The Alliance's strategy about Endor's shield projector

[Mr. Oragahn]

Let me make this simple:

- Shuttle Tydirium, we are lowering the shield. Proceed to the following coordinates.
- Affirmative.

One minute later, the deflector dish is...

- rammed by a kamikaze shuttle.
- hit by a barrage of missiles.
- blasted by a nuke.

[Who is like God arbour]

A suicide mission?

Because, who ever is starting missiles or dropping bombs, will be destroyed by the Executor or other ships or fighters, that are guarding the Death Star.

It could be difficult to find volunteers for such a mission.

On the other side, the chances are good, that such a mission will fail. If the shuttle would activate its targeting system, it could be noticed by the Imperials and the shuttle could be destroyed before it can fire only one shoot or the shields can be re-established before the missile or bomb would have reached the target.

I dubio pro reo, I have to assume, that the rebels have considered that and other possibilities and have come to the conclusion, that a command team would be the better way.

[Mr. Oragahn]

A suicide mission?

Because, who ever is starting missiles or dropping bombs, will be destroyed by the Executor or other ships or fighters, that are guarding the Death Star.

Not if the plan was to actually jump in the system like ten minutes after the projector blew up.

It could be difficult to find volunteers for such a mission.

It was a suicide mission anyway. Attacking a top secret Imperial base with a handful soldiers?
If anything, anyone would have told you that the quicker you strike, the better, because the more you push back the moment you'll attack the dish, the harder it will be.
Taking the defenses by surprise with enough firepower is the best option. Period.

On the other side, the chances are good, that such a mission will fail. If the shuttle would activate its targeting system, it could be noticed by the Imperials and the shuttle could be destroyed before it can fire only one shoot or the shields can be re-established before the missile or bomb would have reached the target.

How so?
The projector is in sight of the landing platform. All the pilot has to do is pretend it's going for the platform, and at the last moment, push the gas pedal and go for the dish.

There's also no reason for them to notice the weapons if they're concealed inside the ship, and a Lambda shuttle has laser cannons.

You largely over estimate the Imperial reaction time, as well as their care for anything suspect, by judging how the Rebels landed their shuttle in the middle of nowhere and this went unnoticed, and no Rebel leader considered this would be just too suspect.

What I propose is a thousand times better, by the sheer fact that it would be a surprise, the Imperials would never be able to mobilize whatever they'd used in normal times to intercept an enemy ship.

Who says that they'd even have that. For all we know, they largely rely on their shield.

I dubio pro reo, I have to assume, that the rebels have considered that and other possibilities and have come to the conclusion, that a command team would be the better way.

The same way they considered how they should attack the AT-ATs at Hoth?
I mean, hello, their plan was to send a few guys and two civilian droids to knock on the front door. They didn't even know about the backdoor!

[Mr. Oragahn]

A suicide mission?

Because, who ever is starting missiles or dropping bombs, will be destroyed by the Executor or other ships or fighters, that are guarding the Death Star.

Not if the plan was to actually jump in the system like ten minutes after the projector blew up.

It could be difficult to find volunteers for such a mission.

It was a suicide mission anyway. Attacking a top secret Imperial base with a handful soldiers?
If anything, anyone would have told you that the quicker you strike, the better, because the more you push back the moment you'll attack the dish, the harder it will be.
Taking the defenses by surprise with enough firepower is the best option. Period.

On the other side, the chances are good, that such a mission will fail. If the shuttle would activate its targeting system, it could be noticed by the Imperials and the shuttle could be destroyed before it can fire only one shoot or the shields can be re-established before the missile or bomb would have reached the target.

How so?
The projector is in sight of the landing platform. All the pilot has to do is pretend it's going for the platform, and at the last moment, push the gas pedal and go for the dish.

There's also no reason for them to notice the weapons if they're concealed inside the ship, and a Lambda shuttle has laser cannons.

You largely over estimate the Imperial reaction time, as well as their care for anything suspect, by judging how the Rebels landed their shuttle in the middle of nowhere and this went unnoticed, and no Rebel leader considered this would be just too suspect.

What I propose is a thousand times better, by the sheer fact that it would be a surprise, the Imperials would never be able to mobilize whatever they'd used in normal times to intercept an enemy ship.

Who says that they'd even have that. For all we know, they largely rely on their shield.

I dubio pro reo, I have to assume, that the rebels have considered that and other possibilities and have come to the conclusion, that a command team would be the better way.

