Was Tarkin ACTUALLY cocky? Or was it realistic?

[Patrick Degan]

And regardless of whether or not the rebels COULD evacuate Yavin, there was no way for Tarkin to know in advance.

Intel. Probe droids. There were means to know whether or not the Rebels were stuck on Yavin-D or not. Given how the strategy for the battle was set on both sides, we must assume that evacuation was not possible and that the Imperials knew so in advance.

Having fighters up to prevent escapees is standard procedure for BDZ operations, I don't see why it shouldn't be standard procedure for the Death Star, as well. If they didn't have enough fighters to do it on their own, he could have called for support from the rest of the fleet--one ISD should have been sufficient.

Considering that the Death Star's primary weapon can blast apart an entire planetary body and scatter its debris at several tens of thousands of kilometres per second, most ships attempting to escape that are going to wind up being diced by the debris of the world they're trying to leave.

Besides, the escape of a handful of enemy personnel is wholly incidental to the main point being made by the employment of the Death Star in the first place. A planet-destroying superlaser mounted on the largest and most heavily-armed battlestation ever constructed outclasses a BDZ operation by many orders of magnitude. It changes qualitatively the nature of warfare in the SW galaxy and the risk-calculation for opponnents of the regime.

[Sidewinder]

but he wasn't going to tuck tale and run from 20xwings after the Empire had been trying to destroy the rebellion for 2 decades.

Right. Why run just because your staff thinks those 20 X-Wings represent a credible threat? Especially as an evacuation would NOT have taken the DS out of the picture. It would merely have removed key personell on the however unlikely chance that things could go wrong. Yeah that's realistic.
IOW, either it works and the Rebellion is obliterated, or it doesn't (like in ANH) inwhich case at least key personell (which are presumably valuable to the empire) survive. Win-win situation.

If key personnel survived a battle that resulted in the Death Star's destruction because they chose to evacuate, they wouldn't survive for long-- Palpatine would have them executed for abandoning their posts. (Vader didn't evacuate like a dog with his tail between his legs, his ship was knocked out of control by the Millenium Falcon-- that's excusable.)

[RedImperator]

Considering that the Death Star's primary weapon can blast apart an entire planetary body and scatter its debris at several tens of thousands of kilometres per second, most ships attempting to escape that are going to wind up being diced by the debris of the world they're trying to leave.

How does this follow? Unless the Death Star drops out of hyperspace in firing range and opens up immediately, there's plenty of time for ships to escape. Star Wars ships are capable of absurd accelerations and quick turnaround into hyperspace. There's not enough time for anything like a full evacuation, but if your policy is no escape, no survivors, then you'll need ships in place to blockade the planet beforehand.

Besides, the escape of a handful of enemy personnel is wholly incidental to the main point being made by the employment of the Death Star in the first place. A planet-destroying superlaser mounted on the largest and most heavily-armed battlestation ever constructed outclasses a BDZ operation by many orders of magnitude. It changes qualitatively the nature of warfare in the SW galaxy and the risk-calculation for opponnents of the regime.

It changes it by making planetary shields irrevelant. Tarkin made that point by destroying Alderaan. Otherwise, there's no real strategic difference between the result of a Death Star attack and a BDZ: the planet's population is killed, and its strategic assets and natural resources destroyed, in a very short time frame. So the planet will never be useful again, as opposed to never useful until a long, expensive, terraforming operation is undertaken. So what?

And at any rate, none of this excuses the Death Star not launching fighters to defend itself when it had the assets available.

[Patrick Degan]

Considering that the Death Star's primary weapon can blast apart an entire planetary body and scatter its debris at several tens of thousands of kilometres per second, most ships attempting to escape that are going to wind up being diced by the debris of the world they're trying to leave.

How does this follow? Unless the Death Star drops out of hyperspace in firing range and opens up immediately, there's plenty of time for ships to escape. Star Wars ships are capable of absurd accelerations and quick turnaround into hyperspace. There's not enough time for anything like a full evacuation, but if your policy is no escape, no survivors, then you'll need ships in place to blockade the planet beforehand.

