AT-ATs and other land vehicles
Among the most awesome vehicles in the Empire's ground combat forces, All Terrain Armored Transports (AT-ATs) were frightening weapons unmatched by anything in the Alliance's arsenal. At twenty meters long and over fifteen meters tall, these four-legged monsters towered over the galaxy's battlefields and more closely resembled ancient beasts of war than modern combat machines.
Walkers were designed to fill the Empire's need for a non-repulsorlift heavy assault vehicle for its armored platoons. While the Empire had countless repulsorlift vehicles, drive systems could be foiled by gravity fluctuations, unusual planetary magnetic fields, and other special conditions; the Empire needed a vehicle which could be used on any terrain on millions of different worlds. Designers turned to ancient (some would say "backward") walker technology, which had received limited use in older vehicles, such as the Old Republic's All Terrain Personal Transport (AT-PT), but had never been applied on such a large scale for combat vehicles.
The finished AT-AT walkers surpassed Imperial expectations. Aside from being an almost unstoppable weapons platform, they proved a potent psychological weapon. Their ground-shaking gait could rattle even the most seasoned enemy forces, while the height of the AT-AT gave the crew a tremendous advantage in target sighting.
AT-ATs were virtually impervious to all but heavy artillery weapons. In the assault on Hoth, only quick thinking and unorthodox Rebel tactics slowed the Imperial assault. One walker was toppled by entangling its legs with a tow cable. A second walker was destroyed when Luke Skywalker used a harpoon gun to raise himself to the walker's drive units, slice open a maintenance hatch, and hurl a concussion land mine into the front drive motor's power flashback ducts. The resulting chain reaction destroyed the walker.
Walkers often formed the core of Imperial heavy ground assaults. They were among the first vehicles to leave their transport shuttle barges or drop ships and enter a combat zone. Working in conjunction with other combat vehicles, AT-AT walkers were used to crush and demoralize enemy forces. They also acted as transports for Imperial ground troops and light vehicles.
A walker's moveable "head" section contains the command cockpit, with room for the commander, pilot, and gunner. It also houses all the walker's weapons. Holographic targeting systems assist the gunners with a 360-degree view of their position.
The AT-AT's main weapons are two heavy laser cannons mounted beneath the head, on the "chin." Two medium blasters mounted on each side of the head provide supporting fire. They can be independently rotated for different targets. The head can rotate as much as ninety degrees right or left and thirty degrees up or down for a large field of fire. While the walker is slow in turning, this extensive field of fire enables the AT-AT to provide cover to its seemingly unprotected flanks.
AT-AT walkers have an immense armored body section that carries five speeder bikes and up to forty troops (normally stormtroopers or Imperial Army assault troopers). To unload troops, AT-AT walkers kneel three meters above ground level and sliding ramps on the main body section extend to the ground for exiting personnel and vehicles. Instead of troops and bikes, an AT-AT walker may be loaded with two AT-ST (All Terrain Scout Transport) walkers.
Beneath the main body section are the AT-AT's two immense drive motors. Four massive legs propel the walker at up to a top ground speed of sixty kilometers per hour, although this is possible only on flat, stable terrain. While their immense size gives the illusion that they are slow, plodding vehicles, Rebel troops reported that "walkers are upon you before you know it."
Imperial AT-ATs draw components from a number of different corporations but are assembled under strict Imperial military supervision at Kuat Drive Yards factories. Known AT-AT factories are on Kuat, Carida, and Belderone; several more are suspected to exist.
The unique AT-AT walkers have inspired equally distinctive commanders who are as flamboyant as they are skilled. General Maximilian Veers, who led the famed Imperial assault on Hoth, proved to skeptical "old guard" Army commanders how effective the walker could be. Perceptive battle plans and a thorough knowledge of his chosen vehicle allowed Veers time and again to show that the walker's advantages far outweigh its weaknesses. While many Army officers prefer other heavy combat vehicles, Veers has inspired a generation of Army commanders to respect and rely on walkers. Young officers, such as General Covell, continued this proud legacy during Grand Admiral Thrawn's inspired campaign againt the New Republic.
