Just thinking about it today.
Its not really a 'battle' is it... most epic play games field more ships.
What was there, about 15 rebel fighters and about 20 TIEs and tie advance.
'Minor scrap over Yavin' more like 
(yes i *know* there is a big land battle in the EU etc but i was just making a joke... and it's not exactly 'the battle of Britain' or Midway though is it )
It's more like battle of the small budget. If they had the money for a larger battle back then they would have.
If you follow the book that was like 15% of the battle. They didn't show the assault on the coms satellite or the Fleet actions or the assault on the laser array by the other half of the squadrons.
I think it needs a do over. 
You see that would be 'fecking about with the OT' that i'd approve of.
Also I still think in this day and age of CGI chewy should get a medal...
We count 30 rebel ships.
All you saw were 15 ships at the most.
I have to say I never got this. A very long time ago I thumbed through a book about the Death Star and the thing was carrying something like 4,000 TIE Fighters. It's a good thing the Rebels blew up the thing because I'm pretty sure Tarkin would have been force-choked and electrocuted for being so stupid.
So over a million casualties on the Imperial side not sufficient to rate as a 'battle' for you?
Just thinking about it today.
Its not really a 'battle' is it... most epic play games field more ships.
What was there, about 15 rebel fighters and about 20 TIEs and tie advance.
'Minor scrap over Yavin' more like
(yes i *know* there is a big land battle in the EU etc but i was just making a joke... and it's not exactly 'the battle of Britain' or Midway though is it
Actually, I'd say (based on the movie only), Midway is about right. Small force tries to stop the Empire from taking/destroying a small base? We could actually take this comparison further:
TIE Fighter = Mitsubishi A6M Zero: light, high mobility fighter, with little regard for its pilots safety if it gets hit
X-Wing = Grumman F4F Wildcat: better survivability than its opposite number, but not as fast or maneuverable
Y-Wing = combination of the Douglas TBD Devastator, Douglas SBD Dauntlass, and Brewster F2A Buffalo: tough, with a good payload, but can't maneuver as well as, or keep up with, current generation craft
Death Star = First Carrier Striking Force (Nagumo's carrier group): Carries far more craft than the opponent can sling at them, and has the offensive punch to knock out the target and anything that tries to stop it
I could keep going, but I'll leave it there.
So over a million casualties on the Imperial side not sufficient to rate as a 'battle' for you?
true story
So over a million casualties on the Imperial side not sufficient to rate as a 'battle' for you?
No way there were a million casualties. If we're using the OP's standard of "pics or it didn't happen", we only ever see perhaps two dozen assorted crew and stormtroopers on the Death Star. 
Look up A new hope revisited
It's the way star wars should be. The battle at Yavin has alot more ships and in the end Chewy gets a medal
And there's a counterattack as soon as Darth Vader returns with the news. The Empire rushes ships into the region to attempt to trap the Rebel command staff. On an intergalactic scale a series of engagements in the same system over the course a couple weeks or so can certainly be called a "battle".
Just thinking about it today.
Its not really a 'battle' is it... most epic play games field more ships.
What was there, about 15 rebel fighters and about 20 TIEs and tie advance.
'Minor scrap over Yavin' more like
(yes i *know* there is a big land battle in the EU etc but i was just making a joke... and it's not exactly 'the battle of Britain' or Midway though is it
Well... the stakes are much higher. No planets or super moon sized space stations blew up in the Battle of Britain or Midway in this universe =p
I have to say I never got this. A very long time ago I thumbed through a book about the Death Star and the thing was carrying something like 4,000 TIE Fighters. It's a good thing the Rebels blew up the thing because I'm pretty sure Tarkin would have been force-choked and electrocuted for being so stupid.
Actully the only thing that didn't happen by the Emperors design was Vader surviving. Long before Tarkin got the DS fully built he knew, and most the imps aboard would turn agianst him and use the DS to kill him. Instead of killing him and the lot out right he used the event to damege both of his enemies, rouge imps and rebs. Corupt / evil imps had limited purpose in his empire.
This is also the reason the DS1 was approved the way it was designed. Same with DS2 hece why the DS 2 would have ben perfect.
It would be considered a battle in IRL terms as well, we're talking about 30 air (space) craft in total engaging in a mass combat. Let's not forget the gunnery crews on the turbolaser trenches, they certainly count as well.
There hasn't been nearly that amount of hardware shooting at each other in the air since WWII. Seriously when have there been 30 planes in the sky at the same time, in the same engagement area, shooting at each other WITH dozens of AA platforms on the ground shooting at them too, in the last 70 years?
That's would be like 30 million dollars right there. Most nations in the world can't even field a squadron of 15 combat grade at once. Our troops on the ground are lucky if they can call in 1 strike craft or attack helicopter. Not all battles are like Kursk or Stalingrad. There are plenty of battles like Fallujah that don't involve thousands of combatants, and they're still considered battles.
It would have to be considered a 'battle' by any standard. I just ran on the assumption that Hollywood didn't provide Lucas the budget to provide the literal scale.
I think you all missed the fact i was joking.
I think two smileys should have been sufficient but here is a third one in case you missed those two
Clearly it was budgetary issue.
Do you guys consider Pearl Harbour a 'battle', I'd liken the Death Star attack 'as we see it' as a 'raid'. it was based on the Dambusters raid (some of the dialogue is actually lifted direct from dambusters or near as IIRC).
I was just having a light hearted dig at the fact that 'what we see' is a fairly minor action... compared to say the 'battles' you see in the prequels with CGI and bigger budgets.
It's a fun game, i was *trying* to make a fun observation (and clearly failed), it's not something we have to be deadly serious about all the time.
Oh my god, i've just read my OP... i actually say and i didn't edit this
"I'm just making a joke"
and some of you got defensive
jeez....
Y'all mother X-wingers need to watch Adywan's Star Wars Revisited!
How come I didn't know about this???!!!
You just made me a happy man.
ps. Though I imagine my GF will be "thrilled" having to watch SW again.
Pay no attention to rebel propaganda, it's just spin trying to make the slaughter of many imperial citizens sound heroic.
Report anyone spreading such lies to your local Sith inquisitors.
Well sith does not mean dark force user they were a race of aliens taken over by dark Jedi, although alot of Sith had force sensitivity not all did so Sith could refer to his genetic roots rather than his ability with the force.
i sometimes got the feeling that 'sith' was a cool word Lucas came up with an used early on and then couldnt really decide which way to run with it.
At times there are loads, then at times there is just a master and apprentice depending on what you're watching or reading, or so its seemed at times.
the rule of two that Darth Bane instilled in them.
"Always two, a Master, and an Apprentice."
its a pretty perilous system to build a galaxy dominating empire on... i mean doesnt give you too much of a contingency if your 'master' has a car/spaceship crash or a heart attack and dies the day you're taken on
Well although there were only two Sith lords there were dark Jedi about like jerrac, also the emperor had his hands force sensitive agents that gathered Intel and assassinated enemies, Mara jade being one of the best known.
hey I didn't make the rule.. lol
well when you figure the apprentice is supposed to kill off the master eventually and get his own apprentice it all kind of falls apart for me. and yes there are plenty of dark siders out there... it's where one finds an apprentice haha..