IIRC, there is a minimum distance of six planetary diametres before hyperdrive can be safely engaged. And from what we observed of the movement of the transports departing Hoth, larger ships do not seem to have the accelerative capabilities to outrace planetary debris accelerated to an appreciable fraction of c from a relative standing start.

Besides, the escape of a handful of enemy personnel is wholly incidental to the main point being made by the employment of the Death Star in the first place. A planet-destroying superlaser mounted on the largest and most heavily-armed battlestation ever constructed outclasses a BDZ operation by many orders of magnitude. It changes qualitatively the nature of warfare in the SW galaxy and the risk-calculation for opponnents of the regime.

It changes it by making planetary shields irrevelant. Tarkin made that point by destroying Alderaan. Otherwise, there's no real strategic difference between the result of a Death Star attack and a BDZ: the planet's population is killed, and its strategic assets and natural resources destroyed, in a very short time frame. So the planet will never be useful again, as opposed to never useful until a long, expensive, terraforming operation is undertaken. So what?

The same strategic difference between a thousand-plane fire raid taking two days to burn out a city and one plane dropping an atomic bomb. The latter demonstrats instant destructive power at distance which no defence is adequate against.

Politically, the destruction of Yavin-D would have demonstrated that the would-be Rebellion could not even protect its own strongpoints. That tends to depress recruits to the rebel banner.

And at any rate, none of this excuses the Death Star not launching fighters to defend itself when it had the assets available.

It did launch fighters to deal with a minimal threat which certainly did not require the full deployment of all its defensive apparatus.

[Stravo]

And at any rate, none of this excuses the Death Star not launching fighters to defend itself when it had the assets available.

It did launch fighters to deal with a minimal threat which certainly did not require the full deployment of all its defensive apparatus.

It's not an either or situation. The deathstar could have launched a dozen squadrons and swarmed the rebels to death in moments. If a single TIE fighter squadron could decimate the rebel fighters imagine what a dozen could do? Hardly neccessary to scramble everything they have.

And more importantly it was nearly immediately clear that the DS's air defenses were not doing their job as an officer reported to Vader on their defensive turbolasers inability to track the rebel fighters so they were well aware early on in the battle that their defenses were inadequate without fighters.

[Patrick Degan]

And at any rate, none of this excuses the Death Star not launching fighters to defend itself when it had the assets available.

It did launch fighters to deal with a minimal threat which certainly did not require the full deployment of all its defensive apparatus.

It's not an either or situation. The deathstar could have launched a dozen squadrons and swarmed the rebels to death in moments. If a single TIE fighter squadron could decimate the rebel fighters imagine what a dozen could do? Hardly neccessary to scramble everything they have.

And more importantly it was nearly immediately clear that the DS's air defenses were not doing their job as an officer reported to Vader on their defensive turbolasers inability to track the rebel fighters so they were well aware early on in the battle that their defenses were inadequate without fighters.

Which presumably why there were fighters on standby for scramble-alert. But consider the threat which only a few dozen snub-fighters presents to any reasonable observer:

• Too small to carry ordinance heavy enough to inflict any significant damage to the Death Star's structure.

• Certainly lacking the numbers to swarm the battlestation's defences.

• Most definitely unable to present sufficient firepower to force the Death Star to retreat.

• Even if all fifty or so fighters engage in a mass kamikaze strike, they do not have the explosive force to significantly or even, given the sheer scale of the target, slightly damage the battlestation.

As for the exhaust port weakness, we saw that computer-targeting was not accurate enough to ensure a hit at the right trajectory to slip two torpedoes down the shaft —for which an approach upon a pathway which cuts the manoeuvering room of attacking fighters to a straight-line trajectory in (essentially) two dimensions of movement created a situation which favours the defence massively.

[Isolder74]

well from Gold's run we see that the plan was to have all the fighter fire togather. which mean that each run they were banking on a 3x chance to have a hit to the port. The ships are staggered in their formation so it seems they would enter the port one after another

[Patrick Degan]

well from Gold's run we see that the plan was to have all the fighter fire togather. which mean that each run they were banking on a 3x chance to have a hit to the port. The ships are staggered in their formation so it seems they would enter the port one after another

More likely, the function of the two trailing fighters was to obscure targeting upon the point-fighter which would be lining up for the shot. There would be very little time afforded to adjust the flight paths to make three shots feasible —and given that attacking fighters were forced into that narrow slit-trench, deprived of all freedom of movement or counterattack, you're very likely forming up those three ships in the full knowledge that two of them will definitely be shot down.

