Star Wars: Rogue One - 10 Ways It Changes A New Hope
4. The Size Of The Death Star Assault Team
Continuing from the last point, the rebels having such a small team for the famous assault on the Death Star now seems much more fitting, given the fact that a sizable portion of their forces had just been wiped out during the Battle of Scarif. During said battle, we see an absolute fleet of X and Y-Wings, most of which would be destroyed while Rogue One fought below to retrieve the Death Star plans.
When it came time to attack the Death Star directly, thirty one-man fighters were all the rebellion had left to spare for the battle that would decide the very fate of them, and their cause. Worse yet, all but three ships (the Millennium Falcon excluded) would meet their bitter end over the course of the assault.
The attack on the Death Star truly was an all or nothing gamble for the rebels, sending what small amount of men they had left in a last ditch effort to get the job done. The job not being to win the war against the Empire, but merely to survive another day.