The success of the basic AT-AT walker design inspired a number of variants including the AT-AT Swimmer, several medium walker designs, the Waveskimmer (nicknamed the "Wave Walker"), and the eight-legged MT-AT (Mountain Terrain Armored Transport). The Empire eventually developed a complete line of medium and light walkers, the most notable model being the AT-ST, or All Terrain Scout Transport.
The All Terrain Scout Transport (AT-ST) is a smaller, faster variant of walker design. These scout walkers are utilised primarily for reconnaissance, although they are being used in growing numbers as direct reinforcements for front-line, on-foot battle assaults. While they are less heavily armored than AT-ATs, they need less due to their greater speed. Repeated heavy blaster fire will penetrate the hide of the AT-ST, but it is difficult to get one to sit still long enough to make this possible. These lighter walkers are also susceptible to prepared traps such as covered pits, trip-wire explosives and water or flammable oil-filled trenches. Such traps were put to good use on Endor, where several AT-STs fell prey to everything from rolling logs to Wookiee brute force. Because of this, troops on foot usually move into battle areas first in order to check for such defences.
Each AT-ST carries fixed, twin blaster cannons low and forward on the "head" section of the vehicle. Sensor pods on the port and starboard sides of the control head carry additional weaponry in the form of light blaster cannons to port and a concussion grenade launcher to starboard.
Maintaining balance can be a problem for these bipedal machines, so they tend to remain on level ground whenever possible. Often, AT-STs move alongside advancing AT-AT formations in order to "mop up" ground troops, who might seek relative safety beneath or behind the larger walkers.
Unlike its walker counterparts, the MT-AT can move along unstable terrain with ease. It was designed by technics and engineers situated at the Carida stormtrooper training center. Ambassador Furgan personally supervised and oversaw the construction of the only eight that were produced. They were designed for the mountainous region on the planet Anoth. An assault was to be made there on the stronghold that protected the Jedi child, Anakin Skywalker.
The body of the MT-AT consists of a modified AT-AT body with head. It had eight legs that were very maneuverable across the rocky terrain. It was described by witnesses as "a giant spider". The body had turrets on the sides and top. The legs were hard to move in perfect synchronisation as there were many joints. Only a fully skilled operator could drive one of these.
Unfortunately, the assault on Anoth was a failure. Half of the force were immobilized by tentacles that came out of the mountain caves. the rest made it to the top but their pilots and soldiers were shot down by guard droids. Ambassador Furgan used the last MT-AT as an escape route but was blasted by a Mon Calamari who piloted another one. The rest were used as scrap.
The All Terrain Personal Transport, or AT-PT is the ancestor of the modern Imperial walker. This experimental weapon was developed by the Old Republic as a personal weapons platform for ground soldiers. Like a scaled-down version of the scout walker, it was supposed to turn a common soldier into a walking fortress. The majority of AT-PTs were installed aboard the legendary Katana fleet, and when that fleet was lost the project was abandoned. A soldier fills a crowded control pod nestled between two multijointed legs. In the armored pod, slightly raised above the battlefield, the soldier controls a twin blaster cannon, a concussion grenade launcher, and a primitive combat sensor package.
A TIE (Santhe/Sienar Technologies Century Tank) crawler is a cheap, expendable ground-assault vehicle modeled after the TIE interceptor. Huge wheels replace the solar-panel wings on either side of the infamous cockpit sphere, allowing these tanklike craft to traverse a wide variety of terrain.
The new Imperial wave walker is a light attack vehicle designed to operate above the surface of the water. During the Battle of Calamari, wave walkers were designed and constructed aboard the World Devastators, then unleashed upon the Mon Calamari and thei New Republic allies.
Small, one-person repulsor land vehicles, speeder bikes move at incredible rates, making them perfect for use as a scout and reconnaissance craft. Four directional steering vanes extend from the front of a speeder bike on twin outriggers, providing the bike with elevation and maneuver controls located in the hand grips. Two rocker-pivoted foot pads regulate speed, while controls at the forward end of the saddle are for parking, weaponry, communications, and energy recharging. Military speeder bikes, like those used by the Empire's scout troopers, have armour plating and are armed with blaster cannons.