[Isolder74]

well from Gold's run we see that the plan was to have all the fighter fire togather. which mean that each run they were banking on a 3x chance to have a hit to the port. The ships are staggered in their formation so it seems they would enter the port one after another

More likely, the function of the two trailing fighters was to obscure targeting upon the point-fighter which would be lining up for the shot. There would be very little time afforded to adjust the flight paths to make three shots feasible —and given that attacking fighters were forced into that narrow slit-trench, deprived of all freedom of movement or counterattack, you're very likely forming up those three ships in the full knowledge that two of them will definitely be shot down.

Then why the line "computer locked getting a signal." ?

One guy had his computer on the others were it seems their torpedo launchers at least, were slaved into the leader's TC.

[Vympel]

When one thinks about it, how is the Alliance dead if they don't confront the DS at Yavin?

Probably because it'll strike fear into the supporters of the Rebellion and eliminate their support.

Wouldn't it have made more sense to take more time analyzing the plans? Perhaps setting up internal sabotage of the station? You know smuggle some weapons on board and plant explosives near the main reactor? Is it any less dangeorus or difficult than sneaking onto a moon and destroying an energy field guarded by troops in the shadow of an Imperial fleet?

Well it's much more difficult, considering that the Imperials let the Rebels do the latter as part of a trap.

[Knife]

I'll send you to Hill Air Force Base and see if you can evacuate all the personel as well as vital supplies in less then 24 hours. You may only use the vehicles on the base at the moment.

I don't think you can pull it off.

Droid; Sir, I dont think there is time to load the T-47's

Luke; No time to load the heavy equipment.

Would the rebels loose some importent equipment? Yes. Could they still evac most of the personel? Yes. Would it still be a technical loss? Yes.

But at some point, you have to accept that the rebellion was fighting a guerilla war. As long as they have support and that support wasnt taken out, they live as long as they have people. Face it, Yavin *and Hoth later* was only a small base in a galactic sense. A few fighter squadrons. What mattered were the people and the politics behind it, not the actual equipment. It's not like they were building SD's at Hoth or Yavin. Their actual military worth was really small, it was the statement that such a thing exsisted, that was importent.

[General Brock]

Lukedanieljames wrote:

There was a good debate in another thread on SW Vs ST and I thought I'd carry some of it here where it belongs. Was Tarkin arrogant and cocky? That seems to be the wave everyone is riding, but I do not believe he was, here is my reasons, tell me if I'm insane

1. Tarkin stated that the deathstar was the ultimate power in the universe, - he was right, nothing was more powerful

2. After being asked to evacuate by one of his minions he said "evacuate in our moment of triumph? I think you over-estimate their chances" - He did not say THEY DIDN'T HAVE a chance, he said that they were over-estimating them. Tarkin knew there was a billion to one shot that a single proton torpedo could enter the exhaust port.

3. Tarkin ... also had turbo lasers trying to shoot them down, some being succesful. He had all the jamming come up and running aswell as the books and movie indicated.

He was being absolutely realistic in my opinion, he took defensive action, but he wasn't going to tuck tale and run from 20xwings after the Empire had been trying to destroy the rebellion for 2 decades. What more COULD he have done besides run, which have been stupid in my opinion? He can't change the fact that the exhaust port was a weakness, he isn' going to turn around, infact he even raised shields as Wedge I believe it was said they were bouncing through the stations field.

Anyway, all just my opinion,

others?

I would agree that Tarkin was being realistic, and if he had a flaw, it was impatience. (Some of these point have been covered by others):

The Death Star was Tarkin's project, and evacuating the executive staff at their moment of triumph simply would not have looked good in the Imperial Court. By this point in his career, Grand Moff Tarkin would be more politician than professional officer and think in terms of political pragmatism, even in spite of military pragmatism.

