How the Republic won the SECOND BATTLE OF GEONOSIS | Star Wars Battle Breakdown

We cover the Second Battle of Geonosis on today's episode of Star Wars Battle Breakdown.

The Battle of Geonosis kicked off the Clone Wars - however, as the Confederacy struck out against the Republic, the planet was recaptured leading to the second Battle of Geonosis, first featured in the Clone Wars episode Landing at Point Rain.

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Intro/Outro Music: Home - Resonance

[EckhartsLadder]

Did you guess the battle correctly on twitter today?

[bluemilk]

Should be named "How the Republic Barely Won the Second Battle of Geonosis".

[randomrevanite]

How to secure the dropsite? "nuke the site from orbit it's the only way to be sure"

[christianvennemann]

"goOD thINg thOSe bUGs cAN't AIm."

[michaelramon]

As I said on your First Battle of Geonosis video, I believe that Geonosis is one of the most orbital-bombardment-resistant planets in Star Wars, save only a water world like Mon Calamari. The Geonosians live almost entirely underground in an extremely rocky environment, and it would seem they have ways of getting supplies without going to the surface. Ordinarily turbolaser fire is not going to do very much against their fortifications, at least not without months of work. Remember that the Empire, when they tried to wipe out the Geonosians, resorted to chemical weapons. If the Republic just parked above the landing zone and kept bombarding the area, the Geonosian ground-based cannons could be moved to safety within the tunnels (this is what actual artillery does against air superiority), while Geonosian fighters make runs on the bombardment craft, potentially costing the Republic a Venator or more. We saw during the Battle of Ryloth that CIS proton cannons are capable of threatening Acclamators, so the bombarding craft would need to be very high up, removing their ability to perform precise bombardment.

More importantly, and I think the best explanation for all of this, the Republic was clearly quite spooked by the fact that they had lost Geonosis without noticing (and, at the time of the landings, did not know how that had happened), as well as the intel they had on the factory and the supertanks. Indeed, if they had delayed the landings by any significant amount of time, the LZ would be crawling with Geonosian supertanks, and their ability to operate on the ground on Geonosis would essentially be eliminated, save by Jedi commando teams. Yes, orbital fire can probably destroy a supertank, but a cruiser's ability to accurately target them while not being shot down by proton cannons is pretty limited, and the supertanks can always hide in the tunnels until the bombardment stops and the landing troops arrive. While I probably would have delayed the landings a day or at least several hours to give the bombers more time to chew through the anti-air defenses, provided more fighter escorts to the LAATs and tried to land them a bit further back rather than flying them all the way to the shield, I think the general attack plan here was understandable. Especially since I believe this is pretty early in the war, so the Republic is still trying to learn how to use its assets and the Jedi are only just beginning to adjust to their new role as generals. It's sort of like the early stages of the American Civil War or World War I - everyone's screwing up, but the survivors learn enough to get gud.

I think that in general, Eck, you believe that orbital bombardment in Star Wars is more useful than it really is. If you look at the historical use of artillery (and I LOVE using artillery), you will see that it very rarely wins fights on its own. Fortifications like the trenches of WWI, the coastal forts of the 19th century, the defenses of D-Day and the Japanese fortifications in the Pacific in WWII were all able to absorb heavy bombardment and still give a serious fight to invading troops, often after days or weeks of bombardment. Star Wars turbolasers don't appear to be significantly more powerful than real-life howitzers, and they have never been shown to be capable of pinpoint accuracy over long distances. Orbital bombardment is a tool, but by no means a one-size-fits-all one.

[cybersmith_videos]

I was pretty shocked by the flamethrower scenes...

[tennoshenaniganizer]

The first invasion of Klendathu was better planned than the second invasion of Geonosis

[aquariusm.]

I remember the beginning of the second season of the Clone Wars because of how badass it was, Ki Adi Mundi even used flame throwers against the Geonossians lol

[samdale]

Commander Cody is such a boss, but then so are all the clones.

