siesmic charges due to the high risk of destroying it.

Darth Fanboy · Post by **Darth Fanboy** » 2005-01-11 01:00pm

Luke Starkiller wrote:Since they specifically wanted to capture the Falcon, it seems reasonable that they wouldn't use siesmic charges due to the high risk of destroying it.

Vader did want them alive, and a seismic charge would have made too big of a boom.

Sounds right to me!

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2005-01-11 01:35pm

Seismic charges could well have destroyed the Falcon. It was of paramount importance that they take its crew alive.

Comosicus · Post by **Comosicus** » 2005-01-11 01:54pm

I'm not familiar with the EU sources, but have the seismic charges appear anywhere else except Ep.2?

Executor32 · Post by **Executor32** » 2005-01-11 02:32pm

They're in Rebel Strike[/b] for the Gamecube. The Firespray carries 20(:shock:), and the Jedi Starfighter carries six.

Also, the "asteroid dragon" is officially known as a "space slug".

Arthur_Tuxedo · Post by **Arthur_Tuxedo** » 2005-01-11 03:01pm

Since they didn't damage the asteroids, I always assumed they were some sort of device being used to find the Falcon on sensors.

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2005-01-11 03:13pm

Arthur_Tuxedo wrote:Since they didn't damage the asteroids, I always assumed they were some sort of device being used to find the Falcon on sensors.

Good point; perhaps they were just trying to ring the asteroid like a bell, so to speak, so they could try to figure out from the reflections where it is.

Gunhead · Post by **Gunhead** » 2005-01-11 03:16pm

Well for one, the Imps were searching for a cave big enough for the falcon to hide in.
The for two, the hull of the falcon would give off different "echo" than the rock around it. Since they were inside the slug, it could have been that the imps thought the cavern was empty an didn't search more thoroughly. Slugs me thinks also give out a different "echo".

-Gunhead

Lord Revan · Post by **Lord Revan** » 2005-01-11 03:20pm

Executor32 wrote:They're in Rebel Strike[/b] for the Gamecube. The Firespray carries 20(:shock:), and the Jedi Starfighter carries six.

those numbers are probaly BS if the Jedi Starfighter mean the Delta-7 since there's no way you fit even seismic charge into those things

Howedar · Post by **Howedar** » 2005-01-11 04:03pm

Gunhead wrote:Well for one, the Imps were searching for a cave big enough for the falcon to hide in.
The for two, the hull of the falcon would give off different "echo" than the rock around it. Since they were inside the slug, it could have been that the imps thought the cavern was empty an didn't search more thoroughly. Slugs me thinks also give out a different "echo".

-Gunhead

The slug could well have isolated the Falcon from the asteroid, much as one mounts vibrating stuff on rubber bushings.

Elheru Aran · Post by **Elheru Aran** » 2005-01-11 04:05pm

Lord Revan wrote:
Executor32 wrote:They're in Rebel Strike[/b] for the Gamecube. The Firespray carries 20(:shock:), and the Jedi Starfighter carries six.
those numbers are probaly BS if the Jedi Starfighter mean the Delta-7 since there's no way you fit even seismic charge into those things

Miniaturized versions would make sense-- after all, spacetroopers do carry proton-torpedo launchers... you don't honestly think they fire a fighter-size weapon, do you? Not only would it be rather like a modern soldier firing a Sidewinder from a shoulder launcher, but there'd be a fairly significant risk of blowing the soldier apart in the blast... I find it hard to believe that spacetroopers would be deployed at significant distances from ships to be boarded and so forth.

Lord Revan · Post by **Lord Revan** » 2005-01-11 04:13pm

Elheru Aran wrote:Miniaturized versions would make sense-- after all, spacetroopers do carry proton-torpedo launchers... you don't honestly think they fire a fighter-size weapon, do you? Not only would it be rather like a modern soldier firing a Sidewinder from a shoulder launcher, but there'd be a fairly significant risk of blowing the soldier apart in the blast... I find it hard to believe that spacetroopers would be deployed at significant distances from ships to be boarded and so forth.

Well if talking about a Standard Delta-7 (and not the Azure Angel II(Anakin's Starfighter)) there isn't room for any warhead period (AOTC:ICS)

Post by **Sea Skimmer** » 2005-01-11 05:05pm

Elheru Aran wrote: Miniaturized versions would make sense-- after all, spacetroopers do carry proton-torpedo launchers... you don't honestly think they fire a fighter-size weapon, do you? Not only would it be rather like a modern soldier firing a Sidewinder from a shoulder launcher, but there'd be a fairly significant risk of blowing the soldier apart in the blast...

Ever heard of the Davy Crocket? I'm confident a Spacetrooper could shoulder fire one too.

Anyway, proton torpedoes are shaped charge weapons, and as the seismic charges show, Star Wars tech is really insanely good at shaping an explosion. Given that the purpose of the Spacetroopers launcher is hull breaching, they would need a quite powerful warhead, and the uber shaped charge feature would make firing it at close possibul. So probably the weapon is inline with the firepower of at least low yield fighter proton torpedoes.

drachefly · Post by **drachefly** » 2005-01-11 05:51pm

Problem with trying to ring the asteroid like a bell is that, well, the Falcon could have simply declined to land. No contact --> no effect on resonant behavior.
I think this problem would be sufficiently obvious that they wouldn't try.

Just making the rock shake enough to drive them out seems much more likely.

Howedar · Post by **Howedar** » 2005-01-11 06:54pm

If they hadn't shut down the ship, they would presumably show up on passive scans.