The exhaust port flaw was likely known to Tarkin and brought up before; he didn't even look at the doubting officer's analysis, before asserting his own conclusions, suggesting he was familiar with the arguments and odds. Obviously this is speculation, but during the countdown he also did look a little pensive.

Tarkin had Lord Vader, former Jedi, hero of the Clone Wars, Dark Lord of the Sith out there hunting down rebel fighters - and, either through the Force or from previous analysis of the exhaust port weakness, Vader knew to concentrate his efforts on the rebels making the trench run, even as the rest of the ~30 rebel fighters wreaked havoc elsewhere. Vader wasn't there when Tarkin's officer gave the warning report. (I might be wrong on the sequence of events, though.)

Launching all their ties would have been redundant given that the threat was in the narrow exhaust port trench; there were flights other than Vader's operating in any case, busy elsewhere. Only nine rebels survived to make trench runs and I don't recall seeing more than an X and Y-wing fly to safety after Luke.

Tarkin was at least passingly familiar with the ways of the Force. He probably had faith in Vader - and certainly wouldn't want to express doubt by running away, either on the Death Star or in his personal shuttle.

Tarkin, assuming he did know about the flaw, chose to deploy without correcting it. It is implausible that Imperial planners did not run computer analysis similar to those of the rebels on Yavin and discovered the problem. The Empire certainly seemed eager to recover those plans, which, had the Death Star been truly invulnerable, not necessarily have required the attention of Darth Vader. Tarkin was impatient to destroy the rebellion and further his career. This may or may not have been guided by personal arrogance. In the novelization, Vader looked at him as a minor someone of temprary use, who would be swept aside. Given that the Imperial Court was a capricious place, not having yet destroyed the rebellion may have been hurting Tarkin politically. Of course, this is speculation.

Since Mon Mothama was not at Yavin, this would suggest that other key Rebellion leaders and possibly other assets were elsewhere. Yavin was important, but not absolutely vital. It may have been the main rebel base, but as has been pointed out in this thread, a resistance force does not rely on one central base. Of course, had Tarkin succeeded, joining the rebellion would have been unpalatable, and overt actions by the rebellion would greatly endanger their remaining sponsors. Even had the rebellion continued, it would have to take a different form than open civil war, as mentioned in the ANH scroll.

When the senate was dissolved, one of the Death Star officers wondered how the Emperor would maintain control of the outlying systems, suggesting there was growing legitimite dissent over Palpatine's rule in addition to insurgency. Enough senators could revoke his mandate or otherwise impede it. With the Senate gone and the Death Star proven fully operational, rebellious sentiment might still be inspired, but have far fewer practical outlets. Repulsing a rebel attack and annihilating their base would have been the complimentary military victory ending all vestiges of the Old Republic.

The analysis of the Death Star plans revealed the exhaust port flaw; one readily exploitable that could conceivably be remedied in the immediate future. The time to take a stand was right then and there for the rebels, or else face an invincable Death Star later on. No amount of further study would necessarily present such an obvious, readily exploitable flaw complete with timely data on the Death Star's current defenses.

The rebel leadership on Yavin chose to stay, perhaps to give moral support to the fighters, and to promote esprit de corps. It could be a cultural thing; leaders expected to lead from the front. Abandoning their posts and troops may have been no easier for them than it was for Tarkin. On Hoth, the leadership evacuated last. In the Old Republic, the Jedi led from the front.

Yavin was long-established and not easily evacuated on short notice. Most likely all their scrounged freighters and capships were elsewhere on missions deemed more important than being held in reserve for an evacuation that may or may not become neccessary. It may well be that Yavin was scheduled for evacuation at a later date; Dantoine was a former base. They might rotate 'main' bases among several bolt holes of varrying capacity, freeing ships between moves for operations. Hoth was only roughly two years old and still under construction; there would have been an abundance of available ships, many empty and a few not even fully unloaded, and the base itself possibly not at full strength. Plus, they have the Yavin experience of being caught flat-footed still fresh on their minds.