The same way they considered how they should attack the AT-ATs at Hoth?
I mean, hello, their plan was to send a few guys and two civilian droids to knock on the front door. They didn't even know about the backdoor!

[Airlocke_Jedi_Knight]

Dropping bombs on the shield generator would have been a much better option. It is true that since the Imperials believed the lambda-class shuttle to be Imperial controlled, their reaction to it's aggressive move against the shied generator would be much slower than normal. They would have several minutes before any fighters could get to them, they would have had a straight shot to the base with only swoops to contend with.

Although the shuttles did have lasers, they would have had to use concussion missiles, proton torps, or concussion mines against the generator building. It would take an inordinate amount of time to destroy the building using lasers. They would be under heavy fire from atmospheric fighters before they did any damage to the internal generator.

The only problem would have been the escape. Even if the plan was to send a signal as soon as the shield was down, to an alliance battle group waiting a micro-jump away, the missions chances of successfully escaping would be low. The imps would have atmospheric fighters to engage the shuttle, they wouldn't need ties from the ISDs around the Death Star II.

The safest way for the strike team aboard the shuttle to escape, would be for them to land the shuttle and hide in Endor's forests until a recovery shuttle could be sent by the victorious Rebels.

[Mr. Oragahn]

Or program the shuttle for a crash course (or set the nuke's timer) and escape on swoop bikes before the shuttle impacts. Eventually throw some explosives around the platform to completely distract attention, and there's really nothing the Imperials can do.

By the time the deflector dish explodes, the Imps will have much hotter potatoes to care about than just a couple of bikes racing through the endless forests of Endor.

[ILikeDeathNote]

The only problem would have been the escape. Even if the plan was to send a signal as soon as the shield was down, to an alliance battle group waiting a micro-jump away, the missions chances of successfully escaping would be low. The imps would have atmospheric fighters to engage the shuttle, they wouldn't need ties from the ISDs around the Death Star II.

Their escape plan for the actual operation wasn't much better, if there at all. It was pretty much "let's wait here and hope we win the space battle too" despite numerically inferior forces even without the presence of the Death Star, as freakin' Star Wars Robot Chicken 2 points out.

[Airlocke_Jedi_Knight]

The whole plan revolved around the death of the Emperor, because of his battle meditation. If you read the Thrawn Trilogy, it specifically states that that is why they won. The troops had become too addicted to the battle meditation.

[Airlocke_Jedi_Knight]

Or program the shuttle for a crash course (or set the nuke's timer) and escape on swoop bikes before the shuttle impacts. Eventually throw some explosives around the platform to completely distract attention, and there's really nothing the Imperials can do.

By the time the deflector dish explodes, the Imps will have much hotter potatoes to care about than just a couple of bikes racing through the endless forests of Endor.

Even with the swoops they would have to wait for a recovery shuttle. They can't make atmosphere with those things.

[Mr. Oragahn]

Or program the shuttle for a crash course (or set the nuke's timer) and escape on swoop bikes before the shuttle impacts. Eventually throw some explosives around the platform to completely distract attention, and there's really nothing the Imperials can do.

By the time the deflector dish explodes, the Imps will have much hotter potatoes to care about than just a couple of bikes racing through the endless forests of Endor.

Even with the swoops they would have to wait for a recovery shuttle. They can't make atmosphere with those things.

Snot a problem, bikes are fast, the forests are endless, there's a giant mushroom behind you that focuses all attention, the Death Star is naked and in a few minutes, it's absolute hell in orbit.

I don't think waiting for recovery will be much of a problem at all.

[ILikeDeathNote]

The whole plan revolved around the death of the Emperor, because of his battle meditation. If you read the Thrawn Trilogy, it specifically states that that is why they won. The troops had become too addicted to the battle meditation.

Blah blah blah, as far as I'm concerned Star Wars Robot Chicken 2 has a more logical conclusion :)

[Who is like God arbour]

Okay, assuming that what you are imagining is possible, why haven't the rebels done it that way?

How stupid are they?

I think, that it is more plausible, that they had reason to assume, that such a tactic wouldn't work and that a commando unit would have a better chance to destroy the shield generator?

[Mr. Oragahn]

The only element that would ruin the element of surprise is a mini shield.

How stupid are they? Judging by the strategies displayed here and there throughout SW, I'd say they respect conventions which only work because everyone respects them.

It's the same question is why didn't the Imperials literally level the whole place around the projector, you know, for a good number of reasons (regardless of what RotJ's artworks show)?