BY ANY OTHER NAME is also a classic.
What are your controversial Star Trek opinions?
- Thread starter Amasov
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I think tactical combat in Star Trek slides between naval warfare in the age of sail and World War II era naval warfare with huge fleets arrayed in formations and support craft.
Nicholas Meyer definitely wanted the former for Wrath of Khan, where starships lumber like 18th or 19th century sailing ships at impulse, and combat importantly becomes about being able to make a series of maneuvers in order to bring phasers and photon torpedoes to bear against an enemy.
Deep Space Nine changes that a bit where things become more akin to World War II era naval battles. Starfleet is organized in fleets akin to the way the United States Navy does it, and fighters become important in battles. Up until that point, it seemed like having fighter wings had become obsolete for space combat, because presumably a starship and enemy capital ships could brush them aside easily, and their shields are too strong for smaller ships to penetrate.
However, "Sacrifice of Angels" implies that fighters are an important part of Starfleet's Dominion War planning, either as a way to soften up targets for Federation starships, or to allow starships to weaken enemy shielding and fighters would then be able to sweep through and swarm. The presence of fighters also means starships, especially large capital ships like the Galaxy and Sovereign Class, would serve dual roles as both battleships and attack craft carriers.
When the Federation fleet charges the Dominon lines in "Sacrifice of Angels," Sisko orders the "Galaxy Wings" to engage the Cardassian Galor Class ships that are attempting to flank their position (i.e., attack from a side angle to divert their advance). I've always wondered if "Galaxy Wing" is meant to imply the same meaning as "Carrier Strike Wing" does in the modern US Navy?
It's not impossible to think that each Starfleet capital ship, like the Enterprise, commanded a group of ships who were their support craft. All of those Miranda Class ships and fighters were the screens so the big boys could get through to deal out punishment.
I've long been of the mind that if traditional sci-fi fighters are mainly analogs of modern air superiority fighters (which seems to be the most common use for them), then their main role isn't to fight large capital ships and stations on their own, for the reasons you mention. Their mission is to take out enemy fighters, small craft and surgical targets of opportunity. But they wouldn't attack an enemy capital ship unless they either have numerical superiority and tactical advantage (as with the Maquis ships in "Preemptive Strike") or they're supported by friendly warships like in DS9.
It's of course also common in some other series, like Star Wars and and Battletech, for fighters to be geared more for interception and bombing strikes than air superiority, and to work in concert with superiority fighters for the appropriate level of support. The capital warships in BT are somewhat naval analogies, typically being designed to fight other large vessels and having limited weaponry for dealing with fighters and small craft. It varied a lot.
Here's a controversial opinion....
I absolutely love watching half the fandom get their knickers in a knot every time the franchise attempts to do something remotely different from what they perceive as "real Star Trek."
And boy howdy, today has certainly been a day to watch exactly that.
I absolutely love watching half the fandom get their knickers in a knot every time the franchise attempts to do something remotely different from what they perceive as "real Star Trek."
And boy howdy, today has certainly been a day to watch exactly that.
I sort of agree but roughly they do follow the 'bubble' theory, The Klingons and The UFP and The Romulans do sort of radiate from their core until they met and then filled in the gaps; ditto Cardassia on the other side. It just needs to emphasize the up/down stuff more, and of course, you can have the federation slip in/under the Klingons or Romulans, the 'Federation' bubble turning more into an exploding star shape as neutral powers rush into it....
Re: Battles:
I Agree. By World War 2, you weren't really suppossed to be up with the enemy, combat via long range artillery and fighters/bombers hitting over the horizon was the norm. It only got to the point of being up close when things were wrong like Taffy 6. If Star Trek was trying to Crib ww2, it sort of did it wrongly, I'll say it was more like a Classical Galley battle or broadside-free-for-all (Not even lines and crossing-Ts) Of the 17th century.
We could say that shielding and giving more power to shields/weapons allows the starship to get very close and personal, that sensors would target and track anything far off and it'll be sniped down, so it never bothered me as much as just it all being a free-for-all than anything coordinated. I know beta stuff goes into it a bit, but it needs to be on screen more than just SHIP MASS A rushes into SHIP MASS B and they fight it out! Like have shared shields, mobbing up on the weakest link, have ships break and retreat and reform, do something with it.
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They said I was crazy...
Yes, but for unrelated reasons.
The Prequel Trek Movie is going to be a reboot. They'll want to do their own depiction of First Contact and show their own way of how the Federation formed. They won't want it to look like something sandwiched between FC and ENT.
I'm not a fan of ENT, so I'm not even going to pretend to be upset if any of that is thrown out.
I'm not a fan of ENT, so I'm not even going to pretend to be upset if any of that is thrown out.
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Needle threaded, Mr. Shatner. Of course Wesley was five years older in that episode than Shatner was in TOS!
It's a boring look for the franchise given that despite the actress' great talents her character is a mass-murdering interplanetary dictator who eats other sentient beings who've served as her slaves. I'll check out Section 31 but my expectations are realistic.
Wouldn't it be quicker to just watch something else?
As much as I enjoy Empress Georgiou, I absolutely loved Captain Georgiou.I actually preferred Prime Georgiou over the Empress.
How's that for controversial?
A tribute to Michelle Yeoh's skill as an actress to have these two radically different characters be loved by so many various people.
She's even better in Everything, Everywhere, All at Once.
Georgiou's equivalent to Kor and Garak iny view.
All should have been executed after their first appearance.
All should have been executed after their first appearance.
At least with Garak and Kor, they didn't go overboard with genocide and eating of sapient beings.
Doesn't matter to me.
No second chances. I'm that sort of man, to quote the 10th Doctor.
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