[Lukedanieljames]

Something to add, I just watched ANH again, if you actually look at Tarkin during the Yavin attack, he's picking his lip the entire time, he's super stern, almost nervous. You can DEFINATELY see he is a nervous guy, right down to the final seconds, he was super nervous. I don't blame him, it was obvious he knew of the danger, but knew he couldn't retreat.

[Stark]

Frankly, that's to be expected: thanks to Vaders Crazy Plan(tm), he had released an important political prisoner. He was on the verge of destroying the rebellion. It's time for stress.

Then again, maybe he was a bit cranky. After all, once the rebellion is gone and the remnants surpressed, he's out of a job! How will he fuck insane 'Admirals' then??!

[Cos Dashit]

Then again, maybe he was a bit cranky. After all, once the rebellion is gone and the remnants surpressed, he's out of a job! How will he fuck insane 'Admirals' then??!

That rebellion may be gone, but that doesn't mean others won't appear. I'm sure if the Empire would have stayed for around, new rebellions would be appearing all the time. Probably not as many or as powerful ones, because of the DS, but if that kind of government would be in place, rebellions would be an almost constant nuisance.

[Stark]

To be honest, with the Death Star complete, Alderaan destroyed, and the rebellion (and Luke/Leia) gone, Palpatine has won. All his enemies bar Yoda are gone, he has an unassailable weapon, and all those who could challenge him are dead. Without Luke, Vader isn't going anywhere, the Death Star cannot be destroyed, and nobody will support the rebellion with the Death Star floating around. The Sith takeover of the galaxy would have been complete.

Simply saying 'the Empire is mean so rebellions will show up regardless' is somewhat ridiculous. The Emperor has seized total, personal control of the galaxy and posesses the ability to destroy a planet. Additionally, the Alliance was run, organised and concieved by politicians from the Republic, many of whom would be dead. Other rebellions would, I imagine, be limited to extremely local, limited-agenda, no-Jedi organisations, and the Empire deals with such pirate problems with ease.

[Faqa]

Is anyone else thinking this was not so much an attack as a chance to go down fighting?

Yavin was, after all, the main base of the Rebellion. Forget personnel for a sec, most of the meager resources they've managed to scrape up are probably right here. Unlike Hoth, lose this base, it's GAME OVER for the Rebs. About the only serious supporters they HAD at the time were Corellia and a few Outer Rimmers. Seeing all that being swatted like a fly by the DS.... would end the Rebellion as effectively as a mind control ray on it's leaders. The personnel DON'T MATTER AS MUCH. They're inconsequential next to the base and the psychological advantage destroying Yavin would give the Empire.

For Hoth, the Rebellion had two important lessons:

A - Yavin. While equipment was lost, I sincerely doubt so many eggs were in one basket like then.

B - Being considered REAL. By Hoth, they'd been fighting a guerrilla war for quite a while. They've taken a shit in Palpy's cornflakes and lived to tell the tale. Which means that even a defeat will just be a defeat, not a complete one. It's not a matter of crushing a few insurgents, it's a WAR the Empire's fighting now. Think of the difference Saratoga made for the American Revolution.


Although I really REALLY don't get the logic behind how things went down in that battle.

- The Empire KNEW about the design flaw. That much is clear. When the aide made his suggestion to Tarkin, the Moff didn't say "What are you, a MORON? How the fucking hell are these lunatics gonna even scratch the PAINT on my baby?!". No he just says "You overestimate their chances". I.E, they HAD a chance. Tarkin just didn't think they'd manage it.

- Given that, why is a small, one-man fighter "no threat"? Gee, it's just the ONLY fucking threat there really is..... At least jury-rig a few spare gun turrets once you find out about the flaw(I assume they knew about it before the battle, considering the Rebels found it within a few hours).

- AND, further, why in the name of The Big Pink Unicorn did Tarkin not send out fighters?! He KNEW there was a chance they'd win, KNEW the station's guns weren't equipped to deal with fighters, so what? He expected the fighters to shoot themselves?!

Quite frankly, continuing that trend AFTER the almost-hit that shook walls in the DS is unforgivable. Tarkin's a moron.