[LastShadowst]

I love how eck's solution is almost always:

Send everything in at once and head-on.

[chiledog]

I would argue that a in atmosphere cruiser bombardment would have been rather risky, seeing as the CIS gun emplacements shown in the episode have been seen to be able to kill Republic cruisers. Back in the invasion of Rhyloth episode we see those same gun emplacements attacking and damaging Acclamator assault ships. Also seeing as the Geonosians are a subterranean species it would be hard to guess how much damage that a orbital bombardment would do. The Republic strategy could have been improved with direct fighter/bomber support or even perhaps if the LAATs stayed and provided fire support for their advancing forces.

[IrishPhoenix]

You should’ve been a General during the clone wars

[attilathehun]

I think eck is turning into a humanity first supporter...

[garenwenal]

The Admiral couldn’t spare anymore CAS in the beginning. One of the clone commanders ask for CAS and is denied because it was “ a planet wide invasion and sending fighter or bomber support would sacrifice from other parts of the campaign.”

[killerOfMoons]

But, then we wouldn’t have this epic Arc of the Clone Wars.

And also the line _“good thing those bugs can’t aim.”_

[survivor]

No - you are not being harsh on the Republic/Jedi: The Recapture of Geonosis was only a success despite the Jedi's command of the operations (see what I did there?).

You've already listed the failure of the Republic - but may I be bold enough to suggest an alternative:
1. Recon: The republic effectively charged into Geonosis head on, with an alarming lack of recon, despite having space superiority. Were I in command, I would use my warship's sensors to recon the landing zones and the surrounding battlezone, to pick out enemy AA-emplacements, armoured formations and potential ambush sites.

2. Forward forces: I would make extensive use of my close-recon assets, deploying commandoes, ARF and ARC troopers to locate, isolate and destroy high-value assets. If possible, I'd chuck a few Jedi in there to lead snatch-squads, to either kill/capture high ranking Seppies and destroy key assets

3. Bombardment: Geonosis is a hostile planet, with every inhabitants dedicated to destroying me. Once I've done my prep-work, I'd bombard the crap out of priority targets. Sure the shield may stop my shots slamming into the primary target, but I'd bombard anything else that could help the enemy.

4. Fighter/SEAD: Finally, when I have to send in gunships/transports, I'd precede such a formation with a strike package (Y-Wings and ARC-170s) and deploy the armour in front of the seppie line (if I haven't shredded it already). Then I'd have CAS assets on hand 24/7 and have several squardons dedicated to keeping the skies clear. My recon assets will be spotting enemy hard-points for my cruisers

Sure it might take a little longer: But I'd have accomplished a cost-effective invasions, without needlessly wasting valuable troops and material.

If speed is critical: Glass the entire planet, deploy chemical weapons and render the surface uninhabitable

[canrieger]

I don’t get why the Republic uses their Venators so inefficient. A single Venator Class can carry a 100+ starfighters and except for example the Battle of Malastare, they rarely ever use the full potential of thir ships might.
Break the Blockade.
Launch all Strike Craft.
Let them clear out a Landing zone as Big as Possible.
Meanwhile let 2-3 Venators Land and deploy troops and Armor while the big guns blast the shit out of any bug or Droid Cannons.

[roadhouse]

1:22 it seems like in every sci-fi universe, they always try to launch aerial transports at the same time as fighters and bombers. It's a huge part of the reason why the coalition took such heavy losses at London in Mass Effect, if you ask me. Looking at invasions in real life, like Iraq and Normandy, there was a significant aerial and naval bombardment, along with a number of clandestine operations, before any ground forces arrived. Why do they act like there's no time to just let the bombers and ships do their work before starting the main invasion?

[gavinyip]

When youtube isn't broken so you actually get a notification that Ecks uploaded

[bayardbreen]

God I love how this channel has grown!