dom382 replied to your post: gamerphonzy replied to your post: ...
But then, how did the battle of endor happen if destoyer’s have that much point defence?
Two words:
Shield generators.
Rebel fighters have shield generators, which is the only reason why they can take on Destroyers. It’s not perfect, but they’re still darting and dashing tiny ships that are hard to hit (look at AA guns in general). The thing is, those shield generators make it so that even if a smaller gun gets a hit or two, the fighter can emerge unscathed.
Also, the fact is that the Battle of Endor was a colossal engagement. The point-defense guns were probably also being used to strip Rebel cruisers of their weapons, shoot down incoming missiles, take out freighters, and chip away at shields. There was no shortage of targets, and as Ackbar said, “At that range, we won’t last long against those Star Destroyers.”
Furthermore, when the Rebels closed to point-blank on those Star Destroyers and started flitting in between the formation--a formation designed to form a barricade and intimidate, not engage a fleet directly--any missed shot from a point-defense gun or heavy gun port was going to inflict damage on another destroyer. Combine all that with debris, expanded shields, maybe a Rebel minelayer just going on a Leeroy Jenkins run, and your gunners are under pressure.
Remember that Star Destroyers are designed to operate independently. They’re meant to hunt down enemy ships and engage entire fleets on their own--you’re not supposed to get that close, and the Empire probably never expected to have a melee of this scale. If a Corellian Corvette blazes right between the Tyrant and the Thunderflare and the Tyrant locks on with its big guns, it had better be certain that every shot hits that small, 150-meter long target or it’s going to be putting a full turbolaser barrage into the Thunderflare’s shields.
They were still going to win the day in a slugfest like that, with patience and durability--but then the Death Star’s shield fell, and suddenly the Imperial fleet had to both keep the Rebels from escaping and protect the Death Star--and they were on the wrong side of the Rebel formation. If they sent their fighters around the Rebel fleet, it would take too long to catch up to the Rebel fighters that suddenly broke off the fleet engagement and turned back to kill the Death Star--and the Emperor. Thus, the Imperial fighters had no choice but to try breaking straight through the Rebel formation--which left the Executor without a fighter screen. Ackbar caught on to this immediately and had his fleet focus fire on the big ship with their remaining fighters and cruisers--and suddenly, the Imperial flagship was gone. Driving forward to help the station, it spiraled out of formation and crashed, and suddenly the Empire lacked cohesion and a proper plan--especially because Lando had already led a successful assault on the Imperial communications ship.
Finally, one of the weaknesses of point-defense guns is that they’re more vulnerable to assault fire. The bigger guns are harder to knock out, and vital systems are almost impossible to destroy, but if one Mon Cal manages to strip the point-defense guns from the port side of an ISD, that ISD becomes nothing but a protective barrier. Because the Rebels had a fleet, too: a fleet with big guns, small guns, missiles, sensor jammers, ion cannons, and shields. Lots and lots of shields.