[Isolder74]

well in Tarkin's defense, Vader seemed to be handling the problem just fine

[Cos Dashit]

There were a couple things that Tarkin could have done that would have meant execution:

- Evacuate himself and other important personnel. This would have shown cowardice, weakness, and would have tarnished the Empire's reputation of being badass. Palpatine would not have stood for it.

- Flown out fighters at the first sign of the approaching Rebels. Again, showing weakness and fear of the Rebels.

Palpatine would have no problem telling Vader to choke the living Force out of Tarkin. He would have shown the planets that the Empire is not as almighty and fearless as they have been saying. This would possibly encourage more people to join the Rebellion, especially because the Rebels succeeded in destroying the Death Star.

[Darth Yoshi]

Scrambling the fighters would've been prudence, not cowardice. According to X-wing (for whatever that's worth) the Imperials routinely engage Rebel fighters at a 3:1 ratio.

[RedImperator]

There were a couple things that Tarkin could have done that would have meant execution:

<snip>

- Flown out fighters at the first sign of the approaching Rebels. Again, showing weakness and fear of the Rebels.

Palpatine would have no problem telling Vader to choke the living Force out of Tarkin. He would have shown the planets that the Empire is not as almighty and fearless as they have been saying. This would possibly encourage more people to join the Rebellion, especially because the Rebels succeeded in destroying the Death Star.

Are you on drugs? How would scrambling fighters to engage incoming fighters, which CAN take advantage of a vulnerability on the Death Star and CANNOT be destroyed by the DS's guns "cowardice"?

Maybe you've gone to the Klingon Military Academy, and you define cowardice as any prudent tactic that takes advantage of your strengths and the enemy's weaknesses. It would be cowardly for the Empire to use its massive numerical advantage in fighters over the rebels, so let's use guns we know are ineffective. Actually, maybe using all those turbolasers is cowardly. Maybe they only should have used half of them. Or maybe it would have been really brave if they'd sent stormtroopers out to the surface of the DS to shoot the rebel fighters with their sidearms. No, with crossbows! Slingshots! Darts! It takes two big brass ones to engage starfighters with darts.

And it goes without saying that if they had scrambled fighters, the Death Star wouldn't have been destroyed, making your whole argument about encouraging more people to join the rebellion absurd ("Well, the rebels failed to destroy Palpatine's invincible planet destroying battlestation and had their main base wiped out, but they were so afraid of the Rebellion that they launched fighters, so sign me up!"), but seeing as you're stupid, I said it anyway.

[Patrick Degan]

There were a couple things that Tarkin could have done that would have meant execution:

- Evacuate himself and other important personnel. This would have shown cowardice, weakness, and would have tarnished the Empire's reputation of being badass. Palpatine would not have stood for it.

Assuming the last-moment turn of luck which saves Luke's ass does not occur and the Death Star goes on to blast Yavin-D to rubble, Gov. Tarkin's execution for cowardice in the face of the enemy would merely have been a footnote to the headline news of the day proclaiming the Empire's final victory over the Rebel Alliance.

[Cos Dashit]

If Tarkin would have scrambled fighters immediately, and succeeded in wiping out the last of the Rebels, it might have shown other systems that they need to protect their Death Star with fighters against a small number of spacecraft. This would be weakness, and might encourage future Rebellions.

[RedImperator]

If Tarkin would have scrambled fighters immediately, and succeeded in wiping out the last of the Rebels, it might have shown other systems that they need to protect their Death Star with fighters against a small number of spacecraft. This would be weakness, and might encourage future Rebellions.

So if the Death Star successfully defends itself (and goes on to blow up Yavin), you think this will ENCOURAGE people to attack it? As opposed to showing them that any attack on the Death Star will have to pass through entire squadrons of TIE fighters before it's even in range of the surface defense batteries? You're on crack. At any rate, the fighters obviously WERE a threat, and any potential propaganda victory that could be had by not deploying fighters is negated by the fact that the Rebels successfuly destroyed it.

[Doctor Doom]

Re: Knife

As long as they have support and that support wasnt taken out, they live as long as they have people.

