As far as I know the writers of BOT did not write the Romulans as being limited to sub-light speeds. That is fan supposition.
Scotty explicitly says they're limited to impulse during the briefing scene.
Maybe that was the human race's ace in the hole? Warp driven ships against sub-light Birds of Prey cruisers? 
JB
JB
With meant what to the writers? All that can be said is the ship was said to be slower than the Enterprise. Seems unlikely that the Enterprise would trail along after the ship at sublight when they could easily jump ahead and cut them off at the pass.
when needed. Of did the Enterprise lose it warp drive in the episode? Did the Enterprise drop out of warp to allow the Romulan ship to fire it plasma weapon at it?
Well, that part is describing the Enterprise, not alien technology. And the writer's guide commonly found online is dated April of 1967, four months after "Balance of Terror" aired.
Kor
It is okay to admit they screwed up. Because they screwed up.
If they were still at impulse, then standard radio is as fast as the star empire could communicate with the other side of itself during the Four Years War.
The humans could be making benovelent alliances with Eastern Romulan Empire and building death-camps in the western Romulan Empire, and it could take decades for the Romulans to access these humans completely as inhumane or humanitarians.
The humans could be making benovelent alliances with Eastern Romulan Empire and building death-camps in the western Romulan Empire, and it could take decades for the Romulans to access these humans completely as inhumane or humanitarians.
Did they? Or is it a case of things not being totally nailed down yet?
It would have been a short war.Maybe that was the human race's ace in the hole? Warp driven ships against sub-light Birds of Prey cruisers?
JB
It would have been a short war.
Makes me wonder though, would it have been? All the advantage warp drive gives you is speed, but it doesn't mean you're invincible. Sure, warp drive would enable you to get places quickly; but you still have to destroy or starve out local forces. Romulans would probably bring forces in as close to home as possible and focus on strong defense. But of course in war you want to gain any advantage possible, so a top priority would be to capture a ship and obtain a warp drive. Unless humanity was VERY lucky then eventually a ship would be captured and it's warp drive used. There are obviously a lot of variables, but with proper tactics I don't think having warp drive would be the ultimate advantage.
Season One version?
Of course it's OK, but what was the screw-up? Not realizing that impulse equals sublight, or by not realizing that the distances involved made sublight impractical for the story?
I think that's a by product of Surak's logic philosophy. Romulans don't seem to have problems having relations.
Likely both. Remember, this is the show that had Kirk commanding to "fire!" during space battles featuring a stationary Enterprise and an opponent at high warp speeds ("Elaan of Troyious", "Journey to Babel") when the vessel would have passed them by long before he's finished saying the word.
Perhaps, if that philosophy involved genetic engineering. But it seems like a completely biological process, not one that can be entirely controlled through thoughts.
If I remember right battles were fought at warp speeds in other episodes. Actually one of the more realistic aspects of the series is space battles involving vast distances.
My guess (and it may be wrong) is that the writer wanted to explain the long and tired journey of the Romuans back home that they were limited to sublight speed but as you say not explaining why the Enterprise (that can go thousand of times their speed) creeps slowly behind them.
One explanation is that the Enterprise can only detect the "cloaked" Romulan at sublight speeds and that they may overshoot and lose track of it if they go to Warp.
Really though I can't see Romulans being restricted to sublight speeds and yet being a military force in the galaxy.
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C
C57D
Guest
Surely what, from a logical standpoint, solves this whole "warp or not" argument is that without warp, the Earth-Romulan war would have lasted a very, very, very long time. Decades to move ships (at sublight) and no method of fast and reliable communications to enable millitary intelligence and strategic planning.
For all that you need warp.
In fact, at sublight, it is hard to see how the war happened at all. Sublight ships from civillisations decades apart would have no reason to go to war, if they even met at all, given those circumstances. Maybe a once in a lifetime one off encounter on each sides furthest border - but even that would be an extreme rarity!
But, lets assume Scotty was right, and then assume that the BoT Rom ship was using fusion reactor warp, not the highly efficient MAM version. Apart from the cloak and/or plasma weapon draining power, this would be yet another reason for the BoT Rom ships lower speeds, running low on fuel etc.
For all that you need warp.
In fact, at sublight, it is hard to see how the war happened at all. Sublight ships from civillisations decades apart would have no reason to go to war, if they even met at all, given those circumstances. Maybe a once in a lifetime one off encounter on each sides furthest border - but even that would be an extreme rarity!
But, lets assume Scotty was right, and then assume that the BoT Rom ship was using fusion reactor warp, not the highly efficient MAM version. Apart from the cloak and/or plasma weapon draining power, this would be yet another reason for the BoT Rom ships lower speeds, running low on fuel etc.
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This, however, tells us nothing about the Romulan ship in the episode - because that ship never fought in the old war. Tanks today don't fly even though flight was introduced to combat a century ago. Submarines don't make 35 knots even though torpedo boats did that a century ago with ease. Etc.
The episode cannot hold either with or without warp: the chase requires both interstellar and crawling speeds in order to make sense, but does not allow for switching between the two. Sordid case in point, the comet: it's imperative that the Romulans dipping into it be inconspicuous and innocent-looking, yet it must come in the middle of a warp chase but in itself take place at speeds that allow for lingering inside the comet's tail.
So something must give no matter what, and within the episode, neither warp nor sublight is superior; neither suffices in sorting out the mess. Beyond the episode, we of course know the Romulans know how the make their ships and not just their plasma bolts go to warp, so painting this particular ship as a "tank" or a "submarine" devoid of standard "ship" characteristics takes extra doing. It may still be the best way to go, though.
Timo Saloniemi
It would be a huge advantage. Warp into range of some sub-light ships, unleash a volley of torpedoes before they have a chance to respond, and then warp out.
Kor
