Enterprise Q

[Sovay]

It seems like the side-saucer design wouldn't do so hot in battle. Perhaps I'm on crack here, but it seems like it'd be far easier for an attacking ship to so an enormous amount of damage, assuming it was attacking from the same level. With the regular saucer structure a hostile ship has to get above it and face down and shoot to do the amount of damage that it would merely have to zip to the side to do to the sideways saucer, if that makes sense.

 

[Birdog]

It seems like the side-saucer design wouldn't do so hot in battle. Perhaps I'm on crack here, but it seems like it'd be far easier for an attacking ship to so an enormous amount of damage, assuming it was attacking from the same level. With the regular saucer structure a hostile ship has to get above it and face down and shoot to do the amount of damage that it would merely have to zip to the side to do to the sideways saucer, if that makes sense.

There is no up and down nor side to side in space. It takes the same amount of delta-v to go "above" as it does to move to the "side."

 

[Sovay]

There is no up and down nor side to side in space. It takes the same amount of delta-v to go "above" as it does to move to the "side."

This is true, but within trek it seems like ships usually approach one another head-on. Perhaps this is just something they did because it's how we expect opposing vessels to meet, but it seems like if they did meet face-to-face rather than one coming down on another from above or below, then this model would be more vulnerable.
In reality, it's probably another matter altogether, but when in Rome...