Ah, but if the Death Star had successfully destroyed Yavin-D and the rebel base, even if key personnel escaped, support for the Rebellion would quickly erode. Who would want to harbour and supply a bunch of terrorists who suddenly have no base of operations or equipment to fight their war and have the most powerful weapon in the galaxy hot on their tail?

Re: General Brock

The Death Star was Tarkin's project, and evacuating the executive staff at their moment of triumph simply would not have looked good in the Imperial Court. By this point in his career, Grand Moff Tarkin would be more politician than professional officer and think in terms of political pragmatism, even in spite of military pragmatism.

Evacuation of key personnel is not military pragmatism. It would constitute and grave and serious offense, that would likely result in his execution. No military command structure would ever condone evacuation of key personnel in the middle of a battle. What would have been pragmatic is for Tarkin to scramble fighters.

The exhaust port flaw was likely known to Tarkin and brought up before; he didn't even look at the doubting officer's analysis, before asserting his own conclusions, suggesting he was familiar with the arguments and odds. Obviously this is speculation, but during the countdown he also did look a little pensive.

It is entirely possible Tarkin knew of the design flaw, but simply was not worried about it. Tarkin did not believe in the ways of the Force, and, in reality, the Force was the only way the attack on the Death Star could have succeeded. If Luke had not been there, the attack would have been a failure. Tarkin likely knew that it was realistically impossible for any fighter ace to make that shot, but didn't count on the influence of what he considered an extinct religion.

Launching all their ties would have been redundant given that the threat was in the narrow exhaust port trench; there were flights other than Vader's operating in any case, busy elsewhere. Only nine rebels survived to make trench runs and I don't recall seeing more than an X and Y-wing fly to safety after Luke.

It is not a matter of launching all of their fighters, but simply more than those they did. Hell, the very least they could have done was scrambled more fighters to take down the Millenium Falcon when they saw it approaching on sensors, instead of hoping that their fighters in the trench could handle it. It was incompetence, pure and simple.

Tarkin was at least passingly familiar with the ways of the Force. He probably had faith in Vader - and certainly wouldn't want to express doubt by running away, either on the Death Star or in his personal shuttle.

Did you watch the movie? Don't you recall Tarkin calling the Jedi and the ways of the Force an extinct religion?

The analysis of the Death Star plans revealed the exhaust port flaw; one readily exploitable that could conceivably be remedied in the immediate future. The time to take a stand was right then and there for the rebels, or else face an invincable Death Star later on. No amount of further study would necessarily present such an obvious, readily exploitable flaw complete with timely data on the Death Star's current defenses.

It is NOT a readily exploitable flaw! The reason it wasn't corrected was because it quite simply was NOT a threat. The Rebel attack was a last desperate gamble because they knew they were about to be wiped out. The only reason it succeeded was because they happened to have one of the most Force sensitive humans ever born being guided by the spirit of an unusually powerful Jedi Master, who just happened to be saved at the right time by the Millenium Falcon, which was miraculously not destroyed on its approach to the Death Star. Without this exact combination of factors, the Rebel attack WOULD have failed. How could Imperial planners have EVER accounted for this?

The rebel leadership on Yavin chose to stay, perhaps to give moral support to the fighters, and to promote esprit de corps. It could be a cultural thing; leaders expected to lead from the front. Abandoning their posts and troops may have been no easier for them than it was for Tarkin. On Hoth, the leadership evacuated last. In the Old Republic, the Jedi led from the front.

They chose to stay because they knew they did not have enough time to evacuate the station of all key personnel and equipment, and if the Death Star was not destroyed, the Rebellion would be.


Re: Cos Dashit

Evacuate himself and other important personnel. This would have shown cowardice, weakness, and would have tarnished the Empire's reputation of being badass. Palpatine would not have stood for it.

- Flown out fighters at the first sign of the approaching Rebels. Again, showing weakness and fear of the Rebels.

Evacuating himself and key personnel would have been ludicrous. No military man in their right mind would ever order such a thing given the circumstances. However, he should have deployed more fighters, which would not have shown weakness or fear of the Rebels, and would NOT have been an offense that he could be punished for. At ABSOLUTE MOST, he would be given a slight dock in pay for expending unnecessary resources.